Archives for January 2017

“There is no way we are going to legislate even one euro more than what was agreed in the bailout,” Tsipras told Greek daily EfSyn (Efimerida ton Syntakton), marking his two-year anniversary in office.

“The demand to legislate more measures, and contingent ones, no less, is alien not just to the Greek Constitution but democratic norms,” said the Prime Minister.

He urged European Union leaders to help Greece’s economy recover from years of recession, arguing it would make the union stronger.

READ MORE: Eurozone to resume debt relief talks with Greece

Crisis-torn Greece agreed to austerity measures, including overhauling the pension system and unpopular tax measures, as part of the bailout deal the country sealed with international creditors in August 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, Athens has received about €32 billion of the €86 billion bailout program. It’s the country’s third bailout agreement since 2010.

The eurozone finance ministers will meet on Thursday to discuss Greece’s bailout review. EU lenders want the country to achieve and maintain a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP beyond 2018.

However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that’s too optimistic and calls for more austerity. The surplus will only reach 1.5 percent, says the IMF, insisting Greece needs to cut the income-tax threshold and pensions to meet the target.

Athens instead proposed to extend a fiscal contingency mechanism already in place until the bailout expires in 2018. The mechanism automatically triggers unspecified spending cuts if bailout targets are missed for an additional year to 2019.

“The IMF needs to be frank in its view of the Greek program,” said Tsipras. “And Europe needs to take into account the new situation created by the change of political leadership in the US, and make a decision based on the common interest, not just the short-term political calculations made by each country.”

A European Union official told reporters on Wednesday that the eurozone finance ministers need to close the bailout review by February 20. After that, EU governments will have their minds on a series of elections, so it will be hard to take any significant decisions on Greece.

“If the IMF insists on immediate pension cuts and other fiscal measures, the chances of a February 20 Eurogroup deal will fall significantly,” an analyst at London-based Eurasia Group Mujtaba Rahman was cited as saying by Bloomberg. “This would increase domestic political instability.”

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/375048-greece-creditors-no-austerity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Facebook facing potential $2bn payout as Zuckerberg testifies in VR theft trial

Last December, Zuckerberg started ‘quiet title’ lawsuits against a few hundred Hawaiians who own stakes in parcels of land inside 700 acres of beachfront land he purchased on Kauai’s North Shore three years ago.

Locals strongly criticized the move, and a state lawmaker proposed a bill that would force the founder of the social network to mediation. Zuckerberg contends his intentions were misunderstood.

“Based on feedback from the local community, we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward. We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of Native Hawaiians, and preserves the environment,” he said in a statement.

Zuckerberg’s suits targeted families who collectively inherited 14 parcels of land through the Kuleana Act. The law, which came into force in 1850, gives native people the right to own the land they lived on.

The families currently own just eight of the 700 acres belonging to the Facebook founder, but the Kuleana Act allows any direct family member of a parcel’s original owner the right to enter the property.

As many of the landowners died without making wills, most of the natives do not realize they have a claim until action is taken against them in court.

The lawsuits are aimed to find all these partial owners and pay them their fair share, according to Zuckerberg. “Most owners will now receive money for something they never even knew they had,” he said.

READ MORE: 8 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world – Oxfam

However, native Hawaiians have given a hostile reception to the decision to pursue expensive litigation against them. Hawaii State Representative Kaniela Ing introduced a bill to change the law on quiet title suits.

Zuckerberg is using the same legal loophole that sugar barons have historically exploited to scoop thousands of acres of Hawaiian land, according to Ing.

“Here we have the world’s sixth richest individual, with a team of the world’s best lawyers, suing you, then asking you to make a deal. Obviously, no matter how expensive, you will lawyer up too. So in the end, you have a mainland billionaire exploiting our legal system, and bullying his way through local residents, all to build his beach playground. This is not the intent of the law,” he said.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/375046-zuckerberg-reconsiders-sue-hawaiians/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

GM to invest $1 billion in US factories to create 1,000 jobs

The border tax intends to boost US manufacturing by taxing imports while exempting US business export revenues from corporate taxation.

“If implemented, the impacts on the oil market would be significant,” Goldman said.

The switch to BTA would lift US crude futures 25 percent over global prices and provide an incentive for local producers to boost output.

“We expect WTI [US crude benchmark – Ed.] could move to a $10 per barrel premium to Brent from a $3 discount – a $13 (+25 percent) relative move immediately,” Goldman said.

It warned that while global crude market is only starting to rebalance, the ramp up in US production would create a renewed large oil surplus next year. That could lead to an immediate sharp decline in global oil prices, Goldman said.

