Early Bird Headlines 12 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.
U.S.
- John Boehner on House Democrats and Trade: ‘We’ll Do Our Part, and I Hope They’ll Do Their Part’ (National Journal) The trade-promotion measure, which would give the president more authority in negotiating future trade deals, including the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, and limit Congress to an up-or-down vote on such agreements, will be voted on today. See GEI News: The Road Map for Today’s Fast Track Voting; GEI Opinion: Here Comes a Stealth Block to Monetary Reform.
- Razor-edge U.S. Congress vote to decide fate of Obama Pacific trade pact (Reuters) There is a lot more in the package up for a vote. See links with preceding article.
- Why This Shale CEO Isn’t Afraid of OPEC or Low Oil Prices (Bloomberg Business) Apache Corp is leading the U.S. oil industry into standardization, efficiency and cost reduction, wringing more production at lower costs from each well. That is why U.S. production has not slowed with prices almost cut in half from two years ago.
- How the Fed screwed up the bond market (CNBC) The problem is called jitters. Will rising rates make all the corporate debt that has flooded the market in recent years look less attractive and spur a selloff? The scary answer, according to an increasing number of market experts, is a potential scenario where there’s a rush to a door that is nailed shut. A huge number of sellers would be pouring into a market with a dearth of buyers, setting up a scenario where bond prices cascade and yields explode.
- Dorsey Gets a Steve Jobs Moment With His Return as Twitter CEO (Bloomberg Business) Named Twitter Inc.’s interim chief executive officer on Thursday, Jack Dorsey returns to a job he had until being pushed out in 2008 from the firm he helped create. Similarly, Jobs returned to Apple as interim CEO in 1997 after being forced out in 1985, and guided the company to create the iMac, iPhone and iPad.
Greece
- Keeping Greece in the Euro May Have Nothing to Do With Finances (Bloomberg) Greece’s trump card historically has been its location at NATO’s southeastern flank. As Islamic State gains to the south and east, Russia encroaches to the north and migrants flood to Europe, the question is whether Greece is worth more than the billions it needs to get out of its financial hole.
Iraq
- Iraqi forces: ‘We don’t need training, we need weapons’ (CNN) Hat tip to Alun Hill. Econintersect: Why don’t they use some of the tens of billions in weapons abandoned by the government, $27 billion in Mosul alone when it was overrun by ISIS? Giving weapons to the Iraqi government forces has been one of the best (maybe even the very best) way of arming the Islamic State.
- Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS (The New York Times) As Iraqi forces struggle on the battlefield, aides said Mr. Obama would consider establishing a series of outposts where American advisers would work with Iraqi troops and local tribesmen. The bases would be run by Iraqis, and Americans would still not engage in ground combat, but they would play a more active role closer to the front lines.
Russia
- U.S., Russian aircraft came within 10 feet over Black Sea (CNN) A Russian fighter jet, flying at high speed, came within 10 feet of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea late last month, several U.S. officials told CNN Thursday. The Russian jet flew alongside the U.S. plane at the same altitude, broke off, and then shadowed the plane before leaving the area in the May 30 incident, the officials said. The U.S. aircraft took no evasive measures, and no other details were immediately available. Military officials could not say whether a diplomatic protest had been filed.
China
- Only in China Can Riskiest Provincial Debt Get Best Yield (Bloomberg) The government is allowing local debt to be issued without national government guarantees. The market is bidding up the riskiest issues to low yields. This implies the market expects Beijing to bail out any failures.
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