Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 10 April 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
- Asian shares buoyed after Xi remarks on opening up (CNBC) Asian markets advanced in late morning trade on Tuesday as investors digested comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping on measures planned to further open up the Chinese economy. The dollar index firmed to trade at 89.920. U.S. WTI crude futures were at $63.26 a barrel at 0031 GMT, down $0.16 cents (0.3%). Brent crude futures were at $68.52 per barrel, down $0.13 cents, or 0.2%. Spot gold rose for a third straight session and was 0.1% higher at $1,337.11 an ounce as of 0045 GMT. U.S. gold futures were steady at $1,340.60 an ounce.
- Global Credit Growth is Firming (The Daily Shot) Is loan growth in advanced economies about to turn higher?
U.S.
- Trump: FBI raid on Cohen ‘a disgrace’ (The Hill) President Trump on Monday blasted the FBI for raiding the office of his personal attorney Michael Cohen, calling it a “disgrace” and a “pure and simple witch hunt.” See also FBI raids Trump lawyer’s office. Trump told reporters at the White House as Vice President Mike Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and other officials looked on:
“It’s a real disgrace. It’s an attack on our country in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”
- Trump says that if Attorney General Jeff Sessions had let Trump know he was planning to recuse himself from overseeing the special counsel’s investigation, Trump would have picked someone else for the job.
- Trump also told reporters that “many people” are telling him to fire Robert Mueller.
- The remarks came shortly after reports that the FBI obtained a search warrant to raid the office and residence of Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer.
- Stormy Daniels lawyer predicts Cohen will ‘fold like a cheap deck of cards’ (The Hill) Michael Avenatti said during an interview on MSNBC that part of him “feels sorry” for Cohen, who made a $130,000 payment to Daniels weeks before the presidential election. Avenatti said:
“Well, part of me does just because of the seriousness of this matter. This guy, I think, has been put in a position where he is going to be – he is going to be expected to be the fall guy, the scapegoat. I don’t think he is going to hold up.”
- Trump to Attempt to Cut Back on $1.3 Trillion Spending Deal (Bloomberg) With the federal budget deficit expanding and congressional elections seven months away, the Trump administration plans to ask Congress for cuts in domestic programs that were part of a bipartisan $1.3 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump signed last month.
The White House doesn’t want to touch extra funding for the military, border security and combating the opioids crisis in a package of proposed cuts it will send to Congress in the coming weeks, according to an administration official, who asked for anonymity to outline the plan.
Any attempt to roll back spending is sure to trigger a backlash from Democrats who negotiated the extra domestic funding in exchange for agreeing to a bigger budget for the Pentagon.
- Retiring GOP lawmakers cut loose on Trump (The Hill) Few Republicans in Washington are willing to go head-to-head with President Trump, but there is one band of GOP members willing to stand up to the leader of their own party: lawmakers who have announced their retirements.
While it’s not uncommon for members to feel far more liberated on their way out the door, it has taken on a whole new meaning in the Trump era, where lawmakers are confronted daily by a never-ending stream of White House controversies.
The GOP’s retirement caucus has provided some of the most biting commentary on the president in recent months.
- Less than half of the US bomber fleet is ready to ‘fight tonight’ (Military Times) Hat tip to Roger Erickson. See also Flush with cash, the Navy bores in on aviation readiness amid a crisis (Defense News). Less than half of the bombers President Donald Trump would rely upon to be “locked and loaded” against North Korea could launch today if needed, according to the latest Air Force figures available.
That’s not a surprise to the bomb squadrons who have seen firsthand the combined effects of aircraft age, the demand of 15 years of air war operations and reduced budgets. But the numbers can be stark. Of the nation’s 75 conventional and nuclear B-52s, only about 33 are ready to fly at any given time, according to Air Force statistics. Of the 62 conventional B-1s, only about 25 are ready. With the 20 nuclear B-2 stealth bombers, the number drops further. Seven or eight bombers are available, according to the Air Force.
- Kudlow confronted over attacks on Obama deficit after rejecting CBO’s projections on Trump budget (The Hill) White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow defended the recently passed two-year budget that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says will increase the national debt and deficit even though in 2009 he attacked the Obama administration for doing the same thing. CNN’s Erin Burnett played Kudlow a clip from 2009 where he criticizes an Obama budget for the deficits and debt it created.
- The U.S. Military Will Have More Robots Than Humans by 2025 (MintPressNews) Hat tip to Roger Erickson. Armed with a budget of over $700 billion for the coming year – which will likely continue to grow over the course of Trump’s Pentagon-controlled presidency – the Pentagon’s dystopian vision for the future of the military is quickly becoming a question not of if but when.
- Trump Has Lost the Confidence of Investors (Bloomberg) Equities, bonds and the dollar are showing anything but trust in the president’s stewardship.
EU
- Record Bullishness on the Euro (The Daily Shot)
Russia
- Russia Hints Support for a UN Probe Into Syria Chemical Strike (Bloomberg) Russia’s United Nations ambassador hinted his country may accept a Security Council resolution to investigate suspected chemical attacks in Syria, while also suggesting that a deadly assault over the weekend either never happened or was orchestrated by the U.S.
A draft resolution circulated on Monday by the U.S. would set up a new body to investigate chemical weapons attacks like the one it says occurred over the weekend in Douma, near Damascus. Rescue workers say dozens of civilians were killed there. The draft resolution would give UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 30 days to pull together the body and urged Syria to cooperate.
China
- China’s Xi announces plans to ‘open’ China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos (CNBC) Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy during a Tuesday address. Those measures included “significantly” lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies. China will be opening its financial markets, as well.
Xi’s address – from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that’s been dubbed the “Asian Davos” – comes amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world’s two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.
