General
Female economists report widespread discrimination and sexual assault, prompting calls for major change
Heather Long, The Washington Post
An alarmingly high number of female and minority economists say that they have faced discrimination and harassment and that they do not feel welcome in the profession, according to a survey released Monday by the American Economic Association that is prompting calls for sweeping changes. Economics has been going through a #MeToo moment in recent months, and the survey results from more than 9,200 economists are the latest indication that the problems are deep and widespread.
Mulvaney on cusp of permanent status upgrade
Nancy Cook, Politico
The White House plans to drop the word “acting” from Mick Mulvaney’s title, officially making him President Donald Trump’s third chief of staff, according to four current and former senior administration officials. It’s a recognition that Mulvaney has successfully navigated a tumultuous West Wing.
SEC: Elon Musk’s failure to comply with court order over his tweets is ‘stunning’
Ahiza Garcia, CNN
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected Elon Musk’s claims that the regulator is unfairly trying to silence him. In a filing Monday, the SEC said it was “stunning” that the billionaire business leader had continued to fire off tweets about Tesla without consulting others at the company despite having agreed to a court-ordered settlement requiring him to do so.
Fed Faces Crucial Decision on Mix of Treasurys in Its Portfolio
Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal
Markets have cheered the Federal Reserve’s imminent announcement that it will stop shrinking its asset portfolio later this year, but determining that date is just one challenge facing central-bank officials. Now, they are turning to the arguably more sensitive task of determining the composition of the Treasury securities the central bank will hold.
Economists weigh in on what to expect from FOMC meeting
Matthew Rocco, Financial Times
With the Federal Reserve expected to hold rates steady, economists are closely watching this week’s policy meeting for new details on when the US central bank will cease trimming its balance sheet. The March meeting comes after the Federal Open Market Committee in January altered its statement to say it would be “patient” as it considers future adjustments to its interest rate target.
Trump Administration Proposes Borrowing Limits for Some Student Loans
Michelle Hackman and Josh Mitchell
The White House is calling on Congress to cap how much graduate students and parents of undergraduates can borrow in federal student loans, a proposal it said is aimed at curbing rising college costs. White House officials publicized the proposal as part of a broader set of ideas it is urging Congress to adopt as lawmakers undertake a rewrite of the Higher Education Act, a 1965 law that governs student loans.
U.S. Chip Makers Fear Trap in a Trade Deal With China
Bob Davis, The Wall Street Journal
U.S. semiconductor companies want no part of any trade deal that calls for stepped-up purchases from China, worried that would give Beijing more control over their industry. As prospects for an agreement to settle the U.S.-China trade standoff have waxed and waned in recent weeks, Washington has pressed Beijing to buy more than $1 trillion in U.S. goods and services as part of any deal.
US farmers being cut out of Japan after TPP withdrawal
James Politi, Financial Times
US farm groups are ramping up pressure on Donald Trump to quickly launch trade talks with Tokyo, as they face mounting evidence of lost sales and market share in Japan following America’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In recent weeks, wheat, pork and beef producers in the US have complained that they are being rapidly outflanked and replaced in the lucrative Japanese market by rivals including Canada, Australia, and EU member states, whose trade deals with Japan entered into force in recent months.
Poll: 71 percent think economy is ‘good’
Rebecca Morin, Politico
More than 7 in 10 Americans believe the U.S. economy is in good shape, according to a new poll, likely contributing to a small bump in President Donald Trump’s approval rating. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed in the CNN Poll, published Monday, say the economy is “very” or “somewhat” good.
Stocks Gain as Traders Await Fed; Dollar Steadies: Markets Wrap
Samuel Potter, Bloomberg
U.S. equity futures climbed alongside European stocks on Tuesday, while Asian shares drifted as investors marked time ahead of this week’s slew of central bank decisions. The dollar steadied and Treasuries edged higher.
Banking
Goldman Sachs outlines plans to address dearth of senior women
Laura Noonan, Financial Times
Goldman Sachs has rolled out new policies aimed at tackling the enduring issue of too few women in senior roles, including extending the goal of recruitment of an equal number of men and women to cover all analysts and entry-level associates hires. The initiative set out on Monday is the latest in a stream of diversity strategies announced by the Wall Street bank, including a one-year ‘trial’ for women who want to get into Goldman’s trading floor, as it attempts to address a dearth of women at its most senior levels by nurturing female talent from the earliest stages.
What the FIS-Worldpay deal means for banks
Penny Crosman, American Banker
The bank software and payment technology provider FIS announced Monday its agreement to acquire the payments company Worldpay for $35 billion. What will the impact be on FIS’ U.S. bank customers? FIS, which is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., provides retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, and outsourcing solutions in 130 countries.
