6 June 2018 FT — Articles to Read

6 June 2018

Question: According to MSN:Lifestyle, what are 11 signs someone is lying to you?

Barbados braced for tough measures to clear debt burden – Pg. 3

  • Barbados faces a painful journey back to financial and economic health under radical plans to tackle the world’s fourth-biggest debt burden,…
  • The Caribbean island has been told by Mia Mottley, the prime minister, of previously undisclosed liabilities that lifted overall debt from 137% of GDP to more than 175% – the highest debt-to-GDP ratio after Japan, Greece and Sudan
  • With central bank reserves down to $220m, or seven weeks of imports, debt payments due this month and the hurricane season approaching (Prof Note: The hurricane season is a real concern in the island. We have crews working 7 days a week to finish projects as a caution to weather.)
  • Barbados is the latest Caribbean statelet to suffer financial distress. Since 2010 St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada and Jamaica – twice – have had to default on an restructure debts, in what Moody’s in 2016 called a “silent debt crisis”.
  • Its slide into insolvency has been a long time coming. Barbados was long one of the better-run countries in the region, helping per capita GDP rise to about $17,000 in 2016. But fiscal discipline started eroding after the global financial crisis, when the economy was hit by a tourism drought (Prof Note: Yes!  The world woke to the beautify of Nevis and the rum on St. Kitts!)
  • Annual economic output is about $5bn, which means Barbado’s overall bonds, loans and other liabilities stand at almost $9bn. More than two-thirds is owed to local investors and banks, raising concerns a tough package could imperil the domestic financial system
  • …means that much of the debt relief Barbados is seeking will have to come out of international creditors, which would also slow the drain of dollars from central bank coffers
  • State payments to SOEs, subsidies and on retirement benefits have been rising despite an austerity programme, and last year reached almost $600m in a country of 280,000 people (Prof Note: Nevis (12,000 people + ME); St. Kitts (42,000 people))

Designer Spade found dead in her apartment – Pg. 12

  • Kate Valentine, the designer behind the namesake Kate Spade fashion line, aged 55, was found dead in her Manhattan apartment yesterday morning
  • (Prof Note: Apparently she committed suicide. One of my dreams for Cat Ghaut, catghaut.com, is that it be a retreat for those in recovery.  One of the many beauties of Nevis is that the world is “away”.  When you are on island you are “on island”.  I have no mental health background and my personality still tracks that of an engineer.  However, if I can assist anyone, I will.  Life can have low moments but each day the sun will always rise from the East.  Each evening, it sets in the West and if you are lucky, you can watch the Green Flash.  While not easy, please consider a life do-over as the extreme solution.  Rather than leave the world, perhaps consider a re-birth with a new identity and life.  Just my thought(s)….but I truly believe everyone has something to offer and that the world is better off with great people!  I/we want to help!)

Ructions in emerging markets and Europe put Fed under pressure – Pg. 19

  • The US Federal Reserve is often buffeted by cross-currents but investors caution that balancing the strong domestic economy and increasingly choppy waters in emerging markets – and now Europe – will require a particularly adept hand at the tiller this year
  • …US economy continues to expand at a robust clip, exemplified by unemployment numbers and manufacturing data released Friday. That double dose of strong data prompted traders to lift Treasury yields higher again to end the week – and it improved the odds of the Fed staying on its path of monetary tightening this year
  • The implied probability of the Fed raising rates only once more this year, after the March increase, jumped from 13% on May 22 to almost 40% at the peak of Italy’s turmoil but has since slid back below 20%
  • The Treasury market has also see-sawed with the 10-year Treasury yield bounding from a low of 2.76% on May 29 to 2.92% on Monday
  • The Fed itself has indicated it plans to raise rates twice more this year
  • The 10-year “break-even” rate, a market measure of investors’ inflation expectations, remains above the Fed’s target 2% at 2.07%, despite recent declines, and inflation is expected to continue to accelerate into the summer

Answer: (1) They change their head position quickly; (2) Their breathing changes; (3) They stand very still; (4) They repeat words or phrases; (5) They provide too much information; (6) They touch or cover their mouth; (7) They instinctively cover vulnerable body parts; (8) They shuffle their feet; (9) It becomes difficult for them to speak; (10) They stare at you without blinking much; (11) They tend to point a lot