Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionWe must fix our past to have our futureHas anyone realized how smart our country is with new electronics every few months?So called smart phones, iPads, computers, you name it, we make it. Along with all the new electronics, we have cars that drive themselves, along with flying cars being tested, little robots that clean your floors.What a futuristic world we live in. Or do we?Our roads are too old to handle the traffic, our bridges are crumbling and becoming safety hazards and our water systems underground must be replaced. Millions of autos and trucks have defects and are being recalled. The list goes on.Don’t forget our landfills; some are open but many are closed. The ones that are closed look nice, with green grass or solar panels. But they continue to poison our earth, water and air. Trains that carry oil all over our country are a catastrophe waiting to happen. Our infrastructure is falling apart right under us. We look for ways to get money to fix it and yet not much is done to correct the problem. We are building our future on quicksand. Are we smart or what?If we don’t slow down and fix the past, we will not have a future.We need to do what must be done to get the United States of America back on track.We are the best country in the world. Let’s keep it that way. We need peace and understanding in our land. God bless America, its government and all that live in our land.Sid GordonSaratoga SpringsTake action to close the racial wealth gapThe Gazette has often printed news stories and commentaries about reparations for black Americans to compensate the descendants of the formerly enslaved for centuries of slavery, segregation, and racism that continue to impose unequal access to jobs, justice, health and wealth. The Gazette has also often reported on the racial wealth gap.The median wealth (assets minus liabilities) for white U.S. households is more than 10 times that of black and Hispanic families. We also have enormous wealth gaps between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of us. I know some whites oppose paying reparations to black Americans for many reasons, one being that many white families are struggling themselves.Are we as a nation serious about closing the white-to-black and white-to-Hispanic wealth gaps? If so, how?Can we raise the wealth of the poorest three-fourths of Americans while vastly increasing the wealth of black and Hispanic families?A large majority of us are not racist or try not to be.I urge that we get serious about electing candidates at all levels of government who are serious about closing the overall and racial wealth gaps.Closing these gaps can help unite us in a worthwhile goal.Tom EllisAlbanyMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Take a role in police reformsFoss: Schenectady Clergy Against Hate brings people togetherEDITORIAL: No more extensions on vehicle inspectionsEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationEDITORIAL: No chickens in city without strong regs
Letters to the Editor for Monday, Jan. 6
October 20, 2020
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Asian shares steadied from early losses on Monday as investors placed their hopes on a coordinated global monetary policy response to weather the damaging economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic.Pandemic fears pushed markets off a precipice last week, wiping more than US$5 trillion from global share value as stocks cratered to their steepest slump in more than a decade.The sheer scale of losses prompted financial markets to price in policy responses from the US Federal Reserve to the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Futures now imply a full 50 basis point cut by the Fed in March while Australian markets are pricing in a quarter-point cut at the RBA’s Tuesday meeting.Also helping calm market nerves, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday the central bank would take necessary steps to stabilise financial markets. [In equities, Chinese shares opened higher with the blue-chip index up 1.5 percent.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.4 percent, turning around from a loss of about 0.3 percent earlier in the day. E-minis for the S&P500, which were down more than 1 percent at one point, were last up 0.3 percent while Japan’s Nikkei, which opened 1.3 percent lower at a six month trough, climbed 0.4 percent.Australia’s S&P ASX/200, which had tumbled 3 percent, was last off 1.8 percent.Benchmark US 10-Year Treasuries hit a fresh record low of 1.0750 percent.Despite some stability in the market, analysts still expect volatility to persist.“Any signs that new cases are beginning to taper could be seen as a positive catalyst for the market especially given that some of the market complacency has reduced with equity valuations much lower vs few weeks ago,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note.“In the very near term until 1Q reporting results, we expect Asian equities may remain quite volatile,” they added.“However, on a medium term basis we believe the risk-reward is now getting favorable, assuming the virus does not take the form of a virulent global pandemic.”Leaders in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas rolled out bans on big gatherings and stricter travel restrictions over the weekend as cases of the new coronavirus spread.The epidemic, which began in China, has killed almost 3,000 people worldwide as authorities race to contain infections in Iran, Italy, South Korea and the United States.Both official and private surveys, released on Saturday and Monday respectively, showed China’s factory activity collapsing to its worst levels on record as the virus crippled broad areas of the economy.“It is now highly probable that the coronavirus will spread globally,” Citi analysts said in a note.“Financial markets may over-react until they have visibility on the actual impact.”Investor panic last week sent bonds soaring and stocks plunging. The S&P 500 index fell 11.5 percent, only its fifth double-digit weekly percentage drop since 1940.On Monday, oil extended losses before steadying on expectations OPEC may cut production.Brent crude last traded at $50.41 per barrel and US crude at $45.30 per barrel.In currencies, investors sought shelter in the Japanese yen, which jumped to a 20-week high on the dollar in tandem with the massive shift in money markets to price U.S. rate cuts.All of this leaves just about every major asset class on edge and few analysts sounding optimistic.“So it was right not to ‘buy the dip,’” said Michael Every, Rabobank’s senior strategist for the Asia-Pacific.The yen was last up 0.1 percent at 107.98.The Aussie huddled near an 11-year low at $0.6527, while the New Zealand dollar slipped 0.1 percent to $6238.The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.1054.That left the dollar index a shade weaker at 97.911.A further set of manufacturing surveys from around the world due later on Monday will provide investors more detail on the virus’ impact on the global economy.Later in the week, central bank meetings in Australia, on Tuesday, and Canada, on Wednesday, will be closely watched.Topics :
Foreign investors dumped a net Rp 30.8 trillion (US$2.17 billion) on Indonesian assets through February until Feb. 27, of which Rp 26.2 trillion was in government bonds and Rp 4.1 trillion in stocks, said Perry.Read also: BI expects Q1 economic growth to drop to 4.9% as virus hurts tourism, trade“The difference with other countries is that BI is not doing this [supporting economic growth] alone. There‘s fiscal stimulus being carried out by the government and other financial system protection measures by the OJK [Financial Services Authority],” he said.“Going forward, the direction of BI’s monetary stance will continue to be accommodative,” Perry added.The BI board of governors will meet on March 18 and 19 to determine the direction of monetary policy going forward, including on policy rate. Topics : Read also: Fed cuts half point in emergency move amid spreading virus“There are still plenty of BI instruments from BI’s five main instruments that we can use,” Perry briefed media leaders at BI headquarters in Jakarta.He cited room for a lower reserve requirement ratio for both the US dollar and local currency for local banks, as well as mentioning the policy rate as a possible easing measure to jack up growth, which is expected to slow down to 4.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with a three-year low of 4.97 percent in the final quarter of 2019.BI cut its benchmark interest rate, the seven-day reverse repo rate, by 25 basis points in February and announced on Monday five measures to stabilize the financial market and prop up the rupiah, including cutting the reserve ratio to free up billions of dollars in the domestic banking industry that could support the financial market as well as export-import activities severely hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Indonesia’s central bank sees “ample” room for both monetary and macroprudential policy easing as the coronavirus is seen dragging down Indonesia’s economic growth in the first quarter.Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo said Wednesday that unlike developed countries, Indonesia had the luxury of various fiscal and monetary measures to stimulate the economy.The statement follows the US Federal Reserve’s surprise policy rate cut of half a percentage point to a target range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent in an attempt to shield the world’s largest economy from the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.