Trade Talks Hit IP Snag, China Slowdown, Davos Worries: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Monday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your week started:

• U.S.-China trade talks might be taking baby steps, but haven’t reached much agreement at all on the key issue of intellectual property; meanwhile, global trade data remain gloomy with South Korean exports taking an ugly turn
• The operation of the World Trade Organization may soon stall because of U.S. delays in appointing new judges, Canada’s trade minister says
• Some of the world’s big policy minds and makers gather this week in Davos, with the global elite richer than ever while having enough to fret about around renewed fears of the China slowdown and central banks that might find themselves behind the curve
  • While China’s economy last year grew at the slowest pace since 1990, the increase in output was still more than all the goods and services produced in Australia in 2017
  • President Xi Jinping stresses the need to maintain political stability -- a fresh sign the ruling party is growing concerned about the social implications of the slowing economy
  • China’s plan to inject stimulus via infrastructure investment is likely to have observers reaching for traditional leading indicators to discern its impact
• London home prices are tanking as Brexit talks remain stuck and the EU mulls an extension to reach a deal
  • Meanwhile, shrinking chocolate bars and loaves of bread are leaving U.K. consumers dealing with stealth price rises
• A slowing economy in Italy is turning up the heat on the populist government’s budget plans
• Vietnam’s prime minister plugged his country in a Bloomberg TV interview as an investment haven to attract those turned off by trade penalties elsewhere
• World-champion baht strength is making policy more complicated in Thailand

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, David Goodman

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