Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman speaks at the St. Louis Fed’s community banking conference at 11 a.m. … FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg will speak at the St. Louis Fed conference at 2:30 p.m. … Richmond Fed Gov. Tom Barkin will discuss the national economic outlook at the 2024 WilmingtonBiz Conference and Expo at 12:15 p.m. Georgia Dems survey the field — Savannah is the largest port city in a swing state that’s affected by the International Longshoremen’s Association strike. It’s also digging out from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which left tens of thousands of homes in Chatham County without power as operations at the Port of Savannah — a major employer in the region — ground to a halt. The economies of shipping hubs in smaller metro areas are going to be “especially susceptible” to any disruptions caused by the strike, according to Moody’s Analytics. A greater percentage of local jobs rely on the ports in those areas, even compared to major waterfronts like those in New York or Northern New Jersey. “Locally at least, the ILA makes up a big chunk of our middle class,” said Aaron Whitely, a Chatham County commissioner and chair of the county’s Democratic Party. Kamala Harris’s campaign has targeted Georgia as a high-risk, high-reward opportunity to cut off Donald Trump’s path to electoral victory. Her success could depend on turnout in Savannah, where she held a rally to cap a statewide barnstorming tour in August. Harris can ill-afford to lose votes to any economic uncertainty caused by the strike. For their part, local Democrats are wary of any speculation that the economic impact of the strike — or any lingering effects from Helene — will have a meaningful effect on voter sentiment. But the margins will be tight either way. Joe Biden won Chatham County by more than 25,000 votes in 2020 en route to a surprise victory in Georgia. He improved on Hillary Clinton’s performance in Chatham County by around 10,000 votes. His margin of victory statewide was just 11,779. In the near term, the road closures and outages caused by the storm have already cut into door-knocking efforts in rural areas, Georgia Democratic Rural Council Chair Len Fatica told MM. Among state party officials, there has not been much discussion of potential economic fallout from the strike, though Fatica anticipates Trump and his allies “will use that to their advantage” if prices start to spike. The Trump campaign released a statement on Tuesday evening linking the workers strike to inflation. The former president also said that “workers should be able to negotiate for better wages, especially since the shipping companies are mostly foreign flag vessels.” Republicans have been angling for more support from rank-and-file union members. Harris’ allies have pushed back, arguing that Trump’s track record during his time in office — and recent commentary about firing striking workers — belie his statements espousing support for labor. “Folks who have misaligned themselves in the labor movement are going to find out … who their friends are,” said Democratic state Sen. Derek Mallow, whose district includes Savannah. He added that ILA President Harold Daggett’s recent commentary signaling an openness to supporting Trump is “misdirected, misguided.” But Harris herself has largely remained silent on the ILA strike. Her campaign has referred to statements made by the administration and comments from spokesperson Ian Sams to Fox News on Monday, where he defended the administration’s efforts to resolve the labor dispute and said Harris encourages the parties to return to the bargaining table. Staying out of it may be the most effective political strategy, said Whitely. “This is not a time to grandstand politically,” he said. “If she could do something in her capacity as vice president — then by all means. And I do think President Biden has made some statements on it. But I don’t think this is a campaign discussion.” Another October surprise — Israel has vowed to retaliate for Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday, raising the likelihood of the conflict spilling beyond Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon. Oil prices climbed, which sent stock indexes lower. “While it is Iran that fired missiles today, it is the Israeli response that will drive the market in the longer run,” wrote Matt Peterson of Barron’s. — Israel’s sovereign rating was downgraded by S&P because of the “increasing likelihood” that its conflict with Hezbollah will intensify, per Bloomberg’s Galit Altstein. Some good news for Harris? JOLTS — Job openings ticked above 8 million in August, according to Labor Department data released on Tuesday, notching the first increase since May. Johnson the China Hawk — House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to advance a bill to block U.S. investment in China, the Louisiana Republican said in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Eleanor Mueller reports. Some GOP lawmakers have been reluctant to impose strict restrictions because of the potential market fallout. Petition — From Victoria Guida: Brookings Institution senior fellow Aaron Klein is formally petitioning federal regulators to require banks to make funds available more quickly from deposited checks.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment