ROUND-UP
Brazil wins battle for WTO leadership: “Roberto Azevêdo has emerged as the new director-general of the World Trade Organisation after a pitched battle with Mexico’s Herminio Blanco, according to officials familiar with the contest. Both Latin American countries saw the race for the WTO leadership as a way of elevating their influence in the global economy and cementing their status as rising powers.” (Financial Times)
Glass Lewis calls for Dimon to split roles: “Jamie Dimon’s prospects of holding on to his chairmanship of JPMorgan Chase darkened on Tuesday as a second shareholder advisory group recommended he be stripped of the role. Calls between senior executives and institutional investors are scheduled for the next few days in the run-up to a crucial annual meeting in Tampa, Florida, on May 21 when shareholders will decide whether to create an independent chairman at the bank.” (Financial Times)
US says China is stepping up cyber war: “Beijing is engaged in systematic cyber spying on the US military and private businesses to acquire technology to boost military modernisation and strengthen its capacity in any regional crisis, according to the Pentagon. In its annual report to Congress on the People’s Liberation Army, the Pentagon gives new emphasis to the threat of cyber-espionage from China, an issue that has been the subject of top-level complaints to Beijing by Washington.” (Financial Times)
China property developers seek US growth: “The two-acre site at 421 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is nothing more than concrete rubble and rusted steel rods – remnants of a previous property project gone wrong. But if Xinyuan Real Estate has its way, a gleaming 216-unit upmarket condominium building will soon take its place. This would make Xinyuan probably the first listed Chinese company to build a significant residential development in the US, according to Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital Analytics.” (Financial Times)
The US sells zero-yield bills at auction: “The U.S. got free cash in the bond market Tuesday for the first time in 17 months, paying no yield as it sold $20 billion worth of four-week Treasury bills. The sale shows the U.S. government reaping benefits from a drop in the supply of such short-term Treasury securities as it cuts back on borrowing amid a surge in tax receipts. The size of Tuesday’s auction for such bills was less than half of the $45 billion up for auction in April.” (Wall Street Journal)
FURTHER FURTHER READING
- A history of the idea of a guaranteed income.
- Why the ECB can’t fix Europe’s growth problems on its own.
- An excerpt from Act of Congress, a new book about the making of Dodd-Frank.
- The uncertain future of public roads.
- John Paulson, losing more money.
- The ripple effects of the Bakken oil boom.