December, 2019

• 10 December

  ‘Unacceptable’ EU biofuel tariffs rile Indonesia

  Bloomberg The Indonesian government says the European Union’s (EU) tariffs on the Asian nation’s biodiesel shipments are “unacceptable” and all options to counter the policy are on the table, including retaliatory actions. The EU imposed five-year tariffs on Indonesian biodiesel imports to counter alleged subsidies to producers of the fuel, which is typically made from palm oil and other fats ...

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• 10 December

  Vietnam’s richest man bets $2b for US car sale

  

  Bloomberg The billionaire behind six-month-old Vietnamese auto startup VinFast plans a feat even Toyota Motor Corp and Hyundai Motor Co couldn’t pull off during their early days: sell a car in the US. Pham Nhat Vuong, the Southeast Asian country’s richest man and now in charge of the new automaker, is so intent on exporting electric vehicles to the lucrative ...

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• 10 December

  China’s leaders gather to set economic targets for 2020

  

  Bloomberg China’s top leadership will set the target for economic growth at “about 6%” for 2020 as they meet this week for their annual policy conclave, according to a survey of economists. The central Economic Work Conference meeting began Tuesday and will wrap up on Thursday, according to people briefed on the plans, right as negotiators aim to finalise a ...

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• 10 December

  Nissan faces $22m fine over Ghosn’s pay

  

  Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co is set to be fined 2.4 billion yen ($22 million) for underreporting former chairman Carlos Ghosn’s compensation, Japan’s securities regulators said. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission made the recommendation just over one year after Ghosn’s arrest, which shocked the auto industry and triggered turmoil at the Japanese automaker and its alliance partner, Renault SA. Ghosn, ...

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• 10 December

  Record blackouts shut South Africa’s mines

  Bloomberg Platinum and gold mines in South Africa stopped operations as the country was hit by record levels of rolling blackouts that are crippling key parts of the economy, threatening another recession. Producers including Sibanye Gold Ltd, the world’s biggest platinum miner, recalled workers from underground and stopped milling ore after state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd announced it ...

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• 10 December

  Zimbabwe deepens power cuts to 24 hrs

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s state-owned Zesa Holdings Ltd escalated power cuts to as long as 24 hours after losing regional power imports and local generation capacity remains critically constrained. The power utility has a non-binding agreement to import as much as 400 megawatts of power from South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, which is unable to meet local demand and has implemented ...

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• 10 December

  2020 candidates in US: Be bold, think small!

  

  Being in the midst of a presidential campaign, it’s not surprising that we’re bombarded with proposals for massive new government programs that promise to transform major segments of American life. We’re going to overhaul the health care system with “Medicare for All” or something like it; or we’re going to make college “free” by eliminating tuitions at state schools; or ...

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• 10 December

  ECB is acting against negative rates

  

  Euro zone finance minsters’ are pushing back against the negative rate regime of the European Central Bank (ECB) just as Christine Lagarde takes the reins from Mario Draghi. This is yet another rerun of the battle between the economically strongest (essentially northern) European nations and their weaker partners over who should shoulder the burden for maintaining stability in the euro ...

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• 10 December

  China’s small banks merger plan has now big challenges

  China’s small bank problem may be about to get a lot bigger. The slowing economy is exposing vulnerabilities built up by years of aggressive lending — and Beijing’s plans to preserve stability by merging weak lenders with each other could end up creating an even worse headache. The country’s hundreds of rural commercial and city lenders account for 27% of ...

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• 10 December

  Germany’s political crisis to unfold in slow motion

  A German political crisis isn’t a raging, unstoppable, unpredictable forest fire: It starts with seemingly irreconcilable positions but then evolves into a tedious, detail-focused negotiation and, more often than not, a compromise. That’s the direction things appear to be taking after the election of two determined leftists as co-leaders of the Social Democratic party (SPD), the junior member of Germany’s ...

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