This is part of a series, “Economists Exchange”, featuring conversations between top FT commentators and leading economists Back in the midst of the lockdown-induced slump, the British economist Charles Goodhart made a surprising prediction. With annual UK price growth running at less than 1 per cent, he warned that inflation was on its way back —
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US Treasuries staged a historic rally and stocks jumped as comments from Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell further spurred a rally that began after the central bank published a more dovish outlook than investors had anticipated. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year note was down 0.25 percentage points in afternoon trading at a six-month low
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. BP said it had dismissed Bernard Looney, its former chief executive, who would forfeit as much as £32.4mn in pay after committing “serious misconduct” related to failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues. Looney stepped
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US interest rates myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates at a 22-year high, but most officials forecast that the US central bank would implement 75 basis points worth of cuts next year. The unanimous decision
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rishi Sunak on Wednesday tried to calm tensions in his fractured party over his Rwanda migration policy, as a poll showed the UK prime minister is now as unpopular as Boris Johnson in his final
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US regulators on Wednesday voted to require more Treasury bond trades to be cleared centrally, a landmark reform aimed at bolstering the resilience of one of the world’s most important financial markets. The Securities and
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Pfizer needs to convince investors that Covid-19 treatments are not its only source of success. So far, it has failed. Despite splashing out nearly $55bn on two major acquisitions over the past two years, the
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Pfizer shares tumbled more than 8 per cent after the US drugmaker forecast 2024 revenues that were below consensus estimates, as the company attempts to chart a future for growth without blockbuster Covid-19 products. The
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Greater Manchester has scrapped longstanding and contentious plans for a clean air charging zone. Its mayor, Andy Burnham, said new data showed the English city region could now meet legal clean air targets more quickly
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Round one to Rishi Sunak. His emergency Rwanda bill that will probably not “stop the boats” saw off its first parliamentary ambush. A rightwing revolt fizzled out. The preening rebels had reprised the political protection
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The outcome is very far from perfect. It is better than feared but less than needed. It bows too much to the forces of international diplomacy, and too little to the immovable realities of science.
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Airbnb has agreed to pay €576mn ($621mn) to Italian authorities to end a long-running tax dispute that boiled over last month when the country’s public prosecutor ordered funds to be seized from the holiday rental
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The post image from last month is the shot. Here is today’s chaser, courtesy of mainFT. The UK economy unexpectedly contracted in October, with all three main sectors reporting a fall and fuelling concerns over
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK financial regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Cross-border charges levied on credit and debit card transactions by payments companies, notably Visa and Mastercard, should be capped “to protect UK businesses from overpaying on these interchange fees”, a British financial watchdog has
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The UK economy unexpectedly contracted in October, driven by falls in every sector and fuelling concerns that high interest rates could push the country into a downturn. Gross domestic product fell 0.3 per cent between
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Countries are being “called upon” to transition away from fossil fuels to reach net zero emissions globally by 2050, under the latest revised text from the UN climate summit in Dubai. The previous draft document
In a community hall in northern Illinois last month, two presidents addressed a crowd of workers. One was Joe Biden, leader of the US. The other was Shawn Fain, head of the United Auto Workers. It was the union chief who appeared to receive the warmest welcome. On this November afternoon, they were celebrating a
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The dim-witted engines on the fictional island of Sodor are endlessly causing “confusion and delay”, in the words of the Fat Controller in Thomas the Tank Engine. No matter how hard Thomas, Percy and friends
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is an FT contributing editor The belief that stocks outperform bonds over the long run sits behind almost every strategic asset allocation process and is backed by centuries of empirical data. The longest
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Investors and currency speculators have boosted bets on the pound as expectations grow that the Bank of England will be slower than other central banks to cut interest rates. As markets brace for central banks’
The UN has adopted a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages, in the latest sign that Israel is losing international support. The resolution passed with 153 members of the General Assembly voting in favour, including China, Russia and France. Austria, the US and