The Guardian (September 24)
“The supreme court has delivered a comprehensive demolition of Boris Johnson’s government and its handling of Brexit. The unanimous judgment of the 11 justices…amounts to a root and branch rejection of the prime minister’s attempts to rule without parliament, to take Britain out of the European Union by 31 October without a deal, and to contrive a premature general election…. The immediate effect of the judgment is devastating for Johnson. It is expressed so cogently and unambiguously that it will be difficult for him to wriggle out of it – even though he is certainly foolish enough to try.”
Tags: Brexit, Devastating, EU, Foolish, Johnson, Judgment, Parliament, Rejection, Supreme Court, UK, Unanimous
Investment Week (September 18)
“The global economy is in a tricky spot…. Money markets are pricing in two possible scenarios, with two very different outcomes. First, a high probability of limited Fed easing…. This would not be enough to kick‑start global growth. Second, a low probability of significant Fed easing, resulting in rates being cut close to zero. This—combined with some limited fiscal stimulus from Europe and China—would be enough to refresh global growth.”
Tags: EU, Fed easing, Fiscal stimulus, Global economy, Growth, Money markets, Outcomes, Pricing, Rate cut, Scenarios
Barron’s (September 12)
“Be careful what you wish for when calling for zero or negative interest rates, Mr. President.” There’s a downside and the results are not inspiring. “The record of negative rates in the euro zone, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan has been mixed…. While bond yields have fallen below zero, banks been reluctant to impose negative rates on depositors, resulting in a squeeze on their profits.”
Tags: Banks, Bond yields, Denmark, Depositors, Downside, EU, Interest rates, Japan, Negative rates, Sweden, Switzerland, Trump, U.S.
The Guardian (September 12)
“Here the issue… is that a British prime minister persists in asserting the impossible. He demands that Britain leave the European single market but with a gaping hole in its border, in Ireland. He wants a border and no border.” A no-deal Brexit would cause “chaos” in a worst case scenario, but “in Ireland it is physically impossible.”
Tags: Border, Brexit, Chaos, EU, Impossible, Ireland, No-deal, Prime minister, Single market, UK
The Economist (August 31)
“The sense of inevitability about no-deal, cultivated by the hardliners advising Mr Johnson, is bogus. The EU is against such an outcome; most Britons oppose it; Parliament has already voted against the idea. Those MPs determined to stop no-deal have been divided and unfocused. When they return to work next week after their uneasy summer recess, they will have a fleeting chance to avert this unwanted national calamity. Mr Johnson’s actions this week have made clear why they must seize it.”
Tags: Bogus, Calamity, EU, Hardliners, Inevitability, Johnson, MPs, No-deal, Parliament, UK
Financial Times (August 26)
“British society is so deeply divided—politically, socially, geographically and generationally—that it is unable to react. The UK has become a mere chessboard, a toy in the hands of a force far greater than that of its inhabitants; the geopolitical interests of the Trump administration,” which seeks to use the UK “as the latest battlefield on which to achieve its twin goals of undermining the EU, and challenging its rival China.”
Tags: Battlefield, Chessboard, Divided, EU, Geopolitical interests, Society, Trump administration, U.S., UK
Reuters (August 8)
“Sterling’s recent slide is not yet over as the chances Britain and the European Union part ways without a withdrawal deal have jumped again after arch-Brexiteer Boris Johnson took over as prime minister last month.”
Washington Post (July 23)
Tomorrow Boris Johnson may get “the chance to prove that the manure in Britain smells different” than in the EU. “He has vowed to push forward Brexit, break free of the tyranny of the European Union and lead a liberated Britain to its former global greatness. His supporters are willing to look beyond a cringeworthy record of gaffes, sordid peccadilloes and soft bigotry. Most analysts, though, reckon that he is in for a rude awakening.”
Tags: Bigotry, Brexit, Cringeworthy, EU, Gaffes, Greatness, Johnson, Liberated, Rude awakening, UK
Investment Week (July 17)
“A ‘no deal’ Brexit could result in sterling falling to parity with the dollar,” according to Morgan Stanley. “Exiting the European Union without a deal looks increasingly likely.” In a “worst-case scenario” the pound, currently at $1.24, could plunge roughly 19% “to historic lows of $1-$1.10.”
The Economist (July 13)
Matteo Salvini has in effect “been the most powerful man in Italy since shortly after he became a deputy prime minister in June last year.” His domestic rise has been “relentless,” though it is not connected “to pre-eminence by solving or showing how he might solve any of Italy’s obvious malaises.” Even more worryingly, Mr. Salvini has a very antagonistic relationship with the EU and he could very well instigate a new crisis, willingly or otherwise. “The troubling fact for Europe is that no one knows what this meteor that has flashed across Italy’s skies will do next.”
Tags: Antagonistic, Crisis, Deputy prime minister, EU, Italy, Malaises, Relentless, Salvini, Troubling
