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Год выпуска: December 2024
Автор: The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group
Жанр: Экономика/Политика
Издательство: «The Economist Newspaper Ltd»
Формат: PDF (журнал на английском языке)
Качество: OCR
Количество страниц: 84
AMERICA’S GAMBLING FRENZY
- America's boom in gambling should be celebrated, not feared: leader, page 9.
- Legal and technological changes are spurring a betting bonanza: briefing, page 14.
- Nothing can stop China's gamblers, page 61.
- How gambling became ubiquitous, page 60.
France heads into the unknown
- The country has no budget and no government: leader, page 10.
- Michel Barnier’s downfall accelerates the unravelling of the French centre, page 40.
- France is not alone in its fiscal woes, page 59.
A rebel surge in Syria
- President Bashar al-Assad is at his most vulnerable in a decade, page 35.
What next in South Korea?
- Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law failed. But grave tests still remain: leader, page 11.
- A rash, unexpected move by the president tests democracy, page 27.
Southern California’s space cadets
- Elon Musk may have deserted them. But they remain full of vim and vigour, page 64.
- Can anyone realistically challenge SpaceX's launch supremacy? Page 66.
- NASA's moon programme is an obvious target for Elon Musk's axe. But DOGE will struggle to cut it to size: leader, page 12.
The world this week Politics
- In France the National Assembly voted out the centrist government led by Michel Barnier, who was appointed prime minister by Emmanuel Macron, the president, in September following an inconclusive parliamentary election in July. Marine Le Pen’s hard-right National Rally joined forces with parties on the left to oust Mr Barnier after he forced his budget through parliament without a vote. The last time the assembly voted a government out of office was 1962.
- The Pentagon announced that it was sending more weapons to Ukraine using a “drawdown” facility that allows it to transfer arms from American stockpiles. The weapons include drones and anti-tank missiles. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign minister said that “the only real security guarantee for Ukraine” is full membership of NATO, pointing out that past agreements on his country’s security had turned out to be useless.
- The crisis in Georgia intensified, as the pro-Russian prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, insisted that the pro-democracy president, Salome Zourab-ichvili, leave office. Opposition demonstrations were held over consecutive nights after the Georgian Dream government said it would suspend accession talks with the EU. Police fired tear-gas and water cannon at the protesters and detained opposition leaders. Mr Kobakhidze warned that the opposition’s attempted “revolution” was over.
- Fianna Fail rook the most seats in Ireland’s general election. It will govern in a new coalition with Fine Gael; the two parties have been in an alliance since 2020. Negotiations overforming a government are expected to last a month, with Micheal Martin, Fianna Fail’s leader, tipped to be prime minister.
- British MPs voted by 330 to 275 in favour of legalising assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales who have no more than six months to live. The vote was for the crucial second reading of the bill in the House of Commons. Some MPs who voted “yes” have suggested they could switch to “no” if the concerns they raised about safeguards are not tackled before the bill’s final reading.
Glad to be out of Washington
- Joe Biden visited Angola, the first trip to sub-Saharan Africa by an American president since 2015 and the first by any to Angola, which has recently moved closer to America after years of dependency on China. In a speech in Luanda, the capital, he talked about slavery, calling it “our nation’s original sin”, and claimed that America was “all in on Africa” regarding investment on the continent.
- At least 56 people, many of them children, were killed in a crush at a football stadium in Guinea as they tried to escape from police firing teargas to stop violence during a match. Local groups put the death toll at 135, with 50 still missing. They blamed the deaths on Guinea’s military junta, which organised the tournament.
- After years of stalemate rebels in Syria swept into Aleppo, taking control of the city. The rebels were led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group formerly aligned with al-Qaeda. Their offensive was supported by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. The rebels’ leaders assured Aleppo’s remaining Christians and other minorities that they had nothing to fear, though there are many Islamist militants among the ranks of HTS fighters.
- Tensions increased between Bangladesh and India over the alleged mistreatment of Hindu minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Indian protesters vandalised the Bangladeshi consulate in Agartala, a city on the border, which prompted anti-India demonstrations in Bangladesh.
- The death toll from sectarian fighting between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Pakistan’s north-west rose to at least 133. The government is attempting to maintain a ceasefire.
- South Korea’s National Assembly took steps to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, after the conservative president rocked the country by ordering martial law. Resorting to measures not used since the military dictatorship that ended in the 1980s, Mr Yoon accused politicians in the parliament, which is controlled by the left-wing opposition, of collaborating with North Korea. As armed soldiers stormed the assembly building, protesters took to the streets calling for Mr Yoon to be arrested. He soon withdrew his order. America urged South Korea to resolve its issues “democratically and constitutionally”.
- A court in Vietnam confirmed the death sentence given to Truong My Lan, a property developer, for embezzling $12bn from a bank. But the court said Ms Lan could avoid execution if she repaid 75% of the funds. She is scrambling to raise the cash.
- A month after America’s general election, California at last finished counting its vote, with a Republican district switching to the Democrats. The new House of Representatives will now have 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats when it convenes in the new year.
