China Retaliates Against the U.S. With Its Own Higher Tariffs

THE NEW YORK TIMES: BEIJING — China’s finance ministry announced on Monday evening that it was raising tariffs on a wide range of American goods to 20 percent or 25 percent from 10 percent, in the first Chinese move to retaliate over President Trump’s broader increase in tariffs on Chinese goods last Friday.

But the finance ministry delayed the implementation of its tariff increase until June 1, a delay of nearly three weeks that allows time for negotiators to make one last push for a deal. The delay roughly matches one that the Trump administration in effect put on its own tariff increase.

Beijing’s retaliation comes at a time when many in China feel that the United States has behaved highhandedly in threatening tariffs. “Mutual trust and respect are of the essence in handling the negotiations,” said Zhu Ning, a Tsinghua University economics professor. » | Keith Bradsher | Monday, May 13, 2019

The Week Trump Drove the Stock Market Nuts: Here's a Play-by-Play of How His Trade War with China Wreaked Havoc and Erased $1.4 Trillion in Market Value

BUSINESS INSIDER: US stock market entered the week riding high, but saw its historically strong start to 2019 thrown into disarray as President Donald Trump reignited his trade war with China. / The benchmark S&P 500 lost 2.2% in its worst week of the year, while roughly $1.4 trillion was erased from global stock indexes at one point.

They say all good things must come to an end, and that certainly rang true this past week for the US stock market.

Equities entered Monday riding high after a historically strong start to 2019. But by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, they'd suffered through their worst week of the year. As of Thursday's close, the MSCI All-Country World Index of global stocks had already seen $1.4 trillion of market value erased.

But that summary hardly does justice to the turbulence felt along the way, which frayed investor nerves and led many to wonder if this was the beginning of the end for the 10-year bull market. » | Joe Ciolli | Saturday, May 11, 2019

As Trump Brags of Booming Economy Half of Americans Will Retire with Nothing

News about how great the economy is doing is being shoved into our faces nearly every day, especially by members of the Trump administration. But the truth is that the economy is not doing better than ever and American workers are actually struggling more than ever. Once you dig past the numbers on the surface you begin to see just how bad things actually are for a majority of Americans, and most of them don’t think that the economy is “surging” at all. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Cuba Forced into Rationing as US Sanctions and Venezuela Crisis Bite

THE GUARDIAN: Commerce minister announces limits on purchases of staples such as chicken, eggs, rice, beans and soap

The Cuban government has announced that it is launching widespread rationing of chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap and other basic products in the face of a grave economic crisis.

Betsy Díaz Velázquez, the commerce minister, told the state-run Cuban News Agency that various forms of rationing would be employed in order to deal with shortages of staple foods. She blamed the hardening of the US trade embargo by the Trump administration.

Economists give equal or greater blame to a plunge in aid from Venezuela, where the collapse of the state-run oil company has led to a nearly two-thirds cut in shipments of subsidised fuel that Cuba used for power and to earn hard currency on the open market. » | Agencies | Saturday, May 11, 2019

Anand Giridharadas: "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" | Talks at Google

Anand Giridharadas, MSNBC analyst and Aspen Institute fellow, discusses his new book, "Winners Take All," which explores the philanthropic practices of the global elite and argues that they re-inforce social inequities rather than ameliorate them.

Wolff on Topic: Latest Unemployment Figures

Trump Up in Polls; Who Benefits from Economic Growth?

GDP growth up, stock market up, will the economic expansion continue and who are the winners? Dean Baker and Randall Wray join host Paul Jay

The Great Inequality Debate | UpFront

US-China Trade Deal: Higher Tariffs Come into Effect as Talks Continue

THE GUARDIAN: Damaging trade war could destabilise the already slowing global economy

Financial markets were braced for a full-blown trade war between the world’s two economic superpowers as the US imposed higher tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods.

Last-minute talks in Washington between Chinese vice premier Liu He and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer failed to salvage months of talks on a deal and at 12.01am on Friday tariffs on Chinese goods were raised to 25% from 10%.

China’s ministry of commerce said in a statement just after the deadline: “The Chinese side deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures,” adding that “high-level economic and trade consultations” were underway.

