Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 05 July 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 stocks decline, with investors cautious as a first wave of tariffs looms (CNBC) Asian stocks deepened their losses on Thursday, with major markets finishing the session lower as investors remained cautious the day before tariffs from the U.S. and China are due to be implemented. The dollar index softened to trade at 94.382. Brent crude futures were at $77.88 per barrel at 0053 GMT, down $0.36(0.5%). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $0.35, or 0.5%, at $73.79 per barrel. Spot gold held steady at $1,256.02 an ounce as of 0047 GMT.
- Cryptocurrency Bloodletting Deepened In June; All Major Coins Crashed (Investing.com) The bloodbath in the cryptocurrency market continued during June, with nearly all the major coins suffering double-digit selloffs, as investors hoping for a bounce-back from a torrid May were severely disappointed. Digital currencies have been pressured by an array of bad news in recent weeks, including a security breach at South Korea’s Bithumb crypto exchange – one of the largest exchanges in Asia. An additional bearish driver of price action was a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report, which said digital coins cannot scale to function as money. Though many believe the BIS relied on outdated and flawed information, according to the agency, an organization based in Switzerland made up of 60 of the world’s central banks, cryptocurrencies will not be able to scale to become a medium of exchange in a global economy. Then there’s the recent University of Texas paper that alleges the price of Bitcoin has been manipulated for years.
BTCUSD 300 Minute Chart for June 2018
Aggregate Cryptocurrency Market Cap, May-June 2018
Term, Cryptocurrency: Google Search Trend 2017-2018
U.S.
- Progressives poised to shape agenda if Dems take back House (The Hill) Move over, House Freedom Caucus. Progressive lawmakers are poised to play a pivotal role in the next Congress if Democrats take back the House in November. That’s because a dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are in line to chair congressional committees, which would give the left-leaning group immense power to influence the chamber’s legislative agenda and strengthen their hand as chief antagonists to President Trump.
- Key GOP senator: I won’t support any Supreme Court nominee that has shown ‘hostility’ to Roe v. Wade (The Hill) Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), on Wednesday reiterated that she would not vote for any Supreme Court nominee chosen by President Trump if they have “demonstrated hostility” to Roe v. Wade. Collins told MSNBC:
“I think I’ve made it pretty clear that if a nominee has demonstrated hostility to Roe v Wade and has said that they’re are not going to abide by that longstanding precedent, that I could not support that nominee.”
- Anger in America (Project Syndicate) US President Donald Trump has exploited popular anger to advance his own interests, but he did not create that anger. America’s elites have spent decades doing that, creating the conditions for a figure like Trump to emerge. For the current situation in the U.S., the authors blame American elites for entrenching their own privileges, at the expense of the majority of the population.
- Attacker stabs nine people at apartment complex housing refugees in Boise, Idaho (wsws.org) Nine people, including six children, were hurt in an attack carried out by a knife-wielding assailant in an apartment complex housing refugee families in Boise, Idaho, last Saturday night. Four of the nine are reported to be battling life-threatening injuries. Within hours, the police arrested Timothy Earl Kinner, a 30-year-old man from Los Angeles, California, for carrying out the attack. Kinner was booked into Ada county jail early Sunday morning on nine counts of aggravated battery and six felony charges of injury to a child.
According to the Boise police department, the number of victims was the most in a single incident in the city’s history. As of now, officials have not released much information about the victims or the motive behind the attack.
- US pork producers prepare for steep tariffs: ‘I don’t want to be the patriot who dies at the end of the war’ (The Hill) U.S. pig farmers are bracing for another round of steep tariffs this week from China and Mexico following President Trump’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on the two countries. According to CNBC, some major U.S. pork producers fear they will lose a significant amount of money once China and Mexico implement the tariffs, forcing some to move their investments overseas. See US pig farmers, asked to be ‘good patriots,’ brace for new round of pork tariffs from China, Mexico.
- Anthony Kennedy and Our Delayed Constitutional Crisis (Naked Capitalism) The author (Gaius Publius) castigates retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy:
Like “swing vote” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor before him, “swing vote” justice Anthony Kennedy has been one of the worst Supreme Court jurists of the modern era.
