Early Bird Headlines 15 March 2015
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.
U.S.
- Fight over Seattle’s $15 minimum wage could have national consequences (Al Jazeera) A lawsuit brought by the International Franchise Association could set precedent for how states regulate chains.
EU
- Embrace the contradictions of QE and sell all the good stuff (Financial Times) Do you think Swiss interest rates will be higher in five years? How about German rates? Right now the rates are negative. A problem for investors shorting any security with a coupon or dividend is the shorter must pay those amounts as they come due. Well, in the case of the 5-year notes mentioned anyone short will receive the negative coupon from the seller. So you collect “dividends” while short – a once in a lifetime (many lifetimes?) opportunity. See next article for what people are buying in Europe (and what you could be buying with your with the shorting proceeds).
- Investors pile into eurozone shares (Financial Times) Since 01 December 2014 the euro has declined nearly 16%. Over the same time period the dollar value of assets in the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ETF has risen more than 8% during a time period when European stocks are nearly flat in dollar terms. That is because new money has been pouring in. For all European equity funds the inflow has been $35.6 billion in 2015.
Greece
- Schauble: Govt must tell people that Greece’s problems not caused by Brussels, Berlin! (protothema news) Huh?
- Varoufakis aide claims lenders proposed salaries not be …paid for a couple of months (protothema news)
Islamic State
China
- China faces uphill task to meet lower economic growth target, says premier (South China Morning Post) Li Keqiang tells press conference at the end of the National People’s Congress that the country faces more pain ahead due to the nation’s economic slowdown.
- China parliament backs cut in economic growth (BBC News) They are still smoking the 7% hopium.
- China’s factories are building a robot nation (MarketWatch) Will China do a better job with income distribution from productivity improvement than has been done in the west?
Aghanistan
- C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers of Al Qaeda (The New York Times) Hat tip to Rob Carter. Money was used to pay a ransom.
Vanatu
- Cyclone Pam leaves ‘most’ of Vanuatu population homeless (BBC News) Most structures in the Pacific island nation are destroyed.
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