Bloomberg (March 6)
“Until the conflict with Iran broke out, President Donald Trump was getting — by design or by chance — what he appeared to want in three pivotal financial markets: lower oil prices and Treasury yields, and a weaker dollar. The air strikes that the US and Israel launched over the weekend, and Iran’s counterattacks, are unraveling that.”
Tags: Air strikes, Chance, Conflict, Counterattacks, Design, Dollar, Financial markets, Iran, Israel, Oil prices, Treasury yields, Trump, U.S.
Fortune (March 5)
“A landmark Supreme Court ruling against President Trump’s tariffs has cost the federal government an estimated $1.7 trillion in projected revenue through 2036.” At its current spending rate, this sets “the United States on a course toward a national debt of $58 trillion within the next decade.”
Tags: $1.7 trillion, $58 trillion, 2036, Cost, Government, Landmark, National debt, Projected revenue, Ruling, Spending rate, Supreme Court, Tariffs, Trump, U.S.
Chicago Sun Times (March 3)
“The Chicago area was named the top U.S. metro for corporate relocations and site selection for the 13th year in a row by Site Selection Magazine…. World Business Chicago, the city’s nonprofit economic development agency, last year counted 223 corporate expansions, projects and new entrants in the Chicago area. The 40% year-over-year increase in activity represents $1.7 billion in annual earnings and the creation of an estimated 19,600 jobs.”
Tags: $1.7 billion, $40, 13th year, Annual earnings, Chicago, Corporate relocations, Economic development, Expansions, Jobs, Metro, New entrants, Site selection, U.S.
Fortune (March 2)
“S&P 500 futures were down 1.22% this morning as part of a broad global selloff in the stock markets triggered by the conflict between Iran and the U.S. and Israel.” Uncertainty prevails amid efforts to assess the likely severity of the conflict, which “could be serious enough to push oil over $100 per barrel.” For now, investors have “entered a worldwide ‘risk-off’ phase.”
Tags: $100 bbl, Conflict, Futures, Global selloff, Investors, Iran, Israel, of Oil, S&P 500, Severity, Stock markets, U.S., Uncertainty
Wall Street Journal (February 27)
“Economics 101 teaches that international trade is all about comparative advantage.” Specialization and trade result “in everyone getting more of everything.” This theory “no longer guides global trade. Instead, what’s happening looks more like portfolio theory. Countries are no longer maneuvering to maximize gains. They’re diversifying to minimize losses. The risk they’re hedging against? The U.S.”
Tags: Comparative advantage, Diversifying, Economics, Hedging, International trade, Maximize gains, Minimize losses, Portfolio theory, Risk, Specialization, U.S.
Washington Post (February 26)
“Many Asian governments used threats from President Donald Trump as a pretext to enact unpopular but necessary free-market reforms…. To get lower tariff rates, they agreed to pry open their closed markets to allow in American beef, auto parts and crude oil.” Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against the tariffs and Trump has instead “imposed a baseline tariff of 15 percent… some leaders feel buyer’s remorse.” In fact, it looks like the elusive goal of “liberalizing Asia’s tightly protected markets” may slip away, something that “would be a shame on both sides of the Pacific.”
Tags: Asia, Auto parts, Beef, Buyer’s remorse, Crude oil, Free market reforms, Governments, Necessary, Pretext, Supreme Court, Tariff rates, Threats, Trump, U.S., Unpopular
CNN (February 24)
China is “the real winner from the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling.” As major trade partners face “renewed uncertainty,” the “dramatic rebuke to the US president’s trade agenda” has delivered “clear vindication” to its biggest economic rival. When Trump embarks to China in March, he will be missing one of his “go-to tools for economic negotiations with other nations” or, what China has decried as, “unilateral bullying.” Negotiating power “seems to have shifted dramatically” in China’s favor.
Tags: Agenda, China, Economic rival, Negotiations, Rebuke, Supreme Court, Tariff ruling, Trade partners, U.S., Uncertainty, Unilateral bullying, Vindication, Winner
New York Times (February 23)
“Tariff turmoil” has returned to global markets. “Businesses and U.S. trade partners are again grappling with the uncertainty of President Trump’s trade war, even as he imposes new levies.” The President is vowing to extend tariffs under other means, but the recent “Supreme Court decision is likely to scramble, or at least slow down, some corporate investment plans,” including “commitments to reshore supply chains in the U.S.”
Tags: Businesses, Corporate investment, Decision, Global markets, Grappling, Levies, Reshoring, Scramble, Supply chains, Supreme Court, Tariff turmoil, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Uncertainty
Wall Street Journal (February 19)
Last week, several economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York “found that American households and businesses are bearing nearly 90% of the cost of the Trump tariffs, contrary to Mr. Trump’s claim that foreigners will pay.” This week, a defensive White House tried to fight back and sully the research. “If the tariffs are such an unambiguous economic and political winner, why is the Administration so defensive about them…. Clearly the White House is worried that voters might conclude this research aligns with their own experience.”
Tags: Businesses, Cost, Defensive, Economists, Foreigners, Households, New York Fed, Research, Trump tariffs, U.S., Voters, White House, Worried
MarketWatch (February 17)
“A trillion-euro market” is arising as Europe wakes up to the end of “the post-Cold War international order with its security bargain.” The result could be “a bond market powerhouse that threatens U.S. Treasurys.” Europe now looks to be moving toward “a Eurobond market exceeding €1 trillion. This includes approximately €650 billion from the coronavirus era, €95 billion for Ukraine and several hundred billion euros from new defense facilities and national borrowing enabled by fiscal exemptions.”
Tags: €1 trillion, Cold war, Coronavirus, Defense facilities, Eurobond market, Europe, Exemptions, International order, Powerhouse, Security, Treasurys, U.S., Ukraine