- Joe Biden was roundly criticised, including from within the Democratic Party, for pardoning his son, Hunter, for various convictions, including tax evasion. The president had previously said he would not issue a pardon. His decision diminishes the Democrats’ efforts to take the high ground against Donald Trump, who will issue some weighty pardons of his own when he enters office in January.
- Part of Mr Biden’s motivation for the pardon may have been Mr Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as director of the FBI. Mr Patel is a firm believer in the deep-state conspiracy. He has called for America’s national-security establishment to be overhauled and for officials who are biased against Mr Trump to be purged.
Keeping it in the family
- In other controversial appointments Mr Trump chose Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, to be a senior adviser on the Middle East and Charles Kushner, the father-in-law of his daughter Ivanka, to be ambassador to France. In his first term as president Mr Trump pardoned Mr Kushner for tax evasion.
- Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, visited Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida following the president-elect’s threat to impose stiff tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Mr Trudeau has little choice but to soothe Mr Trump, as Canada sends over 75% of its exports to the United States. To allay Mr Trump’s concerns about fentanyl and illegal migration coming across their border, Mr Trudeau has mustered more helicopters, drones and Mounties to stop the illicit flows. Mr Trump said their meeting was productive.
The world this week Business
- Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr Atkins has criticised the current head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, for cracking down on crypto exchanges and has championed cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin surged above $100,000 for the first time. Mr Trump also picked Gail Slater to run the Justice Department’s antitrust division, vowing to continue its crackdown on big tech firms.
- The unexpected resignation of Carlos Tavares as chief executive of Stellantis shocked the carmaking industry. The owner of the Chrysler and Fiat vehicle manufacturers has experienced a sharp drop in sales and profit, but Mr Tavares was expected to stay on until the end of his contract in 2026. No reason was given for his departure with immediate effect, but reports suggested tensions had arisen in the company over the cost-cutting strategy being driven by Mr Tavares.
- Underlining the malaise in the car industry, General Motors said in a regulatory filing that it would book $5bn in charges reflecting the restructuring and reduced value of its joint ventures in China. GM’s market share in the country has declined sharply in recent years.
- The union representing Volkswagen employees in Germany said that almost 100,000 workers had taken part in a day of industrial action. The union is threatening to cause more extensive disruption as it continues to negotiate with management over the carmaker’s restructuring plans, including the first-ever closure of some of its factories in Germany.
- Stellantis was not the only big company to see its chief executive depart abruptly this week. Intel announced that Pat Gelsingerhad left the firm. It appointed two interim CEOs while it searches for someone to fill the position. The chipmaker reported a $16.6bn net loss in its most recent quarter related to write-downs and restructuring costs. It was recently booted off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- BlackRock undertook another big acquisition, agreeing to buy HPS Investment Partners in a transaction worth about $12bn. HPS has $14.8bn in assets under management and is one of the big Wall Street players dealing in private credit, which has boomed as companies tap markets for loans from firms that are not banks.
The poor man
- A judge in Delaware rejected Tesla’s latest attempt to push through 2018’s pay package for Elon Musk. The judge threw out the package of stock options in January, worth around $56bn at the time, describing it as “an unfathomable sum” that was not good for shareholders. In June, 72% of shareholders in the carmaker approved the package, but the judge found that Tesla had “no procedural ground” to reverse her decision. “Absolute corruption,” fumed Mr Musk on X.
- Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of America’s biggest health insurers, was shot dead outside a hotel in Manhattan ahead of an investor event. Mr Thompson appears to have been targeted by his murderer.
- Joachim Nagel, the president of Germany’s Bundesbank, added his support to calls to ease the country’s constitutional debt brake, which constricts government borrowing. With the German economy stagnant and not projected to grow much next year, Mr Nagel said a little fiscal headroom was needed to boost infrastructure and defence spending.
- Carlsberg struck a deal to sell its business in Russia to local investors. In 2022 the Danish brewer said it intended sell the assets and leave the country, but the Russian government seized the business in July 2023. “Considering the circumstances, we believe it is the best achievable outcome,” Carlsberg said in a statement.
- Uniqlo became the latest international clothing retailer to fall foul of Chinese sensitivities after its boss said it did not use cotton from Xinjiang, a region where ethnic Uyghurs are suppressed. His comments prompted calls for a boycott of Uniqlo from Chinese users of social media under hashtags such as “I support Xinjiang cotton.”
Let’s do it airain at Christmas
- A record number of travellers passed through America’s airports over the Thanksgiving period, according to statistics from the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA screened 3.1m passengers on December ist, the busiest day of travel, up from just over 3m on July 7th, which had held the previous record. Cheaper air fares are one reason why the TSA has notched up its ten busiest days ever in 2024. Around 126m Americans visited bricks-and-mortar shops over Thanksgiving, according to the National Retail Federation, up by 5m from last year, while the number of online shoppers fell by 10m, to 124m.
скачать журнал: The Economist USA - 7 December 2024
скачать журнал: The Economist UK - 7 December 2024
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