Far more men than women think their companies offer equal pay and promote the sexes equally, yet younger generations are wising up, a U.S. entertainment industry survey found on Monday.

Only a quarter of women think their employers pay them the same as men, while twice as many men believe their company has no gender pay gap, according to the survey by CNBC, a business news channel, and job-oriented social networking site LinkedIn.

About one third of women said both sexes rise up the ranks at the same rate in their workplaces, while more than half of men think the promotion rates are equal, according to responses from at least 1,000 LinkedIn members who work in entertainment.

“Men, typically we found across industries … they’re not as cognizant as their female counterparts to these issues,” said Caroline Fairchild, managing editor at LinkedIn.

Other surveys in finance and technology have revealed similar findings, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Congress outlawed pay discrimination based on gender in the federal Equal Pay Act in 1963, yet public debate over why wages still lag drastically for women has snowballed in recent years.

Last year in the United States, working women earned 82 percent of what men were paid, the Pew Research Center found.

According to the CNBC-LinkedIn survey, four in five women said the workplace holds more obstacles to advancement for women than for men, but only about half of men held the same opinion.

However the survey found that younger men were more likely than their older peers to say they were aware of the obstacles that stop women from succeeding at work, according to Fairchild.

“Perhaps the old guard of the industry is thinking a certain way, but we are seeing a perception change in what perhaps younger people in the industry are thinking,” she added.

A U.S. appeals court in San Francisco ruled in April that employers cannot use workers’ salary histories to justify gender-based pay disparities, saying that would perpetuate a wage gap that is “an embarrassing reality of our economy.”

A handful of U.S. cities and states ban employers from asking potential hires about their salary histories.

The World Economic Forum reported a global economic gap of 58 percent between the sexes for 2016 and forecast women would have to wait 217 years before they are treated equally at work.

Gender inequality in the workplace could cost the world more than $160.2 trillion in lost earnings, according to the World Bank. The figure compares the difference in lifetime income of everyone of working age and if women earned as much as men.
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Demand for bitcoin could single-handedly derail efforts to limit global warming because the increasingly popular digital currency takes huge amounts of energy to produce, scientists said on Monday.

Producing bitcoin at a pace with growing demand could by 2033 defeat the aim of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, according to U.S. research published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Almost 200 nations agreed in Paris in 2015 on the goal to keep warming to “well below” a rise of 2°C above pre-industrial times.

But mining, the process of producing bitcoins by solving mathematical equations, uses high-powered computers and alto of electricity, the researchers said.

“Currently, the emissions from transportation, housing and food are considered the main contributors to ongoing climate change,” said study co-author Katie Taladay in a statement. “This research illustrates that bitcoin should be added to this list.”

Mining is a lucrative business, with one bitcoin currently selling for about $6,300 (4,900 British pounds).

In 2017, bitcoin production and usage emitted an estimated 69 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the researchers said.

That year, bitcoin was involved in less than half of 1 percent of the world’s cashless transactions, they said.

As the currency becomes more common, researchers said it could use enough electricity to emit about 230 gigatons of carbon within a decade and a half. One gigaton is equal to one billion metric tons of carbon.

“No matter how you slice it, that thing is using a lot of electricity. That means bad business for the environment,” Camilo Mora, another co-author, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Bitcoin mining, however, is becoming more energy efficient, said Katrina Kelly-Pitou, research associate at the University of Pittsburgh.

She said bitcoin miners are moving away from sites such as China, with coal-generated electricity, to more environmentally friendly utilities in Iceland and the United States.
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Opening a new front in its trade and technology disputes with China, the Trump administration on Monday took action to cut off a Chinese state-backed semiconductor maker from U.S. exports of components, software and technology goods.

The Commerce Department said it has put Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd on a list of entities that cannot purchase such products from U.S. firms, citing a “significant risk” that the Chinese firm’s new memory chip capacity will threaten the viability of American suppliers of such chips for military systems.

It said in a statement that Fujian Jinhua “poses a significant risk of becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national interests of the United States.”

The action is similar to a Commerce Department move that nearly put Chinese telecommunications equipment company ZTE out of business earlier this year by cutting it off from U.S. suppliers.

