Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 26 February 2019
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
- Major Asian stock markets slip as investors seek clarity on US-China trade (CNBC) Major Asian stock markets closed lower on Tuesday, as investors sought clarity on the U.S.-China trade front a day after President Donald Trump postponed a closely watched tariff deadline in early March. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 96.399 after seeing highs around 96.6 yesterday. Brent futures were at $64.66 a barrel at 0346 GMT, down $0.10 (0.2%) from their last close. Brent, which plunged 3.5% on Monday, fell to as low as $64.32 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest since Feb. 14. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.19 per barrel, down $0.29 cents, or 0.5%. WTI futures dropped 3.1% on Monday. Spot gold was relatively flat at $1,327.72 an ounce and U.S. gold futures settled $3.30 lower at $1,329.50.
- The Age Gap in Religion Around the World (Pew Research Center) In the United States, religious congregations have been graying for decades, and young adults are now much less religious than their elders. Recent surveys have found that younger adults are far less likely than older generations to identify with a religion, believe in God or engage in a variety of religious practices.
But this is not solely an American phenomenon: Lower religious observance among younger adults is common around the world, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center surveys conducted in more than 100 countries and territories over the last decade.
- These Are the World’s Healthiest Nations (Bloomberg) Spain just surpassed Italy to become the world’s healthiest country.
Four additional European nations were among the top 10 in 2019: Iceland (third place), Switzerland (fifth), Sweden (sixth) and Norway (ninth). Japan was the healthiest Asian nation, jumping three places from the 2017 survey into fourth and replacing Singapore, which dropped to eighth. Australia and Israel rounded out the top 10 at seventh and 10th place.
U.S.
- House to push back at Trump on border (The Hill) House Democrats on Tuesday are poised to pass legislation blocking President Trump’s emergency declaration on the southern border, sending a clear rebuke to the president and his go-it-alone approach to border security. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D, TX), is unlikely to survive Trump’s promised veto, even if Senate Democrats can find enough GOP support in the upper chamber to move it to the president’s desk in the coming weeks.
- Wisconsin governor pulls National Guard from southern border (CNN) Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered the state’s 112 troops to leave their posts along the US’ southern border Monday evening. The Democrat’s order makes Wisconsin the third state to pull National Guard personnel from the border this month, citing President Donald Trump’s rhetoric around border security. Evers said in a news release:
“There is simply not ample evidence to support the president’s contention that there exists a national security crisis at our Southwestern border. Therefore, there is no justification for the ongoing presence of Wisconsin National Guard personnel at the border.”
- Trump Forms Panel of Climate Deniers (Twitter)
- Under Trump’s Tariffs, The US Lost 20,000 Solar Energy Jobs (Forbes) 2016 was the best year on record for solar energy in the United States. A report from the U.S. Department of Energy at the time showed that solar energy was responsible for a much larger share of employment in the electric power sector (43%) than the whole of the fossil fuel industry combined (22%). With such robust numbers, it seemed as though solar energy, and renewables more broadly, were about to revolutionize the energy sector in the United States and lead the push towards cleaner energy and lower carbon emissions.
However, solar energy jobs have stagnated and dipped for two consecutive years since the Department of Energy’s initial report, with a loss of 10,000 jobs in 2017 followed by a further 8,000 in 2018. Although some job losses were foreseen as a result of project finalizations in several states, the biggest contributing factor was President Trump’s tariffs on solar panel
.
- Asset Rotation (Twitter)
EU
- ECB Gets Counterintuitive Advice to Soften Slowdown: Raise Rates (Bloomberg) The European Central Bank is getting some counterintuitive advice on how to respond to the euro area’s deepening economic slowdown — raise interest rates. Some ECB watchers have started to voice concern that negative rates — in place since June 2014 — could become self-defeating as banks struggle to pass them on to depositors and may eventually be forced to curb credit. Their argument: Policy makers should remove what’s effectively a tax on bank profits and offer another round of cheap longer-term financing to spur lending.
- 20 Years of the Euro: Winners and Losers (cep.eu) 20 years since its introduction and the euro remains controversial. cep has used the synthetic control method to analyse which countries have gained from the euro and which ones have lost out.
- Germany has gained by far the most from the introduction of the euro; almost € 1.9 trillion between 1999 and 2017. This amounts to around € 23,000 per inhabitant. Otherwise, only the Netherlands has gained substantial benefits from the introducing the euro.
- In the first few years after its introduction, Greece gained hugely from the euro but since 2011 has suffered enormous losses. Over the whole period, the balance of € 2 billion or € 190 per inhabitant, is only just positive.
- In all the other countries analysed, the euro has resulted in a drop in prosperity: € 3.6 trillion in France and as much as € 4.3 trillion in Italy. In France, this amounts to € 56,000 per capita and in Italy € 74,000.
Russia
- Exclusive: Despite sanctions, Russian tanker supplied fuel to North Korean ship-crew members (Reuters) A Russian tanker violated international trade sanctions by transferring fuel to a North Korean vessel at sea at least four times between October 2017 and May 2018, two crew members who witnessed the transfers said.
India
- India says air strike hit major militant camp inside Pakistan (Reuters) Indian jets conducted air strikes against a militant camp in Pakistani territory on Tuesday, India’s foreign secretary said, and a Indian government source said 300 militants had been killed, but Pakistan denied there had been any casualties.
- India May Step Up Pellet Sales to Fill Supply Gap From Vale Cuts (Bloomberg) India’s pellet exports are expected to rise as buyers seek alternative sources of iron ore following output cuts by Vale SA after a deadly dam breach in Brazil. Overseas sales may rise as much as 20 percent in 2019 from about 9 million metric tons last year as countries such as China, Japan and South Korea that depend on Brazil will now source pellets from India, according to Rohit Sadaka, associate director at India Ratings and Research Ltd.
North Korea
- North Korea’s Kim arrives in Vietnam for summit; Trump on the way (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump where they will try to reach agreement on how to implement a North Korean pledge to give up its nuclear weapons.
China
- The American Chamber of Commerce in China said Tuesday that 59 percent of its members believe Beijing’s enforcement of intellectual property protection has improved in the last five years.
- However, the survey also showed that nearly half the respondents from the technology and resources and industrial sectors said they would invest in China if they thought protection of intellectual property were stronger.
Venezuela
- US flying more reconnaissance flights off Venezuela, military sources say (CNN) The US military has flown an increased number of reconnaissance flights in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela during the last several days to gather classified intelligence about the embattled government of President Nicholas Maduro, according to two US defense officials. The officials would not detail which US military aircraft are being used, but the Navy and Air Force maintain several large fixed-wing aircraft capable of intercepting communications and monitoring the status of weaponry.
.
