China's Economic Challenges With Lawrence H. Summers
Former US Treasury Secretary and Wall Street Week contributor Lawrence H. Summers breaks down China's economic future as it faces challenges including consumer confidence, tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, a weak housing market and foreign investment outflows. Elizabeth Economy from the Hoover Institute also tells us what priorities China will focus on at its National People's Congress meeting that began this week. (Source: Bloomberg)
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San Francisco Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Oil prices surge and markets retreat after Israel's strike on Iran
HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices surged and Asian shares were lower Friday after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military targets in an attack that raised the risk of all-out war between them. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose by $3.93, or 5.8%, to $71.97 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by $3.82 to $73.18 per barrel. In share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to 37,834.25 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.9% lower to 2,894.62. Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.9% to 23,831.48 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 3,378.76. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.2% lower to 8,547.40. 'An Israeli attack on Iran poses a top ten of our global risk, but Asian markets are expected to recover quickly as they have relatively limited exposure to the conflict and growing ties to unaffected Saudi Arabia and the UAE,' said Xu Tiachen of The Economist Intelligence. On Thursday, U.S. stock indexes ticked higher following another encouraging update on inflation across the country. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,045.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 42,967.62, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.2% to 19,662.48. Oracle jumped 13.3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That helped markets offset a 4.8% loss for Boeing after an Air India plane crashed Thursday, killing more than 240 people. It was the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the cause wasn't immediately known. Stocks broadly got some help from easing Treasury yields in the bond market following the latest update on inflation. Thursday's update said inflation at the wholesale level wasn't as bad last month as economists expected, and it followed a report on Wednesday saying something similar about the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Wall Street took it as a signal that the Federal Reserve will have more leeway to cut interest rates later this year in order to give the economy a boost. The Federal Reserve has been hesitant to lower interest rates, and it's been on hold this year after cutting at the end of last year, because it's waiting to see how much President Donald Trump's tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation. While lower rates can goose the economy by encouraging businesses and households to borrow, they can also accelerate inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.35% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from roughly 4.80% early this year. Besides the inflation data, a separate report on jobless claims also helped to weigh on Treasury yields. It said slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, and the total number remained at the highest level in eight months. That could be an indication of a rise in layoffs. The Fed's next meeting on interest rates is scheduled for next week, but the nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that it will stand pat again. Traders are betting it's likely to begin cutting in September, according to data from CME Group. Trump's on-and-off tariffs have raised worries about higher inflation and a possible recession, which had sent the S&P 500 roughly 20% below its record a couple months ago. But stocks have since rallied nearly all the way back on hopes that Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with other countries. Many of Trump's tariffs are on hold at the moment to give time for negotiations, but Trump added to the uncertainty late Wednesday when he suggested the United States could send letters to other countries at some point 'saying this is the deal. You can take it or you can leave it.'
USA Today
22 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump doesn't know if he's the hero or villain in 'Les Mis.' How ironic.
Trump doesn't know if he's the hero or villain in 'Les Mis.' How ironic. | Opinion Sending the military in to quell protests is more aligned with the French monarchy than the revolutionaries. Show Caption Hide Caption Trump met with boos, cheers before Les Misérables at Kennedy Center President Donald Trump attended "Les Miserables" at the Kennedy Center after overhauling its leadership and naming himself chairman. On June 11, President Donald Trump appeared at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the opening night of 'Les Misérables.' If you're at all familiar with the musical, you'll understand why that's so ironic. Trump staged a hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center back in February, changing up the board and making himself chairman of the iconic performing arts venue. It led several artists to cancel performances. According to The New York Times, some 'Les Misérables' cast members had considered boycotting the Wednesday performance that kicked off the summer 2025 season. The president, oblivious as always, says the show is 'great.' Ever the musical theater fan, he has used one of the most recognizable songs from 'Les Mis' at multiple rallies over the years. You know, the one the cast sings on the eve of revolting against the monarchy? Surely the man who has inspired nationwide 'No Kings Day' protests understands how laughable that is. Does Trump identify with hero or villain of 'Les Mis'? He doesn't know. If you're unfamiliar with the musical, let me give you a rundown. