Early Bird Headlines 03 June 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
- Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning statues unveiled in Berlin (Mashable) Created by Italian sculptor Davide Dormino, the life-size, bronze statues were unveiled on Friday in the Alexanderplatz public square in Berlin, Germany. The statues are part of an art project Dormino calls “Anything To Say.” Each figure is standing on a chair, while a fourth chair sits empty, which the artist says “is for you [the public].” The statues are not permanently in Berlin but will go on tour,next in Dresden, Germany. On the website for the project, a message states:
“Thanks to Assange, Snowden and Manning, you know the limits of freedom. You know you are spied on every hour of every day. You know how governments kill and torture alleged enemies… We will honour their courage by erecting a monument…”
U.S.
- Fed’s Brainard: global troubles weighing on U.S., may delay rate hike (Reuters) It may be impossible for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates until the rest of the world economy improves, Fed board member Lael Brainard said on Tuesday. This follows a similar statement by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren yesterday.
- Health insurers seek big premium hikes for ObamaCare plans in 2016 (Fox News) Dozens of health insurers selling plans under ObamaCare have requested hefty premium increases for 2016, according to preliminary information published Monday by the White House.
Greece
- Creditors agree bailout offer for Greece (Financial Times) Greece’s bailout lenders have joined forces to push Athens to agree on a rescue plan by the end of this week that will demand difficult economic reforms in return for access to €7.2bn in desperately needed aid. However, Greece is unlikely to accept as proposed because the offer requires primary budget surpluses of 3.5%. Greece submitted its own proposed plan Monday night. Econintersect: For the idiocy of this situation seethe next article which explains the accounting rules clearly not understood by Greece’s creditors and the Troika.
- Repeat after me: sectoral balances must sum to zero (Frances Coppola, Credit Writedowns) It is simple accounting: If the external sector for a country has a negative change (a current account deficit) then then that must come out of the internal accounts. There must be a deficit in either the government balance or the private sector balance, or both, equal to the external deficit. Greece is not only being asked to balance the external deficit but also to run a larger surplus to reduce the country’s debt. That requires the private sector to contract to offset the government surplus plus the current account deficit (those rules of accounting again). Thus GDP contracts, debt/GDP ratio increases and increased austerity is indicated by the illogical thinking.
Turkey
- Explainer: your guide to Turkey’s general election (The Conversation) The people of Turkey are preparing to head to the polling stations for the nation’s general election on June 7. This is set to be one of the most important elections in the history of the Turkish Republic, since its results may mean political overhaul.
India
- RBI cuts rate by 0.25%; home, auto loans may become cheaper (The Economic Times) On Tuesday 02 June the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut interest rate by 0.25% for the third time this year to spur investment and growth but hinted there may not be any more cuts in the near-term sending stock markets into a tizzy.
- RBI estimates current account deficit at 1.5 per cent in FY16 (The Economic Times) Lower oil prices continue to help India roll back its current account deficit in spite of rising gold imports.
China
- Bernanke says Yuan approaching fair value after Lew urges gains (The Business Times) Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking at a conference in Hong Kong, said the yuan is heading toward fair value, lending weight to China’s claim that its exchange rate is largely determined by market forces. This is at odds with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew – see next article.
- Treasury’s Jack Lew talks yuan, slowing China economy (MarketWatch) U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said during his May trip to China that the yuan still “is undervalued“.
BECOME A GEI MEMBER – IT’s FREE!
Every every afternoon What We Read Today featured column is available only to GEI members.
To become a GEI Member simply subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter.