August, 2019

• 17 August

  US unveils warrant to seize Iranian ship stuck at Gibraltar

  

  Bloomberg The US government has issued a warrant to seize the supertanker Grace 1, which was detained on suspicion of hauling Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European sanctions. A complaint unsealed in Washington states that “‘Oil Tanker Grace 1,’ all petroleum aboard it and $995,000 are subject to forfeiture,” according to a Justice Department statement. The statement alleges ...

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• 17 August

  Trump nears Afghan peace plan to end longest US war

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump met his top national security advisers as his team prepares to unveil an Afghanistan peace agreement with the Taliban that would help bring an end to America’s longest war. Among those discussing the matter with Trump at his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, were Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton. The ...

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• 17 August

  Law-breaking protesters must pay: China

  

  Bloomberg China urged Hong Kong to punish demonstrators who break the law as thousands of teachers added their voices to the city’s growing protest movement and marched to the chief executive’s residence on Saturday. Protesters who have broken laws must be punished accordingly, You Wenze, spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with state ...

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• 17 August

  Communists rally for fair poll in Moscow

  

  Bloomberg The Russian Communist Party held a rally in central Moscow calling for honest and fair city council elections as the newly energised opposition planned to skip mass protests this weekend for the first time in five weeks. The rally started at noon Moscow time at Sakharov Avenue, the traditional spot for demonstrations, and senior party officials, politicians and State ...

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• 17 August

  US businesses are stuck in trade war uncertainty

  

  The tariff burden from the US-China trade conflict is “falling almost 100 percent on China,” President Donald Trump’s senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow argued last week. But take a look at what’s happening to business investment in the US, and it’s obvious Kudlow is wrong. Some businesses stand to gain from the president’s trade policy — especially those that compete ...

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• 17 August

  Aussies, Kiwis belong to the same world

  

  The term “Down Under” as a somehow blessed space separate from the realities of the rest of the world really ought to be banished, at least from discussions about economics. The direction of monetary policy in Australia and New Zealand is headed upside down after years of exceptionalism. As four central ba-nks across Asia reduced int- erest rates last week, ...

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• 17 August

  China’s coal spending boom contrasts with industry slump

  While China’s industrial sector crashes, one corner is booming. Oddly enough, it’s probably bad news for participants. Fixed-asset investment in mining increased 27.4 percent from a year earlier in July, continuing an extraordinary run this year that puts growth at the fastest pace in a decade. One commodity is likely to have dominated: Investments in mining and preparing coal have ...

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• 17 August

  Green Republicans should support a carbon tax

  Rather unexpectedly, Republicans have become a minor font of ideas on fighting climate change. There’s been talk of clean-energy tax credits, a boost to carbon-capture technology, a renewed push for nuclear power, even a new “Roosevelt Conservation Caucus” dedicated to green issues. Above all, they say, the fight against climate change must take advantage of American innovation. That’s no doubt ...

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• 17 August

  Some UK companies are fine about no-deal Brexit

  

  Is your company immune to Brexit? With the looming threat of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal deal and a slim but rising risk of the pound plunging to parity with the dollar, more chief executives are telling investors they can handle any eventuality — however messy. Unfortunately, having a fully fleshed out Brexit contingency plan is a ...

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• 17 August

  Switzerland is being held captive by its big neighbour

  

  Switzerland is one of the richest places on the planet but it isn’t all sunshine and alpine flowers when you’re encircled by the world’s biggest trading bloc: the European Union. While the Swiss are pretty nimble in managing this unfortunate state of affairs, there are limits to what they can do. Take currency. The Swiss National Bank is facing the ...

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