ZTE, which had violated a deal to settle violations of sanctions on Iran and North Korea, was allowed to resume purchases of U.S. products after a revised settlement and payment of a $1 billion fine.

The action against Fujian Jinhua is likely to ignite new tensions between Beijing and Washington since the company is at the heart of the “Made in China 2025” program to develop new high-technology industries.

The world’s top two economies are already waging a major tariff war over their trade disputes, with U.S. duties in place on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods and Chinese duties on $110 billion of U.S. goods.

Fujian Jinhua, which is starting up a new $5.7 billion chip factory in Fujian province, is linked to the Trump administration’s accusations that China has systematically stolen and forced the transfer of American technology.

Fujian Jinhua and Taiwanese partner United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) were accused last December by U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc of stealing Micron chip designs through poached employees, a case still under way in a California court.

UMC countersued in a Chinese court, accusing Micron of infringing its patents, leading to a temporary ban in July on sales of Micron’s main products in China.

It was not immediately clear what effect the Commerce Department action will have on Fujian Jinhua’s operations.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement that the Chinese firm’s new plant likely was the beneficiary of “U.S.-origin technology” and its additional production would threaten the long-term viability of U.S. chipmakers.

“When a foreign company engages in activity contrary to our national security interests, we will take strong action to protect our national security,” he said. “Placing Jinhua on the Entity List will limit its ability to threaten the supply chain for essential components in our military systems.”
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South Korean conglomerate Hyundai’s cancellation of a major Iran construction project due to problems related to U.S. economic sanctions has been met with silence in Iranian media.

In a brief regulatory filing published Monday, Hyundai Engineering & Construction said it canceled a $521 million contract a day earlier for building a petrochemicals complex in Iran.

“The contract was canceled because financing is not complete, which was a prerequisite for the validity of the contract, as external factors worsened, such as economic sanctions against Iran,” Hyundai said.

Twelve hours after Hyundai made the announcement, there were no mentions of it in Iranian state-controlled media. There also was little Farsi-language discussion of the move on Twitter.

The United States is set to reimpose sanctions on Iran’s key energy exports on Nov. 4 to try to pressure Tehran into agreeing to a new deal to curb its nuclear and other perceived malign activities. Energy exports are the main sources of revenue for the Iranian government. 

For months, international companies in sectors such as energy, aviation, autos and shipping have been withdrawing from or scaling back business with Iran to avoid being hit by secondary U.S. sanctions for continuing such business as the primary U.S. sanctions take effect. 

Speaking to the Monday edition of VOA Persian’s News at Nine program, Johns Hopkins University applied economics professor Steve Hanke said cancellations of Iranian construction contracts by Hyundai and other foreign companies cause significant delays in the construction process.

“Now, the Iranians have to more or less start over and find somebody new. All of this takes time. As it takes time, the Iranian economy sinks,” Hanke said. 

Facing growing domestic discontent with Iran’s faltering economy, President Hassan Rouhani won parliamentary approval Saturday for a reshuffle of economic posts in his cabinet. He also said Iran can withstand U.S. sanctions by turning to other nations for business.

“Russia, China, India, the European Union and some African and Latin American countries are our friends,” he told parliament. “We have to work with them and attract investments.”

Hanke said it is more likely that Iran will finance the petrochemical project abandoned by Hyundai with Chinese and Russian partners than with the EU. Washington has put particular pressure on its European allies in recent months not to undermine U.S. sanctions against Iran. 

The EU has said it will try to circumvent U.S. sanctions by setting up a “special purpose vehicle” to facilitate transactions between European businesses and Iran. The 28-nation bloc has said it will abide by a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, curbing Iranian nuclear activities in return for relief from international sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in May, saying it was not tough enough on Iran. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons. 

South Korea, a key U.S. ally in East Asia, has not vowed to defy U.S. sanctions, but it does appear to want to salvage its remaining commercial contracts with Iran. South Korean media said Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday and asked Washington to be flexible in exempting South Korean companies from U.S. penalties for Iran-related business. There was no immediate readout of the phone call from the U.S. State Department. 

Hyundai had signed a contract to build a petrochemical complex on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast near the southern town of Tonbak in March 2017. South Korean and Iranian media said the contract was for the construction of the second phase of the Kangan Petro Refining Complex in the South Pars Gas Field. The reports valued Hyundai’s contract with Iran’s Ahdaf Investment Company, an affiliate of a state-run oil firm, at $3 billion. 

