Early Bird Headlines 11 May 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.
Global
- Inequality, Immigration, and Hypocrisy (Kenneth Rogoff, Project Syndicate) Rogoff says:
Europe’s migration crisis exposes a fundamental flaw, if not towering hypocrisy, in the ongoing debate about economic inequality. Wouldn’t a true progressive support equal opportunity for all people on the planet, rather than just for those of us lucky enough to have been born and raised in rich countries? But the rhetoric of the inequality debate in rich countries betrays a moral certitude that conveniently ignores the billions of people elsewhere who are far worse off.
[T]he rhetoric of the inequality debate in rich countries betrays a moral certitude that conveniently ignores the billions of people elsewhere who are far worse off.
When one weights all of the world’s citizens equally, things look very different. In particular, the same forces of globalization that have contributed to stagnant middle-class wages in rich countries have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty elsewhere.
U.S.
- Obama’s Pacific Trade Push Faces a Senate Vote This Week (The New York Times) President Obama faces a crucial first test this week when a divided Senate considers a bill that would grant him accelerated power to complete a massive trade accord with 11 nations across the Pacific Rim.
- Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns (The Washington Post) President Obama’s decision to renew a nuclear cooperation agreement with China will be the subject of Congressional hearings this week.
- Restaurant to give ‘White Appreciation Day’ discount (CNBC) Hat tip to Marvin Clark. Next month, one Colorado barbecue joint will be running a promotion that has already drawn strong reaction: White Appreciation Day. On June 11, white customers will get 10 percent off the bill at Rubbin’ Buttz BBQ in Milliken, Colorado. What kind of red neck idea is this? Watch the video and find out. PS: Voters at CNBC think this is a good idea, by a margin of much more than 2:1. What are they thinking? Watch the video and find out.
UK
- Financial markets’ UK election elation could falter on Brexit and budget fears (The Conversation) There is a leaden alternative scenario under which last year’s 2.6% GDP growth is as good as it gets and the economy slows again as fiscal stimulus is withdrawn. And then there are the Scotland and EU questions.
Germany
- German Firestorm Rises About Angela Merkel’s Lies (Eric Zuesse, Washington’s Blog) Report on German Chancellor Merkel’s apparently incorrect statements about a no spying on Germans agreement with Washington to aid in her successful effort to win the September 2013 parliamentary election. See No-Spy-Abkommen war nie in Sicht (No Agreement Against Spying Was Even Considered) from taggesschau.de.
Poland
- Shock Result Sets Up Tight Polish Presidential Runoff Ballot (Bloomberg) President Bronislaw Komorowski’s support has melted from more than 60% three months ago to 33.1% in Sunday’s vote, slipping behind opposition candidate Andrzej Duda, who got 34.5%, according to the latest Ipsos exit poll. They will face each other in a May 24 runoff.
China
- China cuts interest rates for third time in six months as economy sputters (Reuters) China cut interest rates for the third time in six months on Sunday in a bid to lower companies’ borrowing costs and stoke a sputtering economy that is headed for its worst year in a quarter of a century. Analysts welcomed the widely-expected move, but predicted policymakers would relax reserve requirements and cut rates again in the coming months to counter the headwinds facing the world’s second-largest economy.
- China Inflation Misses Estimates, Providing Room for Easing (Bloomberg, Yahoo.com) Global inflation woes hit China. Wholesale prices approach three years in deflation and inflation is at 1.5% vs, target of 3.0%.
Japan
- Rumbling from ocean trenches could be sign that Japan faces mega earthquake (The Conversation) Researchers in Japan have for the first time detected and traced shallow tremors under the ocean that could be a sign that the country is heading towards a huge earthquake.
Afghanistan
- Afghan clerics uneasy as civil rights movement gains momentum (Reuters) Powerful religious leaders in Afghanistan are growing uneasy about the challenge to their authority posed by rare civil rights protests led by women in Kabul and widespread anger over the lynching of a young woman wrongly accused of burning a Koran.
Myanmar
- They Built A Capital And No One Came: Inside Burma’s Ghost City (The Daily Beast) Naypyidaw, the mysterious Burmese Oz, built under complete secrecy by the government and was, in 2005, declared the country’s official capital city despite its remote location and complete lack of inhabitants. The city, supposedly six times larger than New York City, was completely desolate when the author visited in 2005. Not a person and barely another car took advantage of the brightly lit super-highway cutting through it. Now, nine years later, the Burmese government claims that 1 million people live in Naypyidaw, but when The Guardian visited in March, the only pedestrians were street cleaners polishing the litter-less sidewalks.
Nepal
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