Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 18 March 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
- Asian stocks rise as investors await Federal Reserve meeting (CNBC) Major Asian stock markets closed higher on Monday as investors awaited developments on the U.S.-China trade front. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 96.464 after slipping from highs above 97.2 in the previous week. Brent crude futures contract was largely flat at $67.15 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures fell 0.22% to $58.39 per barrel. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,299.13 per ounce by 0443 GMT.
U.S.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation launched a probe into whether there were lapses in the approval of Boeing 737 Max planes after a fatal crash in Indonesia last October, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
- The probe is focused on a flight safety system suspected of playing a role in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air.
- Earlier this month, the same plane model operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed, killing all 157 on board.
- Trump criticizes ‘Saturday Night Live’ after show airs rerun (The Hill) President Trump on Sunday knocked “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL“) for its repeated jokes at his expense the morning after the sketch comedy show aired a rerun featuring a skit depicting life if he had never become president.
In a pair of tweets, Trump complained that “SNL” and other late-night comedy shows “can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side.’ Like an advertisement without consequences.”
- Trump tweet storm hints at President’s frustrations (CNN) CNN’s Samantha Vinograd looks at President Trump’s weekend tweet storm, including his comments on the late John McCain and “SNL”.
- Trump’s Budget (A Shot of Politics)
- Why Calling US a ‘Democracy’ Is Both False & Dangerous to Do (The Greanville Post) A capitalist democracy is an oxymoron, and the US, above all other countries, illustrates the truth of that assertion. Eric Zuesse says:
It’s false because it is definitely untrue, and that’s not merely because America has a higher percentage of its residents in prison than does any other nation on this planet, but also because the only scientific studies that have been done of the matter show – they prove scientifically – that the US is a dictatorship by its very wealthiest residents, against all the rest of the population. Traditionally, that’s called an “aristocracy,” not a democracy, but ever since Mussolini in the 1920s, it came to be called “fascism,” which is the successor to “feudalism” and thus is merely the modernized form of feudalism.
- How Donald Trump is Squaring Off Against Democratic Contenders (Statista) In a one-on-one race for the U.S. presidency, Joe Biden is the Democrat that would achieve the best result opposite Republican presidential incumbent Donald Trump. According to the latest poll by Civiqs, 48% of voters would give Biden their vote, while 43% would pick Donald Trump. The result is barely statistically significant. There is no statistically significant difference between the president and any of the other contenders included in the poll. (See also Bernie Sanders Is The Leading U.S. Democratic Party Candidate.)
- Kansas Department of Transportation calls Trump ‘delusional communist’ on Twitter (The Hill) A Kansas Department of Transportation employee is no longer working for the agency after one of its Twitter accounts called President Trump a “delusional communist” in a since-deleted tweet. The tweet was deleted about two hours after it was published, according to The Wichita Eagle. But the tweet sparked widespread attention in the state
- Nebraska floods have broken records in 17 places across the state (CNN) The flooding in Nebraska has gotten so bad it’s breaking records across the state. About 9 million people in 14 states along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are under a flood warning, but right now it’s the worst in Nebraska. Rainfall from last week’s bomb cyclone on top of meltinmg above normal snowpack means that wide area will join Nebraska in coming weeks. For continual updates, see Live: Severe Weather Events 18March Through 24March 2019.
.
- Best Metros for Remote Workers: Where Fast Internet Meets Affordable Homes (Zillow Research) “Work from anywhere with an internet connection” is a common refrain in today’s growing tech economy. If you want both a fast internet connection and an affordable home, use this list to discover the location of your new remote “office.” The “Y” or “N” in the table refers to gigabit access in at least some part of the metro.
EU
- EZ Depends on Bank Financing (The Daily Beast) The Eurozone’s private sector remains heavily reliant on banks for funding (as opposed to capital markets). The graphics make it clear than this data is just another example of the Japanification of the Eurozone.
UK
- Third time lucky for Theresa May’s Brexit vote? (CNN) UK Prime Minister Theresa May will be hoping the third time’s the charm when she tries to get the House of Commons to back her Brexit deal this week after two previous defeats — but she’ll need more than just luck to get lawmakers to change their minds.
The question being posed in Downing Street this week is: What will it take for more than 70 lawmakers to back her and get her deal over the line? And does that plea bargain include the Prime Minister promising to step aside within weeks in return for more votes from her own Conservative side?
- Brexit: The Kindness of Strangers (Naked Capitalism) Yves Smith writes:
The UK is rudderless as Brexit looms. Theresa May was never in control; her fundamentally wrongheaded approach to the negotiations of thinking the UK had the advantage, compounded by the massive own goal of calling snap elections, led to the EU steering the negotiations at key junctures. But May was still able to exert influence even as her authority kept eroding. She still has perhaps one play left, but even if she prevails, the UK will need to petition the EU for an extension. Ian Dunt, in a despairing post, Britain pleads to extend Article 50: This is one of our darkest hours, summed up where things stand:
We are no longer in control of our own destiny….We are now at the mercy of others. This is what Brexit has done to what was, just a few years ago, one of the most powerful countries in the world…
Ethiopia
- Ethiopia says crashed jet’s black boxes show similarities to Lion Air disaster (Reuters) The crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people had “clear similarities” with October’s Lion Air crash, Ethiopia said on Sunday, shown by initial analysis of the black boxes recovered from the wreckage of the March 10 disaster.
Russia
- Comments by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak come three months into a fresh round of production cuts from the so-called OPEC+ alliance. The producers meet in mid-April to review their oil supply cut agreement, which is scheduled to last through the first-half of 2019.
- The Middle East-dominated group, alongside non-OPEC allies such as Russia, agreed to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d) for six months.
- Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih, said on Sunday he was “optimistic” about the prospect of continued commitment to the OPEC-led production cuts.
North Korea
- No sign of imminent North Korea missile launch: South Korea defense chief (Reuters) It is too soon to tell if recent activity at some of North Korea’s rocket facilities is preparation for a missile launch, South Korea’s defense minister told a parliamentary hearing on Monday.
China
- China should quickly get out of its huge US trade problem (CNBC) A commentary by Michael Ivanovitch:
- Beijing cannot indefinitely continue to accumulate wealth and technology by exploiting America’s open markets.
- A prompt solution of the U.S.-China trade dispute requires a rebalancing on bilateral trade accounts – drastically lower Chinese sales to the U.S. and sharply increasing Chinese purchases of American goods and services. China’s regulatory changes are a different matter.
- Financial markets should stop fretting about the U.S.-China trade problem – that’s a peripheral issue and a purely trading event. Only the Fed can crash Wall Street.
- China’s Housing Market Cycles (The Daily Shot) Rather than sustained “bubbles” as in many other economies, China sees a recurring cyclical pattern in the housing market. The graphic shows how the PBoC responded to the housing market cycles over the years.
New Zealand
- New gun laws to make New Zealand safer after mosque shootings, says PM Ardern (Reuters) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday she would announce new gun laws within days, after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
- Christchurch attacks are a stark warning of toxic political environment that allows hate to flourish (The Conversation) The author says:
There is deep sadness in the Christchurch attacks, but little shock. We need to address the permissive political environment that allows such hateful extremism to be promulgated so openly.
- New Zealand police chief says only one shooter involved in Christchurch attack (Reuters) New Zealand’s police chief said on Monday that they are certain there was only one attacker involved in the mass shooting in Christchurch last week.
.