China’s Hidden Target, Lagarde-Merkel Axis, $1 Trillion: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get you through to the weekend:

• China didn’t set a GDP growth target for 2020. But one is implicit in its budget deficit projections. From this, we arrive at a range of 2-4% for real GDP growth, writes Chang Shu
• Europe’s monetary and fiscal titans are finally moving in lockstep as a wave of German stimulus buttressing additional central-bank easing heralds the prospect of a new era of policy making
• Trump administration officials expect to spend up to $1 trillion in the next round of economic stimulus. Meantime, the economy remains too fragile for Congress to remove income support
• The economics profession has had a hard time getting a fix on racial discrimination. Quite apart from its cruelty, it seems … illogical
• Australia’s success in delivering timely stimulus won’t stave off recession, but the cash has landed in bank accounts, ready to accelerate the recovery
• Fed officials are unlikely to signal any new moves at their meeting next week, yet many economists expect they will turn to yield-curve control later this year, a tool not used in the U.S. since World War II
• As business reopenings picked up nationwide, Americans filed nearly 2 million applications for unemployment benefits last week, reflecting a slowing -- though far from a halt -- in job losses
• A Senate Republican sponsoring legislation to penalize banks that work with Chinese officials moving to crack down on dissent in Hong Kong said his bill would bring “unprecedented” action to the issue
• The BOE’s inflation target should be abandoned and replaced with a goal for growth, according to a think tank, adding to the debate about how to best manage the economy following the crisis
• France will beef up incentives for apprenticeships and support businesses that keep staff on payroll during a prolonged economic downturn to prevent losing a generation to long-term unemployment
• Indian and Chinese forces are facing off by a glacial lake in the Himalayas. Despite the remote location, the military buildup at the un-demarcated border should not be seen in isolation

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