Financial Products and Investments
Can a Facebook Post Make Your Insurance Cost More?
Ellen Bryon and Leslie Scism, The Wall Street Journal
Did you document your hair-raising rock-climbing trip on Instagram? Post happy-hour photos on Facebook ? Or chime in on Twitter about riding a motorcycle with no helmet?
Are regulators close to consensus on CRA reform?
Rachel Witkowski, American Banker
Regulatory efforts to revamp the 40-year-old Community Reinvestment Act have picked up steam, with two more bank regulators floating their own ideas for reforms, indicating a joint proposal could be in the works. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Jelena McWilliams and Fed Gov. Lael Brainard in separate speeches last week gave their initial thoughts on how to clarify and update the CRA, which grades banks on their loans to the communities they serve.
Housing and GSEs
Seattle upzones 27 neighborhood hubs, passes affordable-housing requirements
Daniel Beekman, Seattle Times
Taller buildings in the hearts of more than two dozen neighborhoods, denser housing on some nearby blocks and requirements that developers help create affordable housing. That’s what Seattle is getting after the City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve some of the most sweeping zoning changes in the city’s recent history.
Bowser proposes commercial tax increase to pay for affordable housing
Fenit Nirappil and Peter Jamison, The Washington Post
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) proposed raising taxes on commercial property transactions to fund more affordable housing during the annual State of the District address Monday evening. As her second term gets underway, Bowser emphasized the need for more subsidized housing in a city where real estate values have soared, pricing out many longtime residents.
Taxes
Trump won’t get sustained ‘boom’ without an infrastructure bill and more tax cuts, new White House report shows
Heather Long, The Washington Post
President Trump has promised an economic boom that will last for years to come, but he’s unlikely to get one without the help of Congress to pass major new legislation, according to estimates by Trump’s own economic team. To achieve about 3 percent growth for the next decade, Trump would need a big infrastructure bill, more tax cuts, additional deregulation, and policies that transition more people off government aid and into full-time jobs, according to the 2019 Economic Report of the President, released Tuesday by Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Financial Technology
Worldpay $43bn deal piles pressure on rivals for more tie-ups
Nicholas Megaw et al., Financial Times
When Worldpay was carved out of Royal Bank of Scotland in the aftermath of the financial crisis, it was a small part of a minor unit with out-of-date technology that was largely ignored by its sprawling parent bank. Less than a decade later, the same business is being bought in the biggest financial services takeover since the recession, in a deal worth $43bn — equal to all of RBS’s current market value.
Criminal Past Haunts Surviving Founder of Troubled Crypto Exchange
Doug Alexander and Matt Robinson, Bloomberg
His crimes: identity theft related to a bank-and-credit card scam. His sentence: 18 months in U.S. federal prison and, later, deportation to Canada. Once there, Omar Dhanani underwent a remarkable transformation — into a new identity and the wild world of cryptocurrencies.
Madden lawsuit nears end, but online lenders still seek fix from regulators
Kevin Wack, American Banker
An eight-year-old class action that wreaked havoc on the online lending industry is finally winding down, but the lobbying push in Washington to undo its impact shows no signs of abating. Lawyers in the case have filed a proposed settlement that would provide $9.8 million in cash and debt relief to as many as 58,000 consumers, setting up the final chapter in a lawsuit that is likely to be remembered best for the legal precedent it established.
IBM launches challenge to Ripple and Swift
Penny Crossman, American Banker
IBM has taken an idea Ripple made popular — conducting cross-border payments over a distributed ledger using a digital currency as a “bridge” between fiat currencies — and has built its own version using the Stellar blockchain and a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. The network has been in testing since late 2017.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Congress Must Put Main Street Investor Interests First
Michael Pieciak, Morning Consult
With a new Congress comes new priorities and new opportunities for collaboration to protect investors and strengthen our capital markets. But where to start?
Wall Street’s Latest Love Affair With Risky Repackaged Debt
William D. Cohen, The New York Times
The financial markets today are looking very much like they did a decade or so ago. And that can mean only one scary thing: Trouble is imminent.
Ending the Trade War
Kevin Rudd, Asia Society Policy Institute
You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to work out that in the next month or so there is likely to be an agreement to resolve the current tariff war between China and the United States. The reason is simple: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are driven by similar, underlying interests in trying to put this one to bed as quickly as possible.
Research Reports
It’s time to strengthen the regulation of crypto-assets
Timothy G. Massad, The Brookings Institution
There is a gap in the regulation of crypto-assets that Congress needs to fix. The gap is contributing to fraud and weak investor protection in the distribution and trading of crypto-assets.
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