Averting a slump: it's the politics, stupid

Submitted by Robert Gore via StraightLineLogic.com,

LONDON/MUMBAI: Tata Steel is seeking to sell Britain's biggest steelmaking business, putting thousands of jobs at risk in an industry that once dominated Britain but has been brought low by falling prices, high costs and Chinese competition. After a marathon board meeting in Mumbai, Tata said it would draw a line under its almost decade-long foray into Britain's steel industry, exiting the country entirely. The move could have an impact on Britain's closely fought vote in three months over whether to stay in the European Union.

Over the course of any given day, the average person sees plenty of odd behavior. A bizarre outfit or a strange conversation, an unfamiliar gesture or anything, really, that doesn’t fit into the realm of acceptable behavior. One of the most common breaches, one of the things that tends to give us pause more than anything else, is something — or some things, really — that we like to call stupid. That thing that happened. That thing that person did. It was SO. STUPID.

The United States faces potential trade sanctions from Canada and Mexico after the World Trade Organization ruled on Monday it had failed to bring its meat labelling regulations fully in line with international fair trading rules. The WTO said the United States had not done enough to change its labelling rules, requiring retailers such as grocery stores to list the country of origin on meat, after it lost an earlier WTO challenge.

Thousands of steelworkers have agreed to a rescue deal with Tata, the company that owns the Port Talbot steel plant, reports Sky News. A ballot has been open to 10,000 members of staff for the last two weeks, with sources telling Sky News that it has caused friction between the unions and employees. Around a quarter of those who voted at each union said no to the proposals.

Earlier this week we warned that as the trend to robotization accelerates, millions of (mostly) low-skilled American jobs will be lost in the next five years, replaced by robots as companies seek to maintain high profit margins in a time of rising wages and growing inflation. One company, however, can not wait that long.

In the aftermath of another inverse-whirlwind session in Brussels which has set the date of the UK's EU referendum for June 23, below are comments on the vote from British political and business leaders, courtesy of Reuters: DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER

(Nicholas Wang)