According to the bank, in the medium-term, the impact on oil prices would depend on “how quickly US production reacts to higher prices versus how quickly the rest of the world reacts to make space for higher US production.”

“If 2017-2018 WTI oil prices move to $68 per barrel, our analysis implies the incremental investment could result in 1.5 million barrels per day of 2018 US oil growth,” said Goldman. “Unless OPEC cuts further, this could oversupply global oil markets and potentially lead to another oil boom-bust cycle.”

Trump tells Germany to buy American automobiles, Germany to Trump: ‘Build better cars’

It also said it sees Brent prices coming down to $50 per barrel in 2019, assuming a 15 percent appreciation in the US dollar upon implementation of the BTA, and a 30 percent pass-through of US production costs to global production costs.

In the long run, that would result in 2020 Brent prices falling to $40 per barrel, Goldman analysts added.

The positive impact of BTA on US producers would be similar to that on the country’s refiners, giving them higher returns.

On the campaign trail, US President Donald Trump pledged to lower the corporate tax rate to just 15 percent, encouraging the world’s corporate titans to create jobs and build factories in the US. He has threatened German car manufacturers with a 35 percent tax on vehicles imported to the US market.

Details of Trump’s tax plan have not been publicly released yet.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/375014-us-tax-reform-oil-market/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Trump says he is ready to renegotiate NAFTA

The talks on NAFTA have not begun yet, but President Donald Trump wants more favorable conditions for US industry to tackle competition outside North America, especially from Asia. The new US president also wants to change NAFTA to create more jobs in America.

While Mexico is reluctant to change the 1994 deal, it understands that ceding some amendments to Trump may prevent him from imposing some harsh measures like 35 percent import tariffs.

Under NAFTA, 62.5 percent of the material in a car or light truck produced in Mexico must be of North American origin to enter the US tariff-free. According to a Reuters report, Trump wants to increase this percentage to protect the US industry and hurt Asian producers.

However, Mexican officials say the country is ready to fight for a better deal.

“What we want is to maintain free access for Mexican products, without restrictions, without tariffs and quotas,” Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Monday.

RIP TPP: ‘Obama kept Americans in dark on major trade deal’

“Any agreement that is proposed that infringes or endangers Mexico’s social and economic interests and which harm the dignity of our nation will be unacceptable,” he said.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico’s economy secretary, has said the country might even ditch NAFTA.

“If there are no clear benefits, there’s no point staying,” he said.

Videgaray and Guajardo are meeting Trump’s top officials on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss security, migration, and trade.

About 80 percent of Mexico’s exports are shipped to the US, accounting for 29 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The Mexican peso plunged to a record low of 21.395 per dollar soon after Trump’s victory on November 8. The following week the Bank of Mexico raised interest rates for the fourth time in 2016.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/375006-mexico-us-trump-nafta/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Beijing to shut down 2,500 polluting firms to tackle smog crisis

The project is part of a government program to modify the weather and will take three years. It comes as China’s Meteorological Administration found that with the proposed investment, rainfall and snow could rise in a 960,000 sq km area which is 10 percent of the country, and more than one-and-a-half times the size of France.

The money will cover the purchase of four new planes, the upgrade of eight existing aircraft, the development of 897 rocket launch devices and connection of 1,856 devices to digital control systems.

The rainmaking project is expected to help with “ecological security, water resource allocation, drought-fighting and forest fire prevention” in provinces plagued by water shortages, according to He Shengcun, an official at the Qinghai provincial government’s “weather influencing” office.

China’s northwestern provinces — Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Xinjiang — are large desert areas, experiencing little rain. It is typically hot and dry during summer and severely cold in winter.

Shengcun told the China News Service that artificial rainfall enhancement had increased precipitation by 55 billion cubic meters from 2006 to 2016, equivalent to about 150 percent of water contained in the Three Gorges reservoir. The Three Gorges is a hydroelectric dam in China, with the world’s largest power station with a capacity of 22,500 MW.

Traditionally, rainmaking process or “cloud-seeding” means rocket-launching chemicals into clouds which accelerate the creation of ice crystals that eventually become rain. China also uses military aircraft for those purposes.

Rainmaking is also a popular way to “clean up” air in China where heavy smog is a big problem for many cities.

The practice of weather modification has become more frequent across the country in recent years, including for major public events. In 2008, China launched over 1,100 rockets containing silver iodide into Beijing’s skies before the Olympics opening ceremony to disperse clouds and keep the Olympics rain-free.

