Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 01 December 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.
Note: From now to 03 December there may be occasions where Early Bird appears at irregular times and may have some shorter than usual content because 1/2 of our limited staff is on vacation.
Global
Asian shares log solid gains, shrug off China PMI (Reuters) Asian shares were solidly higher on Tuesday, shrugging off a Chinese factory survey that did little to ease concerns about cooling growth and taking some comfort from a private survey showing a glimmer of stabilisation. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS extended early gains and was up 1.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei .N225 was 0.9% higher.
The Silicon Valley Idea That’s Driving Solar Use Worldwide (Bloomberg) Silicon Valley has something to offer the world in the drive toward a clean energy economy. And it’s not technology. It’s a financing formula. In a region that spawned tech giants Apple Inc. and Google and is famous for innovators and entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, a handful of startups began offering to install solar panels on the homes of middle-class families in return for no-money down and monthly payments cheaper than a utility bill. This third-party leasing method — which made expensive clean energy gear affordable — ignited a rooftop solar revolution with annual U.S. home installations increasing 16-fold since 2008, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research. The world is taking notice. Businesses in China, the biggest greenhouse-gas polluter, are so keen on replicating California’s success that Trina Solar Ltd.’s Head of Global Marketing Jing Tian said she had to come up with a rough Chinese translation for “third-party leasing.” Similar models are spreading to countries like Mexico and Japan and are being employed to sell other emerging clean energy technologies such as batteries and onsite waste-water treatment gear.
The most creative thing central banks have done since the financial crisis has had ‘unspectacular’ results (Business Insider) Willem Buiter and his team at Citi,wrote in a note to clients on Monday:
“Overall, the striking point is how unspectacular the move to negative rates has been. Money has not flooded out of the banks, exchange rates have not plunged, thrift has not been destroyed, and inflation has not soared.After many years in which it was virtually unthinkable for interest rates to go below zero, the evidence suggests that there is no discontinuity at the zero bound.”
U.S.
Fed ends ‘too big to fail’ lending to collapsing banks (CNN Money) The Fed officially adopted a new rule Monday that limits its ability to lend emergency money to banks. Under the new rule, banks that are going bankrupt — or appear to be going bankrupt — can no longer receive emergency funds from the Fed under any circumstances. If the rule had been in place during the financial crisis, it would have prevented the Fed from lending to insurance giant AIG (AIG) and Bear Stearns, Fed chair Janet Yellen points out, according to this article. Econintersect: By our reckoning, Citigroup would also have gone bankrupt and possibly Bank of America as well.
There’s a Big Drop in U.S. Treasury Debt Supply Coming in 2016 (Bloomberg) The Federal deficit is not big enough to satisfy market needs for Treasury securities.
The Latest: US House leader won’t pay for climate deal (Associated Press) U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says the House will not go along if President Barack Obama tries to commit taxpayer money to support a climate accord reached in Paris. He says Congress has the authority to decide how to spend U.S. taxpayer dollars, “and I don’t think that’s the best use of our money.” McCarthy suggested that a must-pass year-end spending bill currently in the works could become the vehicle for language blocking any such expenditure.
Death By Lethal Injection: A Reading Guide (ProPublica) Is lethal injection the most humane method of execution? Is there another way? Should we eliminate the death penalty altogether? Here is a summary of some of the best reporting on the practice.
Alabama lawmaker accuses convenience store owners of funding terrorism in ugly Facebook rant (Raw Story)
Syria
Putin, Obama discuss Syria political settlement (Associated Press) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he and President Barack Obama have a shared understanding on how to move toward a political settlement in Syria, but added that incidents like the recent downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet stymie broader cooperation against extremism. Putin and Obama had a half-hour meeting on the sidelines of a climate summit near Paris, and the Russian leader told reporters they discussed efforts to compile a list of extremist groups and another one of members of legitimate political opposition. Putin said:
“We have an understanding how we should proceed if we talk about a political settlement. We need to work on a new (Syrian) constitution, new elections and the control over their outcome.”
Japan
Japan’s Economy: Uptick In Output, Retail Sales Raise Hopes Of A Rebound (International Business Times) Japan’s economy showed initial signs of a recovery as the production of electronic devices and cars boosted industrial output by 1.4% in October (over September), according to preliminary trade ministry data released Monday. Industrial output rose for the second consecutive month while monthly retail sales in the island nation also showed a modest uptick.
India
India Growth Exceeds Estimate Before Interest Rate Decision (Bloomberg) India’s economy grew faster than estimated before central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan reviews interest rates on Tuesday for a final time this year. Gross domestic product rose 7.4% in July-September from a year earlier, after a 7% expansion the previous quarter
India questions OECD claim on climate finance (The Hindu) The India Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) says that an OECD report which said that developed countries and their private sector had provided $62 billion in climate finance flows in 2014 – up from $52 billion in 2013 – and an average of $57 billion annually over 2013-14 is bogus (“flawed” is the polite term used). The DEA says the real number is $2.2 billion.
China
China’s Manufacturing PMI Weakens to Lowest in Three Years (Bloomberg Business) The official purchasing managers index fell to 49.6 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday — the lowest level since August 2012. That compared with a median estimate of 49.8 in a Bloomberg survey of economists, which was also the level for September and October. The non-manufacturing PMI rose to 53.6 from 53.1 a month earlier. Numbers below 50 indicate deterioration.
Can China’s most polluted city lead a green energy revolution? (CNN) In Baoding, China, the country’s most polluted city, the smog is thick enough to see. It can burn your eyes and it can leave an acrid taste in your mouth. This is the reality of daily life under the cloak of a toxic shroud. Heavy pollution lingering in the skies over China have prompted a surge in demand throughout the country for cleaner energy. In 2014, Chinese companies invested more than $80 billion in everything from hydroelectric to wind to solar projects. No country in the world has invested more. But, according to Greenpeace, between January and September China approved at least 155 coal-fired power plants this year — that’s four a week. If there is a revolution it hasn’t started yet.
Australia
‘Australia headed for recession’: Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister (Financial Review) After a quarter of a century with only expansion, Australia is headed towards recession, according to former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who argues that weak domestic investment and the slowdown in China will ultimately put the brakes on growth. Varoufakis said:
“The recession itself would not be the problem because some recessions are necessary. Some recessions are a bit like bush fires that clear out the forest, and help with the regeneration. The fear would be that this is something more secular, something more like stagnation, and a systemic crisis. I’m not saying that is going to happen, but if I were a politician here, this is what I would be worried about.”
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