Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 26 Sep 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
- Asia markets higher despite Trump’s comments on trade (CNBC) Asia markets saw gains on Wednesday, despite the White House’s restatement of its tough stance on trade. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 94.118 as of 3:25 p.m. HK/SIN. Brent crude futurescontract was 0.27% higher at $82.09 per barrel while U.S. crude futures were largely flat at $72.30 per barrel. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,201.64, as of 0337 GMT, having moved in a $3 range early Wednesday.
U.S.
- Grassley taps Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Kavanaugh, Ford (The Hill) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Tuesday night that he has hired Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault during this week’s hearing.
- GOP confidence grows on Kavanaugh (The Hill) Senate Republicans say that Brett Kavanaugh’s chances of confirmation have improved because of new doubts over allegations of sexual misconduct against the embattled Supreme Court nominee. That growing confidence was reflected Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters after a meeting of the Senate GOP conference that he will have enough votes to confirm Kavanaugh. See also Senate Judiciary Committee schedules Kavanaugh vote the day after hearing on sexual assault allegation (CNBC).
- Trump urges world to reject globalism in UN speech that draws mocking laughter (The Guardian) Donald Trump urged other nations to reject globalism and embrace patriotism at a speech to the United Nations that was interrupted by derisive laughter from other world leaders. In the course of the bombastic address, Trump highlighted the achievements of his presidency, lashed out at enemies – Iran foremost among them – and railed against multilateralism in its spiritual home, the UN general assembly (UNGA). In one of the more remarkable moments in the history of the annual UN summit, the chamber broke out in spontaneous laughter at Trump’s claim that
“in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country”.
- The prime victim of the sparring of tariffs between the U.S., China and others will be consumers, because prices will likely go up, an AllianceBernstein investment chief said.
- AllianceBernstein’s Phelps also implied that heightened protectionism could affect the long-term investment decisions of shareholders.
- The U.S. this week imposed a 10 percent levy on $200 billion of Chinese goods entering the U.S., including furniture and appliances.
- Walmart is betting on the blockchain to improve food safety (TechCrunch) Walmart has been working with IBM on a food safety blockchain solution and today it announced it’s requiring that all suppliers of leafy green vegetable for Sam’s and Walmart upload their data to the blockchain by September 2019 .
Most supply chains are bogged down in manual processes. This makes it difficult and time consuming to track down an issue should one like the E. coli romaine lettuce problem from last spring rear its head. By placing a supply chain on the blockchain, it makes the process more traceable, transparent and fully digital. Each node on the blockchain could represent an entity that has handled the food on the way to the store, making it much easier and faster to see if one of the affected farms sold infected supply to a particular location with much greater precision.
- A Supreme Court Case Could Liberate Trump to Pardon His Associates (The Atlantic) A key Republican senator has quietly weighed in on an upcoming Supreme Court case that could have important consequences for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The Utah lawmaker Orrin Hatch, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, filed a 44-page amicus brief earlier this month in Gamble v. United States, a case that will consider whether the dual-sovereignty doctrine should be put to rest. The 150-year-old exception to the Fifth Amendment’s double-jeopardy clause allows state and federal courts to prosecute the same person for the same criminal offense. According to the brief he filed on September 11, Hatch believes the doctrine should be overturned.
EU
- French minister likens Italy’s Salvini to Pontius Pilate over migrants (Reuters) French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau on Wednesday said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was behaving “like Pontius Pilate,” the Roman official who condemned Jesus Christ to death, over his position on migrants.
UK
- Labour delegates back Keir Starmer push for public vote on Brexit (The Guardian) Labour conference delegates overwhelmingly backed the party’s Brexit policy on Tuesday after Keir Starmer sparked a burst of sustained applause for dropping into his conference speech the line that “nobody is ruling out remain as an option“.
Germany
- German Business Sentiment Improving (The Daily Shot) Germany’s business sentiment in September has been stronger than expected. Here is the Ifo Business Climate index.
Turkey
- Exclusive: Turkey’s Erdogan says court will decide fate of detained U.S. pastor (Reuters) Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said a Turkish court, not politicians, will decide the fate of an American pastor whose detention on terrorism charges has hit relations between Ankara and Washington.
Iran
- EU, China and Russia in move to sidestep US sanctions on Iran (The Guardian) The European Union, Iran, China and Russia have set out a plan to sidestep unilateral US sanctions designed to cripple the Iranian economy and force the Iranians to renegotiate the nuclear deal signed in 2015. European diplomats hope the proposed measure – known as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) – will help persuade an increasingly reluctant Iran to stay inside the deal in the hope of rescuing its economy. SPV aims to keep Iran in 2015 nuclear deal with barter system, bypassing the U.S. dollar for such transactions. See also Trade with Iran and you won’t trade with US, Trump warns.
India
- India’s top court upholds national identity project but curbs use (Reuters) The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of India’s ambitious biometric identity project, ‘Aadhaar’, saying it benefited the marginalized and poor, but sharply reined in a government push to make it mandatory for various services.
- Unemployment among young and highly educated Indians highest in 20 years (World out of Whack) Hat tip to Elizabeth Burke. According to some estimates India has the highest number of unemployed in the world. Educated and unemployed youth is a lethal mix and it is a matter of time India could be staring at SOCIAL CHAOS. This is when demographic dividend becomes a liability. For details see Unemployment among young and highly educated Indians highest in 20 years, study finds (The Print)
- India Will Rise to Top Three (Bloomberg, Twitter)
China
- China Deleveraging is Going South (Twitter)
Mexico
- Core Inflation Moderates in Mexico (The Daily Shot) Regulated items (in which the authorities rather than the market control price changes) have been pushing inflation higher in Mexico. The market-based CPI, however, has been moving lower. The overall core CPI remains within the central bank’s target range.
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