March 2, 2016
Curration and comments by Marc A. Ross
Clinton and Trump win big | South China Sea | Indonesia quake | ‘Brexit’
Election 2016 + American Politics
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump rack up more wins
BBC
Donald Trump starts adjusting to new role of GOP standard-bearer
LAT
Paul Ryan just got more powerful this morning.
As Donald Trump rolls up victories, the GOP split widens to a chasm: Democrats are falling in line. Republicans are falling apart.
NYT
After Super Tuesday, Republicans face moment of truth: GOP leaders who had hoped Trump would stumble face tough choices.
WSJ — Gerald Seib
Thomas Perez for HRC VP? Thomas Edward Perez is an American politician, consumer advocate and civil rights lawyer who is the current United States Secretary of Labor.
He is getting more buzz and would satisfy the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democrat Party.
The decorous demise of the establishment: We have a multicar pileup on Establishment Lane, with fatalities reported. The most mangled vehicle belongs to the defunct presidential campaign of John Ellis (Jeb) Bush.
NYT Magazine — Mark Leibovich
Lobbyists could make a comeback after Obama: None of the candidates running for the White House has vowed to keep the restrictions in place, and Democrats have already abandoned Obama’s ban on lobbyist contributions to the party committee and nominating convention.
The Hill
Event
Global Policy Link + Shawn Donnan — World Trade Editor @ Financial Times || Friday, March 4 || Washington, DC || http://www.gpl.global/events/
Geopolitics
Indonesia issues tsunami warning after massive 7.9 magnitude quake
Reuters
US warns China on militarization of South China Sea: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday warned China against “aggressive” actions in the South China Sea region, including the placement of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island. “China must not pursue militarization in the South China Sea,” Carter said in a wide-ranging speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. “Specific actions will have specific consequences.
Reuters
Carter draws hard comparison with China on cyber, naval policies: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter used a keynote address in San Francisco on Tuesday to draw stark parallels between the policies of the United States and those of China, particularly on freedom of commerce and the Internet.
Defense News
@PentagonPresSec = In Asia Pacific — the single most consequential region for US future — China is rising-which is fine-but behaving aggressively, which isn’t
It’s good to be German: The world’s most powerful passports
Quartz
China data signal deepening slowdown: Activity in China’s factory and services sectors fell last month to its lowest level since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the latest signal of a deepening economic slowdown that prompted the central bank to inject cash into the banking system on Monday.
FT
US economy added 214K jobs in February
G20 economy chiefs call for a spending spree: Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from 20 industrialized and emerging economies shifted their economic policy focus to fiscal policy at their meeting in Shanghai last week.
Nikkei
China kicks off its biggest political event of the year: China’s top politicians gather every year in the nation’s capital for two weeks of meetings that are the peak of the political calendar. The party elites come to town with a hint of trepidation, though, not knowing whether they will return home better or worse off.
Nikkei
China state media’s WeChat post questions PBOC easing
Reuters
Death and despair in China’s rustbelt: The frozen alluvial river plain that was once at the forefront of the Communist Party’s first attempt to build a modern economy, has now fallen behind, leaving a valley of brutal murder, protests, anger, suicide and regret.
Bloomberg
China will eliminate up to 150 million metric tons of steel-making capacity in the next five years, the State Council said after a Jan. 22 meeting.
Enterprise
Jamie Dimon on finance: ‘Who owns the future?’What is the future of finance? Will Silicon Valley challenge Wall Street? Can China build global banks?
Bloomberg
Sees more competition with fintech companies as well as the Chinese
Jim Kimsey, the legendary Washington businessman who co-founded early Internet behemoth America Online, died Tuesday. He was 76.
Toyota reorganizes corporate structure: Toyota plans to restructure its corporate structure to create a sharper focus on products.
Sports Authority plans to file for Chapter 11, including an agreement to take up to $595M in bankruptcy financing.
Moody’s cuts China outlook to negative: Moody’s Investors Service has lowered the outlook on China’s credit rating from stable to negative, citing a weakening of fiscal metrics and a continuing fall in foreign exchange reserves. “Without credible and efficient reforms, China’s GDP growth would slow more markedly as a high debt burden dampens business investment”
Canadian Pacific approached CSX about a takeover: CSX rebuffs offer; Canadian Pacific still committed to separate Norfolk Southern bid.
WSJ
DoJ indicts ex-Chesapeake Energy CEO McClendon: Chesapeake Energy co-founder and former CEO Aubrey McClendon is indicted by the U.S. Justice Department for conspiring to rig bids for oil and natural gas leases.
Mark Pincus leaving CEO post at Zynga.
Ford recorded strong growth across all categories and with both of its brands in February.
Automobile platform Carsome raises $2M to expand in Southeast Asia
TechCrunch
Malaysia-based platform that connects car dealers with buyers and sellers
Commentary
Trump voters need a mirror: The blaming of elites has gone too far. The U.S. voter is behind his own disappointments.
WSJ — Holman Jenkins
I would also suggest a history book, a civics lesson, and a globe.
Securing the oceans, the internet, and space: Protecting the domains that drive prosperity.
Medium — Sec. Ash Carter
‘Brexit’ vote and Donald Trump’s surge reflect discontent: Britain may be on the cusp of having its own Donald Trump moment. That is to say the once unthinkable is now thinkable: Britain exiting the European Union is now a real possibility as the result of a wave of populism that has spread across the nation, against the backdrop of a fierce debate about the flood of migrants who have entered the country.
NYT — Andrew Ross Sorkin
As great nations stop looking outward they out they start to look inward and the unintended consequences can be unsettling across the planet.
David Cameron may win this referendum, but at the cost of a divided nation: If the four countries of our kingdom vote for different outcomes, the acrimony might break up the Union.
Telegraph — Philip Johnston
