U.S.-China Trade Deal, Powell vs MMT, Trashing the Fed: Eco Day

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

• The U.S. and China could be close to a deal that would cancel most of the U.S.-imposed tariffs, say people familiar with the discussions
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has trashed Modern Monetary Theory, but Wall Street sees room for the U.S. to try it
• President Donald Trump’s attempts to blame Powell for any hiccups in the U.S. economy have made a comeback -- this time directed at his conservative base as he gears up for a tough 2020 re-election campaign
• Central bankers across Europe are feeling the Trump-style heat of political pressure
• Scratch below the surface of the euro area’s dismal economic numbers and there’s a glimmer of hope that things could improve
• A year after the election that led to Italy’s populists taking power, the economic outlook is more precarious and the warnings across Europe are growing louder
• China is planning to cut the value-added tax rate that covers the manufacturing sector by 3 percentage points as part of measures to support the slowing economy, a person familiar with the matter said
• A look at the key battles for President Xi Jinping as the National People’s Congress meetings get underway in Beijing

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, Brian Swint

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