“It is hoped that the US and the Chinese side will work together to resolve existing problems through cooperation and consultation,” it said. » | Lily Kuo in Beijing, and Martin Farrer | Friday, May 10, 2019

Can Yanis Varoufakis Save Europe?

The Greek economist is back battling the EU establishment, this time at the helm of a new movement, DiEM25. Backed by Pamela Anderson and the world’s most famous cyborg, he is fighting ultra-right populism with a radical agenda he thinks can restore people's lost faith in democracy. As the European parliamentary elections approach, is anyone listening? Phoebe Greenwood finds out.

THE GUARDIAN: Varoufakis draws fire over run for German EU elections seat » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Friday, May 10, 2019

Global Capitalism: Rise of Socialism in the US Today | May 2019

40 Years after Thatcher: Can UK Regions Get Their Power Back? – BBC Newsnight

Can the future of the UK’s economy be more regionally balanced?

Forty years after Margaret Thatcher came to power, Newsnight asks if the UK economy is at another sea-change moment.

In the second of our series, we look at regional inequality. Economics editor Ben Chu joins economist Lord O'Neill, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss and former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King.

Corporate CEOs Are the Only Ones Benefiting from Republican Tax Cuts

Corporate CEOs have admitted that they aren't giving any raises and they're not about to start laying out thousands of dollars to workers. Ring of Fire's Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss this.

Robert Reich: Divider-in-Chief

Robert Reich explains how Trump divides America along racial, ethic, and religious lines as part of his political strategy.

China Trade War Hurts Investment Climate

International investments will be affected if US-China tensions are not resolved, according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. In the meantime, a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was cancelled last minute due to pressing issues. Former UK MP George Galloway joins In Question to discuss.

Trump Threatens China Trade War...'Art Of The Deal'?

President Trump is threatening additional billions in tariffs against Chinese imports while sending warships up to China's declared territory in the South China Sea. Is this another big bluff? Will talks continue? What do the markets have to say about it?

Markets Tumble after Trump Threatens to Dramatically Increase China Tariffs

THE GUARDIAN: President says talks are going ‘too slowly’ and threatens to more than double tariffs

Financial markets around the world have tumbled after Donald Trump risked jeopardising delicate trade talks with China by unexpectedly saying he would raise tariffs further on Chinese goods this week.

A sharp sell-off in China spread to Europe on Monday as investors were caught off guard by the US president’s tweets and reports indicating that the government in Beijing might pull out of this week’s scheduled talks.

While markets are closed in London and Tokyo on Monday for public holidays, stock markets across the EU slumped. The Dax in Germany was down 1.8% by early afternoon trading on Monday, while the FTSE MIB in Italy was down 1.9% and the CAC 40 in France down 2%. » | Martin Farrer and Richard Partington | Monday, May 6, 2019

Chris Hedges - What Will Trigger the Next Crash? | American Anomie

Economist Jeffrey Sachs: US Policy in Venezuela Is "Pure Bullying"

US foreign policy on Venezuela, spearheaded by Elliott Abrams and John Bolton, is "pure bullying," says leading economist Jeffrey Sachs. "It is hard enough to achieve economic progress, but when the US is using its political power to break other countries, the results absolutely can be devastating."

German Political Youth-wing Leader Calls for BMW to Be Put under Collective Ownership

THE TELEGRAPH: Germany’s main centre-Left party has been rocked after one of its most prominent figures called for the country’s leading brands to be put under collective ownership.

Kevin Kühnert, the leader of a Momentum-style grassroots movement in the Social Democratic Party (SPD), said German industrial giants such as BMW and Siemens should be owned jointly by their workers.

“There is nothing wrong with the BMW brand. The only question is why BMW should belong to a few people who have the sole right to the profits,” Mr Kühnert said in an interview with Germany’s Zeit newspaper.

“The distribution of profits must be democratically controlled. That excludes a capitalist owner. Without a form of collectivisation, it is unthinkable to overcome capitalism.” » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Thursday, May 2, 2019

ZEIT ONLINE: Er hat das S-Wort gesagt! »