Hyundai, in its Monday statement, did not explain the discrepancy between the initially reported $3 billion valuation of the contract and its latest $512 million valuation. 

This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. 
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The United States urged European Union governments on Monday to reflect on whether it was really in their interest to go ahead with a trade dispute over U.S. metals tariffs, and said it was hopeful of settling the issue with Mexico and Canada.

The U.S. tariffs attracted an unprecedented seven requests for WTO adjudication, as well as a slew of criticism, at a fractious WTO dispute settlement meeting, while the United States hit back with legal actions against its critics.

Shea not surprised

U.S. Ambassador Dennis Shea said he was not surprised by China’s opposition, since it had massive overcapacity in metals production and was a non-market economy, but that Washington was “deeply disappointed” with the EU’s stance.

“We would encourage the European countries to consider carefully their broader economic, political, and security interests,” Shea told the meeting.

“We will not allow China’s party-state to fatally undermine the U.S. steel and aluminum industries, on which the U.S. military, and by extension global security, rely.”

China’s representative responded by saying the United States was shifting its arguments to disguise its protectionism.

Canada and Mexico have also challenged the tariffs — 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium — but a U.S. trade official told the meeting that, after constructive discussions, Washington was hopeful of reaching an agreement with both.

Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland, told Reuters the best outcome would be for Washington to rescind the tariffs.

Taboo no longer

Norway, Russia and Turkey also asked the WTO to judge the legality of the U.S. tariffs, despite Washington’s assertion that they are based on national security and therefore outside WTO jurisdiction.

National security claims were taboo for most of the WTO’s 23-year history, because trade diplomats feared a domino effect as countries cited national security to get out of a wide range of obligations. But Shea suggested it would be even worse to try to challenge the U.S. national security claim.

“The United States wishes to be clear: if the WTO were to undertake to review an invocation of (the national security exemption), this would undermine the legitimacy of the WTO’s dispute settlement system and even the viability of the WTO as a whole,” he said.

Trachtman turns to Twitter

On Twitter, Joel Trachtman, professor of International Law at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Jennifer Hillman, an American former WTO judge, said Shea’s position was not supported by WTO law.

Canada’s representative at the WTO meeting said fear of a national security threat was “inconceivable”, while Norway said it was “evidently divorced from real-world security concerns.”

Canada, China, the EU, Mexico and Japan argued that the U.S. tariffs were “safeguard” measures that could be addressed with sanctions under WTO rules. Washington for its part requested WTO adjudication of their retaliatory measures taken by Canada, China, the EU and Mexico.

All the requests for WTO adjudication will need to be confirmed at another meeting next month before going ahead.
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U.S. stocks fell on Monday in a volatile session, with the S&P 500 ending just shy of confirming its second correction of 2018, hurt by fresh worries of an escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions and a sharp drop in big tech and Internet names.

Following a morning rally, major U.S. indexes pulled back steeply after a Bloomberg report that the United States is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports by early December if talks next month between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping falter.

“Obviously this trade skirmish is metastasizing potentially into something worse than it already is,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

After the S&P 500 dropped more than 10 percent from its Sept. 20 record closing high during the session, the benchmark index pared its losses late to close down 9.9 percent from its peak. The Dow industrials also fell more than 10 percent from its Oct. 3 record close during the session, before ending down 8.9 percent from the mark.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 245.39 points, or 0.99 percent, to 24,442.92, the S&P 500 lost 17.44 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,641.25 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 116.92 points, or 1.63 percent, to 7,050.29.

Major tech and growth stocks, such as Amazon.com, Google parent Alphabet and Netflix, posted sharp declines. The S&P 500 technology sector fell 1.8 percent.

The so-called FANG growth stocks – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet – have lost more than $200 billion in market value in the past two sessions.

The industrials sector, which is seen as sensitive to trade issues, dropped 1.7 percent, with Boeing tumbling 6.6 percent.

“The concern about global growth and global trade … continues to create an overhang for U.S. corporations and global equities,” said Chad Morganlander, senior portfolio manager at Washington Crossing Advisors in Florham Park, New Jersey.

