Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 25 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
- Asia markets decline as the dollar remains on the back foot (CNBC) Major indexes in Asia traded mostly lower on Thursday while the dollar remained on the back foot after tumbling in the last session. At 12:48 p.m. HK/SIN, the dollar index slipped to trade at 88.994. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.96% to trade at $66.24 per barrel. Brent crude rose 0.62% to trade at $70.97 after earlier breaking above the $71 mark for the first time in around three years. Spot gold had risen 0.2% to $1,361.10 per ounce by 0258 GMT, after hitting its highest since Aug. 5, 2016 at $1,361.87.
- Oil climbs above $65 for first time in more than three years (Business Insider)
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed above the $65 mark for the first time in more than three years on Wednesday.
- The benchmark is important because it is considered a ‘break-even’ price for producers.
U.S.
- Trump says he’s open to citizenship path for DACA recipients (The Hill) Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is open to offering young immigrants a pathway to citizenship over 10-12 years, as long as he gets billions of dollars to pay for a border wall and other security measures. Under his forthcoming immigration plan, which will be released Monday, Trump told reporters that protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would “morph into” citizenship over that period. See also Breitbart labels Trump ‘Amnesty Don’ over DACA plans.
- Devin Nunes’ Anti-FBI Memo Names James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, and Andrew McCabe (Daily Beast) A controversial Republican memo alleging surveillance abuse specifically names FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein along with former FBI Director James Comey.
Capitol Hill sources on both sides of the aisle say the memo’s release is only a matter of time. And when it comes out, these current and former officials – all GOP bêtes noires – are likely to face even more criticism from the right over their involvement in FBI counterintelligence work.
- The full ‘secret society’ text between FBI agents: Was it meant in jest? (ABC News) For the past 24 hours, a number of Republican lawmakers have been suggesting that a months-old text message between two FBI officials reveals a “secret society” of federal law enforcement officials clandestinely plotting against President Donald Trump. Lawmakers have refused to publicly release the full text message, sent the day after Trump won the 2016 presidential election. But ABC News has obtained a copy of the one message that Republicans appear to be citing, and it’s unclear if the message’s reference to a “secret society” may have been made in jest. FBI lawyer Lisa Page wrote in a message (unrelated to any other messages found) to senior FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was working on the FBI’s probe of Russian meddling in the presidential election and would later join Page for a brief period on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
“Are you even going to give out your calendars? Seems kind of depressing. Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society.”
- Report: Glitch Deleted FBI Agent’s Trump-Russia Texts (Daily Beast) Thousands of FBI cellphones were affected by the glitch that prevented five months worth of text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page from being archived. According to law enforcement officials, nearly 10% of some 35,000 employees were affected by the glitch.
- Trump lawyer clarifies president wasn’t volunteering for Mueller grand jury (The Hill) White House lawyer Ty Cobb clarified Wednesday night that President Trump is ready to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller, but will be guided by his attorneys on such a meeting, The New York Times reported.
Trump told reporters earlier Wednesday night that he would speak with Mueller under oath. He added that he expects an interview to occur in the next two to three weeks, but said his lawyers are still determining the specifics.
Cobb told The New York Times that Trump was speaking hurriedly, and only meant that he is willing to meet with the special counsel, not that he will speak in front of a grand jury.
- Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ Online Town Hall Draws Over 1 Million Live Viewers (Huffington Post) The Vermont senator delighted in circumventing the television networks.
- Manhattan District Attorney Says He’ll No Longer Accept Contributions From Lawyers With Cases Before Him (Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica) JE has contributed to GEI. Cy Vance had faced criticism after declining to prosecute high-profile defendants such as Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. and Harvey Weinstein, whose lawyers had donated to his campaign. Econintersect: It is disturbing that this is actually a real story.
- Trump Dumps First Woman Fed Chair For Investment Banker (The Real News Network) It’s a shame to see Janet Yellen, who did an “outstanding job” as chair of the Federal Reserve, get fired in favor of an investment banker who doesn’t have a background in economics, says Dean Baker, co-director at CEPR. Dean Baker has contributed to GEI.
- Amazon debuts the store without a checkout (Financial Times, Medium) This article descibes how the new Amazon Go store operates. Also discusses the growth of online retail sales and of Amazon.
Germany
- Germany’s Bland Grand Coalition (Project Syndicate)​ In pursuit of another “grand coalition” government, Germany’s Social Democrats and Christian Democrats have published a provisional agreement outlining their proposed agenda. But the program party leaders have devised seems to have been inspired by a wish not to offend rather than a desire to confront the country’s challenges.
India
- Govt. unveils details of recapitalisation plan for public sector banks (The Hindu) The Union government on Wednesday announced the detailed contours of the recapitalisation plan for public sector banks (PSBs) it announced in October last, including a reforms package across six themes that cover 30 action points such as customer responsiveness, responsible banking and credit offtake. The capital infusion plan for 2017-18 includes ₹80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion, $12.6 billion) through recapitalisation bonds and ₹8,139 crore (Rs 81.4 billion, $1.3 billion) as budgetary support.
- The top-selling smartphone brand in India isn’t Samsung anymore, and it isn’t Apple either (CNBC) Samsung Electronics is no longer India’s top smartphone seller – a title it had held onto for six years. The tech giant was pushed out of the pole position in the final quarter of 2017 by Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, data from two research outlets showed.
North Korea
- North Korea calls for reunification with South Korea: report (The Hill) North Korea on Wednesday called for unification of the Korean peninsula, with state media saying all Koreans should “promote contact, travel cooperation between North and South Korea,” according to Reuters. The announcement came after a joint meeting of government officials, Reuters reported.
The message reportedly called for a de-escalation of military tensions on the peninsula. State media also warned against foreign influence, saying Pyongyang will “smash” those who oppose reunification, Reuters reported.
The Korean peninsula has been divided into North and South Korea since after World War II.
South Korea
- South Korean President Moon Jae-In is being criticized for catering to Pyongyang for the upcoming Winter Olympics
- Many South Koreans aren’t happy with his decision to allow athletes from both sides of the border to march together and the approval of a joint women’s ice hockey team
China
- China’s commerce ministry said cooperation is the only “correct direction” for the China U.S. trade relationship.
- U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the U.S. is not starting a trade war, but rather trying to level the playing field of global commerce.
Australia
- Nine things you should know about a potential Australian republic (The Conversation) Many of the questions that would arise if Australia wants to become a republic have been successfully tackled elsewhere.
Mexico
- The United States has the right to build as many walls as it wants, but that’s not the right way to approach border security, former Mexican President Vicente Fox told CNBC on Wednesday.
- “Walls historically have never worked – the Chinese wall, the Berlin wall,” he said.
- Fox said there are many more intelligent ways of bringing security to the border.
