Bloomberg (June 20)
“Brexit stresses are seeping into virtually every corner of the global foreign-exchange market. Of 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, all but three have seen a jump in the cost to hedge against big declines.” The Japanese yen Brazilian real and Swiss frank are the three exceptions.
Tags: Brazil, Brexit, Cost, Currencies, Declines, Forex, Hedge, Japan, Markets, Real, Switzerland, Yen
The Economist (June 18)
“A vote to quit the European Union on June 23rd…would do grave and lasting harm to the politics and economy of Britain. The loss of one of the EU’s biggest members would gouge a deep wound in the rest of Europe. And… it would mark a defeat for the liberal order that has underpinned the West’s prosperity.”
Tags: Britain, Defeat, Economy, EU, Liberal order, Politics, Prosperity, Vote
Washington Post (June 17)
“Donald Trump must be the biggest liar in the history of American politics, and that’s saying something.” He “lies the way other people breathe.” There’s no “other political figure who so brazenly tells lie after lie, spraying audiences with such a fusillade of untruths that it is almost impossible to keep track.”
Institutional Investor (June 16)
“Short-termism, often driven by activists, can have grave implications for corporations, for our economy and sometimes for society overall. Innovation, discovery and hiring are curtailed when R&D projects are put on hold or cancelled because of short-term pressures…. Short-termism also leads to mispricing, misallocation of assets and a lack of reliable information about long-term prospects.”
Tags: Activists, Assets, Corporations, Discovery, Economy, Hiring, Innovation, Misallocation, Mispricing, Prospects, R&D, Short-termism, Society
Financial Times (June 16)
“This is no time to revert to Little England. We are Great Britain. We have a contribution to make to a more prosperous, safer world. The vote must be ‘Remain’.”
Tags: Brexit, EU, Great Britain, Little England, Prosperous, Remain, Safe, Vote
Wall Street Journal (June 15)
The yield on 10-year German bunds turned negative, a new low. “This is good for governments that want to finance spending on the cheap, but it’s not so good for the private risk-taking that drives economic growth. Negative interest rates reflect a lack of confidence in options for private investment. They also discourage savings that can be invested in profitable ventures. A negative 10-year bond is less a sign of monetary wizardry than of economic policy failure.”
Tags: Bunds, Confidence, Finance, Germany, Governments, Growth, Investment, Negative interest, Options, Risk-taking, Savings, Spending, Yield
Bloomberg (June 14)
“The shipping industry is struggling through its worst recession in half a century, and that icon of globalization — the mega-container ship — is a major part of the problem. With global growth and trade still sluggish, and the benefits of sailing and docking big boats diminishing with each new generation, ship owners are belatedly realizing that bigger isn’t better.”
Tags: Better, Bigger, Container ships, Diminishing returns, Globalization, Growth, Recession, Shipping industry, Sluggish, Trade
USA Today (June 13)
“The abundance of assault weapons, and the ease with which they can be purchased in the USA, is a gap that gives mass shooters an edge.” No ban will be perfect, but banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would “save lives and make it harder to carry out mass murder.” This is reason enough to make a ban worthwhile.
Tags: Assault weapons, Ban, High-capacity magazines, Mass shooters, Murder, U.S.
New York Times (June 12)
“The stain of Trump will last long after his campaign. His insults, cruelty and bigotry will sear themselves into the memory of Americans for a long time to come, especially those who are the targets of his invective.” He will do long-term damage to his party. “Mr. Trump is what he is — a malicious, malignant figure on the American political landscape…. There will be a fearsome price for Republicans to pay for their embrace of Donald Trump.”
The Economist (June 11)
Like Japan, South Korea is also facing a major demographics challenge, especially if they can’t succeed in upping the percentage of working women. “With a fertility rate of around 1.2 babies per woman, South Korea’s labour force is set to shrink dramatically. If the country fails to make use of half its talent pool, stagnation looms. An OECD study estimated that if the labour-force participation rate for men and women was the same by 2030, GDP growth would increase by 0.9 percentage points annually. Since 2010 growth has fallen from 6.5% to 2.6%.”
Tags: Babies, Demographics, Fertility, GDP, Growth, Japan, South Korea, Stagnation, Working women
