Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 17 September 2016
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
The Right Balance on Infrastructure Spending (Noah Smith, Bloomberg) The big guns are coming out in the battle over infrastructure spending. Larry Summers, a celebrated Harvard economist and veteran policy adviser, has a new article making the case for spending more. Ed Glaeser, a brilliant and versatile colleague of Summers’ who studies urban economics, has an article making the opposite case. A report by McKinsey Global Institute reports their estimate of how much various countries need to spend on infrastructure to meet its economic needs. Just right is a hard target to hit:
Trade globalisation in the last two centuries (Voxeu.org) The authors suggest that global trade, although growth is slowing, should continue to grow in coming decades. If the current peaking is temporary, as around 1980, they will be correct. But chart readers will also see downside potential.
U.S.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership would hurt black and Hispanic workers even more than white workers (Economic Policy Institute) Low wage workers in the U.S. lose the most with the implementation of TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). These are predominantly those without a four-year college degree.
Enthusiasm gap looms for Clinton (The Hill) What matters more in winning elections: voter enthusiasm or the ground game? It’s a question that has long been debated among political operatives and is now being put to the test in this year’s presidential election. Hillary Clinton has the ground game (ad money, volunteers and paid campaigners) but Donald Trump is very close with much less in those areas. One reason for his strength: People who intend to vote for him are more enthusiastic about doing so than those planning to back Clinton, according to three major recent polls.
Nation’s largest police union endorses Trump (The Hill) The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on Friday gave the GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump its endorsement after he received support from more than two-thirds of the group’s national board. The nation’s largest police union lauded his commitment to police officers.
Trump proposes disarming Clinton guards: ‘Let’s see what happens to her’ (Reuters) Donald Trump on Friday called for disarming the bodyguards who protect his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and mused about the consequences of such a move by saying “Let’s see what happens to her.” The Republican presidential nominee was speaking at a rally in Miami, where he contrasted his supporters, who he said back police and want crime reduced, to Clinton, who he derided as someone who “lives behind walls and raises money from hedge funds.” See also Trump hints at Clinton’s assassination again after retracting ‘birther’ theory (The Guardian)
MSNBC, Politico, Bloomberg, CNN, McClatchy and More Confirm: Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Campaign Spread ‘Birtherism’ About Barack Obama (Breitbart News) You have to read this article, which is quite detailed, to understand that the headline is factually correct, at least one campaign worker was fired on the spot for making a “birtherism” statement and the biggest criticism is that Clinton was not forceful enough in denying the rumors – she used terms like “as far as I know“, for example.
What’s Really Ailing Hillary (Politico) A long time ago, Clinton was far more transparent, emotional and open than she is today. Then the media began slamming her – and didn’t stop. Econintersect: Once upon a time, according to this review, Hillary was “less guarded, more candid, far more eager to embrace the “larger message” she’s so often criticized for lacking now.” The response was open and and vicious. Here’s Michael Kelly, in The New York Times:
“She is, it develops in the course of two long conversations, looking for a way of looking at the world that would marry conservatism and liberalism, and capitalism and statism, that would tie together practically everything: the way we are, the way we were, the faults of man and the word of God, the end of Communism and the beginning of the third millennium, crime in the streets and on Wall Street, teenage mothers and foul-mouthed children and frightening drunks in the parks, the cynicism of the press and the corrupting role of television, the breakdown of civility and the loss of community.”
This may be the last presidential election dominated by Boomers and prior generations (Pew Research Center) For the past few decades, presidential elections have been dominated by voters of the Baby Boom and previous generations, who are estimated to have cast a majority of the votes. But their election reign may end this November, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of census data.
UK
Britain’s ‘withered’ forces not fit to repel all-out attack (Financial Times) Britain’s armed forces cannot defend the UK against a serious military attack and have lost much of their ability to fight conventional wars, the recently retired head of the country’s Joint Forces Command has warned. General Sir Richard Barrons, who stepped down in April as one of the country’s four service chiefs, has said a series of “profoundly difficult” strategic challenges are being sidestepped as Whitehall focuses on “skinning” budgets and delivering costly but increasingly redundant big-ticket military projects.
Germany
Deutsche Bank Investors Fret Its Legal Reserves Won’t Be Enough (Bloomberg) Deutsche Bank AG is moving closer to settling one of its biggest legal cases. How it manages to pay will depend on whether it can persuade the U.S. to lower its initial request of $14 billion, and by how much. The shares of Germany’s biggest bank plunged on news the Department of Justice is seeking an amount that’s more than twice the 5.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) Deutsche Bank has set aside for litigation. Aside from the U.S. probe into residential mortgage-backed securities, the lender also faces inquiries into matters including currency manipulation, precious metals trading and billions of dollars in transfers out of Russia. Bank may have to sell assets, look for investors, analyst says
Syria
Russia, U.S. seek to prolong Syria truce but aid blocked, violence spreads (Reuters) The United States and Russia said on Friday they wanted to extend the four-day-old ceasefire in Syria they have co-sponsored, although the agreement looked increasingly shaky, undermined by increasing violence and a failure to deliver aid. The second attempt this year by the Cold War-era superpower foes to halt the conflict has succeeded so far in curbing the fighting, but it remains a risky gamble in a war that has made a mockery of all previous peace efforts. Washington and Moscow, which support opposite sides in the war between President Bashar al-Assad and insurgents, have agreed to share targeting information against jihadist fighters that are their common enemies, if the truce holds.
Russia
Russian central bank cuts interest rate further – down to 10 percent (CNBC) Russia’s central bank cut interest rates on Friday amid what analysts called more “aggressive” calls for monetary easing. The central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10% on Friday, saying that it made the decision “given the inflation slowdown, in line with the forecast, decrease in inflation expectations and unstable economic activity.” The move was widely expected by economists.
India
Congress loses Arunachal as 43 MLAs join BJP ally (The Hindu) Politics turned a full circle in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday when 43 of the 44 Congress MLAs, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, joined the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), a part of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a BJP-led front. BJP is the party of PM Narendra Modi.
Brazil
Rio Paralympics have overcome financial adversity to win over local hearts (The Conversation) At one point, it looked like the games could be cancelled. But the carnival spirit has prevailed.
