Economy
Volatility in China’s yuan due to escalating U.S. trade friction: PBOC official (Thomas R.)
The year-long trade war between the world’s two largest economies has already spread beyond tit-for-tat tariffs on goods to other areas such as technology, and analysts caution retaliation could widen in scope and severity, weighing further on business confidence and global economic growth.
Schumer proposes bill to regulate body armor (Sparky1)
The bill would require the FBI to establish standards for who is allowed to buy body armor such as bullet-resistant vests after a series of mass shootings in which the gunmen wore body armor, most recently the suspect in the killing of nine people last weekend in Dayton, Ohio.
Schumer’s proposal would include exceptions for police and other public safety officials, according to the AP.
Joe Biden: Banning Assault Weapons Works (Sparky1)
We have a huge problem with guns. Assault weapons — military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly — are a threat to our national security, and we should treat them as such. Anyone who pretends there’s nothing we can do is lying — and holding that view should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to lead our country.
How bad is the trade war? This week will provide some clues (Thomas R.)
Good news could help correct some of the anxiety that’s hung over stocks since President Donald Trump said he would tax effectively all Chinese goods exported to the United States starting in September.
Hong Kong grounds all flights as protest paralyzes airport (Thomas R.)
Today saw the fourth and largest day of airport sit-ins by anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, thousands of whom thronged both terminals at the city’s international airport. Nearly 200 flights coming in and out of the city were canceled, and the normally calm and orderly airport descended into chaos.
Global economy is probably in recession: Kemp (Sparky1)
Global manufacturing surveys, industrial output, new orders, business investment, construction activity, motor vehicle production and freight volumes are flat or down compared with a year earlier.
The most comprehensive numbers show manufacturing production and trade flows were essentially flat in May compared with a year before.
China’s sovereign digital currency is ‘almost ready’: PBOC official (Sparky1)
China’s central bank set up a research team in 2014 to explore the possibility of launching its own digital currency to cut the costs of circulating traditional paper money and boost policymakers’ control of money supply. However it has so far revealed few details of its plans.
The big reason China won’t let the yuan go into free fall against the dollar has to do with Japan and Europe (Thomas R.)
At that time, the yuan had appreciated by more than 10% between mid-2014 and August 2015, when the unexpected devaluation took place. This spooked markets into thinking that the yuan was considerably overvalued, which led to the subsequent depreciation and intense capital outflow pressures. In contrast, this time Beijing has been allowing the yuan to gradually depreciate since the trade war started so the currency is likely closer to its true market value than in the previous period.
Goldman Sachs economists say fears rise that U.S.-China trade war leading to recession (Thomas R.)
The year-long trade dispute has revolved around issues such as tariffs, subsidies, technology, intellectual property and cyber security, among others.
Goldman Sachs said it lowered its fourth-quarter U.S. growth forecast by 20 basis points to 1.8% on a larger than expected impact from the developments in the trade tensions.
Chase wipes credit card debts for Canadians (Thomas R.)
“Chase made the decision to exit the Canadian credit card market. As part of that exit, all credit card accounts were closed on or before March 2018,” Maria Martinez, vice president of communications for Chase Card Services, said in a statement.
MMT, Helicopter Money and Monetary Socialism (Wilson S.)
This way of developing economic theory means that all economic theories are prone to fallacies contradicted by observations. These two general points suggest that monetary theories made up by academic economists (and even central bankers) should be treated with a great deal of caution. This is particularly true about the monetary theory in the imaginary world described by MMT.
Bidding wars plummet as Bay Area housing market cools (Adam)
“Right now there is so much uncertainty with the stock market and with the economy, that’s frightening some buyers away,” says Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “We are seeing a lot of people refinancing but not a lot of people entering the market, despite the fact that interest rates are low, which usually brings buyers back.”
“We see poop, we see pee, we see needles, and we see trash,” said teacher Adelita Orellana. “Sometimes they ask what is it, and that’s a conversation that’s a little difficult to have with a 2-year old, but we just let them know that those things are full of germs, that they are dangerous, and they should never be touched.”
In light of the dangerous conditions, part of Orellana’s responsibilities now include teaching young children how to avoid the contamination.
Older Boeing jets are now in hot demand because of the 737 Max grounding (Thomas R.)
Crash investigators have implicated a piece of flight-control software that repeatedly pushed the nose of the planes down in both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes. Boeing is testing a software fix for the planes and expects regulators to allow the jets to return to service early in the fourth quarter, but warned that the date could be pushed back further.
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? Let’s Not Find Out (Sparky1)
The theory that we are living in a computer simulation may sound bizarre, but it has found adherents. The technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has said that the odds that we are not simulated are “one in billions.” Professor Smoot estimates that the ratio of simulated to real people might be as high as 10¹² to 1.
“I am truly delighted to welcome Saudi Aramco, one of the largest business enterprises in the world, as a potential investor in our Oil to Chemicals division,” Ambani said in a statement. “We have a long-standing crude oil relationship with Saudi Aramco and we would be happy to see this further strengthened with this investment.”
