Steve Keller via Atlantic Sentinel | Last week, I wrote about Donald Trump’s soft support among Republicans. Democrats already strongly disapprove of his bigotry, buffoonery and right-wing ideology. In order to dip down to Nixonian or Bush ’43 levels — high 20s, low 30s — he will have to lose support from conservatives and Republican-leaning independents.
Ian McCredie | President Trump told the House GOP conference just before the fateful health care debacle that if they did not pass the bill: “I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018.” This was the day after the heads of both the FBI and the NSA publicly exposed Trump as a liar for accusing former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower in the run-up to last year’s presidential election.
Trump’s attempt to get rid of the Obamacare health scheme has turned into a complete fiasco, and a similar fate might await his plans to revamp public expenditure. Trump’s own party mates share his will to reduce corporation tax, but have expressed deep concern about huge deficits. So much of the presidential agenda might end up in the dustbin.
CIE Automotive ended 2016 eliminating any doubts on its capacity to meet the objectives in its 2016/2020 Strategic Plan. In fact, it has brought forward its target of doubling Attributable Net Profit by one year to 2019.
Iberdrola has warned of the risk Donald Trump’s administration poses to renewables’ growth plans in the US. Iberdrola says Trump could freeze or eliminate the CPP (Clean Power Plan) designed by Obama. This envisaged investments of $8.5 billion a year until 2030. But for now, these changes in US policy have not altered Iberdrola’s growth outlook.
Without its own demography and without immigration, it’s impossible for the Trump administration’s forecast for annual US GDP growth of 3.5% over the next years to be met.
Barry Eichengreen via Caixin | During the U.S. electoral campaign, candidate Donald Trump repeatedly promised that he would brand China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. On Feb. 24 — his 36th day in office— President Trump then renewed his criticism, calling China a “grand champion” of currency manipulation.
With his policies, particularly protectionism, Trump is about to throw the US’ world leadership in the bin. He sold an illusion to his voters since the industrial jobs which disappeared with globalisation and technology will not return. What is clear is that the consequences will hurt us all.
This year may be remembered as either the beginning or the end of the golden age of billionaires. One has miraculously become president of the United States. According to Oxfam, the eight richest billionaires in the world hold as much wealth as the poorer half of humanity. One of those eight, Warren Buffett, has recently been canonized in a rather hagiographic HBO documentary that retraces Buffett’s career.
Mexico seems to be one of the countries most threatened by Trump’s protectionism plans. The prospects, however, for Mexican companies are better than many investors fear.