28 June 2019 FT — Articles to Read

Question: According to MSN: Money, what percentage of millennials are not investing? 

‘The liberal idea has become obsolete’ – Vladimir Putin – Pg. 1

  • …”the liberal idea” had “outlived its purpose” as the public turned against immigration, open borders and multiculturalism
  • Mr Putin’s dismissal of liberalism – the dominant western ideology since the end of the second world war – chimes with anti-establishment leaders from US President Donal Trump to Hungary’s Vikotor Orban,, Matteo Salvini in Italy and the Brexit insurgency in the Uk
  • Mr Putin branded Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to admit more than 1m refugees to Germany, mainly from war-ravaged Syria, as a “cardinal mistake”
  • …praised Mr Trump for trying to stop the flow of migrants and drugs from Mexico
  • …”Every crime must have its punishment.  The liberal idea has become obsolete.  It has come into conflict with the interest of the over-whelming majority of the population”
  • Turning to the US-China trade war and geopolitical tensions in the Gulf between the US and Iran, Mr Putin said the situation had become “explosive”.  The problem, he said, stemmed from US unilateralism and the lack of rules underpinning world order
  • He expressed concern about the threat of a renewed US-Russia nuclear arms race
  • Mr Putin said liberal governments had not acted to reassure citizens, arguing that they had instead pursued a mindless multiculturalism embracing, among other things, sexual diversity

US court casts doubt on census question – Pg. 4

  • Mr Roberts wrote that while it was not necessarily unconstitutional to add a citizenship question to the census, the administration’s explanation that it was doing so to better enforce the Voting Rights Act, a law prohibiting discrimination in federal voting practices, was suspect
  • The question about citizenship started appearing on the constitutionally mandated census in 1820, but it was removed in 1950 as officials worried about its impact on the survey’s accuracy
  • Justice department lawyers had argued that the question was needed to given an accurate portrait of the US population and enforce antidiscrimination law properly

Trump’s US leads charge in global dealmaking – Pg. 15

  • The record-breaking boom in global mergers and acquisitions has extended in to the first half of 2019, and unlike the past five years, bankers in Europe and Asia have been left as envious observers while the US takes a dominant role
  • The volume of deals, up almost a fifth from a year ago, accounts for more than half of the activity this year,…
  • American’s share of the global takeover pie has not been this big since before the dotcom boom and bust
  • Africa and the Middle East was the only region outside the US to see a pick-up in activity
  • Less than a quarter of the $2tn worth of deals struck this year have been cross border, the lowest level in more than two decades.  By contrast, the 10 largest transactions have all been between companies located within the same country.  The US has accounted for eight of them

Answer: 43%.  (Prof Note: My largest comment on this is “Starbucks”.  To invest one must forgo the little luxuries.  When I started my career I had two suits: black and blue.  When there was a meeting I would leave with a bagel in each blazer pocket.  That was my food for the day and, most likely, part of the next.  My 401(k) was maxed out and I lived with roommates.)