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DocuPod: Gen. James Mattis’ Statement

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This is a DocuPod. No conversation; no interview. Just a reading of the document itself.

I offer DocuPods because with our democracy under stress, certain documents are interesting and essential. And it’s really hard to find time to read them. Today, Gen. James Mattis’ statement on presidential leadership.

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The World

Tensions are building in Pentagon circles: Former Defense Secretary James Mattis denounced the president for dividing the nation, and accused him of ordering the U.S. military to violate Americans’ constitutional rights (full statement). Defense Secretary Mark Esper abruptly reversed a decision to order active-duty troops home from the national capital region. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a message affirming that every member of the armed forces swears an oath to defend the Constitution, which “gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.” (Washington Post, The Atlantic, Politico, New York Times)

The House-passed anti-lynching bill won’t pass the Senate without changes desired from Sen. Rand Paul, who worries the current proposal might “conflate lesser crimes with lynching.” (Politico)

VA Gov. Ralph Northam is poised to announce plans to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, where Mayor Levar Stoney wants four other famous statues honoring the Confederacy removed in the wake of protests. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Far more African-American than white voters suffered a reduction in family income due to the coronavirus outbreak. 74 per cent of black voters reported a financial hit compared to 58 per cent of white voters, while more African-Americans lost jobs. (Financial Times)

The U.S. trade deficit widened 16.7% in April from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $49.41 billion. Meanwhile, 1.9 million unemployment claims were made last week, the first time they fell below 2 million since the week ended March 14. (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal)

Thousands crowded Hong Kong’s Victoria Park amid a police ban to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown anniversary, as Hong Kong’s legislature passed a law making disrespect of China’s national anthem a crime. Meanwhile, China warned Britain to “step back from the brink” after Boris Johnson vowed to offer a path to citizenship for up to 3 million Hong Kong residents, and India and Australia signed a new military pact. (South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, The Times, Nikkei Asian Review)

Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in Latin America battled the accelerating pandemic, while a second wave hit Iran. In the U.S., Texas, Arizona and Oregon saw significant spikes in new infections. (The Telegraph, Bloomberg, Axios)

Earth’s carbon dioxide levels hit record high, despite coronavirus-related emissions drop. Meanwhile, China’s air pollution is back to pre-Covid levels, and Europe may follow. (Washington Post, The Guardian)

U.S. public school students likely will start the new school year having learned 37% to 50% of what they ordinarily would have learned in math had schools remained open. However, the top third of students will have continued to make gains in reading despite education interruptions. (Brown University)

Economy

The Senate passed legislation to provide more flexibility to small businesses that have received forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, providing more time to use the money. Meanwhile, nearly half of commercial retail rents were not paid in May. (Washington Post, Washington Post)

The European Central Bank said it would vastly scale up its bond-purchase program to €1.35 trillion ($1.52 trillion), putting its stimulus effort in league with the Federal Reserve’s. Meanwhile, Germany agreed to a €130bn fiscal stimulus centered on a big cut in value added tax. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)

The coronavirus outbreak could trigger a $25tn collapse in the fossil fuel industry by accelerating a terminal decline for the world’s most polluting companies. (The Guardian)

The S&P 500 is up 39% in 50 days and in the midst of its longest winning streak since February. Many big bulls are sounding distinctly...bearish. And while UBS sees Asia as ‘the only region’ with positive earnings growth this year, political tumult historically hasn’t dragged down the market. (