July, 2017

• 19 July

  Record job growth supporting Mexican economy as Nafta talks loom

  

  Bloomberg Amid all the noise about the future of its trade relationship with the US, Mexico is quietly creating jobs at a record pace and reducing the informality that for decades has held back its economy. More than 517,000 Mexican workers gained access to social security in the first half of 2017, a 17 percent increase from a year ago ...

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• 19 July

  Is quiet persuasion more effective than shouting?

  

  The Chinese government, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the internet: The best strategy may not be to confront critics directly, but to lull or distract them with a tide of good news. This intriguing argument is suggested by a recent article in the American Political Science Review titled ‘How ...

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• 19 July

  Saving capitalism from capitalists? Try harder, RBI

  

  Although Raghuram Rajan co-wrote the influential 2003 book, Saving Capitalism From the Capitalists, it has fallen upon his successor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to actually attempt such a thing. By the looks of it, Urjit Patel has a hard slog ahead. For now, the governor of India’s central bank can breathe a sigh of relief. His most ...

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• 19 July

  ECB should be firmer with troubled banks

  

  The failure of three banks in less than a month has led the European Central Bank to wonder whether it needs fresh powers to deal with struggling lenders. Some new tools might prove useful, but they aren’t the main thing. What the ECB needs most is the will to resist political pressure and act promptly when necessary. The recent crisis ...

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• 19 July

  Syrian truce is a baby step towards peace

  After years of horrific fighting in Syria — including several failed cease-fires — it’s hard to get too excited about a limited agreement to stop hostilities in a tiny corner of the country. Yet the modest ‘de-escalation’ deal in Syria’s southwest is a promising sign. IS is not yet defeated. But the cease-fire, reached by Jordan, Russia and the US, ...

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• 19 July

  Critics of economics miss what it gets right

  

  At this point, blanket critiques of the economics (or “econ”)discipline have been standardized to the point where it’s pretty easy to predict how they’ll proceed. Economists will be castigated for their failure to foresee the Great Recession. Some unrealistic assumptions in mainstream macroeconomic models will be mentioned. Economists will be cast as priests of free-market ideology, whose shortcomings will be ...

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• 19 July

  Here’s a better use of British Land’s cash. Do nothing

  

  Britain’s commercial property market is at the epicenter of the Brexit tremor. One of the industry’s titans, British Land Co., is fed up with investors’ reluctance to buy its shares. The company plans to buy back as much as 300 million pounds ($390 million) of its own stock, about 5 percent of its equity value. It’s a bet that the ...

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• 19 July

  An EU rubber-boat ban won’t stop migrants

  

  If it looks as though Europe is clutching at straws to stop hundreds, sometimes thousands, of migrants from crossing the Mediterranean into Italy every day, that’s exactly what’s happening. On Monday, the European Union’s foreign ministers approved restrictions on the supply of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya. The boats that bring the migrants, mostly Africans these days, have ...

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• 19 July

  China ‘overrated’ bonds may challenge foreign rating firms

  

  Bloomberg China has finally opened up its credit-rating market. But foreign credit assessors aren’t likely to waltz in, local money managers say. The challenge for rating companies, which generally charge issuers for scoring them, will be to win business from borrowers used to getting high grades from local assessors. That’s key after Sunday, which marked the day by which China ...

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• 19 July

  Earnings boost stocks, euro retreats as ECB meets

  

  Bloomberg Stocks rose Wednesday on earnings strength, with the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index adding to Tuesday’s record highs. The euro retraced some recent gains as European policy makers gathered in Frankfurt before Thursday’s rate decision. Oil fluctuated. It was a day of reversing trends in Europe, with the common currency coming off the highest close since August ...

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