Early Headlines: Bank Lines in Greece, China Bubble Bursts, Greeks Vote in a Week, Record French Unemployment and More

Early Bird Headlines 28 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.

• Is North Dakota’s economy really oil-rigged? (CNBC) Hat tip to Marvin Clark. With crude oil prices down sharply from last year and the oil glut at risk of increasing, much oil drilling equipment is being idled and drillers are worried about how to protect it while it idle. Theft and vandalism can be big problems as unemployment increases in oil patch regions.
• King v. Burwell, Roberts v. Scalia (Brookings Institution) Interesting discussion of how Roberts and Scalia argued with and even ridiculed each other in the majority and minority opinions. Econintersect: We are reminded by Scalia’s focus on the dictionary meaning of words (rather than what he agrees is a logical intent of the context) of another lawyer, a former president, who famously said in answer to a question: “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”
  

EU

• Euro Chiefs Seek Damage Control as Greece Heads to Referendum (Bloomberg) The speculation is now (Saturday night) widespread that the game is over, the 05 July Greek vote will come after the Troika offer expires and have no meaning and the ECB will stop ELA (Emergency Liquidity Assistance) which means the Greek banks are all belly up. The Saturday night line is that Greece no longer will exist as a country and will have to start over. Econintersect: Let’s see what things look like Monday morning when the speculation hangover wears off.
  

France

• French Unemployment Hits Record High: 80th Consecutive Month Of Rising Joblessness (Zero Hedge) Hat tip to IDEAeconomics, Twitter. This looks familiar: workers losing ground and stocks going up.

Greece

• Greece on the Verge of Leaving the Eurozone: People Line Up for Cash as Tsipras Announces a Referendum (Emerging Equity) Some Greek banks were beginning to limit cash transactions as hundreds of people lined up outside branches and drained cash machines.
• It’s the Politics, Stupid! (Fraancesco Saraceno, Sparse Thoughts of a Gloomy Economist) Hat tip to Steve Randy Waldman, Twitter. The Greek government has made most of the concessions in the “non-negotiations” and today we are much closer to the original Troika position, according to Saraceno. But that has made not one bit of difference. The reason, he says, is:
  

The troika, backed by the quasi totality of EU governments, were not interested in finding a solution that would allow Greece to recover while embarking in a fiscally sustainable path. No, they were interested in a complete and public defeat of the “radical” Greek government.

• Parliament approves referendum as Greece’s future hangs in the balance (Fox News) Greece’s parliament voted early Sunday in favor of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ motion to hold a July 5 referendum on creditor proposals for reforms in exchange for loans, with the country’s future in the eurozone looking increasingly shaky. Tsipras’ surprise call stunned Greece’s international debt negotiators, and the country took a big step closer to falling out of the euro currency union after fellow eurozone member states refused to extend its bailout program past its expiry date on Tuesday, leaving Greece on the brink of financial chaos.

China

• The Chinese Stock Bubble Bursts: Any Questions? (Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds) CHS contributes to GEI.

Brazil

• Obama and Dilma’s date could lead to U.S.-Brazilian action on climate change (Brookings Institution) Observers suggest that key deliverables are not the priority for this meeting but rather ongoing efforts to normalize relations. However, climate change is being touted as one possible area for U.S. and Brazilian cooperation that could encourage a broader warming of relations. At the April encounter the Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff told President Obama that the climate change agenda is a clear-cut example of where they can cooperate jointly.

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