February, 2018

• 19 February

  Empty cockpits are a big problem for US Air Force

  In late 2016, the Air Force realized it was facing a shortage of about 700 fighter pilots. The service, to its credit, pushed ahead with several initiatives to avert the looming crisis. The result: The Air Force is now short about 1,200 fighter pilots. It’s not that the Air Force’s steps weren’t improvements. It’s that they were too small. With ...

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• 19 February

  Run the economy extra-hot to keep recovery strong

  

  With the unemployment rate down to near four percent, and new claims for unemployment insurance at a 48-year low, maybe the economy can’t accommodate more workers without zooming out of control. That’s the conventional wisdom, but a few economists are skeptical of this narrative. We see an economy that is still well below its long-term trend line. How do we ...

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• 19 February

  The eurozone can’t get its stories straight

  

  The European Union can act in unison at times — for example, on Russia sanctions or, at least so far, on Brexit. But as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel try for a closer union in the next few years, they will need to be mindful of the fact that there is no single narrative among the ...

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• 19 February

  Everyone has forgotten the downside to debt

  

  As a new capital markets associate at Lehman Brothers in 2001, I was thrown into the summer program mating ritual known as rotations. That’s when you spend time working in various areas of an investment bank before being assigned to a department. The least popular assignment at the time was the government bond trading desk. Why? Because the US was ...

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• 19 February

  ECB puts payments moratorium on crippled Latvian ABLV bank

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank declared a temporary moratorium on debit operations in all currencies at ABLV Bank, the Baltic country’s third-biggest lender facing US Treasury enforcement action for alleged links to North Korea. “Temporarily, and until further notice, a prohibition of all payments by ABLV Bank on its financial liabilities has been imposed, and is now in effect,” the ...

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• 19 February

  Indian state banks continue dropping as fraud impact widens

  

  Bloomberg Shares of India’s government-controlled banks fell on Monday as more lenders disclosed exposure to one of the nation’s biggest frauds. UCO Bank tumbled 7.5 percent as of 9:26 a.m. in Mumbai — set for the steepest plunge since September 2016 — after it said it has exposure of $411.8 million in the nearly $2 billion bank fraud allegedly perpetrated ...

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• 19 February

  BOE rate hike to determine pound’s path

  

  Bloomberg The pound’s near-term direction is likely to be driven this week by economic data that could determine whether the Bank of England raises interest rates within three months. Traders will put most weight on UK employment figures scheduled for Wednesday, with evidence of a pickup in earnings likely to push the pound higher as it spurs inflation beyond the ...

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• 19 February

  BOJ watchers see risk of yen pushing taper further away

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to stick with Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda indicates that powerful stimulus will continue, and the yen’s recent advance could make policy normalization even more remote. That’s the message from a Bloomberg survey of 26 economists following Abe’s nomination of Kuroda and new deputies Masayoshi Amamiya and Masazumi Wakatabe. Only three say the ...

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• 19 February

  World Bank: Philippines holding rate is appropriate for now

  

  Bloomberg The World Bank said the Philippines’ monetary policy stance is appropriate for now even as inflation is set to breach the central bank’s target this year. “Keeping the interest rate flat for now is presently the most appropriate response,” Birgit Hansl, a World Bank economist in Manila, said in an emailed response to questions last week. “If inflationary pressures ...

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• 18 February

  Adnoc awards $1.5bn concession to Cepsa

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM On behalf of the Abu Dhabi Government, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Sunday signed an agreement with Cepsa, a Spanish integrated oil and gas company, awarding it a 20 percent stake in Abu Dhabi’s offshore SARB and Umm Lulu concession. The choice of Cepsa, which is wholly-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company ...

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