October, 2017

• 10 October

  Catalonia and Spain need outside mediation to resolve ongoing crisis

  

  “W hen you got a hundred voices singin’, who can hear a lousy whistle blow?” —Newsies. Instead of managing the Catalonia crisis well, Spain’s central government has inadvertently provided the world with an illustration of what not to do. The heavy-handed response to the region’s desire for greater self-determination has empowered, and not weakened, separatists and has contributed to regrettable ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  Currency convertibility is back as a risk in Europe

  Besides default, perhaps the biggest risk to holders of euro-denominated bonds is currency convertibility. It isn’t talked about all that often, but it hangs over the market like a black cloud. The fear is that some geopolitical event causes a member of the euro zone to decide to exit the union and investors holding sovereign bonds denominated in euros are ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  Trump administration gambles on health costs

  Lost in the debate over how best to insure Americans against the high cost of health care has been the question of how to bring that cost down. That’s a shame, because keeping the cost of medical treatment from rising so fast is just as important as providing Americans access to it. Promising efforts to get a grip on medical ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  As he turns 65, Putin’s power slowly wanes

  

  On October 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 65. As of this year, this is the maximum retirement age for Russian civil servants, which can only be raised in special cases. Though Putin, as an elected official, is not subject to this law and has indicated that it’s too early for him to retire, he reaches this milestone in a ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  China doesn’t want your junk but Japan does

  

  For 30 years China has recycled more cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and old computers than any other nation. By doing so, it’s saved millions of tons of resources and indirectly funded thousands of recycling programs and companies globally. But now it wants to stop. In July, China notified the World Trade Organization that it will soon prohibit the import of ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  How UK Conservatives can win back the young

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May closed the Tory Party conference with a rambling speech on Conservative values, Brexit, economic and social policy. Many wondered whether the embattled leader had done enough to heal, or at least paper over, the much-noted divisions within her own party and cabinet for now. But the more important question is whether she’s doing enough to win ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  American stocks hit new highs

  

  Bloomberg US stocks climbed to record highs as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. led a rally in consumer shares and energy producers climbed along with oil prices. Politics remained the dominant theme in Europe as Spanish stocks declined and the euro rose before a pivotal meeting of Catalan’s regional parliament. The dollar had weakened against most major currencies as President Donald Trump’s ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  Qatar recovers, banking and insurance hit Saudi

  

  Reuters Qatar’s stock market continued to recover on Tuesday from last week’s big losses, while Saudi Arabia’s main index was dragged down by the banking and insurance sectors. The Qatari index rose for a third straight day in a technical rebound after hitting five-year lows last week. It was up 0.5 percent on Tuesday after gaining 0.9 percent. Foreign investors ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  China central bank boss calls for reform amid Congress countdown

  

  Bloomberg People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan made a fresh call to open up the nation’s financial sector, and warned that reform will become more difficult if the window of opportunity is missed. In an interview with the Chinese financial magazine Caijing, the nation’s longest-serving central bank chief defined a “troika” of three drivers needed to further open ...

  Read More »
• 10 October

  Indonesia probes Standard Chartered over $1.4bn transfer

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia will investigate whether citizens linked to the transfer of $1.4 billion of Standard Chartered Plc private bank client assets complied with tax amnesty requirements. The country’s Finance Ministry received data on the fund transfer for tax compliance purposes and found it involved 81 private citizens, without any military, police, law enforcement or civil servants involved, Ken Dwijugiasteadi, director-general ...

  Read More »