“Growth stocks typically do poorly in situations of global growth decelerating,” he said. “You set yourself up for a more defensive market until there’s a clear sign that investors can grab hold of.”

Market volatility has spiked in recent weeks, stemming from higher interest rates and worries about the economy and trade tensions. Investors also may be increasingly nervous about uncertainty surrounding U.S. congressional elections, now just a week away.

“Probably the most pervasive headwind is concern about midterm elections,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “That is weighing down stocks, particularly technology as there is greater concern about regulation.”

Internet stocks also may have been wounded by Britain’s plan to tax the revenue from online platforms.

In corporate news, shares of software maker Red Hat surged 45.4 percent after the company agreed to be bought by IBM Corp for $34 billion. But IBM shares fell 4.1 percent, weighing on the Dow and S&P.

Investors who are bullish about stocks point to strong corporate profits this year and economic strength. But there are also concerns about the extent of a slowdown in earnings growth next year, while weak housing data has raised some worries about the economy.

Data on Monday showed U.S. consumer spending rose for a seventh consecutive month in September. But income recorded its smallest gain in more than a year amid moderate wage growth, suggesting the current pace of spending was unlikely to be sustained.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.45-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.45-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and 65 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 23 new highs and 260 new lows.

About 9.3 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, above the 8.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.
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Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former Army captain who won Brazil’s presidential election in convincing fashion, rode a wave of enthusiasm on Monday from giddy supporters, bullish investors and budding ally U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro, who early in his legislative career declared he was “in favor” of dictatorships and demanded that Congress be disbanded, vowed on Sunday to adhere to democratic principles while holding up a copy of the country’s Constitution.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had an “excellent call” congratulating Bolsonaro and tweeted about their plans to “work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else!”

Markets also cheered Bolsonaro’s victory, sending Brazil’s benchmark Bovespa stock index to an all-time high on his pledges to balance the federal budget and privatize state firms.

Bolsonaro’s win alarmed critics around the globe, given his defense of Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, vows to sweep away leftist political opponents and a track record of denigrating comments about gays, women and minorities.

His victory brings Brazil’s military back into the political limelight after it spent three decades in the barracks following the country’s return to civilian rule. Several retired generals will serve as ministers and close advisers.

“You are all my witnesses that this government will defend the constitution, of liberty and of God,” Bolsonaro said in a Facebook live video in his first comments after his victory.

The president-elect’s future chief of staff told Reuters his first international trip would be to Chile — one of the South American neighbors that swung to the right in recent elections.

An outspoken Trump admirer, Bolsonaro also vowed to realign Brazil with more advanced economies such as the United States, overhauling diplomatic priorities after nearly a decade and a half of leftist rule.

The 63-year-old former paratrooper joins a list of populist, right-wing figures to win elections in recent years such as Trump, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Trump’s friendly call augurs closer political ties between the two largest economies in the Americas – both now led by conservative populists promising to overturn the political establishment.

Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist with Rio de Janeiro State University, said he was concerned that the tense and violent atmosphere that enveloped Brazil’s election campaign may continue.

“It’s a worrying scenario. It’s possible that even with his win, we could see a further wave of violence among Bolsonaro’s supporters against those who backed his opponent,” Santoro said.

Bolsonaro supporters carried out several attacks in the run-up to Sunday’s vote, in particular targeting Brazilian journalists, according to a tally kept by Abraji, an investigative journalism group.

Bolsonaro himself was stabbed at a rally last month and will need to undergo surgery in mid-December.

Easy Win

Bolsonaro won 55.2 percent of votes in a run-off election against left-wing hopeful Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT), who garnered 44.8 percent, according to electoral authority TSE.

The fiery lawmaker’s rise has been propelled by rejection of the leftist PT that ran Brazil for 13 of the last 15 years and was ousted two years ago in the midst of a deep recession and political graft scandal.

Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters cheered and set off fireworks outside his home in Rio de Janeiro’s beachfront Barra de Tijuca neighborhood as his victory was announced.

“I don’t idolize Bolsonaro and I don’t know if he will govern well, but we are hopeful. People want the PT out, they can’t take any more corruption,” said Tatiana Cunha, a 39-year-old systems analyst in the midst of the noisy celebrations.

