Your daily briefing for all the top news in Energy, Technology, Finance, and Politics.
Energy
Report: Oil exports could drive manufacturing renaissance
FUEL FIX
Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Now, a new report from The Aspen Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation says the United States can further drive the domestic manufacturing renaissance — and keep drill bits turning — by allowing energy companies to sell oil overseas. The paper hinges on the notion that if the United States eases longstanding restrictions on oil exports, it will prompt further crude production inside the country.
As Oil Prices Plummet, Saudi Arabia Faces a Test of Strategy
NEW YORK TIMES
Ben Hubbard and Clifford Krauss
With global oil prices plunging at a pace not seen since the 2008 financial crisis, Saudi Arabia is emerging as a central player, accused by some of deliberately depressing the market to weaken rivals like Iran but looked to by others as the only hope of ending the rout. Still others say that the oil colossus is merely struggling to deal with its diminished position in an industry it once dominated. For their part, Saudi officials have signaled that they are prepared to endure reduced profits rather than slash production in an effort to prop up prices, as they did to their later regret in the early 1980s.
Fall in Oil Prices Poses a Problem for Russia, Iraq and Others
NEW YORK TIMES
David M. Herszenhorn
A steep decline in oil prices is straining the budgets of major petroleum-exporting countries around the globe, raising a specter of spending cuts in Russia, where the economy is under pressure from Western sanctions, and posing a potentially grave security challenge for Iraq, which is already struggling to finance its fight against the Islamic State.
Technology
How to Stop Winning Nobel Prizes in Science
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Thomas R. Cech and Steven Chu
The discovery process isn’t simple or inevitable. Certainly it involves a creative spark, but it also demands uninterrupted and steadfast effort that builds on knowledge collected over generations. It is therefore worrying that the primary funding source for fundamental research in the U.S., the federal government, relies on systems that don’t match the need for steady, sustained support over the long term. For decades, federal funding for basic research has looked more like a roller coaster than a steady march.
Eshoo touts tech ties in leadership play
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Kate Tummarello
Rep. Anna Eshoo, in her push to move up the ranks of House Democrats, is talking up her tech credentials — and the industry has reciprocated by throwing its weight behind the Silicon Valley lawmaker.
The Self-Inflicted U.S. Brain Drain
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Michael S. Malone
Until the people sitting around the dinner table every time Mr. Obama comes to Silicon Valley finally tell the president no more money until he opens up green cards for skilled immigrants, we are unlikely to see action from this White House. But there are other ways to avoid a dangerous two-year delay. In the short term, increasing H-1B quotas is less important than opening the green-card chokepoint—with more agents and streamlined approvals. Longer-term solutions include retraining unemployed STEM-trained U.S. citizens and protecting them from the age discrimination that is rampant in tech.
Why a Car Company Doesn’t Like Net Neutrality
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Brendan Sasso
“From our point of view, mobile broadband being delivered to a car moving 75 mph down a highway—or for that matter, stuck in a massive spontaneous traffic jam—is a fundamentally different phenomenon from a wired broadband connection to a consumer’s home,” wrote Harry Lightsey, the executive director of GM’s Global Connected Consumer unit. … “By needlessly constraining the latitude our mobile network operator suppliers have in delivering connectivity to owners of our vehicles, you would also constrain the innovations we are seeking to provide to our customers,” Lightsey wrote.
FBI warns industry of Chinese cyber campaign
WASHINGTON POST
Ellen Nakashima and Ashkan Soltani
The FBI on Wednesday issued a private warning to industry that a group of highly skilled Chinese government hackers was in the midst of a long-running campaign to steal valuable data from U.S. companies and government agencies.
F.B.I. Director to Call ‘Dark’ Devices a Hindrance to Crime Solving in a Policy Speech
NEW YORK TIMES
Michael S. Schmidt
The F.B.I. has long had concerns about devices “going dark” — when technology becomes so sophisticated that the authorities cannot gain access. But now, Mr. Comey said he believes that the new encryption technology has evolved to the point that it will adversely affect crime solving.
More Americans using mobile devices to access Internet
USA TODAY
Americans are increasingly relying on mobile devices to connect to the Internet, according to a report scheduled to be released on Thursday. Usage of smartphones and tablets to check email, browse the Web and log on to social networks in greater numbers is up sharply, the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration or NTIA found.
Ending This Fee for All
NEW YORK TIMES
Devin Fergus
The regulatory agencies should proactively set out rules for best practices on disclosing fees, rather than prosecuting a few egregious cases. … AT&T customers can rejoice over the coming payback, but the problem of hidden fees doesn’t stop there. Corporations, now defined as legal persons, must act with greater integrity. Companies may argue that they have to hide fees to make prices appear low. But without reforms, it is impossible to judge whether extra charges are about businesses staying competitive or just price gouging and profit taking. A market is neither fair nor free unless consumers can make informed choices.
Finance
Washington Rakes It In
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Millions of American families haven’t had a raise in after-inflation incomes in years, but in Washington times are flush. On Wednesday the Treasury issued its final budget report on fiscal 2014, and the U.S. federal government rolled up record revenues of $3.013 trillion. … You won’t be surprised to learn that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew barely noticed these record revenues and instead focused on the decline in the budget deficit in 2014 to $483 billion, or 2.8% of GDP. The deficit is still that high in the sixth year of an economic expansion because overall federal spending for the year was $3.5 trillion.
