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UK consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since comparable records began almost 50 years ago as the rising cost of living stokes concerns over personal finances and economic prospects. In monthly research from data provider GfK, the August index score for overall consumer confidence fell to minus 44 from a figure of minus

Federal Reserve officials discussed the need to keep interest rates at levels that will restrict the US economy “for some time” in a bid to contain the highest inflation in roughly 40 years, according to an account of their most recent meeting. Minutes from the meeting in July, when the US central bank raised its

The global energy crisis deepened on Tuesday as a further surge in natural gas prices in Europe and the US threatened to push some of the world’s largest economies into recession. Gas markets in Europe jumped by as much as 10 per cent to as high as €251 a megawatt hour, equivalent in energy terms

US homebuilder confidence fell in August, as high home prices, construction costs and interest rates threatened housing affordability and depressed demand. The National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index for August dropped 6 points to 49, below economists’ forecasts of 55, according to a Refinitiv poll. This is the first time since May 2020

A new lender has been granted a licence by UK financial regulators to offer mortgages with fixed rates of up to 50 years in a move aimed at helping borrowers manage soaring inflation. Perenna, a UK-based specialist lender, is initially planning to provide home loans that lock in rates for 30 years, before rolling out

Activist investor Dan Loeb is agitating for sweeping changes at Disney, including a shake-up of its board, a spin-off of the sports television network ESPN and aggressive cost-cutting after rebuilding a stake in the entertainment and media group. The head of the Third Point hedge fund also recommended that the company take full control of

Britain’s cost of living crisis is deepening by the day. Millions worry about how they will pay their winter heating bills. The UK government, meanwhile, is frozen in inaction as it waits for the result of a two-month, presidential-style campaign to elect the next Conservative party leader and prime minister. The two candidates have sparred

When the UK’s new prime minister forms a government on September 6, he or she will need a rapid plan to address soaring household energy bills this winter. With estimates that the annual average combined gas and electricity bill will rise from £1,971 in the summer to £3,582 at the start of October, and more

If I scatter broken glass on the ground and someone else walks over it and cuts their feet, does it matter “when” they cut their feet? That’s the thought experiment at the start of the philosopher William MacAskill’s forthcoming book, What We Owe The Future. MacAskill’s argument is that harm is harm, whether my littering

Stock markets were subdued on Monday as disappointing Chinese economic data and an interest-rate cut by the country’s central bank complicated the global outlook. US equity futures declined, with contracts tracking the S&P 500 falling 0.5 per cent. The broad Wall Street index on Friday closed out its fourth consecutive week of gains. Contracts tracking

Dinner parties in the Indian capital tend to start late and end late, sometimes stretching into the wee hours. In the posher households, the seemingly endless rounds of snacks are typically washed down with generous measures of premium booze. But Delhi, one of India’s megacities (population more than 18mn) is running short of places to

For a man who had been held up at gunpoint the previous evening, Mmusi Maimane was on surprisingly good form, when I met him in Cape Town this month. Maimane, one of South Africa’s leading opposition politicians, was in a suburban restaurant when armed men entered, forced all the diners to lie on the floor

Hong Kong’s accounting watchdog has launched an investigation into Evergrande Property Services, a major subsidiary of the embattled Chinese property developer, and its auditor PwC over a $2bn loan scheme that led to an executive clear-out last month. The investigation will put more scrutiny on Evergrande, the world’s most indebted real estate developer, after it

China has cut a crucial lending rate in an effort to shore up growth as the world’s second-biggest economy is buffeted by repeated lockdowns and a worsening property downturn. The People’s Bank of China on Monday reduced the medium-term lending rate, through which it provides one-year loans to the banking system, by 10 basis points

Liz Truss, the Tory leadership favourite, has ruled out splitting up the UK Treasury if she becomes prime minister next month, but she will turn Number 10 into an “economic nerve centre” calling the shots on economic policy. Truss believes that many of Boris Johnson’s problems as prime minister arose because he did not have

Richard Rogers’ buildings are known for their inside-out architecture. The Inmos microprocessor factory in Newport, south Wales, completed in 1982, is no exception. Like the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Lloyd’s headquarters in the City of London, the factory’s services run on the building’s exterior through multicoloured pipework, freeing the chipmaking “clean rooms” of

The writer is chair of Rockefeller International Today, India marks its 75th birthday, no richer relative to the rest of the world than it was at independence, but very much on the upswing. India started out as the world’s sixth-largest economy, fell to 12th by 1990, and has since staged a comeback — to sixth place. Its

A decade or so on from the financial crisis, the singular sense of purpose that drove a frenzy of regulatory interventions has faded. Banks and insurers are so much safer now that regulators seem nonplussed about their resilience even as countries including the US and the UK flirt with recession, and the fallout from Russia’s

Mohammad Daud had not visited his relatives for around five years. The 32-year-old in the southeastern Afghan city of Jalalabad avoided the long trip to their rural district, fearing he might be harassed, kidnapped or killed by thieves or the Taliban along the way. In recent months, however, he has visited repeatedly, going to meet

Brexit has exacerbated the UK’s labour shortages over the past year, with industries most reliant on freedom of movement hit hard, according to a report led by academics from Oxford university. The research found that in parts of the economy such as hospitality and corporate support services there had been large declines in the number

Afghanistan has two anniversaries coming up. Friday is Independence Day, commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, in which Britain granted Afghanistan self-determination over its foreign affairs. However, most will be more concerned with Monday, which marks a year since the Taliban regained control. This week also begins with the 75th anniversary