Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 11 October 2016
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
Asian markets mixed, Samsung drops 6% on new Galaxy Note 7 blow (CNBC) Asian shares were mixed Thursday, with Samsung Electronics in focus after the stock extended its losses in reaction to what appeared to be a botched recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. Samsung plunged 6.73% to 1,567,000 won ($1,400.74) a share after news that the South Korean tech giant asked its global partners to stop all sales and exchanges of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and advised users to switch their phones off. There were reports at the weekend that devices given to customers to replace their fire-prone phones were also catching fire, and Samsung said on Monday that it had adjusted shipment volumes on Note 7s so it could focus on quality control.
Putin’s promise to join OPEC output freeze may not rebalance market, Goldman says (CNBC) Russia may be ready to join OPEC’s efforts to curb oil supply, but concerns remain about whether the deal would rebalance the oil market. Goldman Sachs analysts said in a Tuesday note that while recent comments by Saudi Arabia and Russia pointed to a greater probability of a production cut,
“… higher production from Libya, Nigeria and Iraq are reducing the odds of such a deal rebalancing the oil market in 2017.”
U.S.
Donald Trump Calls for Debate Co-Chairman to Step Down (The New York Times)
Donald J. Trump demanded on Monday that the Republican co-chairman of the Presidential Commission on Debates step down, intensifying a clash that could precipitate Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the third and final debate in Las Vegas next week.
The move followed an extraordinary backstage confrontation on Sunday night between Mr. Trump’s campaign and the commission co-chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., who blocked Mr. Trump from giving his V.I.P. box seats to a group of women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of making unwanted sexual advances.
The situation de-escalated only after the commission threatened to call security to remove the women if they tried to sit in the box, where they would have been right next to Mr. Clinton and in Hillary Clinton’s line of sight from the stage – a spectacle that Mr. Trump and his top advisers tried to engineer for maximum shock effect just as tens of millions of people would be tuning in from around the world.
Mark Burnett: We can’t release ‘Apprentice’ tapes (Politico) MGM has put out a statement claiming it is not able to release raw footage of Donald Trump during his time on the show “The Apprentice” because of contractual obligations. The statement from MGM and Burnett said in part:
“MGM owns Mark Burnett’s production company and ‘The Apprentice’ is one of its properties. Despite reports to the contrary, Mark Burnett does not have the ability or the right to release footage or other material from ‘The Apprentice.’ Various contractual and legal requirement also restrict MGM’s ability to release such material.”
Trump determinedly stays on attack after rough weekend (CNN) Donald Trump intensified his attacks on his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by tying her to allegations of sexual misconduct against her husband — going further even than he did during Sunday night’s debate. He warned that more attacks would come should more tapes of him “saying inappropriate things” emerge. See also 5 things Trump said in the wake of the 2nd debate.
Giving up on Trump? Ryan focusing on saving GOP majority (Associated Press) House Speaker Paul Ryan, the nation’s top elected Republican, effectively abandoned Donald Trump Monday, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he will not campaign for or defend the floundering businessman in the election’s closing weeks. Pro-Trump members rebelled in anger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election to Hillary Clinton. Indeed, Ryan said he would devote his energy to ensuring Clinton doesn’t get a “blank check” as president with a Democratic-controlled Congress, according to people on his private conference call with GOP House members. While the Wisconsin Republican did not formally rescind his own tepid endorsement of Trump, he told lawmakers they were free to do just that and fight for their own re-election.
EU
Deutsche Bank got special treatment in EU stress test (New York Post) Deutsche Bank received special treat from European regulators during this summer’s EU bank stress test, the Financial Times reports. Germany’s largest lender was allowed by the European Central Bank to included the $4 billion gains from selling its stake in Hua Xia, Chinese lender, despite the deal not closing by the end of 2015. While the deal was footnoted in the test results, other banks that had pending deals were not allowed to use those proceeds for the test.
The Deutsche Bank Frenzy and what it says about European banks (bruegel)
The IMF released their Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), which finds that short-term risks to global financial stability have abated since April 2016, but that medium-term risks continue to build. Financial institutions in advanced economies face a number of cyclical and structural challenges and need to adapt to low growth and low interest rates, as well as to an evolving market and regulatory environment. Weak profitability could erode banks’ buffers over time and undermine their ability to support growth and a cyclical recovery will not resolve the problem of low profitability. The IMF stresses that more deep-rooted reforms and systemic management are needed, especially for European banks.
UK
Hard Brexit will cost Treasury up to £66bn a year, ministers are told (The Guardian) Treasury coffers may take a £66 billion annual hit if Britain goes for a hard Brexit, cabinet ministers have been warned. Leaked government papers suggest that leaving the single market and switching to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules would cause GDP to fall by up to 9.5% compared with staying in the EU.
France
Syria conflict: France wants Russia on war crimes charges (BBC News) French President Francois Hollande has suggested Russia could face war crimes charges over its bombardment of Syria’s second city Aleppo. Mr Hollande told French TV this could take place in the International Criminal Court (ICC). He also said he might refuse to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to visit France next week. Last week Russia vetoed a Franco-Spanish UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to the bombing. Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, and said it targets terrorist groups in Syria.