Ditch your air conditioning. You’ll be fine (Sparky1)
A recent article in the New York Times (for which, full disclosure, I was interviewed, though my quotes didn’t make it in) pointed out something that I’ve often observed anecdotally: that the perception of thermal discomfort is correlated with GDP. In other words, only rich people whine about the heat, crank the a/c, and then go on Twitter to brag about how they’re not setting foot outside. Everyone else just mops the sweat from their brow and gets on with their lives.
Climate change could raise risk of death for kidney patients (Sparky1)
“Climate change is not just about future scenarios and distant communities. It is here and now, and it is adversely impacting our community’s health in more ways than we realize,” said study co-author Amir Sapkota. He is a professor of applied environmental health at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health.
EPA defies California rules over Monsanto Roundup (Sparky1)
The EPA added that California’s listing of glyphosate on the state’s Proposition 65 list is based on the International Agency on the Research for Cancer classifying it as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” However, EPA’s independent evaluation found that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” and the agency said that its data set was “more extensive and relevant.”
Company: Kentucky coal mine to cease production Friday (Thomas R.)
Company Chairman and CEO Joseph W. Craft III said weak market conditions made the action necessary. The mine opened in 1969 and is the oldest one operated by the company.
According to local news outlets, Webster County Judge-Executive Steve Henry said in a statement that he’s thankful the employees have an option to keep working.
‘Ecological grief’: Greenland residents traumatised by climate emergency (Sparky1)
He said: “The Arctic is a bellwether for the unequal impact of global warming on social and economic systems. As countries struggle to limit future risks and overall warming to 1.5C [an increase of 2.7F], many Arctic and Greenlandic residents are already living in regional climates that have changed by more than this, in less than a lifetime.
China’s Iranian Oil Weapon (Thomas R.)
According to the firms, which track tanker movements, between 4.4 million and 11 million barrels of Iranian crude were discharged into China last month, or 142,000 to 360,000 barrels per day (bpd). The upper end of that range would mean July imports still added up to close to half of their year-earlier level despite sanctions.
EPA says it won’t approve Roundup cancer-warning labels (Thomas R.)
The decision from the EPA highlights the growing debate over the safety of glyphosate, with scientific research often reaching contradictory conclusions. The World Health Organization’s cancer agency has said that the chemical is “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” yet on the other side of the debate are studies that refute reports of glyphosate’s risks, such as a long-term study of agricultural workers that didn’t find a link between Roundup and cancer.
The Misanthropic Bankers Behind the Green New Deal (thc0655)
Carney’s former employer at Goldman Sachs has also created a “Green Index for ‘virtuous investing” including two new sustainability indices to promote heavy investment in to green infrastructure called CDP Environment EW and CDP Eurozone EW. The acronym CDP originates from the Climate Disclosure Project – a London-based think tank that generated Goldman Sachs’ program. Goldman Sachs’ Marine Abiad promoted the CDP index saying on July 10 “we are convinced that sustainable finance enables financial markets to play a virtuous role in the economy.”
The Case for a Coercive Green New Deal (thc0655)
It’s no wonder that China has emerged as a last hope for those frustrated by the torpor of the international community and the delusions of the axis of denial. Hasn’t that country, after all, redirected enormous streams of funding into sustainable energy? Wasn’t that state’s coercive one-child policy a critical way to address overpopulation and, by extension, the consumption of resources? Hasn’t China stepped ever more firmly into the international leadership void created by Trump’s nationalist retreat? As in the second lifeboat scenario, however, China may not be heading in the right direction.
The Tyranny Of The Socially Self-Righteous – A Coercive Green New Deal (thc0655)
So is Mr. Feffer ready to give his oath of allegiance to a world with Chinese characteristics? Alas, no. President Xi shows determined and forthright leadership, but he is, well, sort of like Donald Trump with the goal of “making China great again.” Besides, while talking clean air, China keeps building coal-burning furnaces. And the Belt and Road strategy for establishing China’s place in the global sun is not geared to bend other countries to fighting global warming, but to serve China’s national interests.
To better grasp nuclear winter, scientists study wildfire cloud (Sparky1)
“Our previous model simulations showed that smoke, put into the lower stratosphere—above the layer where we live—would be heated and lofted to the upper stratosphere,” says study co-author Alan Robock, a climate scientist at Rutgers University. “But we’d never observed that until this case where there was smoke put up by forest fires.”
EPA defies California rules over Monsanto Roundup (Sparky1)
The EPA added that California’s listing of glyphosate on the state’s Proposition 65 list is based on the International Agency on the Research for Cancer classifying it as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” However, EPA’s independent evaluation found that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” and the agency said that its data set was “more extensive and relevant.”
Fukushima nuclear plant out of space for radioactive water (Sparky1)
Experts say the tanks pose flooding and radiation risks and hamper decommissioning efforts at the plant. TEPCO and government officials plan to start removing the melted fuel in 2021, and want to free up part of the complex currently occupied with tanks to build safe storage facilities for melted debris and other contaminants that will come out.
Gold & Silver
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