Anonymous NY Times op-ed roils White House: Politico
Trump attacks NY Times for “gutless” op-ed: The Hill
Supreme Court nominee won’t recuse himself from Trump cases: Wash. Times
China vows retaliation if US imposes new trade tariffs: Reuters
N. Korea’s Kim affirms “unwavering trust in Trump: CNN
Emerging markets flirting with a bear market: Bloomberg
White House: US wages rising via alternative methodology: NY Times
US trade deficit jumped to a five-month high in July: Reuters
Tech stocks due for hefty weight cut in S&P 500 in upcoming sector revamp: LPL

The expected risk premium for the Global Market Index (GMI) continued to inch up in August, reaching an annualized 5.0% — fractionally higher vs. the estimate in the previous month. The projection reflects the annualized return over the estimated “risk-free” rate for the long run for GMI, an unmanaged market-value-weighted portfolio that holds all the major asset classes.
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New offensive operations begin in Syria: NY Times
Trump considers a government shutdown ahead of elections: Bloomberg
Senate confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh begins with chaos: Reuters
US ISM Mfg Index soared to 14-year high last month: MarketWatch
Global Mfg PMI fell to 21-month low in August: IHS Markit
US Mfg PMI dipped to nine-month low in August: IHS Markit
Construction spending in US ticked up 0.1% in July: AP
SUV sales in US rose sharply again in August: CNBC
Selling continues to weigh on assets in emerging markets: Bloomberg

US equities topped the performance ledger for a second straight month in August for the major asset classes. The gain marked the fifth straight monthly increase and the strongest for the US stock market since January.
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Trump warns Syria, Iran and Russia on new offensive in Syrian province: Reuters
Italy’s spending plans are rattling markets again: MarketWatch
GOP looks for plan to avoid gov’t shutdown ahead of elections: Politico
Considering Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week: CNBC
South Africa falls into recession for first time since 2009: Bloomberg
UK Manufacturing PMI slips to 25-month low: IHS Markit
Amazon is moving into the online advertising industry: NY Times
Chicago PMI fell in August–first slide in five months: Chicago ISM
US Consumer Index dipped to 7-month low in August: CNBC

The good news this Labor Day regarding the celebratory subject du jour: there’s more of it. The quality of the jobs minted in recent years is a topic that’s open for debate, but the quantity is certainly moving in the right direction: US civilian employment reached 155.965 million, as of July 2018 — a record high.

● Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World
By Anand Giridharadas
Review via The Chronicle of Philanthropy
We don’t hear much about Zuckerberg’s presidential prospects these days; he has his hands full addressing concerns that Facebook helped spread disinformation propagated by Russian troll farms as part of an effort to sway the 2018 election.
In fact, his diminished public stature registers the eroding foundations of philanthrocapitalism more generally. An anti-establishment upsurge, wide-scale apprehensions about inequality, swelling grass-roots social movements, and the high-profile fumbling and failings of the economic elite themselves have all conspired to tamp down the inclination to turn to the rich to save the world.
For those who still might be tempted to do so, there’s an important new book by journalist Anand Giridharadas, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. It levels a devastating attack on philanthrocapitalism. There isn’t much left standing after his assault — and that’s both his book’s strongest point and its main shortcoming.
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