Turkey
Turkey’s new border wall to stop Syrian refugees (Politico) For Syrians looking to flee relentless violence, there aren’t a lot of options left. Neighboring countries have clamped down on most escape routes, trapping hundreds of thousands inside the country. Now Turkish officials say that, within five months, Turkey will build a gigantic wall to seal off the entire 900-kilometer border it shares with Syria, aiming to stop illegal crossings and combat smuggling. A 200-kilometer stretch has already been completed after construction began in 2014. This is a policy reversal after years of accepting millions of Syrian refugees.
Singapore
1MDB: Singapore shuts down Swiss Falcon Bank over Malaysian scandal (The Guardian) Singapore’s central bank has shut down a second Swiss bank under investigation for alleged money laundering activities linked to the Malaysian state fund 1MDB. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had ordered Falcon Bank to cease its operations in the city-state because of a “persistent and severe lack of understanding” of Singapore’s money laundering controls. The MAS announced it had also fined DBS and UBS for similar violations which were isolated and not pervasive. See also next article.
Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Ex-Bankers in 1MDB Malaysia Fund Case (The Wall Street Journal) Prosecutors charged two former private bankers Monday with forgery and other criminal charges in the latest legal salvo related to the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from Malaysian state development fund 1MDB. Yak Yew Chee, 57 years old, and Yvonne Seah, 45, were charged in Singapore’s state courts with three counts each of forgery and four counts each of failing to report suspicious transactions between 2012 and 2014, during their employment by the Singapore branch of Swiss private bank BSI SA.
Malaysia
Malaysian PM Najib key figure in 1MDB corruption scandal, alleges cabinet minister (The Guardian) A Malaysian cabinet minister, the Communications Director for ruling coalition, has said Prime Minister Najib Razak was the mysterious unnamed official who the US Justice Department said took part in rampant looting of state funds.
Japan
New Discovery About Persians in Ancient Japan Generates Excitement (Global Voices) The results of research by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties reinforces the idea that ancient Japan had strong ties with global culture – all transmitted via the Silk Road. The Institute announced that new infrared images of a wooden tablet used for record-keeping in 8th century Japan identified a Persian official by name, likely a scholar and tutor serving the Japanese Imperial Court. The map below shows the extensive interactions in eastern Asia over 1,000 years indicated by the spread of Buddhism.
Click for large image at Wikipedia.
China
China anti-corruption campaign backfires (Financial Times) Xi Jinping’s high profile anti-corruption campaign has fallen short of its stated goal and appears to be doing more harm than good to the image of China’s Communist party, according to new academic research and an analysis of official statistics. Public opinion is increasingly showing a feeling that the government is corrupt and the party disciplines its cadres (party workers) for graft.
China’s ‘extinct’ dolphin may have returned to Yangtze river, say conservationists (The Guardian) Chinese conservationists believe they may have caught a rare glimpse of a freshwater dolphin that was declared functionally extinct a decade ago having graced the Yangtze river for 20 million years, making it one of the oldest freshwater mammals. Scientists and environmentalists had appeared to abandon hope that China’s baiji, or white dolphin, could survive as a species after they failed to find a single animal during a fruitless six-week hunt along the 6,300-km (3,915-mile) waterway in 2006. But a team of amateur conservationists now claims it spotted the so-called “goddess of the Yangtze” last week on a stretch of Asia’s longest river near the city of Wuhu in Anhui province.
Haiti
Haitian leader: Cholera kills 13 after Matthew (CNN) Haiti’s leader says Hurricane Matthew’s assault has accelerated the already existing cholera epidemic and undermined the strides made in fighting the disease. For a great review of Haiti’s problems, including historical perspectives, see How Haiti can recover from Hurricane Matthew’s devastation.
Bermuda
Hurricane Watch Issued for Bermuda: Nicole Could Move Near Bermuda as a Hurricane Later This Week (The Weather Channel) Nicole will move northward and strengthen over the next couple of days, heading in the general direction of Bermuda. The graphic below is from Sig Silber’s weekly global weather report posted a couple of hours ago: October 10, 2016 Weather and Climate Report – Normalcy Returns.
Canada
The Relationship between Labour Productivity and Real Wage Growth in Canada and OECD Countries (Center for the Study of Living Standards)
The median real earnings of Canadians barely increased between 1980 and 2005; over the same period, labor productivity rose by 37.4 per cent. This divergence can be explained by four factors: measurement issues, an increase in earnings inequality, a decline in labor’s terms of trade, and a decline in labor’s share of national income.
The most important measurement issue is the definition of real wages. The labor compensation series from the Canadian Productivity Accounts covers the broadest definition of labor compensation and covers the widest definition of worker. It is therefore used as the measure of real wages in this report. Moving from earnings of full-time full year workers to labor compensation per hour explains about one-fifth of the real wages and labour productivity growth gap over the 1980-2005 period. This difference is fully explained by the more rapid growth of non-wage labour income including pension benefits, relative to earnings.
Rising earnings inequality, as captured by the difference in average and median real earnings growth, accounts for about one-quarter of the gap. The sources of the significant increase in earnings inequality in Canada since the late 1970s are still under investigation, but any convincing explanation will have to focus on the increasing concentration of income among top earners.