Weekend Reading: 15-16 February 2020
by Leith van OnselenGlobal Macro / Markets / Investing:
- Betting against Tesla has burned yet another hedge fund – Business Insider
- Mobile World Congress 2020 canceled over coronavirus health concerns – The Verge
- Why institutional investors have yet to embrace Bitcoin – Decrypt
Americas:
- Puerto Rico govt loses $2.6M in phishing scam – Tech Xplore
- Fed Chair Powell: ‘no reason’ rising wages, job gains can’t continue – Reuters
- California’s creative economy supports 2.68 million jobs, study says – Daily News
- Trump Cuts Scheduled Federal Pay Raise Citing “Serious Economic Conditions” in the Country – Slate
- Trump Budget Kills Student Loan Forgiveness Program, Complicates Subsidized Loans – IB Times
- US households now hold a record $14 trillion in debt – CNN
- More than 6 in 10 Americans say they feel better off after first 3 years of Trump, poll finds – Yahoo
- USA: More in U.S. (61%) Say They Are Better Off Than in Past Elections – Gallup
Europe:
- In wake of Brexit, EU to put Cayman Islands on tax haven blacklist – The Guardian
- British economy has avoided a contraction in Q4 2019 – Economo
- Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor amid reports of clash with PM – Aljazeera
- EU accused of climate crisis hypocrisy after backing 32 gas projects – The Guardian
- Spain wins European court appeal over rapid migrant deportations from Ceuta and Melilla – Euro News
- Blasphemy ‘is no crime’, says Macron amid French girl’s anti-Islam row – The Guardian
- France says goods entering EU from Britain must meet bloc’s standards – Yahoo
- Brexit: Macron pushes for tougher EU negotiating position – The Guardian
Asia:
- Bank of Japan official warns of coronavirus impact on Japan’s economy – Reuters
- How India remains poor: Nine billionaires own as much as half the people – Down to Earth
- Chinese Communist Party Replaces Hubei Chief Over Virus Spread: Xinhua – Kyodo News
- US does not have ‘high confidence’ in coronavirus information, official says – CNBC
- China ‘hid tortured political prisoner in coronavirus quarantine facility to hide signs of torture and keep him from seeing his family’ – Daily Mail
- Coronavirus outbreak will speed up US-China ‘decoupling’ more than the trade war, Milken Institute analyst says – CNBC
Trans-Tasman:
- Bridget McKenzie gave ‘spare’ $150,000 to shooting study rather than major games for intellectually impaired – The Guardian
- ‘He said what the rest of us were thinking’: Firefighter who sprayed PM sees free beers flow in – The SMH
- Sports rorts: almost half the projects funded were ineligible, audit office says. – The Guardian
- Morrison misled parliament by claiming all sports grants projects were eligible, Labor says – The Guardian
- The multi-million-dollar ‘dummy director’ scam using vulnerable Australians to rip off the tax office – ABC
- It’s time we clipped the ministerial wing of its protected species – the advisers – The Age
- The Nationals’ leadership crisis is a problem for Scott Morrison and the Coalition but he is powerless – ABC
- Coalition likely to give $11m to Vales Point coal-fired power station for upgrade – The Guardian
- The economic consequences of the coronavirus – Interest.co.nz
Other:
Leith van Onselen
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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