New York Times (July 12)
“Sorry, NATO. Trump doesn’t believe in allies. Europe has to understand that in the American president’s twisted worldview, there are only fans and enemies.” European are “doomed if they think the issue now is how to salvage their alliance with the United States. The time for that has passed…. The challenge now for the leaders of Europe is learn to live in a world where America has no allies.”
Handelsblatt Global (July 11)
“Donald Trump is in Brussels surrounded by unhappy faces and that’s not just Belgian soccer fans. The US president is attending the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the rumble started before the first round of coffee.”
Forbes (July 9)
“Investors seem willing to bet that the near-term winner of the trade war is Trump. However, the detrimental effects of an escalating trade war are being considered by central bankers here and in Europe. The negative impact mainly comes from a worsening in business sentiment and corporate investment.”
Tags: Business sentiment, Central bankers, Corporate investment, Europe, Investors, Negative impact, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Winner
The Guardian (July 8)
“Theresa May’s fragile deal would be a disaster for Britain.” The Prime Minister secured “a fragile domestic political compromise only by confecting a solution that no one thinks the EU will accept. And even in the unlikely event that the EU were to sign on the dotted line, there is no disguising that while it may be better than dropping out with no deal, the Chequers agreement would be a terrible outcome.” Britain would no longer have a say “in shaping the rules of the world’s most successful trading bloc…in exchange for becoming a rule-taker in whatever scrappy free trade deal we can negotiate.”
Tags: Compromise, Deal, Disaster, EU, Fragile, May, Negotiate, Outcome, Rule-taker, Trading bloc, UK
The Economist (July 7)
“The world’s most titanic commercial fight” is pitting “the towering giants of American and Chinese tech” against each other. It is “led by the FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google’s parent, Alphabet) on one side and the BATs (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) on the other.” The battle has largely stayed under the radar. “But its outcome could put third countries in one camp or the other, increasing the risk that the world eventually splits into two techno-blocs.”
Tags: BATS, China, Commercial fight, FAANGs, Tech giants, Techno-blocs, Third countries, U.S.
South China Morning Post (July 6)
As the U.S. and China begin to “spar over trade, Japan may avoid a direct hit – for now.” While the first round of tariffs is “expected to have limited impact,” the dispute “could lead to further appreciation of yen and punitive duties on Japanese cars” if it continues to spiral out of control.
Institutional Investor (July 5)
“Behind the best performing endowment funds are investment committees stacked with professional investors in alternative asset management, according to new research which found that “Board expertise within alternatives broadly and private markets specifically was proven to lead to higher performance among endowments.”
Tags: Alternative asset management, Board, Endowment funds, Expertise, Investment committees, Investors, Performance
Reuters (July 5)
“Investors watching the trade tit-for-tat between the United States and China may well have reason to fear the havoc a full blown conflict between the world’s two biggest economies could wreak on the global economy.” Furthermore, the collateral damage could be worse than that done to the principals. Due to global supply chains, countries like Taiwan, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Singapore could be equally if not more vulnerable” to fall out from the spat between the U.S. and China.
Tags: China, Collateral damage, Conflict, Czech Republic, Global economy, Hungary, Investors, Singapore, South Korea, Supply chains, Taiwan, Tit-for-tat, Trade, U.S., Vulnerable
The Independent (July 3)
“Any plan to rely on American trade to make up for the loss of EU benefits caused by Brexit are now merely a fantasy. Ironically, the push to remain in the EU might benefit from the US’s lurch toward insanity; the Brexit vote came when people assumed America would have a rational leader at the helm.”
CNN (July 2)
“Every US-made car is an import,” which means US automakers could get stung bad by tariffs. According to a measure used by regulators, “the two most ‘American’ cars are both Hondas—the Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup,” each of which boast about 75% of components made in the US or Canada. “The Honda Civic, Acura MDX, Acura TLX and the Mercedes C-class source 70% from the United States and Canada. The highest-ranked car made by a Detroit automaker is the Chevrolet Corvette, which placed seventh” at about 65%. GM has already warned that “tariffs could force the company to cut jobs at US plants due to an expected drop in sales associated with higher prices.”