Investors cheered Bolsonaro’s ascent, relieved that he could keep the PT out of power and hopeful that he would carry out fiscal reforms proposed by his orthodox economic guru.

Brazil’s benchmark Bovespa stock index rose as much as 3 percent to an all-time high in opening trade, led higher by shares of state-owned firms and blue-chips.

State lender Banco do Brasil SA rose nearly 5 percent and state oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA opened 4 percent higher at an 8.5-year high.

Brazil’s currency, the real, gained around 10 percent against the dollar this month and interest rate futures have tightened dramatically as Bolsonaro’s prospects improved.

Investors are particularly heartened by his choice of Paulo Guedes, a Chicago University-trained economist and  investment banker, as future economy minister.

Guedes, who wants to privatize an array of state firms, said on Sunday the new government will try to erase Brazil’s budget within deficit in a year, simplify and reduce taxes, and create 10 million jobs by cutting payroll taxes. New rules will boost investment in infrastructure, he told reporters.

Big Challenges

Still, Fitch Ratings on Monday highlighted the “deep fiscal challenges” confronting Bolsonaro’s team, as weak growth and a huge budget deficit give little room to maneuver.

“The exact details of how his administration plans to achieve (its) objectives are limited,” wrote Fitch analysts led by Shelly Shetty. “The lack of fiscal space, a high unemployment rate and a sluggish economic recovery will also likely limit economic policy options.”

Onyx Lorenzoni, a fellow congressman whom Bolsonaro has tapped as chief of staff, told journalists that Guedes would be responsible for structuring an independent, autonomous central bank with targets.

Asked about Brazil’s currency, Lorenzoni said Bolsonaro would offer businesses more predictability, but ruled out an exchange rate target.

In a separate interview with Reuters, he said the president-elect would meet with Guedes and other members of his team on Tuesday. He will oversee the transition from Rio this week and fly to the capital Brasilia next week, Lorenzoni added.

In parallel, representatives for Bolsonaro will begin meeting this week with President Michel Temer’s team to start work ahead of the Jan. 1 inauguration.
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The leaders of Japan and India are reaffirming their ties amid growing worries about trade and regional stability.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived Saturday, was meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a resort area near Mount Fuji on Sunday. Modi is also visiting a nearby plant of major Japanese robot maker Fanuc.

 

Relations with China are a major issue shared by Modi and Abe, as their cooperation may balance China’s growing regional influence and military assertiveness.

 

“The India-Japan partnership has been fundamentally transformed and it has been strengthened as a ‘special strategic and global partnership,'” Modi told Kyodo News service. “There are no negatives but only opportunities in this relationship which are waiting to be seized.”

 

Modi chose Japan among the first nations to visit after taking power four years ago. He has been urging countries in the Indo-Pacific region to unite against protectionism and cross-border tensions.

 

In another sign of closer relations, India and Japan are also set to hold their first joint military exercises involving ground forces, starting next month.

 

Abe has just returned from China, where he met President Xi Jinping and agreed the two nations were “sharing more common interests and concerns.”

 

President Donald Trump’s policies that have targeted mostly China with tariffs, but also Japan and other nations, accusing them of unfair trade practices, are working to prod India and Japan to promote their economic ties.

 

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said the leaders had lunch at a hotel in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, and exchanged a wide range of views on pursuing “a free and open” Indo-Pacific region. Abe told Modi about his recent trip to China, and both sides agreed on the need to cooperate closely on getting North Korea to drop nuclear weapons development, the ministry said in a statement.

 

Japan’s investment in India still has room to grow. Japan is helping India build a super-fast railway system.

 

Abe has made bolstering and opening the nation’s economy central to his policies called “Abenomics,” and has encouraged trade, foreign investment and tourism.

 

Although Japan has long seen the U.S. as its main ally, especially in defense, Abe is courting other ties. He has also been vocal about free trade, which runs counter to Trump’s moves to raise tariffs.

 

Earlier this year, Japan signed a landmark deal with the European Union that will eliminate nearly all tariffs on products they trade. European and Japanese leaders pledged to strengthen their partnership in defense, climate change and human exchange, to send what they called a clear message against protectionism.

 

Abe and Modi will hold a more formal summit Monday in Tokyo.

 

 

 

 
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