February, 2019

• 10 February

  Trump: Wall coming ‘one way or the other’ as lawmakers talk

  

  Bloomberg Congressional negotiators dug in for a weekend of talks on a security plan that includes some sort of barrier on the US-Mexican border, hoping to complete a deal to avert another government shutdown that’s also acceptable to President Donald Trump. Trump was back in the fray, indicating in a tweet that if Democrats didn’t give him all the wall ...

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• 10 February

  May seeks time for EU talks, vows Feb 27 vote

  

  Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May wants more time to renegotiate her Brexit deal with the European Union and in return is promising lawmakers a further chance to take control of the process before the clock runs out, according to an official with knowledge of her plans. With a vote due February 14 and no prospect of agreement, May will ...

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• 10 February

  Indian politician shot dead in West Bengal’s Nadia

  Bloomberg An Indian state lawmaker was shot dead in West Bengal amid rising tensions between the provincial and federal governments. Satyajit Biswas, who belonged to the state’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress party, was shot by assailants near his home on Saturday night, the Times of India reported, citing the police. The Trinamool Congress said on Twitter the death was ...

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• 10 February

  Women face uphill battle in male-dominated Nigeria politics

  

  Bloomberg When Bolanle Aliyu decided to run for governor of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria, even her husband was initially reluctant to support her. Aliyu knew it was going to be tough once she entered the boisterous and sometimes violent world of Nigerian politics. She’d have to figure out how to fund her campaign and deal with corrupt party officials ...

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• 10 February

  Limited government in the US requires a limited president

  

  Soon, in a federal court that few Americans know exists, there will come a ruling on a constitutional principle that today barely exists but that could, if the judicial branch will resuscitate it, begin to rectify the imbalance between the legislative and executive branches. It is the “nondelegation doctrine,” which expresses John Locke’s justly famous but largely ignored admonition that ...

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• 10 February

  Brexit delivers a $400trn market truce

  

  Break out the bubbly: Global financial regulators are starting to cooperate for the greater good as the Brexit deadline looms ever closer. Just don’t mistake an uneasy truce for a lasting peace. The agreement between EU securities regulator Esma and the Bank of England is another step towards creating a post-Brexit safety net for the $400 trillion global derivatives market, ...

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• 10 February

  J C Penney CEO’s first big move makes sense

  And just like that, this is no longer Marvin Ellison’s J.C. Penney Co. The department store chain said it is going to get out of the business of selling major appliances. With this move, new CEO Jill Soltau has reversed course on a key initiative of Ellison, her predecessor in the top job at the troubled retailer. This decision does ...

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• 10 February

  Free Australia’s economy from myth of invincibility

  Time to liberate Australia’s economy. It needs to be freed from folklore that’s built up around the 27-year stretch sans recession. The reality is that the expansion waxed and waned during that period. Business cycles aren’t dead Down Under, despite Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s only half-joking proposition in November that they are defunct in Australia. It’s waning now. That’s ...

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• 10 February

  In Finland, money can buy you happiness

  

  The first results of Finland’s two-year experiment with a universal basic income (UBI) are in, and if they’re confirmed by further research, they will probably hurt the unconditional income cause. The trial run showed that “money for nothing” makes people happier but doesn’t inspire them to find work anymore than traditional unemployment benefits would. The Finnish experiment, conducted in 2017 ...

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• 10 February

  Hedge fund takes on Britain and its banks

  

  A US hedge fund is taking on the British government and major banks in protest at the pain inflicted on ordinary shareholders in the latest rescue of a troubled UK construction company. It is picking a tough battle, but its plan is far from doomed. The company in question, Interserve Plc, revealed outline details of a restructuring package designed to ...

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