The European Union and Mercosur clinched a huge deal for trade on Friday after 20 years of conversations. According to Brussels, this will consolidate strategic political and economic partnership between the two blocks and create significant opportunities for sustainable growth on both sides. But as soon as the deal was announced, some EU leading agricultural unions spread the message that the agreement was a threat to their activity.
At the G-20 Leaders Summit in Osaka, Japan, Chinese president Xi Jinping proposed several measures to further open his country’s market. For example, to enact a Foreign Investment Law at the beginning of 2020 that will introduce a penalty system for IP infringement.
Craig Willy via Fair Observer | It will be a busy few years for Japan, which hosts the G20 summit on June 28-29 followed by the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The international attention sparks questions concerning how durable its economic success will be.
Anthony Chan (UBP) | In the run-up with regards to the on-going Sino-US trade talks, we have seen the carrot-and-stick approach from both sides as they leverage their respective negotiating power.
In its last report about Big tech in finance, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) warns about the risk of a “digital monopoly” of tech companies which own their clients´ information for free.
The G20 finance and economy ministers will meet in Fukuoka (Japan) this weekend against the backdrop of trade restrictions. The World Trade Organization estimates that between October and May, 20 new restrictions on world trade have been introduced, worth 335.9 mm. $. These measures are linked to others that previously affected a volume of trade worth 480.9 mm. $, and most worrying is that more restrictions are expected. This compensates, Intermoney analysts argue, the liberalizing measures by value of 397.2 mm. € that were taken in the last months.
Peter Isackson via Fair Observer | The media will never tire of Warren Buffett’s oracular pronouncements, nor will it dare to put them in perspective or critique them.
Despite weak employment creation data, analysts at DWS point out that the US labour market probably remains too vigorous in general to justify the Fed cutting interest rates.
J. P. Marín-Arrese | US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell faces the dilemma of choosing the right path, confronted with conflicting data and forecasts. While the US economy grew at a booming 4% rate in the first quarter, inflation trails far behind the Fed’s objective and salaries fail to pick up despite historically low levels of unemployment. Moreover, the trade tug-of-war with China is denting confidence in consumers and investors alike. Should the conflict turn worse, the economy might suffer a harsh blow.
Ofelia Marín-Lozano | The three countries with greatest GDP growth, both in current and constant terms (the US, Spain and France), have been those that have experienced a greater increase in population, coming from first- or second-generation immigrants.