Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 03 January 2018
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, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 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 carve out slight gains as the dollar continues to languish (CNBC) Asian stocks notched moderate gains on Wednesday, tracking sizableincreases seen on Wall Street overnight as the dollar remained in the doldrums. The dollar index was mostly flat at 91.875 at 12:54 p.m. HK/SIN. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude inched higher by 0.03% to trade at $60.39 per barrel. Brent crude futures was off by 0.05% at $66.54. Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,312.71 an ounce at 0257 GMT. The precious metal earlier hit $1,321.33, its highest level since Sept. 15. U.S. gold futures were mostly unchanged at $1,315.60 an ounce.
- Bitcoin: Electrifying Investment, Lousy Currency (The Wall Street Journal) The number of cryptocurrencies spiked this year.
U.S.
- Five fights facing Congress in 2018 (The Hill) Lawmakers will face several divisive fights in January as they return to Washington:
- Government funding and budget caps
- Immigration
- Entitlement reform
- ObamaCare
- Infrastructure
- Snow, ice to threaten treacherous travel from Florida to Virginia at midweek (Accuweather) A rapidly developing storm will spread a swath of snow, ice and slippery travel along the southeastern coast of the United States during Wednesday and Wednesday night. Precipitation from the storm will tend to hug the coast. Several inches of snow are likely and freezing temperatures are expected to extend southward into central Florida. The storm is forecast to bring a blizzard to the northeastern U.S. and Canada’s Maritime Provinces later in the week. See Sig Silber’s report for more details: January 2, 2018 Weather and Climate Report – Much to Cover.
- The Memo: Trump’s NYT interview sets 2018 stage (The Hill) President Trump won’t be making any move to push special counsel Robert Mueller out – yet. That’s the main takeaway from Trump’s interview with The New York Times, which was published last Thursday evening. Trump will have surprised some allies by predicting that Mueller will be “fair“.
- With Tax Plan Safely Across Finish Line, Marco Rubio Admits GOP ‘Probably Went Too Far’ in Rewarding Corporations (Common Dreams) Hat tip to Surly1. Now that the GOP’s $1.5 trillion tax bill has passed both houses of Congress and been signed into law, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), whose vote helped ensure the legislation’s passage, conceded in an interview with the Florida-based outlet News-Press that his party’s deeply unpopular plan “probably” goes “too far” in rewarding some of America’s most profitable corporations. Rubio said that, the GOP plan is still “better” than the current tax code, he had reservations:
“If I were king for a day, this tax bill would have looked different. I thought we probably went too far on [helping] corporations. By and large, you’re going to see a lot of these multinationals buy back shares to drive up the price. Some of them will be forced, because they’re sitting on historic levels of cash, to pay out dividends to shareholders. That isn’t going to create dramatic economic growth.”
- Sanders: Trump’s telling his friends the truth about tax bill (The Hill) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said President Trump is finally “telling the truth” about the tax bill following a report that Trump told friends at his Mar-a-Lago resort that they all “just got a lot richer” after he signed the legislation. Sanders tweeted:
“At least Trump is finally telling the truth about his tax bill.”
- ‘Disaster-in-Chief’: San Juan Major Blasts Trump As Slow Recovery Drags On 100 Days After Hurricane Maria (Common Dreams) Hat tip to Surly1. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz blasted U.S. President Donald Trump as a “disaster-in-chief” in an interview with ABC News this week while slow recovery efforts continue 100 days after the Category 4 Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico in late September. Cruz said:
“Where he needed to be a commander-in-chief, he was a disaster-in-chief. President Trump does not embody the values of the good-hearted American people that have [made] sure that we are not forgotten. He was disrespectful to the Puerto Rican people, he was disrespectful to the American people who were leaving their homes to come help us here.”
EU
- The Evolution of the Refugee Crisis (Project Syndicate) Things are looking up regarding refugees in Europe – maybe. From this article:
The 2015 refugee crisis is still a raw issue for millions of Europeans, and continues to serve as fodder for populist and nationalist movements. But, in reality, the situation has started to improve dramatically in many host countries, and it is now incumbent on European leaders to ensure that the trend continues.
- Outlier Economists See ECB Raising Rates as Early as Next Year (Bloomberg) At least six banks including Nomura International Plc and Barclays Plc predict that President Mario Draghi will raise interest rates as soon as next year. While those forecasts are outliers — most investors and economists only foresee a rate hike well into 2019 — a key rationale is that faster-than-expected inflation will force the ECB’s hand.
Iran
- Iran’s Chief Justice: Protesters May Face the Death Penalty (Daily Beast) In an ominous turn of events in Tehran, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Court warned Tuesday that arrested protesters could face the death penalty when their cases come to trial. According to the state-affiliated Tasnim news agency, chief justice Mousa Ghazanfarabadi is quoted as threatening “Obviously one of their charges can be Moharebeh” – or waging war against God, which is a death-penalty offense in Iran. More than 450 people have reportedly been taken into custody during six days of unrest, as tens of thousands have taken to the streets in nationwide demonstrations against poor economic conditions and frustration with the Islamic government.
- Did the US Cause Iran’s Economic Protests & Will Trump Take Advantage? (Common Dreams) The scattered urban protests that began in Mashhad last Thursday spread to several other provincial cities on Friday, including Qom, Rasht, Kerman, and Qazvin. This is like protests in the US starting in Boston and spreading to Denver and Cleveland. It seems clear that the rallies began with complaints against Iran’s bad economy. People are complaining about inflation, high prices, and the reduction or removal of government subsidies. This article suggests that there is not much opportunity for the U.S. to capitalize on this, however.
- Haley calls for emergency UN response to Iran protests (The Hill) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday called for the international organization to hold multiple emergency sessions as protests continued in Iran for the sixth day. Haley said at a press conference:
“The U.N. must speak out. In the days ahead, we will be calling for an emergency session both here in New York and at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. We must not be silent. The people of Iran are crying out for freedom.”
- Nine people were reported to have been killed during protests on Monday night, bringing the death toll from the unrest to 21
- “Crucially, the protests are now firmly beyond the control of any political factions or movements,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal analyst for the Middle East and Northern Africa at risk consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC in an email Tuesday
- The ongoing clashes are the biggest public challenge to Iran’s status quo since 2009, when a disputed presidential election prompted millions to take to the streets of the country to voice their anger
- Unrest is widespread across the country
- Let Down by Reformists, Working-Class Iranians Join Widespread Protests (The Real News Network) Thousands have taken to the streets in Iran’s largest and deadliest protests since 2009. Exiled Iranian activist Dariush Arjmandi says demonstrators are challenging economic mismanagement and repressive state control, not pushing the regime change agenda of Iran’s global foes.
South Korea
- A clash between Seoul and Tokyo over the issue of World War II comfort women could throw Asian geopolitics into disarray
- Bilateral tensions could limit international cooperation on North Korea as well as push South Korea closer to China, experts said
- S. Korea Welcomes Kim Jong Un’s Proposed Olympics Talks (Daily Beast) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s apparent willingness to participate in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and offer for high-level talks. Just a day earlier, Kim announced his hope “for (a) peaceful resolution with our southern border” in a televised New Year’s Day speech. Kim said North Korean representatives should begin discussing the possibility of sending a delegation to the 2018 Winter Games as soon as possible.
Brazil
- Brazil’s Retail Sales (The Daily Shot) Brazil’s retail sales have bifurcated between industries that are sensitive to income vs. those sensitive to credit.
January 2, 2018 Weather and Climate Report – Much to Cover
