President ‘hereby orders’ US firms to seek alternative locations and suggests Fed Chair is an ‘enemy’Donald Trump escalated his attacks on China on Friday, bumping up tariffs on Chinese imports and ordering US companies to leave China.Trump’s announcements on Friday – all on Twitter – came after the president launched another blistering criticism of the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome...
Rolling coverage of economics, business and markets as the US president retaliates against China after Beijing unveiled fresh tariffs on American goodsTrump orders US companies to “come home” from ChinaTrump compares Powell with China’s Xi JinpingBREAKING: China unveils tariffs on US goods worth $75bn 4.33pm BST What an eventful end to this bank holiday Friday. Here’s a reminder of the global...
Unlike in 2008, we now face the consequences of three potential negative supply shocks There are three negative supply shocks that could trigger a global recession by 2020. All of them reflect political factors affecting international relations, two involve China, and the United States is at the centre of each. Moreover, none of them is amenable to the traditional tools of countercyclical macroeconomic...
Trump may howl for stimulus but the put-upon Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell has his hands tiedDonald Trump is not known for his love of 12th-century English history but there are echoes of the clash between Henry II and Thomas Becket in the president’s troubled relationship with Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve.If Powell feels beleaguered as he prepares to make the most important...
Debt held by public is expected to reach 95% of GDP in next 10 years, the highest level since just after the second world warUS federal debt will top $1tn next year even as Donald Trump explores tax cuts and other giveaways that are only likely to increase the deficit.According to figures released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday the US national debt is growing faster than expected...
President launches new attack on Jerome Powell, the man he picked to run US central bankDonald Trump has stepped up the pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates with his most personal attack yet on Jerome Powell, the man he handpicked to run the US central bank.Ahead of a crucial speech by Powell in Jackson Hole on Friday, the US president compared the Fed chairman to a golfer who was...
Changes in capitalism’s structure have moved faster than the policies required to domesticate them, and liberal democratic governments are scrambling to catch upIs contemporary capitalism compatible with liberal democracy? The glib answer, though not wrong, is that it had better be. There are no known examples of fully socialized economies with a liberal democratic regime. The more considered answer...
President tweets demand for 1% reduction and more QE as markets look to central banks to bolster global economyStock markets have been boosted by the growing prospect of more stimulus measures by central banks and governments across the world as Donald Trump heaped more pressure on the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates. Related: Warning signs for global economy: the countries spooking investors...
The move is in response to a Trump rule stating that groups receiving Title X funding could no longer provide abortion counselingSign up to the US briefing and get a new perspective 1.10am BST Kari Paul, logging out for the night! Here’s the top news of the afternoon: 12.56am BST Journalists are dropping out of an upcoming softball game with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his campaign.CNN...
Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow dispute market indicatorsTariffs are hurting China not US, trade aide insists Donald Trump and his chief trade advisers insisted on Sunday the US is not facing a recession which markets appear to fear and which could prove costly at the polls next year. Related: Less boom, more bust? Economic fears threaten Trump's 2020 message There’s no recession on the horizon. What’s...
The EU has opposed brutal animal welfare and rampant tech monopolies. Post-Brexit Britain will be exposed to bothA trade deal with the US would be a defining moment for the UK. It is not an exaggeration to say it would reveal the country’s direction of travel more than any other decision in the aftermath of Britain quitting the European Union.Amid the confusing array of government pledges – more...
Last week’s upheavals in bond values were an all-too-rational response to a cocktail of economic troublesEvery year the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City hosts a symposium in the Grand Teton resort of Jackson Hole. Some years, guests have little to do but chew the fat and listen to distinguished speakers explain points of economic importance. Sometimes, though, the conclave in Wyoming takes place...
From cutting student debts to index-linking the minimum wage, the dream can be rebuiltIt is time to admit that the “American Dream” is dead. Its underlying conditions – strong, consistent economic growth and a meritocracy structured to keep the rich from gaming the system – no longer hold true.Nonetheless, an American Dream 2.0 is still possible, and it will be up to those now contending for...
Unemployment is at lows last seen 50 years ago and stock markets, while wobbly, are close to record highs, but a shadow loomsIt’s 10 years since the great recession and by many measures the US economy is still booming. Unemployment is at lows last seen 50 years ago, stock markets, while wobbly, are close to record highs, consumer confidence is high and shoppers keep shopping. And yet there is a shadow...
The president’s nominee for the Fed believes pegged exchange rates will fix the US trade deficit. Not soThere are now scores of efforts to psychoanalyse the US president Donald Trump’s nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve board. Some emphasise Shelton’s fidelity as an early adviser to the Trump campaign. Others point to her conversion into “a low-interest-rate person”. Still...
Sharp declines across the world as bonds point to uncertain outlookTrump urges Fed chief Powell to make further interest rate cutsSigns of a global economic slowdown roiled the markets on Wednesday as shares dived and investors fled to bonds with such intensity that short-term yields rose above longer-term ones for the first time since the crisis of a decade ago – an inversion many market-watchers...
A big, bold idea to create an empowering labor market would give Americans without college degrees a chance to shine No market is more broken than the labor market, or with such dire consequences. In particular, 100 million-plus adults without four-year college degrees are deeply disadvantaged, screened out of millions of good jobs. Right now, workers without degrees might as well be in a different...
President asserts that the recent depreciation of the yuan amounts to currency manipulation. Not trueThe trade war between the US and China is heating up again, with the US president, Donald Trump, abruptly announcing plans to impose a 10% tariff on the $300bn (£248bn) worth of imports from China that he had so far left untouched. The Chinese authorities then allowed their currency, the yuan, to fall...
Visitors to Manhattan are finding that several retail landmarks are fading fastThere is a lot to do in Manhattan – but shopping? Maybe not so much these days. Once one of the hottest markets on the planet, New York’s retail sector is suffering.Surveying the empty storefronts on Fifth Avenue, holidaymaker Gill Stewart, from Stokesley in Yorkshire, said she was surprised by the number of vacancies....
Luxury chain made famous by Sex and the City has debts of up to $500mBarneys New York, the US luxury department store chain made famous by Sex and the City, has filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for sale.The retailer, which first opened its doors in New York in 1923, said it would close 15 of its 22 stores, including flagship branches in Chicago, Las Vegas and Seattle, five small concept outlets...
