Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 30 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 close lower in lead up to Bank of Japan’s policy decision (CNBC) Asian stocks closed lower on Monday, with investors wary as the Bank of Japan and other central banks hold policy meetings this week. The dollar index traded sideways at 94.671. Brent crude futures added 0.22% to trade at $74.45 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.49% to trade at $69.03. Spot gold was down about 0.3% at $1,219.91 an ounce at 0335 GMT.
- Publics Globally Want Unbiased News Coverage, but Are Divided on Whether Their News Media Deliver (Pew Research Center) Publics around the world overwhelmingly agree that the news media should be unbiased in their coverage of political issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 38 countries. Yet, when asked how their news media are doing on reporting different political issues fairly, people are far more mixed in their sentiments, with many saying their media do not deliver.
U.S.
- Trump lashes out at Mueller for alleged conflicts of interest (The Hill) President Trump on Sunday renewed his accusations that special counsel Robert Mueller has “conflicts of interest” in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, citing a previous business dispute between the two men. In a sequence of tweets attacking the special counsel’s credibility, Trump noted that he and Mueller had “a very nasty & contentious business relationship.”
- Koch takes on Trump’s tariffs with six-figure ad buy as billionaire admits tensions could boil over (CNBC) See also Charles Koch, network send GOP a message: We’re happy to back Democrats who share our policy goals.
- The political network funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch is unveiling the latest phase in a multi million dollar campaign against import tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.
- “American farmers work hard to put food on our tables but because of new tariffs our farmers livelihoods are at risks,” the ad says.
- Trump told his outbursts will lead to violence against journalists (Independent) The publisher of The New York Times has responded to a tweet from Donald Trump in which he claimed the two discussed the “vast amount of fake news being put out by the media” during a recent meeting at the White House. AG Sulzberger published a note detailing the conversation he had with Mr Trump, saying he repeatedly urged the US president to reconsider his attacks on the media. The publisher told Trump his ‘inflammatory language’ will lead to violence against journalists.
Mr Sulzberger said the meeting had originally been off-the-record per the White House’s request, but that the president’s public comment on the issue had negated that request.
- Supreme Court fight becomes battle for Kavanaugh’s papers (The Hill) The Senate fight over documents related to President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court is boiling over. Trump pick Brett Kavanaugh, a circuit judge since 2006 who previously worked for President George W. Bush’s administration and Kenneth Starr’s independent counsel investigation into former President Clinton, has a voluminous paper trail that lawmakers estimate tops a million pages.
Democrats want to see as many of those papers as they can, while Republicans seeking to confirm Kavanaugh before the midterm elections favor a narrower scope.
- Bill Maher Leads Attack on Larry Wilkerson over Trump Meeting with Putin (The Real News Network) Col. Larry Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says a great opportunity was squandered at the helsinke summit because nuclear weapons were not discussed, which actually is the main issue between the two countries.
- Republican “Nightmare”: Midterm Risk Rising (Mish Talk) According to this analysis, if the election were held today the Democrats would likely take the House.
- Being 30, Then and Now (Axios) In the mid-to-late-20th century, the American economy and culture were ripe for 30-year-old men, who – more than European and Japanese – typically landed well-paid careers, bought homes, and supported large families. But since then, getting ahead has become much harder.
EU
- What is the employment rate among migrants? (eurostat) In 2017, the employment rate of persons in the EU aged 20-64 years ranged from 63.0% among migrants born outside the EU, through 73.0% among the native-born population, to 75.4% recorded for migrants born in a different EU Member State.
For migrants born outside the EU, the employment rate was highest (79.4%) in the Czech Republic, followed by Romania (76.3%), Portugal (74.5%) and Poland (73.0%).
Among EU Member States, the United Kingdom reported the highest employment rate for migrants born in a different EU Member State (83.6%), closely followed by Portugal (82.7%), Sweden (80.7%) and Estonia (80.2%).
The highest employment rates for the native-born population were recorded in Sweden (85.5%), Germany (81.6%) and the Netherlands (80.5%).
- Juncker used ‘brightly coloured, simple flashcards’ to explain trade to Trump during meeting (Independent) European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used brightly coloured flash cards to explain international trade to US president Donald Trump. The pair met at the White House earlier this week for trade negotiations and Mr Juncker used cards with simple language and easy-to-understand explanations, according to a senior EU official who was at the meeting and spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
UK
- Half of UK voters support referendum on Brexit deal, no deal or staying: Sky (Reuters) Half of British voters support a referendum to choose between leaving with a deal that the government may clinch with the European Union, leaving with no deal or staying in the EU, Sky News reported on Monday, citing its own poll.
- Theresa May’s Impossible Choice (The New Yorker) Theresa May is becoming increasingly isolated. With Brexit looming, the Prime Minister is battling Trump, Europe, and her own party. May’s task has been to quell a populist wave, not ride it. Her best hope has been to contain the damage on all sides.
India
- Air India gets default notices from banks, aircraft lessors: Business Standard (Reuters) Three banks and two aircraft leasing firms have served default notices on Air India over the last few weeks, the Business Standard newspaper reported on Monday, raising concerns about the government-owned carrier’s state of finances and credit-worthiness.
Japan
- 10-year JGB yield hits 1 1/2-yr high as market tests BOJ (Reuters) Japanese government bond prices sagged on Monday, with the benchmark 10-year yield touching its highest level in almost a year and a half, as the market tries to test the Bank of Japan’s intention ahead of its policy decision the next day.
South Korea
- South Korea to probe whether North Korean waitresses forced or tricked into defecting (Reuters) A South Korean human rights commission said on Monday it will investigate whether a dozen North Korean restaurant workers who defected to the South two years ago came of their own free will or were tricked or coerced by an intelligence agent.
China
- China should reconsider its excessive and unsustainable trade surplus with America.
- Attempts to make China’s trade problem a geopolitical issue will go nowhere.
- The U.S. has an iron-clad trade case with China.
- Yuan and Stocks Keep Falling (Twitter)