April, 2019

• 13 April

  ‘China, Russia spreading disorder in Latin America’

  

  Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo blamed China and Russia for spreading “disorder” in Latin America by funding failing development projects and supporting leaders such as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the US insists must step down from power. Pompeo, speaking in Chile at the start of a three-day South American tour, said Beijing and Moscow have fuelled corruption and ...

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• 13 April

  ‘May won’t quit until Brexit is delivered’

  

  Bloomberg Theresa May will stay on as British prime minister to get Brexit done, even if that means remaining in the job until the end of October, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said. May promised to step aside once the divorce agreement has been passed in parliament, so a new leader can take charge of the next phase of ...

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• 13 April

  Sea row: Manila warns Beijing on ‘irritant’ acts

  Bloomberg The Philippines asked China to refrain from acts that could disrupt the two nations’ improving relations amid simmering tension in the South China Sea. “China should avoid performing acts that will place at risk the Filipino fishermen fishing in the disputed areas and at the same time cause irritants that will disrupt the current friendly relations,” President Rodrigo Duterte’s ...

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• 13 April

  What killed inflation?

  

  The Phillips Curve is dead; long live the Phillips Curve. One of today’s economic mysteries is: Why is inflation so low? The unemployment rate is a puny 3.8%. The recovery from the 2007-09 Great Recession is nearly a decade old, just when tight labour markets and strong demand usually push up wages and prices. Yet inflation (measured by the consumer ...

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• 13 April

  Ghosn makes a reasonable point

  

  The world’s preoccupation with the Carlos Ghosn affair hides in plain sight the pathetic state of Nissan Motor Co.’s business and the value destruction that has continued since his arrest. In a video message, the company’s deposed chairman spent much of his time talking about what’s going on at Nissan rather than addressing the growing pile of allegations against him. ...

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• 13 April

  N-weapons: America’s arsenal needs an update

  More than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, nuclear war may be something to worry about. At the moment, tensions between India and Pakistan, North Korea’s small arsenal, Iran’s nuclear program, and the US withdrawal from its treaty with Russia on intermediate-range nuclear missiles are all roiling the status quo of global security. But ...

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• 13 April

  Threats to trade mean fading global growth

  The world’s finance ministers and central bank governors, gathered in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, were assigned some grim reading this week. The IMF’s new forecasts predict a further slowing of the global expansion, and warn of serious downside risks as well. No single factor accounts for this cloud over the world’s ...

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• 13 April

  Britain learns what it really means to ‘take back control’

  

  The mantra “take back control” meant different things to different Brexit voters during the June 2016 referendum. But it’s pretty certain no one thought they’d be getting what came out of European Union (EU) summit. When they finally emerged in the early hours on April 11, the EU’s leaders had agreed to push back the UK’s Brexit deadline yet again, ...

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• 13 April

  Earnings losers are market’s big winners

  

  Chief executive officers are going out of their way to brace investors for what could be the worst first quarter in years. As of the end of last week, more than 20% of the companies in S&P 500 had pre-announced details of how they did in first three months, and nearly 80% of them told investors to lower their expectations. ...

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• 13 April

  Chinese love Vietnam property for wrong reasons

  

  Looking for the hottest residential real estate in Asia? Go to Ho Chi Minh City. Ever since Vietnam allowed foreigners to own apartments in July 2015, its luxury housing sector has been on a tear. Three years ago, when local developer Dai Quang Minh launched the first residential complex in the Thu Thiem area – a 657 hectare grassy plot ...

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