Beijing has a “development plan” for weather modification until 2020.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/374926-china-region-rainmaking-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

‘Glad TPP is dead’: Sanders Dems applaud Trump for pulling out of global trade deal

Earlier this week, Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the participation of US in the trade deal. The President also promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sealed with Canada and Mexico.

TPP was signed last February by the US, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Peru after more than five years’ negotiation. The countries account for more than 40 percent of the global economy and nearly a third of the world trade.

Japan, Mexico, and Australia have already said they intend either to try and keep the deal functining or to reshape it into something similar.

Trump’s move has been criticized by some.

“Trump has single-handedly given away an enormous source of leverage over China. The first rule of negotiating is don’t give away something for nothing, and he’s done that right off the bat,” said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, as quoted by CNN Money.

“It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules of the road at the expense of American workers,” said Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee.

READ MORE: Japan wants free trade deal with EU by year-end

China is pursuing its own trade deal known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and involves the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements, including Japan and Australia.

If the deal succeeds, China could become the center of a vast free trade area.

“We are willing to work with all countries to pull together in times of difficulties so that we can fulfill our responsibility and make our effort in resolving problems facing the world today,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday, adding that significant progress has been made on RCEP.

READ MORE: ‘Our rules, not China’s’: Obama invokes Beijing threat in defense of TPP trade deal

Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech in defense of globalization, warning against protectionists who want the end of free trade.

At the same time, China has been accused of protecting its big state-owned corporations at the expense of foreign firms as well as limiting access to its domestic market.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/374925-china-tpp-us-trump-australia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Russian sanctions cost Italy €7bn and up to 200,000 jobs – Italian MP

According to the minister, the question of abolishing the sanctions against Moscow should be discussed by Washington and Brussels together, not unilaterally by America.

“I am certain it’s not a perpetual mechanism to be extended automatically; it is more of an instrument for the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements,” Alfano said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, translated into English.

“But we cannot remain hostages of the paradox that the country which has pushed for sanctions – the United States – makes peace, and those who have paid a significant bill for the sanctions – the EU and Italy – remain hostage to sanctions,” he added.

Alfano also called Russia a “reliable partner in energy supply and in combating terrorism.”

Earlier this month, Alfano called for the possibility of including Moscow back in the G8 format.

Alfano became the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs on December 12, 2016, after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned over lost constitutional referendum and the Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni was asked by President Sergio Mattarella to form a new government.

Italy’s Five Star Movement party has estimated the country’s losses from Russian counter-sanctions at €7 billion and 200,000 jobs.

The party, which has the third largest representation in the Italian parliament with 54 seats, says Western sanctions “pretty much violated the rights and interests of Italian companies,” mostly small and medium businesses.

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/374904-russia-sanctions-italy-us/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

8 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world – Oxfam

According to writer Evan Osnos, preppers from Silicon Valley and New York are getting ready for the “crackup of civilization.”

One American hedge-fund manager who owns two New Zealand homes told Osnos he expected at least a decade of political turmoil in the United States. PayPal co-founder and Facebook investor Peter Thiel also owns property there, and has described New Zealand as “utopia.”

Osnos said it’s unclear exactly how many wealthy Americans are buying property in New Zealand with the apocalypse in mind, while many just want a holiday home there. However, the amount of land they have purchased in the last few years has increased dramatically, he added.

Statistics showed foreigners had bought over 3500 square kilometers of New Zealand in the first ten months of 2016, which is over four times as much as they did in the same period in 2010.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman told The New Yorker that New Zealand had become the hot topic among Silicon Valley leaders lately.

“Saying you’re ‘buying a house in New Zealand’ is kind of a wink, wink, say no more. Once you’ve done the Masonic handshake, they’ll be, like, ‘Oh, you know, I have a broker who sells old ICBM silos, and they’re nuclear-hardened, and they kind of look like they would be interesting to live in.”

Tiny NZ town swamped with bids from all over world after sending out call for new residents

Hoffman estimated that over half of the Silicon Valley insiders were into preparedness – especially since anti-elite sentiment has risen around the globe in recent years. It was intensified by events like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, he added.

According to the NY article, in the seven days after Trump’s election, 13,401 Americans registered with New Zealand’s immigration authorities, which is the first step toward seeking residency. The number was “more than seventeen times the usual rate.”

Meanwhile, the growing foreign appetite for New Zealand has already generated resentment. The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa—the Maori name for New Zealand—opposes the sell-out to foreigners, particularly to American survivalists.

In a discussion about New Zealand on prepper website Modern Survivalist, one of the commentators wrote, “Yanks, get this in your heads. Aotearoa NZ is not your little last resort safe haven.”

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/374891-us-collapse-super-rich/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS