MORNING MESSAGE
Cutting
the value of their currency is not a policy that will boost the world’s economy.
It will come at the expense of export growth in other countries, mostly but not
limited to ours ... China’s growth does not have to be at the expense of others.
China could boost its own growth in ways that are not “bad for everyone else” by
allowing a currency and trade balancing and the resulting overall increase of
world trade over the longer term. But this would not provide an immediate shot
in the arm in the way the mercantilist policies of currency and other
manipulation have done. China’s current policies essentially steal the business
from other countries and do not expand overall growth and stability.
China Currency Plummets
China’s
currency devalues again. AP: “On Wednesday, the yuan dropped another 1.6
percent … The People’s Bank of China promised Tuesday to keep the exchange rate
‘basically stable,’ but Wednesday’s decline prompted suggestions the yuan is
likely to fall further.”
China
move may impact Fed move in interest rates: NYT: “The Fed’s leaders have
been talking for months about raising interest rates … But a weakened renminbi —
and the possibility that other countries may follow suit — could mean further
weakening of American exports and slower economic growth. ‘It could lower the
odds of a Fed rate hike in the near term,’ said Thomas Lam, the chief economist
for industrialized economies at RHB Securities Singapore…”
TPP
could fall apart thanks to Big Tobacco. Politico: “Big Tobacco is pushing
back against a strict anti-smoking provision in the massive Trans-Pacific trade
deal … The ire of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other tobacco-state
lawmakers throws a wrench into the delicate negotiations to close the agreement
and secure congressional approval.”
Sanders Ahead In NH
Boston
Herald poll puts Sanders over Clinton in NH: “Sanders leads Clinton 44-37
percent among likely Democratic primary voters … More than half of New
Hampshire’s likely Democratic primary voters say they view Sanders ‘very’
favorably, an indication of the excitement the Vermont senator has generated
among his mostly liberal supporters.”
O’Malley
campaign raises legal questions over debate schedule. W. Post: “The memo
released Tuesday takes issue with an ‘exclusivity’ requirement, under which any
Democratic candidate who participates in a non-sanctioned debate could be barred
from the DNC-sponsored debates, the first of which is in October … Joe Sandler,
a former DNC general counsel whose services have been retained by O’Malley’s
campaign, argues … that the DNC has no legal authority to enforce it.”
Lawrence
Lessig knocks Sanders in Bloomberg interview: “…what I’m pushing is a big
idea that I think could actually unite America—and what Bernie is pushing is a
big idea that, while many of us in the progressive part of the Democratic Party
love it, all of America does not love … Bernie is talking about these proposed
[election] reforms … but he’s not talking about how he could get the mandate to
get these done first.”
Bill
Clinton defends Glass-Steagall repeal, suggests Dodd-Frank changes, in Inc.
interview: “…I believe there should be a serious look at the impact of
Dodd-Frank on legitimate community banks … There’s not a single, solitary
example that [Glass-Steagall] had anything to do with the financial crash. And
in fact, a study done afterward said that the unified banks were actually
slightly less likely to fail…”
Bill
Clinton also reveals that George W. Bush regretted repatriation: “…we were
having a discussion once about how to repatriate some of this corporate cash
that’s been overseas and how it might be directed to growing the U.S. economy.
He said, ‘I hope you can figure it out. I’d never fool with it again. They gave
me all these promises about, we’d sign a one-time, 5 3/4 percent repatriation
tax, they’d put the rest of it into jobs and pay raises.’ And all it went into
was management pay and stock buybacks. And he said, ‘I’m done with it.’ It was
really a touching conversation. He really felt personally burned by his
constituents.”
Jeb Re-Litigates Iraq
Jeb
Bush tries to pin Iraq on Democrats. NYT: “He said President Obama and Mrs.
Clinton had orchestrated an early withdrawal of American troops, setting the
stage for the chaos sweeping the region now and the rise of the Islamic State …
at the risk of reminding voters of what Republicans see as one of his own great
potential weaknesses: his last name.”
Trump
puts immigrants against jobs in Michigan speech. Bloomberg quotes: ““Ford is
building a $2.5 billion plant in Mexico … I’ll actually give them a good idea.
Why don’t we just let the illegals drive the cars and trucks right into our
country? … I would say, the deal is not going to be approved, I won’t allow it.
I want that plant in the United States, preferably here.”
Republicans
ponder student debt reforms. WSJ: “GOP lawmakers and candidates, most
notably Mr. Rubio, with some attention to the issue from Mr. Christie, are
looking for market-based solutions. Some argue that the stepping stone to a
career can come from for-profit colleges or nontraditional training, such as in
auto-body repair or at new, short-course software-coding academies, for which
federal student loans often can’t be used. Among other things, they want to
change student-loan and accreditation rules to help students pay for these
classes.”
Breakfast Sides
“Full
sequester relief could add as many as 1.4M jobs” reports The Hill.
NLRB
to decide on union rights for franchise workers soon. The Hill: “[NLRB] is
widely expected to rule by month’s end that [franchise parents] would be forced
to collectively bargain with those employees and could be held liable for any
labor violations committed against them … Observers believe the decision is
likely to come before Republican board member Harry Johnson’s term runs out at
the end of the month.”
Progressive
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