Slate (July 3)
“It might be time to start counting down until our next recession. As of this week, the U.S. Treasury yield curve has now been inverted for a full quarter,” an event that has proven “an unusually reliable warning sign that an economic downturn is on the way. The yield curve has flipped prior to each of the last seven official recessions over the past 50 years, without a single false-alarm during that stretch. If securities could talk, in other words, they’d be screaming bloody murder about trouble ahead.”
Tags: Economic downturn, False-alarm, Inverted, Recessions, Securities, U.S. Treasuries, Warning sign, Yield curve
The New York Times (July 2)
A new milestone was set on Monday: “the longest economic expansion in modern American history,” surpassing the record set between 1991 and 2001. The earlier period was famed for unabandoned optimism. “This time around, no one is accusing Americans of irrational exuberance: These good times don’t feel particularly good.”
Tags: Good times
South China Morning Post (July 2)
“Hong Kong has entered uncharted waters in terms of protest chaos and violence, with the storming and takeover of the Legislative Council building by mostly young activists opposing the now-suspended extradition bill.” A “fundamental rethink” by the government’s strategy is essential “to end the violence and move the city forward.” Ultimately, “cool heads must prevail to avoid further clashes and damage to both public property and the city’s reputation.”
Tags: Activists, Chaos, Clashes, Damage, Extradition bill, Government, Hong Kong, Legislative Council, Property, Protest, Rethink, Uncharted waters, Violence
The Korea Times (July 1)
There are clearly “concerns that the one-time meeting may end up as an anticlimax. Trump probably needed such global grandstanding…to boost his re-election bid. For his part, Kim might have wanted to use his DMZ meeting with Trump as propaganda to raise his international standing and tighten his grip on power.” Still, one must hope that “Trump and Kim will reach a grand deal to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. Their ‘handshake of peace’ should be translated into complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the peninsula.”
Tags: Anticlimax, DMZ, Grand deal, Grandstanding, Handshake, Kim, North Korea, Nuclear issue, Peace, Propaganda, Re-election, South Korea, Trump, U.S.
The Hill (June 30)
“The images from the DMZ looked a bit like a summit between leaders of two crime families; indeed, Trump had to ask Kim if North Korea’s key negotiators with the United States are still alive.” Whether the meeting ultimately amounts “to a meaningful step toward peace on the divided Korean peninsula or is a cheap and illusory ‘reality’ show, with no lasting significance, is difficult to know at this point.”
Tags: Alive, Crime families, DMZ, Kim, Meaningful, Negotiators, North Korea, Summit, Trump, U.S.
The Economist (June 29)
The “metropolis of money, known as the City, generates £120bn ($152bn) of output a year—as much as Germany’s car industry.” Increasingly, Brexit appears to threaten an outcome that “would make the eu poorer and damage London’s position.” In addition, the end result could “change the workings of the global financial system.”
Tags: Brexit, Car industry, Damage, EU, Financial system, Germany, London, Metropolis, Money, Outcome, Output, Poorer, The City
