Citizenship turmoil threatens economic confidence in Australia

Bloomberg Political turmoil in Australia risks undermining fragile economic confidence as the loss of another lawmaker in the dual-citizenship fiasco left Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull leading a minority government. John Alexander, 66, became the second government member in the lower house to resign, when he acknowledged he likely inherited British citizenship through his father. While the government will survive with ...

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Are tax breaks immortal?

If you want to understand why the tax code is so hard to overhaul, consider the case of the mortgage interest deduction. The issue is so sensitive that the House and Senate are dealing with it in completely opposite ways. To its many defenders and beneficiaries, the mortgage interest deduction symbolizes and subsidizes the American Dream. It promotes homeownership, which ...

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Trump’s talk is just background noise to Asian pacific markets

On the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s election win, markets in Asia are behaving like the US president’s rhetoric is just background noise. At first, there were knee-jerk reactions. Japan’s Topix Index slumped 4.6 percent on Nov. 9 as investors digested the news while credit-default swaps protecting Indonesian government debt against default rose 26 basis points that week, the most ...

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How Kohl’s can survive the retail apocalypse

If soon-to-be CEO Michelle Gass needed any reminder of what a tough job she is stepping into at Kohl’s Corp., the department-store chain’s latest earnings report surely provided one. Kohl’s said its same-store sales rose a meager 0.1 percent compared to a year earlier. The company said its traffic trends continued to improve — but just because footfall is better ...

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Don’t expect the BOE to work miracles

Ever since the financial crisis we’ve become accustomed to the idea that whatever governments fail to do, central banks can always come to the rescue. If you need a reminder of why this statement is wrong, look no further than the Bank of England (BOE). Much like other monetary authorities in the rich world, the BOE has been the main ...

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How India can make the best of its big cash bust

Almost exactly one year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on national television to announce that, in a few hours, existing Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender. This came as a complete shock to most; the weeks and months that followed featured long queues at bank tellers as hapless Indians tried to exchange old notes for ...

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China opening its banks is great

So China would like a bit of foreign expertise after all. In a surprise move, and timed with US President Donald Trump’s state visit, China said it would scrap foreign ownership limits for banks and asset management firms. Asia’s biggest economy has been talking about opening its banking industry for a while now. Foreigners are already movers and shakers in ...

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New technology should be neither feared nor trusted

How should we think about new and future technologies? The two main stances seem to be extreme optimism and extreme pessimism. A better approach would be careful planning and management. Optimists like to point out that technology has been the greatest force for human welfare in the history of the species. They’re right. Before the Industrial Revolution, societies like the ...

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US stocks decline as bonds gain; pound under pressure

Bloomberg US stocks fluctuated as a global risk-off tone pushed Treasuries and the dollar higher. The pound weakened amid renewed political pressure on UK PM Theresa May. The S&P 500 Index was mixed as consumer shares pulled the measure up from its session lows. Sovereign bonds advanced, led by British gilts. The sterling slid against all G-10 peers after a ...

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State funds support Saudi, GFH Financial boosts Dubai

Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Monday, apparently boosted by purchases of shares by state-linked funds, while a surge in GFH Financial lifted Dubai’s bourse. Data released by the Saudi exchange showed local individual investors were net sellers of stocks by a margin of about 13 percent. That pattern appeared to continue on Monday, when the market fell as ...

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