With swing-vote status comes great responsibility, and in the most consequential – and wrongly decided – cases of this generation, O’Connor and Kennedy were the Court’s key enablers. They
- Cast the deciding vote that made each decision possible
- Kept alive the illusion of the Court’s non-partisan legitimacy
EU
- EU Rulers Ban Democracy in Greece, Italy & Spain (Medium) With not just a little vitreol, this author assails the condition of the European Union:
The response to the Italian elections in March showed us that European institutions, read Germany’s Fourth Reich, shall be Italy’s rulers, not the regular voters.
The Italians have endured over 16 years of zero economic growth and youth unemployment around 27% or more, without much hope in sight. Their debt is US$4 trillion dollars and growing  –  an amount that they will never be able to repay.
UK
- The End of Global Britain (Project Syndicate) The author writes:
In the two years since the Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom’s global influence has been significantly diminished. A country that once punched above its weight in international affairs now only punches down, and Brexiteers’ aspiration to lead the vast “Anglosphere” into a brave new world has become a comical delusion.
Germany​
- The International Monetary Fund cut its 2018 forecast for German GDP growth to 2.2 percent, saying rising protectionism and the threat of a hard Brexit had exposed Germany’s economy to significant short-term risks.
- Given Germany’s rapidly aging society, IMF directors recommended further expanding public investment in infrastructure and education as well as setting more incentives for private investments in order to bolster productivity growth, further lift long-term output, and reduce Germany’s large current account surplus.
Italy
- Italy to Start Sweeping Economic Program With Upcoming Budget (Bloomberg) Italy’s new government will have both tax cuts and a universal basic income in its very first budget to show financial markets the coalition isn’t backing down from its agenda, Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said. The sweeping economic program is aimed at proving to investors that the populist administration is serious about its mission, even after its creation initially rocked Italian bond markets. Basic income for the poor is a measure strongly backed by the Five Star Movement, while governing coalition partner, the League, promised voters a reduction and simplification of tax brackets.
Israel
- Israel arrests 9 Bedouin Protesters at it Prepares to Bulldoze their Village (Informed Comment) Scuffles broke out on Wednesday between Israeli authorities and protesters who feared preparations were underway to raze a Bedouin village in a strategic part of the occupied West Bank, despite international calls for a reprieve. Protesters, including some waving Palestinian flags, tried to block a bulldozer and scuffled with police at Khan al-Ahmar on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. Some climbed onto the bulldozer in protest.
Iran
- Trump sidelined as UN Security Council plus Germany Meet Iran’s Rouhani in Vienna (Informed Comment) The five foreign ministers, minus US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of the countries signatory to the 2015 Iran deal on curbing its civilian nuclear enrichment program, will meet in Vienna on Friday to explore ways of preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after the treaty was violated by the Trump administration.
India
- The Singapore Exchange (SGX) and National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) are engaged in arbitration proceedings over the planned listing of a derivative product.
- The NSE and other Indian stock exchanges said in February that they would be ending licensing agreements for overseas exchanges. That’s creating uncertainty for those who engage in offshore trading as a way of hedging the Indian market.
- The dispute has cast doubts on a popular investment product, and it has raised questions about the future of India’s large equity market.
- The contract at the heart of the dispute is the Nifty 50 index futures contract currently traded on the Singapore Exchange.
Philippines
- Inflation Rises in Philippines (Twitter)
Japan
- Bank of Japan Takes Away Punch Bowl, Balance Sheet Declines (Wolf Street) In June, total assets on the Bank of Japan’s balance sheet dropped by ¥3.79 trillion yen ($34 billion) from May, to ¥537 trillion ($4.87 trillion). It was the third month-over-month drop in seven months, and the first such drops since late 2012, when the Abenomics-designed blistering “QQE” (Qualitative and Quantitative Easing) kicked off. So has the “QQE Unwind” commenced?
China
- Yuan and Stocks in Free Fall (Twitter)
Canada
- Canada strikes back at the U.S. with $12.6 billion in retaliatory tariffs announced Friday.
- “We will not escalate, and we will not back down,” Canada’s foreign minister says.
- Canada’s plan taking effect next week will include imports of U.S. products such as yogurt, caffeinated roasted coffee, toilet paper and sleeping bags.
- U.S. Border Patrol questions crews of at least 10 fishing vessels in Canadian waters (The Star) A little-known cross-border dispute that has simmered between Canada and the United States since the late 1700s is now approaching the boiling point. In the past two weeks, at least 10 Canadian fishing boats from New Brunswick have been intercepted by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fishing in the disputed waters around Machias Seal Island, a spokesperson for the fishermen says.
