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Trump Tariffs A Drag On Economy: US Manufacturing Activity Contracted in August for a Sixth Month (Bloomberg)
US factory activity shrank in August for a sixth straight month, driven by a pullback in production that shows manufacturing remains bogged down by higher import duties.
“We continue to have weak demand overall, still due to tariff uncertainty,” Susan Spence, chair of the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said on a call with reporters. “Sixty-nine percent of manufacturing GDP is in contraction. It’s down slightly from July. We have 4% of those industries in a heavy contraction period, and that is also down, but it is still not good to have that much in contraction.”
Will Monday See End of French Government? French Far Right Builds Momentum as Premier Nears Ouster (Bloomberg)
Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Rally's most prominent figure, and the party's president, Jordan Bardella, have insisted there is no other option than bringing down the current government led by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou. The nationalist party holds the most seats in the National Assembly and opinion polls predict it would finish first in the initial round of a snap vote. Bayrou is holding talks this week with rival parties in a bid to survive a Sept. 8 confidence motion.
Russia-Ukraine Latest: Russia Intensifies Strikes in Ukraine, Defying Trump’s Shifting Deadlines for Peace (Wall Street Journal)
Moscow’s forces have also pushed troops forward on the battlefield, albeit slowly, at the expense of men and materiel in a dogged campaign to take territory and sap the strength from Ukraine’s army. Kyiv’s allies in Europe are coming under increasing pressure too, as Russia intensifies its campaign to demoralize Ukrainians and their backers. Still, Russia this week published exaggerated claims about its gains at the front, demonstrating an underlying insecurity about the speed of its progress in the war, analysts said.
Judge Says 'No Rebellion': Trump’s LA Troop Deployment Violated Federal Law (Bloomberg)
US District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday issued an order barring the use of troops deployed in California and any other military personnel in the state “to execute the laws.” California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the administration in June to block the use of the military in Los Angeles.
While the ruling is limited to California, it demonstrates how courts may respond if Trump follows through on suggestions that he’ll deploy troops to other cities. Trump has already activated National Guard troops in Washington to crack down on what he called “out of control” crime and has threatened to do the same in Chicago and Baltimore.
A Warning: US Sliding Towards 1930s-style Autocracy, Billionaire Ray Dalio Says (Financial Times)
“I think that what is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period,” the Bridgewater Associates founder told the Financial Times. State intervention in the private sector, such as Trump’s decision to take a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel, was the sort of “strong autocratic leadership that sprang out of the desire to take control of the financial and economic situation, Dalio said.
Dalio, who is among the US’s best-known macro hedge fund investors and turned Bridgewater into a $150 billion powerhouse at its peak, also warned about the threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence days after Trump launched an unprecedented move to sack one of its governors, according to the FT. He told the FT he believes many years of big deficits and unsustainable debt growth had brought the US economy to the brink of a debt crisis.
Post-Recess Rush: Congress Returns with Not Much Time to Dodge a Government Shutdown (Washington Post)
Most congressional leaders acknowledge they’ll probably need to pass a short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution, given the time crunch. Government funding expires at the end of the day on Sept. 30, and much of the government would close without action.
Red State v Blue State: Trump Brings Space Command Back to Alabama from Colorado After GOP Push (Bloomberg)
Tuesday’s announcement caps a years-long debate that has pitted a red state against a blue state, with hundreds of jobs and federal contracts bound to boost the local economy that eventually won.
Winning in Court: Blue States That Sued Kept Most CDC Grants, While Red States Feel Brunt of Trump Clawbacks (KFF Health News)
Initially, grant cancellations hit blue and red states roughly evenly. Four of the five jurisdictions with the largest number of terminated grants were led by Democrats: California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Massachusetts. But after attorneys general and governors from about two dozen blue states sued in federal court and won an injunction, the balance flipped. Of the five states with the most canceled grants, four are led by Republicans: Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio.
Media News: Vogue Names Chloe Malle New US Editor, Succeeding Anna Wintour (Bloomberg)
Condé Nast’s Vogue magazine named Chloe Malle as the head of US editorial content and the successor to Anna Wintour, who led the magazine for nearly four decades and elevated it further as a fashion powerhouse.
Search Engine Stays Put: Google Not Required to Sell Chrome in Court Antitrust Ruling (Bloomberg)
The ruling allows Google to avoid one of the most severe remedy requests from the US government after the court found the company had an illegal monopoly in the search market. Judge Amit Mehta did bar Google from entering into exclusive contracts for internet search.
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Tennis Mea Culpa: Polish Millionaire Apologizes After Snatching Signed Hat from Child at US Open (ABC News)
Piotr Szczerek posted an apology on social media Monday after video of the incident went viral over the weekend. The broadcast showed Szczerek grabbing tennis player Kamil Majchrzak's hat from a boy after the player's singles match against Karen Khachanov.
US Open Turns Tennis Court Into NYC Runway: Tennis Outfits Make the U.S. Open a Fashion Spectacle. For Players, It’s Also a Business (The Athletic )
Not only are more stars signing more deals — Carlos Alcaraz with Louis Vuitton, Jannik Sinner with Gucci, Zheng Qinwen with Dior and Coco Gauff with Miu Miu via New Balance — but the interest in and economics of fashion have cascaded down the tours, bringing more exposure but also more complexity to a cocktail of financial oneupmanship, competing star power and exclusivity.
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