Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 07 May 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.
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​Global
- Asia Pacific stocks mixed amid renewed US-China trade uncertainty (CNBC) Stocks in Asia were mixed on Tuesday amid renewed tensions between the U.S. and China after Washington said tariffs on Chinese goods will rise on Friday. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.429 after touching levels above 97.6 yesterday. Brent crude futures contract slipped 0.14% to $71.14 per barrel. U.S. crude futures rose 0.13% to $62.33 per barrel. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,282.50 per ounce as of 0320 GMT.
- Demographics in developed economies are leading a macroeconomic degradation. (The Daily Shot) Here are some charts from Morgan Stanley on some macro trends in advanced economies.
U.S.
- Mnuchin rejects House Democrats’ request for Trump tax returns (Associated Press, MarketWatch) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has made it official: The administration won’t be turning President Donald Trump’s tax returns over to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Mnuchin told Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal in a Monday letter that the panel’s request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.”
In making that determination, Mnuchin said he relied on the advice of the Justice Department. He concluded that the department is “not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information.”
The move, which was expected, is sure to set in motion a legal battle over Trump’s tax returns. The chief options available to Democrats now are to subpoena the Internal Revenue Service for the returns or to file a lawsuit.
- Trump move raises pressure on Barr (The Hill) President Trump’s decision to publicly object to special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony has raised pressure on Attorney General William Barr while stoking a deepening feud with Capitol Hill over presidential power. Barr has maintained that he is willing to allow Mueller to testify, a position that now appears to put him at odds with the president.
Until this weekend, Trump had expressed ambivalence over Mueller’s testimony, leaving the decision up to Barr.
He altered course Sunday, stating in a tweet that Mueller “should not testify” and declaring once again that Mueller’s findings had proven “NO COLLUSION” and “NO OBSTRUCTION.”
- NRA president says pro-gun-control congresswoman won only because she’s a ‘minority female’ (The Washington Post) A week after she was elected president of the National Rifle Association, after a bitter and public power struggle over the organization’s leadership, Carolyn Meadows apologized for saying one of the leading proponents for gun control in Congress only won her election because she’s a “minority female.”
In a statement to The Washington Post, Meadows apologized to Rep. Lucia “Lucy” McBath (D-Ga.) for her comments, which, she said, were “insensitive and inappropriate.”
Meadows drew sharp criticism after she told her hometown newspaper that McBath’s stance on gun reform was not the reason for her improbable electoral victory in 2018.
- Rick Scott says Ocasio-Cortez has embarrassed Congress ‘to the point of irrelevance’ (The Hill) Sen. Rick Scott (R, FL) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) got into a heated online exchange on Monday after Scott took a jab at the Green New Deal and Ocasio-Cortez shot back that it was embarrassing that a sitting U.S. senator could say something “lacking so much critical thinking.”
Scott later claimed that Ocasio-Cortez didn’t understand sarcasm and that she embarrassed both herself and Congress as a whole.
- Here are 5 of the most shocking names to join the hundreds of prosecutors saying Trump committed obstruction (AlterNet) So far almost 400 former U.S. Attorneys have joined in declaring disagreement with Attorney General William Barr. And the roster is quite bipartisan.
- Once Defiant, All Four White Supremacists Charged in Charlottesville Violence Plead Guilty (ProPublica) Last year, when federal authorities arrested and charged four members or associates of a white supremacist gang for their roles in the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the men and their supporters struck a defiant tone. The men proclaimed their innocence, and their backers described them in social media posts as “patriots” and “political prisoners.” The gang, known as the Rise Above Movement and based in Southern California, set up an anonymous tip line for people to share evidence that might exonerate the imprisoned members, and it established a legal defense fund, with donations taken via PayPal and bitcoin.
But in the following months, the men, one after the other, have pleaded guilty. Last Friday saw the final two guilty pleas, including one from Ben Daley, 26, one of the group’s leaders. He was joined by Michael Miselis, 30, a former Northrop Grumman aerospace engineer. The men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot.
- Trump Approval Remains High for Him, at 46% (Gallup) Approval of President Donald Trump’s job performance remains relatively high for him following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report in late March, and amid a flurry of positive economic news. After jumping from 39% in early March to 45% in the first half of April, Trump’s approval rating held at 46% in a new Gallup poll conducted April 17-30. This is a new all-time high for this poll.
UK
- Brexit won’t be solved by next deadline, survey of global finance chiefs says (CNBC) Brexit won’t be solved by the end of October and the European Union (EU) will need to grant yet another deadline, according to a CNBC survey of senior financial executives in boardrooms sited around the world. After missing an end of March exit date, Britain and Northern Ireland are now set to leave the EU on October 31, but the withdrawal agreement has not yet been approved by U.K. lawmakers in London.
- Labour MPs say they won’t back a Brexit deal without a people’s vote (The Guardian) Jeremy Corbyn will not be able to get enough of his MPs to back a Brexit deal without the promise of a second referendum, even if Theresa May makes a big offer on a customs union and workers’ rights this week, senior Labour figures believe. Senior party sources said they believe two-thirds of Labour MPs, including several shadow cabinet ministers and many more frontbenchers, would refuse to back a deal without a people’s vote attached.
France
- Does France Need More Taxes or More Engaged Workers? (Gallup) Attempting to quell five months of street protests, French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that he would cut income taxes and reform pensions — in addition to his earlier promises to raise the minimum wage. Macron’s concessions, including the modest impact of his labor code reforms, will cost the French government roughly 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion).
But instead of levying more taxes on businesses to pay for the plan, French leaders may want to consider trying to engage France’s actively disengaged workers, who are costing the country billions in lost productivity. In 2018, more than one in five French workers (21%) were actively disengaged in their work — one of the highest rates in Western Europe.
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Germany
- German Economy Expected to Rebound (The Daily Shot) Germany’s economic growth is expected to rebound. The slight gain in 4Q 2018 is expected to gain strength.
Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka says dismantles big part of bombers’ network, freezes assets (Reuters) Sri Lankan authorities say they have dismantled a major part of the network linked to the Easter Sunday bombings, confiscating bomb-making material and freezing assets worth about $40 million linked to the plotters.
Myanmar
- Two Reuters reporters freed in Myanmar after more than 500 days in jail (Reuters) Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars.
China
- US warns Beijing’s Arctic activity risks creating ‘new South China Sea’ (The Guardian) The US plans to beef up its Arctic presence to keep Russia’s and China’s “aggressive behaviour” in check in the resource-rich region, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has warned.
He warned against scenarios whereby nations become ensnared by debt and corruption, of low-quality investments, militarisation and uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources, all of which he said were potential effects of allowing rising Chinese influence.
Australia
- Mortgage stress grinds to new all-time highs (Macro Business) Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) has released the April 2019 mortgage stress and default analysis update. Once again, it’s the continuing story of pressure on households as ongoing wages growth is not offsetting costs of living, and mortgage repayments and total debt continues to rise. Recent bank reporting highlights the elevated risks in the household sector as this all plays out.
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Canada
- Rare win for Canada’s Greens in special election deals blow to Trudeau (Reuters) Canada’s Green Party pulled off a rare victory on Monday in a special election for a parliamentary seat, provisional results showed, dealing a fresh blow to the ruling Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The win in the Pacific province of British Columbia was only the second time the Greens, who are a much less important political force than in Europe, have captured a federal seat in their 36-year history. Green candidate Paul Manly won the constituency of Nanaimo-Ladysmith with about 38% of the vote.
- Vancouver Housing Bust Steepens, Bank of Canada Welcomes “Froth” Coming Off (Wolf Street) Across Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, sales of all types of homes so far this year through April plunged to 6,212 homes, the lowest count since 1986, as the market is freezing up.
In the city of Vancouver, condo sales – the largest segment of the market – plunged 30% in April from April last year, to merely 348 condos, the lowest since 2001, even as inventory for sale jumped by 75% to 2,191 condos.
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