The Day at a Glance | August 10 2020

The Top

· Trump signs executive orders to defer the payment of taxes and extend unemployment aid after negotiations between Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a new fiscal package.

· China sanctions 11 US officials in response to similar actions previously carried out towards Hong Kong officials.

· Economic indicators: Investor confidence improves in Europe (Sentix -13.4 Aug vs -15.1 e.).

Economic environment

President Donald Trump signed executive orders over the weekend to extend aid because of the pandemic, which include an extension of unemployment benefits ($400 dollars a week), lengthening the moratorium to avoid people being evicted from their homes due to them falling behind on rent payments, deferring the payroll tax, and suspending student loan fees at least until the end of the year. The executive actions seek to circumvent the legal process of the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in order to extend the aid to citizens and will very likely be subject to legal revision to evaluate their constitutionality. Additionally, there are still gaps regarding the implementation of these orders, which could delay their enforcement – such as the logistics concerning the access to unemployment benefits. Republicans and Democrats have criticized the President`s actions – considering them insufficient, unconstitutional, and a risk to funding fundamental social security programs. The President said he is willing to continue negotiations to reach a new package, even though his actions could hinder said negotiations, which were suspended since last week.