Banks blame bond volatility on tighter regulation
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
A batch of rules put in place since the 2008 crisis has sought to make banks more resilient, but bank traders and executives have repeatedly warned regulators of a downside: the banks would no longer be able to act as shock absorbers in times of stress.
We need U.S. leadership to boost a mediocre recovery
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
Congress and the president will have to take over from here. The list of measures that could boost growth in the short term is longer than you might think. Corporate tax reform, for example, has already been thoroughly discussed in the House and Senate, with relatively little daylight between the two parties. Several Democrats as well as the overwhelming majority of Republicans support the Keystone XL pipeline. Bipartisan coalitions in the Senate have drafted bills to reform housing finance and reauthorize federal highway programs. Postal reform, too, is teed up. All of these would be consistent with the IMF’s call for structural reform and greater infrastructure investment. U.S. leadership internationally is also necessary to promote growth. Lest global trade stagnate, and economic reform in Japan stall, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement must be brought to a successful conclusion, aided by congressional approval of fast-track negotiating authority for the president.
The ‘New Mediocre’
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Yet the underlying growth story remains what the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde called the “new mediocre” at the fund’s Washington meetings on the weekend. The U.S. economy is doing better than Europe and much of Latin America, but that’s a low bar. Employment has been rising but labor participation is still low, wages are flat, and business investment continues to disappoint. … The better chance for an economic breakout would come from a Republican Senate sweep that broke Harry Reid ’s gridlock and put some pro-growth regulatory, fiscal and tax reforms on the agenda. Election Day is Nov. 4.
Growth Management Isn’t the Fed’s Forte
WALL STREET JOURNAL
David Malpass
The Federal Reservehas been a crucial bulwark of America’s market economy. Yet with interest rates near zero since the 2008 financial crisis and the Fed now controlling huge swaths of the financial industry, a central-banking approach I call “post-monetarism” has settled in. It’s built on the absurd view that zero rates promote growth and that regulators can replace markets—an immodest dogma that has hammered growth.
Risk of Deflation Feeds Global Fears
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Jon Hilsenrath and Brian Blackstone
Now, fresh signs of slow global economic growth, falling commodities prices, sagging stock markets and declining bond yields suggest the deflation risk hasn’t gone away, particularly in the often-frenetic eyes of investors. These emerging threats come as the Federal Reserve is on track this month to end a bond-buying program that has been one of the main tools in its fight against falling prices.
Treasury Calls on Core Eurozone Economies to Do More for Growth
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ian Talley
The U.S. Treasury Department criticized Germany and other economies with trade surpluses for relying too heavily on exports to aid growth, and called for bolder efforts to boost consumer spending and support a flagging global recovery. In Treasury’s semiannual report to Congress on the exchange-rate policies of major trading partners, the Obama administration also took China and South Korea to task over currency policies that it says undermine growth prospects in other economies.
Politics
Battle of wits over Senate 2014 map
POLITICO
James Hohmann
Twenty days out from the election, the Senate map chess match is in full swing, with both sides making wrenching decisions about how to spend limited pools of cash — bets that will undoubtedly result in Wednesday-morning quarterbacking on Nov. 5. Here’s a look at what we’ve learned about the battle for the Senate from the parties’ spending choices over the past week.
The Republican Election Hand Gets Better
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Karl Rove
In this year’s 11 most-competitive Senate contests, Democrats must run far ahead of the president’s job approval to escape defeat. According to the Wednesday Huffington Post’s Pollster aggregate summaries, Mr. Obama’s job approval is 35% or less in Alaska, Arkansas, South Dakota and West Virginia; 40% or less in Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and New Hampshire; and 45% or less in North Carolina and Michigan. Democratic Senate candidates in these states are desperately trying to detach themselves from the leader of their party.
Late Surge of Money Buoys Republicans in Races That Will Decide Control of Senate
NEW YORK TIMES
Nicholas Confessore
Republican candidates for the Senate have overcome the sizable fund-raising edge held by their Democratic opponents for most of the 2014 election cycle, according to new disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission, outraising or matching Democrats in races that will decide control of the Senate and entering the final weeks of the campaign with ample cash.
C.D.C. Director Becomes Face of Nation’s Worry and Flawed Response
NEW YORK TIMES
Sabrina Tavernise
Now, Dr. Frieden, 53, has been pitched into the biggest test of his career. He has become the face of the Obama administration’s flawed response to Ebola in the United States, and on Thursday he is likely to face withering questions about his record during a congressional hearing.
The Ebola Twilight of Public Institutions
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
On Wednesday the World Health Organization warned of the threat of a global plague, which can cause “vomiting, marked hypocalcemia, metabolic acidosis, convulsions and, in rare cases, even death.” Ebola? No, the WHO culprit is the overconsumption of energy drinks. … The World Health Organization ought to be defunded to discipline its ineptitude and frivolity. Start with the caffeine division, and hand the money to a more serious and capable institution. The problem these days is identifying which that might be.
A GOP-led Senate could mean more Obama executive orders
WASHINGTON TIMES
Dave Boyer
With polls showing the GOP in a good position to pick up the six seats needed to regain control of the Senate, political analysts say it would result in Mr. Obama relying even more often on his executive pen during his last two years in office. And with that comes the prospect of a diminishing presidency. “It’s going to be battles of inches rather than yards,” said Karlyn Bowman, a specialist on politics and polling at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “Obama’s going to try to do a lot of things by executive action because everything will slow down further in Congress.”
