Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 29 March 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.
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Global
Asia markets close mixed after Dow breaks 8-day losing streak, Brexit ahead (CNBC) Asia markets finished mixed on Wednesday and sterling slipped as markets await the formal move by the U.K. to start an historic split with the European Union. The dollar was stronger at 99.875 against a basket of currencies, above yesterday’s lows at 98.858 but still weaker compared to levels above 100 last week. Brent crude continued to rise during Asian hours, up 0.39% to $51.53 a barrel, and U.S. crude rose 0.45% to $48.59. Oil rose more than 1% Tuesday in the U.S.. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,248.32 per ounce at 0325 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.6% to $1,247.9.
U.S.
Schock staffer was FBI informant, court filings reveal (The Hill) The FBI wired a congressional staffer and turned him into a secret informant during its investigation into former Rep. Aaron Schock’s (R-Ill.) alleged misuse of government and campaign funds, Schock’s attorneys said Tuesday in federal court filings.
The staffer, who is not named, secretly taped conversations with Schock and people working in his office while Schock was still a member of Congress, according to a 30-page motion and attached memo that cites documents from the court discovery process.
The informant took documents from Schock’s Illinois district office, including from another staffer’s desk and email inbox, and provided them to federal investigators, the documents say.
Toshiba’s Westinghouse files for US bankruptcy (BBC News) Westinghouse, Toshiba’s US nuclear unit, has filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection. The US firm has struggled with hefty losses that have thrown its Japanese parent into a crisis, putting the conglomerate’s future at risk. Westinghouse has suffered huge cost overruns at two U.S. projects in Georgia and South Carolina.
GOP torn over what to do next (The Hill) Days after the GOP’s healthcare effort crashed and burned, House Republicans are vowing to give it another shot until they “get it right“. They seem, though, to be largely on their own. President Trump is publicly signaling he wants to move on to tax reform and maybe team up with Democrats on something bipartisan, such as an infrastructure package.
Donald Trump proposes spending nearly $1 billion to build 50 miles of his border wall (Salon) The White House’s defense and border security spending budget supplement is requesting $999 million to build 48 miles of new wall, according to DHS justification documents reported by CNN. In addition, the money would also fund 14 miles of replacement fencing in San Diego. This would be on top of 14 miles of new wall construction in San Diego, 28 miles of new levee wall barriers in the Rio Grande Valley region, and six miles of new border wall also in the Rio Grande Valley region.
House passes bill undoing Obama internet privacy rule (The Hill) The House on Tuesday voted in favor of blocking internet privacy rules passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year, sending the bill to President Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. The bill passed 215 to 205, with 15 Republicans joining 190 Democrats voting against it. The FCC rules would have given consumers greater control over what their internet service provider can do with their data by requiring those companies to get permission from customers before using their information to create targeted advertisements.
UK
Scottish parliament votes for second independence referendum (The Guardian) Nicola Sturgeon has won a key Holyrood vote on her plans for a second independence referendum, triggering accusations from UK ministers that her demands are premature. Sturgeon won by a 10-vote majority after the Scottish Greens backed her proposals to formally request from the UK government the powers to stage a fresh independence vote at around the time Britain leaves the EU, in spring 2019.
How Article 50 works: When, where and how Theresa May will trigger Article 50 and (finally) begin the Brexit process (City A.M.) Today is likely to go down in history. Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 and officially begin the Brexit process. Here’s the start of everything you need to know (read the article for the rest):
What is Article 50?
Article 50 refers to the 264-word clause of the Treaty on European Union (often referred to by the marginally more memorable moniker, the Lisbon Treaty) allowing countries to leave the European Union (EU).
Any country can leave the union subject to “its own constitutional requirements”.
How rupture with mainland Europe caused Britain to falter for hundreds of years (The Conversation) From the fall of the Romans to the Middle Ages, Britain was more prosperous when it fostered a relationship with Europe. The clearest lesson of historyl is that the European mainland has been essential to Britain’s prosperity, and that when the relationship with Europe is poor, the lot of the ordinary Briton is poorer for it.
More than 50,000 European laws will have to be scrutinised as part of the Brexit Repeal Bill (City A.M.) The scale of the UK government’s Brexit challenge has been lain bare by new research revealing that more than 50,000 EU laws have been introduced in the UK since 1990 alone. European laws are expected to be transposed into British statutes by Prime Minister Theresa May’s Great Repeal Bill, with plans to be revealed on Thursday.
Why the new £1 coin could be the last one ever made as the UK moves closer to a cashless society (City A.M.) The digital transaction age is arriving. With the rise of alternative payment methods in the last few years, from contactless to mobile, it is nearly impossible to imagine that we will still be handing over bits of metal (no matter how secure) in 2051.
These Are the Numbers Behind the Thorniest Issues for Brexit Negotiators (Bloomberg) Tough choices await negotiators in upcoming Brexit talks. How much, if anything, is the U.K. willing to pay to settle its dues? How many immigrants are too many for British voters? How much free-trade can the U.K. still enjoy with the bloc afterward? Will the U.K. economy keep growing? U.K. and EU negotiators will monitor these key indicators over the next two years to help reach a compromise. Three of the many charts in this article below.
Russia
Russian protests won’t topple Putin but the Kremlin is right to be worried (The Conversation) Anti-corruption protests in more than 80 cities spell trouble for the 2018 presidential election campaign.
Of course, none of this has fundamentally changed the domestic reality. Putin will have no difficulty in dispensing with Navalny and stage-managing an election victory for a fourth term in 2018. But even if he is as much in control as he was before the protests, the legitimacy of his rule is still in danger.
China
Huishan Turmoil Highlights China’s $8 Trillion Shadow Loan Risk (Bloomberg) Turmoil at a small Chinese dairy company is shedding rare light on the final destination for some of the country’s estimated $8 trillion of shadow banking loans.
Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank Corp., a major creditor to embattled China Huishan Dairy Holdings Co., said late Tuesday it has extended a total of 1.35 billion yuan ($196 million) in credit to the dairy producer, including 750 million yuan through the purchase of investment receivables from a finance lease company.
Investment receivables — a category that can include using wealth-management products, asset-management plans and trust-beneficiary rights to disguise what are in effect loans — allow banks to reduce the amount of cash they need to set aside for capital and provisions for loan losses.
