Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 10 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.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.
Global
Most major Asian markets trade lower, but Hong Kong shines (CNBC) Major Asian markets traded mostly lower on Wednesday despite a solid lead from Wall Street overnight, but Hong Kong stocks bucked the trend. the dollar index traded flat at 92.450 against a basket of currencies. U.S. crude futures rose 0.81% to trade at $63.47 a barrel and Brent crude added 0.81% to $69.47. Spot gold dipped 0.3% to $1,309.26 an ounce by 0049 GMT after prices fell 0.6% on Tuesday, its biggest one-day loss in a month.
U.S.
- Steve Bannon Ousted From Breitbart (Daily Beast) Steve Bannon will step down as executive chairman of Breitbart, the far-right website he ran before and after working as a chief strategist to President Trump. According to The New York Times:
“Mr. Bannon’s departure, which was forced by a onetime financial patron, Rebekah Mercer, comes as Mr. Bannon remained unable to quell the furor over remarks attributed to him in a new book in which he questions President Trump’s mental fitness and disparages his elder son, Donald Trump Jr.”
- Fusion GPS founder claimed FBI had Trump source during campaign (The Washington Post) Glenn R. Simpson, a founder of the research firm Fusion GPS, spoke to investigators with the Senate Judiciary Committee for 10 hours in August. As the partisan fight over Russian interference in the 2016 election has intensified, Simpson has urged that his testimony be released, and a copy of the transcript was made public Tuesday. Simpson told congressional investigators that someone inside Trump’s network had also provided the FBI with information during the 2016 campaign, a claim quickly disputed by people close to the investigation into Russian interference in the election. See also next article.
- Feinstein posts testimony of Fusion GPS co-founder (The Hill) Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has posted the entire transcript of closed-door testimony that Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson made to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click image below to read transcript:
- Fact-checking Michael Wolff (CNN) CNN Opinion asked experts on free press and the presidency to weigh in: What can we learn from the issues raised by the reactions of the President and the press to Michael Wolff’s book? The views expressed here are solely theirs. See also Frank Li’s book review.
- Judge blocks Trump move to end DACA (The Hill) A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects certain immigrants from deportation. Judge William Alsup said the Obama-era program must remain in place while litigation over Trump’s decision to end the program plays out. In a court ruling, Alsup said the Department of Homeland Security’s “decision to rescind DACA was based on a flawed legal premise.” As a result, DACA recipients who failed to renew their status by last year’s deadline will have a chance to submit renewal applications. The decision does not, however, allow new applications to be submitted.
- Judges order North Carolina congressional districts redrawn quickly (CNN) Federal judges said Tuesday that North Carolina will have to quickly redraw its 13 congressional districts because the map is unconstitutionally partisan. The three-judge panel rejected the previous map drawn by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, saying it violates the Equal Protection Clause, the First Amendment, and Article I of the Constitution. The judges gave the state about three weeks to file a new plan with the court so it will be in place before the 2018 midterms. See next article for more about North Carolina.
- These three maps show just how effectively gerrymandering can swing election outcomes (Daily Kos)
- Trump keeps selling the false ‘environment vs. economy’ line (The Hill) From this contributed Op Ed:
The economy versus the environment. It’s a false framing that’s been used for decades to oppose environmental protections. Never mind that we’ve cut air pollutant emissions 73 percent since 1970 while the economy continues to grow.
What’s new under the Trump administration and Republican Congress is a warping of the “economy vs. environment” framing to new levels of distortion. In policy after policy, Republicans haven’t merely pitted profits against environmental protection. Instead, they’ve favored the biggest polluters against their more moderately polluting peers. That means we can expect little economic benefit from the damage to our environment and health.
- Stephen Colbert Grills Michael Wolff Over ‘Fire and Fury’: Why Not Release the Tapes? (Daily Beast) The ‘Late Show’ host asked the ‘Fire and Fury’ author point blank how much of the Trump White House book he should ‘believe.’
EU
- European survey reveals significant public support for Basic Income (BIEN) On Thursday 16th November Ronnie Cowan MP hosted at the House of Commons a presentation by Professor Rory Fitzgerald of the European Social Survey about the results of their recent Europe-wide survey on public opinion on Basic Income. Professor Fitzgerald reported that in the UK 50.8% of the population agrees or agrees strongly that a Basic Income should be implemented, and 49.2% disagree or disagree strongly. Eonintersect: We suggest the title above is misleading. A more accurate title would be something like “Support and Opposition for Basic Income is Split 50:50“. See also Survey reveals young people more likely to support universal basic income, but it’s not a left-right thing (The Conversation).
Across all countries we found that, as expected, unemployed people and those in education tend to lend more support to the scheme – as do those on lower incomes. A respondent’s religion, gender and years of education don’t appear to have any particular effect on levels of support for a basic income. In the UK, the disabled and long-term sick had lower levels of support for UBI, perhaps reflecting concerns about losing existing benefits.
Germany​
- Germany’s factory orders remain near record levels (The Daily Shot)
Russia
- White House Official Floated Withdrawing U.S. Forces to Please Putin (Daily Beast) A senior National Security Council official proposed withdrawing some U.S. military forces from Eastern Europe as an overture to Vladimir Putin during the early days of the Trump presidency, according to two former administration officials. While the proposal was ultimately not adopted, it is the first known case of senior aides to Donald Trump seeking to reposition U.S. military forces to please Putin – something that smelled, to a colleague, like a return on Russia’s election-time investment in President Trump. The White House did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
South Korea
- Olympic Games ticket sales are falling short of the pace they set at past games.
- Tensions between North Korea and South Korea, lack of quality athletes from the NHL and Russia, and less conventional tourist draws may be to blame.
China
- Broad-Based Slowdown (The Daily Shot) Economists anticipate a weaker economic growth this year, as fixed asset investment slows. Elevated interest rates are taking their toll on the property markets.
