There is an iron law of politics in the age of climate change: every time you discuss your plans to reach net zero you must also mention jobs, preferably an impressive-sounding number of them, ideally with terms like “well-paid”, “blue-collar” or “heartlands” attached. Britain’s opposition leader, Keir Starmer, toed the line on Monday, promising his
News
China has cut benchmark lending rates for the first time in almost a year as policymakers push ahead with cautious monetary support in an effort to spur more robust growth in the country’s struggling economy. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was reduced by 10 basis points to 3.55 per cent, the People’s Bank of
Power and Progress: Our Thousand Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson (John Murray/PublicAffairs) Technological progress does promise a better future. But it does not deliver one automatically. If the promise is to be achieved and costs contained, both the technology itself and, still more, its impact must be brought
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ held detailed talks to take Wall Street investment bank Lazard private, in a move that underlined the oil-rich emirate’s ambitions to acquire a western financial services company. The talks were held this year between Lazard, led by outgoing chief executive Ken Jacobs, and ADQ, led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed
First-time buyers are struggling to access mortgages as rapidly rising interest rates have cut the number of products for borrowers with small deposits by more than 40 per cent over the past year. According to data provider Moneyfacts, there were 199 products on offer over the weekend for would-be buyers looking to borrow up to
The Bank of England is set to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4.75 per cent on Thursday as it battles an inflation problem that has become more difficult and persistent over the past month. The expected quarter-point rise will mark the 13th consecutive increase in borrowing costs since the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee
Jeffrey Epstein claimed to have brokered meetings between then senior banker Jes Staley and high-ranking members of the UK government, according to an internal investigation by JPMorgan Chase. A 22-page report by the bank, compiled following the arrest of its former client in 2019 and seen by the Financial Times, details how Epstein offered to
A British billionaire was aboard a submersible vessel that has disappeared while on an expedition to view the wreckage of the RMS Titanic. The vessel operated by OceanGate Expeditions was diving to view the remains of the passenger liner, which sank in 1912, when contact was lost. Hamish Harding, an adventurer and aviation executive was
6/19/2023, 9:53:28 PM What to watch in Asia today FT reporters China: The People’s Bank of China is scheduled to publish its latest policy rates. Analysts polled by Reuters expect lending benchmarks to be cut for the first time in 10 months amid a slowing post-Covid recovery. Last week the central bank unexpectedly cut a
UBS faces hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties over Credit Suisse’s mishandling of Archegos Capital after Swiss, US and UK regulators completed their investigations into the affair, according to people with knowledge of the probes. Credit Suisse, whose takeover by rival UBS was completed last week, suffered the biggest trading loss in its 167-year
Rishi Sunak has faced heavy criticism for missing a parliamentary debate on the report into Boris Johnson’s conduct, as former prime minister Theresa May said it was “doubly important” for Tory MPs to publicly back it. The House of Commons privileges committee’s 33,000-word report, which was published last week, found that Johnson had committed five
As ructions in the US banking sector demonstrated in March, higher interest rates affect economies in a way that is neither smooth nor linear. Indeed, central bankers have been wary of breaking things as they have rapidly pushed up the cost of credit over the past two years in order to tackle sticky prices. Given
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition activist, urged his countrymen to join a new information campaign against the war on Ukraine as he stood trial on charges that could keep him imprisoned for decades. On Monday, a rare trial behind closed doors started in Melekhovo prison, 250km east of Moscow, where Navalny is jailed. The
Almost everything in the world is better than it was when I was born, other than the climate. Computers are faster. People live longer. Across most of the world, violent crime is at historic lows. Closer to home, in London, today’s children are much better educated, crime numbers are falling and the restaurants are vastly
Criticism of the Bank of England is growing. Approval rates are now at a record independent-era low. It’s a bit harsh. To their great credit, Bank officials have steered the UK through an inflationary shock driven by factors beyond their control and into an inflationary shock increasingly driven by factors within their control. They’re still
The Ukraine war has revived the transatlantic alliance. But the relationship between the US and its European allies is increasingly lopsided. The US economy is now considerably richer and more dynamic than the EU or Britain — and the gap is growing. That will have an impact well beyond relative living standards. Europe’s dependence on
European equities fell on Monday, dragged down by declines for basic materials stocks, as investors fretted that a slow economic recovery in China would curb demand. Europe’s region-wide Stoxx 600 lost 0.6 per cent, while France’s Cac 40 shed 0.5 per cent and Germany’s Dax fell 0.6 per cent. Trading is expected to be subdued
Western manufacturers will be able to de-risk their operations in China but will find it impossible to cut ties completely with the country, according to the head of one of the US’s largest aerospace and defence companies. Greg Hayes, chief executive of Raytheon, said the company had “several thousand suppliers in China and decoupling . . . is impossible”.
The cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage in the UK rose above 6 per cent on Monday and two-year gilt yields rose to their highest level for 15 years, piling more pressure on homeowners and Rishi Sunak’s government. Mortgage costs have been rising sharply over the past week, ahead of an expected increase in interest
The board of Odey Wealth Management has told clients it is “considering several options” for the business as the fallout from sexual misconduct allegations against Crispin Odey spreads through the businesses he founded. While recent attention focused on Odey’s eponymous hedge fund, after key banking partners cut ties, Odey Wealth said in a letter to
The US and China have made “progress” in stabilising plunging bilateral relations, Xi Jinping declared on Monday as the Chinese president held a long-delayed meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken. Xi’s comments represent the strongest signal yet that Beijing is willing to consider a truce in its increasingly acrimonious relationship with Washington. Speaking