Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 23 February 2017
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
Asia markets lower; Qantas shares up 5.4% after reporting first-half earnings (CNBC) Markets in Asia were mostly lower on Thursday, following a mixed close in U.S. equities overnight as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s previous meeting hinted that a rate hike is coming “fairly soon.” In the currency market, the dollar index traded at 101.32 at 2:36 p.m. HK/SIN. Oil traded higher Thursday during Asian hours, with U.S. crude up 0.82% at $54.03 a barrel at 2:37 p.m. HK/SIN, while Brent climbed 0.82% to $56.30. Gold prices were little changed.
‘Beyond the extreme’: Scientists marvel at ‘increasingly non-natural’ Arctic warmth (The Washingtonn Post) The record warm in the in the Arctic has reached levels that a few years ago were projected for 50 to 100 years from now.
Averaged over the Arctic north of 80 degrees, this chart displays the difference from normal in the cumulative number of freezing degree days September to January. Freezing degree days accumulate according to the number of degrees Celsius below freezing. Minus-5 Celsius would represent five freezing degree days. (Nico Sun)
U.S.
Senator Tom Cotton Town Hall Event (YouTube) Over 2,000 attended a town hall meeting hosted by Sen. Tom Cotton February 22 in Springdale, Arkansas. The audience is largely confrontational but did not get out of control. See also next item.
Town Hall Scenes Without Congressmen (Twitter) Econintersect has no way to verify if the claim of noshows is correct.
The Myth of the U.S. Immigration Crisis (Bloomberg) With the rise of Donald Trump, anti-immigrant sentiment has reached levels not seen in decades in the U.S. Anger against illegal immigration and fear of refugees, previously confined to the fringes of the Republican base, are now at the center of public dialogue. Among some pundits and intellectuals, the response has been to try to accommodate this anger — to see immigration as a problem that needs solving. For example, my friend Josh Barro at Business Insider recently wrote an article lambasting Democrats for failing to have a coherent program for immigration reform.
I think this is wrong. Yes, I’m in favor of improving the U.S. immigration system — my proposal is to implement a skills-based system like Canada’s. Yes, the current system is suboptimal in a number of ways. But by treating immigration as an urgent problem in need of dramatic policy action, centrists are conceding way too much. The current situation is not an emergency at all.
Illegal immigration to the U.S. ended a decade ago and, according to the Pew Research Center, has been zero or negative since its peak in 2007:
Air Force Stumped by Trump’s Claim of $1 Billion Savings on Jet (Bloomberg) The Air Force can’t account for $1 billion in savings that President Donald Trump said he’s negotiated for the program to develop, purchase and operate two new Boeing Co. jets to serve as Air Force One. A White House spokesman didn’t respond to repeated inquiries about Trump’s comments. Colonel Pat Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, told reporters Wednesday when asked how Trump had managed to reduce the price for the new presidential plane:
“To my knowledge I have not been told that we have that information. I refer you to the White House.”
Arizona Senate votes to seize assets of those who plan, participate in protests that turn violent (Arizona Capitol Times) Claiming people are being paid to riot, Republican state senators voted Wednesday to give police new power to arrest anyone who is involved in a peaceful demonstration that may turn bad – even before anything actually happened.
SB1142 expands the state’s racketeering laws, now aimed at organized crime, to also include rioting. And it redefines what constitutes rioting to include actions that result in damage to the property of others.
But the real heart of the legislation is what Democrats say is the guilt by association – and giving the government the right to criminally prosecute and seize the assets of everyone who planned a protest and everyone who participated.
Lake Berryessa is 3.5′ OVER the Glory Hole Spillway 4K HD Drone Report – Lake Berryessa News 2-21-17 (YouTube) Lake Berryessa is 32 miles north of Napa, CA and 80 miles north of San Fransisco. Map below from California’s Greatest Lakes. From YouTube:
The latest rains in California are topping the lake off at over 3.5′ above the World Famous Glory Hole Spillway at Lake Berryessa, so check out Lake Berryessa, Putah Creek, and the Monticello Dam from the perspective of a drone, this time with MORE WATER. Also, high water at the dam means minor flooding in the resorts, happy geese, and lots of water for fishing! Check it out!