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, the story follows Jean Valjean after he leaves prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving relatives. After an interaction with a priest, he is inspired to live a better life, which includes adopting and raising a child named Cosette after her mother dies. The musical is set during a French revolution that culminates in the 1832 June Rebellion, where a group of student revolutionaries known as the Friends of the ABC try to lead the city into revolt. These are the students Republican leaders would want to deport. Opinion: Trump supporters, this is what you're cheering as his deportation scheme unfolds Apparently, despite his love of the musical, Trump doesn't know if he's the hero or villain of this story. He told The Washington Post he wasn't sure if he identified more with Valjean or Javert, the prison guard turned inspector who is obsessed with bringing Valjean to justice. It's an ironically indecisive thing to say, considering he has sent military troops to Los Angeles to quell protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and has spent much of the past few months raging against students protesting for Palestine. It's hard to picture Trump as the hero of this story. That would require him learning how to be a more caring person over time. Given his rhetoric on immigrants, trans people and basically anyone who disagrees with him, I doubt he's experienced that kind of transformation. Imagine treating immigrants like they stole bread Art has always been part of protest and resistance. The theater is no exception. These forms of expression can also be used as propaganda. With Trump's declaration that the Kennedy Center's "woke" programming is done for, it seems that only tolerable art will make it through the vetting process. Somehow, "Les Mis" slipped through the cracks, likely because Trump actually likes the musical. Opinion: I told you GOP would come for marriage. Southern Baptists just proved my point. If Trump actually paid attention to the songs and themes of "Les Mis," maybe he'd realize that his desire to lay down the law is more aligned with Javert than anyone else in the show. Maybe he'd realize that sending the military to quell protests is more aligned with the actions of the French monarchy than those of the revolutionaries. Maybe he'd realize that he has more in common with the monarchy than the people. Probably not. But maybe. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: Law must prevail over force — There's no invasion of LA except for federal troops
Despite what President Donald Trump and his border czar Tom Homan claim, the only invasion of Los Angeles is by the illegally mobilized National Guard and Marines, brought into the city against the will of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The anti-ICE protests in L.A. were being contained and handled by local law enforcement, the robust LAPD and even larger Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. And today Newsom's lawsuit has a hearing in federal courts to end the military deployments even as the governor is facing idle threats of arrest from Homan and Trump himself. There is a thick stack of red lines that the administration has crossed just in the last few days. Troops in the streets? Check. Those troops conducting domestic law enforcement in clear violation of the law? Check; we are already seeing images of National Guard soldiers actively backing masked federal agents up as these round people up, reportedly soon joined by the Marines. In a speech, Newsom said: 'Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there.' Trump openly admires foreign strongmen who put down dissent. Here he gets to try it out here at home. There is no emergency, other than the one that Trump has manufactured. But for a few spots here and there, 99% of L.A. is going about their daily live without incident. Trump is using apocalyptic language and deploying the troops not because he wants the situation to de-escalate but precisely because he wants very badly for there to be escalation, as that gives him additional latitude to crack down. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, long Trump's preeminent anti-immigrant zealot, has given the game away yet again with his descriptions of what's so wrong with L.A. that federal troops need to be brought in to fix it, moaning on Twitter that 'huge swaths of the city where I was born now resemble failed third world nations,' by which he really just means they're full of nonwhite people. This whole effort can best be understood as more akin to an occupation than an attempt to preserve order that the L.A. authorities are perfectly capable of maintaining themselves. Other cities, New York included, need to prepare given reports that ICE is surging special units to Seattle, Chicago, Philly, northern Virginia and New York as large protests are planned for this weekend against the ICE raids and Saturday's D.C. military parade on Trump's birthday. Knowing that there are nationwide protests planned against his procession, Trump has said that protesters will be met with 'very big force,' not bothering to distinguish between constitutionally protected speech and violence, because he neither understands nor cares about such distinctions. We hope that the courts will ignore the DOJ's mealy-mouthed defenses and act fast to state the obvious, which is that Trump is way overreaching his federal powers, and we hope that such rulings are expeditiously enforced, unlike the administration's track record so far of defying federal judges. For our service members who may be called upon to enact Trump's designs, we will remind you that your oath is not to the president, but to the Constitution. There are some lines that cannot be uncrossed. _____
