Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 27 June 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 mixed as oil prices rise, traders watch central banks (CNBC) Markets in Asia were mixed on Monday as traders watched for signals from central bankers’ speeches. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was a tad softer at 97.364 at 11:35 a.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude futures edged higher by 0.31% to trade at $45.97 a barrel and U.S. crude futures rose 0.18% to trade at $43.46. Spot gold had risen 0.1% to $1,244.96 per ounce by 0428 GMT. It hit a near six-week low of $1,236.46 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell 0.1% to $1,245.40 per ounce.
Estimates of Sea Level Rise by 2100 Have Tripled in the Past Few Years (The Real News Network) In less than three years, scientists essentially doubled the IPC’s 2013 estimate of maximum sea level rise by 2100. The IPCC estimate relied on the notion that expanding ocean waters and the melting of relatively small glaciers would fuel the majority of sea level rise, rather than the massive ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
It turns out, however, that scientists were underestimating the rate at which the giant ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland were melting. About one month ago, scientists increased their estimates of sea level rise even further. New research, including from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, increased the plausible sea level rise maximum to as much as 2.7 meters. Thus, in the space of a mere five years, the scientific community nearly tripled its estimate of maximum sea level rise under a business-as-usual scenario.
U.S.
Three GOP Senators Oppose Health Bill, Enough to Block It (Bloomberg) At least three Republican senators said they would vote to block the current version of their party’s health-care bill from advancing, endangering Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to repeal Obamacare. Republican Susan Collins of Maine late Monday said she would vote against a key procedural step, joining Rand Paul of Kentucky and Dean Heller of Nevada.
Supreme Court Allows Watered-Down Travel Ban To Take Effect For Now (Huffington Post) The Supreme Court has agreed to review President Donald Trump’s travel ban in October, allowing a watered-down version of the order to go into effect in the meantime. Individuals from the six Muslim-majority countries affected by the ban ― Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen ― who have a bona fide relationship with the United States aren’t blocked from entering the country.
The court’s order released Monday said a “close familial relationship is required” for individuals who wish to live with or visit a family member. When the relationship is with an entity like a university, it must be “formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading” the executive order.
The announcement shouldn’t disrupt most of the people who would otherwise be traveling to the U.S. from these six countries.
Image of the United States has plunged under Trump, survey shows (Reuters) The image of the United States has deteriorated sharply across the globe under President Donald Trump and an overwhelming majority of people in other countries have no confidence in his ability to lead, a survey from the Pew Research Center showed.
Five months into Trump’s presidency, the survey spanning 37 nations showed U.S. favorability ratings in the rest of the world slumping to 49 percent from 64 percent at the end of Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House.
But the falls were far steeper in some of America’s closest allies, including U.S. neighbors Mexico and Canada, and European partners like Germany and Spain.
California to list glyphosate as cancer-causing; Monsanto vows fight (Reuters) Glyphosate, an herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto Co’s popular Roundup weed killer, will be added to California’s list of chemicals known to cause cancer effective July 7, the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) said on Monday. Monsanto vowed to continue its legal fight against the designation, required under a state law known as Proposition 65, and called the decision “unwarranted on the basis of science and the law“.
By Criticizing Obama, Trump Contradicts His Own Comments on Russian Meddling (The New York Times) Econontersect: This story is too complicated for us to try to summarize. It recounts so much that is seemingly impossible to have actually occurred and yet probably did.
U.S. Temp Workers at Rcord 3 Million (Twitter)
UK
Those to Blame for the Grenfell Fire Victims Include Tony Blair (William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives) WKB has contributed to GEI. Here he unloads on political forces that have dominated the UK and the U.S. over the last quarter century.
I do not focus on Tony Blair and Gordon Brown because they are uniquely culpable for the mass deaths in the fire. Their failures are important to explaining several points that are often unclear to Americans. First, Blair and Brown, as leaders of the Labor Party, were supposed to protect poorer citizens like those living in the tower blocks through effective health and safety regulation. Historically, that would have been a top priority of the Labor Party. Second, the reality is that Blair and Brown were aggressively hostile to health and safety regulation and that hostility exemplifies the radical transformation that “New Labor’s” leaders made to the party. Third, Blair and Brown modeled New Labor on Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al Gore’s transformative policies when they led the New Democrats. The New Democrats’ most radical political change was their hostility to the white working class, but their most radical policy change was their unholy war against effective health and safety regulation through the infamous “Reinventing Government” campaign. Fourth, the revulsion of much of the Labor Party’s base and the New Democrats’ base to these twin radical changes in political identification and policy in which the historical parties of the workers turned against the workers led to initial electoral success followed by severe defeats.
DUP takes £1 billion to support Theresa May, but at what cost to the United Kingdom? (The Conversation) The agreement, following the UK general election, between the Conservative and Unionist Party and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has seen both parties extend their cooperation beyond matters of confidence and supply, to vital questions of Brexit and national security.
However, perhaps the most explosive aspect of the deal, in domestic political terms, pertains to the additional £1 billion “cash for votes” agreement. This will see extra money flow to Northern Ireland over the next two years. In effect, Theresa May’s government has spent £100 million of taxpayers’ money for the support of each of the ten DUP MPs at Westminster.
Many people in England, Scotland and Wales may have imagined the existing fiscal and constitutional settlement had already recognised in full measure Northern Ireland’s “unique circumstances”. In 2015-16, the people of Northern Ireland were recipients of the highest identifiable public spending on services in the UK, at £10,983 per person. By contrast, Scotland received £10,536 per person and Wales just £9,996 per person. In England it was a mere £8,816 per person.
India
Trump urges India’s Modi to fix deficit, but stresses strong ties (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do more to relax Indian trade barriers on Monday during talks in which both leaders took great pains to stress the importance of a strong U.S.-Indian relationship. At a closely watched first meeting between the two, Trump and Modi appeared to get along well. Modi pulled in Trump for a bear hug on the stage as the cameras rolled in the Rose Garden.
China
China’s premier hints at a new economic model as he touts globalization (CNBC) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered an address resoundingly touting the benefits of globalization during the first day of the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” event in Dalian, China. During the speech, Li heralded globalization, saying that “it is bringing benefits to all countries,” although he acknowledged that countries may also face challenges along the way.
While positioning China as a global leader, the premier also reiterated his country’s commitment to addressing climate change – a reaffirmation which comes in the wake of the U.S. announcing its departure from the global Paris Agreement on the issue.