FEB 21, 2017 LAKE LEVEL FACTS:
-Lake level is still rising, and as of 1:00 pm, at 443.5 feet, or 3.5 feet over the Glory Hole spillway! This is equal to the highest the lake level in 11 years on January 2, 2006.
-It is only 3.2 feet lower than the highest level in lake history – 446.7 feet in 1983 – 6.7 feet above Glory Hole.
-The lake level has only reached Glory Hole 26 times in its 58 year history.
-From the chart we can see that 1996 to 2006 was a wet period with the lake hitting Glory Hole 9 out of 11 years. Also, the lake has just seen the second fastest rise in its history. The fastest rise was 61 feet in 1995 – and the lake never even got to Glory Hole level.
-Are we entering another 11 year wet period? How much higher will it go?
-The lake level at this time last year was 401.4 feet, 42.1 feet lower than today.
-The level has risen 44.9 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16 and 39.8 feet since January 1, 2017.
-This winter rainfall total has risen to 40 to 110+ inches in the watershed.
UK
Clear off: City of London steps up fight to retain euro clearing after expert warnings against “currency nationalism” (City A.M.) High-profile regulators, politicians and financial experts have warned that any move by the European Union to force euro clearing out of London could have grave consequences for global economic stability and transaction costs. Sir Jon Cunliffe, the deputy governor of the Bank of England who supervises financial stability, hit out at “currency nationalism“ on Wednesday, saying:
“Such a policy if applied by all jurisdictions is in the end likely to be a road to the splintering of this global infrastructure – and to further fragmentation of the global capital market – rather than the route to the sound and efficient management of risk.”
£450m lost over failed green power programme (The Times) Britain is wasting hundreds of millions of pounds subsidising power stations to burn American wood pellets that do more harm to the climate than the coal they replaced, a study has found. Chopping down trees and transporting wood across the Atlantic Ocean to feed power stations produces more greenhouse gases than much cheaper coal, according to the report. It blames the rush to meet EU renewable energy targets, which resulted in ministers making the false assumption that burning trees was carbon-neutral.
Iraq
Iraqi security forces storm Mosul airport, military base (Reuters) U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the Islamic State-held western half of Mosul stormed the city’s airport and a nearby military base on Thursday, state television said. Counter-terrorism service (CTS) troops and elite interior ministry units known as Rapid Response descended on the airport early on Thursday and the nearby Ghozlani military complex, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told state TV.
China
Goldman Sachs: This reform would stem much of China’s net outflows (CNBC) Goldman says China could stem the net outflow through its bond market, as while it’s the third-largest government bond market globally, with $1.7 trillion of value outstanding, it isn’t included in any major global bond index because of the country’s capital controls.
“One way China can induce natural inflows is to further liberalize its onshore bond market, and by doing so it could become eligible for inclusion into the major global bond indices. As a consequence, benchmarked funds would then have to allocate to China, as part of their index tracking process.”
Mexico
Deportation spat overshadows Trump envoys’ talks with angry Mexico (Reuters) A bid by U.S. President Donald Trump to deport non-Mexican illegal migrants to Mexico that has enraged Mexicans will top the agenda when officials from both countries meet on Thursday amid a deepening rift between the two nations. The U.S. government on Tuesday said it would seek to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the United States from there, regardless of their nationality, prompting a fiery response from Mexican officials. Calling the measure “unilateral” and “unprecedented“, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said new immigration guidelines would top the agenda of meetings in Mexico City with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The stakes are high for the United States, since Mexico has warned that a breakdown in relations could affect its extensive cooperation on the fight against narcotics and on stemming the flow of Central American migrants that reach the U.S. border
