"restaurants and other businesses that cater to low-income Americans are experiencing reduced sales as their customers increasingly struggle to make ends meet, while businesses that cater to affluent consumers enjoy resilient spending bolstered by booming stock markets."

Rubio sagt bei der #MSC inhaltlich nichts anderes als Trump, aber in freundlichere Worte verpackt. Die Reaktion darauf zeigt, wie groß der Wunsch ist, dass im transatlantischen Verhältnis einfach wieder alles wird, wie es mal war. So wird das mit der europäischen Souveränität nichts.

The fact that large parts of the German media landscape “reported” on this White nationalist fever dream of a speech by Rubio as merely reaffirming the transatlantic alliance is so far removed from reality that it truly makes me speechless.

Kaja Kallas now talking @ Munich "Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure. In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans. In Canada, I was told over 40% of Canadians have an interest in joining the EU"

Macron on Euro bonds: "There is a clear demand on the market for new paper. All the big pockets of this world want to diversify their portfolio from the dollar. And they are looking for safe and liquid assets." 💯 He is right and there is a historic chance to increase the int. role of the Euro.

"European countries need to strengthen their defences. That means deploying against misinformation from US sources, initiatives first set up to counter “fake news” from Russia. ... they need to club together with like-minded democracies. America is embracing an Orwellian definition of freedom."

"restaurants and other businesses that cater to low-income Americans are experiencing reduced sales as their customers increasingly struggle to make ends meet, while businesses that cater to affluent consumers enjoy resilient spending bolstered by booming stock markets."

Great article; it seems like quite a long time since NFTs were getting far more attention than they deserved, although I suspect there will remain some value in cryptocurrency for the main objectively useful use case of illicit transactions, like (supposedly) cigarettes in gaol.

"This week has shown us that the supply of “greater fools” that #bitcoin relies on is drying up." Great piece by @jemima.bsky.social with reference to La Haine ❤️

Excellent piece on Kevin Warsh. Must read! (Not saying I agree with everything)

If you remember Kevin Warsh as a monetary policy hawk, you might be puzzled that low-interest craving Trump might nominate him. But if you look at his more recent comments supporting lower interest rates, you know he is just one of those spineless Republican hypocrites: 1/2

BlackRock executive Rick Rieder has emerged as a leading contender in the race for Federal Reserve chair #Fed #Powell giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Russia is invading Europe and the president of the United States is ranting about the danger that "windmills" pose to the Western World.

I was about to post a similar thing The problem is not just Trump and his deranged speech, the problem is also that none of the checks and balances work It's not a personal breakdown, it's an institutional breakdown Electing a new president in 2028 will not be enough to restore trust within NATO

The Danish military gears up to defend Greenland www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

If you think Republicans are somehow showing principles, think again. They just know inflation is going to hurt them in the next election. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Defence buildup and transition to EVs should be enough to revive the German manufacturing sector. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Gold and silver up, dollar down. "Analysts at ING said that markets were now in “wait-and-see mode” as they tried to assess the impact, adding that risks for the dollar were “significant”." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

"The debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 183% by 2054, compared to 154% in the March baseline without OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act). The cumulative effect of OBBBA is thus a 29 percentage point increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio after three decades." www.nber.org/digest/20260...

Political leaders should heed the voice of realism @andriuskubilius.ec.europa.eu. Boosting defence spending is good, but not enough. Europe needs an institutional framework for defence and security.

The Trump administration is still determined to end the Fed's independence. "US prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Jay Powell over a $2.5bn renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, sharply escalating the Trump administration’s confrontation with the central bank."

Es ist deprimierend, aber das sind unsere Trade-Offs heutzutage: Leute sterben lassen oder Demokratie riskieren.

🎯🎯

Cindy Lopes Bento, @maikelpellens.bsky.social and I have a new paper forthcoming in 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺, which turned out to be an early Christmas gift. 📄🎄 It speaks to a policy question that is becoming increasingly important. doi.org/10.1016/j.re... 🧵👇

This looks really bad. It doesn't create trust in an independent central bank when they do not fully disclose all benefits. It also seems a bit out of touch when someone receives €135.000 for "housing and other matters" when the basic income is already €466.000. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

“This has been one of the worst years for dollar performance in the history of free-floating exchange rates,” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

My two cents: Anyone who has worked with data knows that analytics involves a lot of repetitive manual tasks—essentially the intellectual, well-paid equivalent of wood chopping. In the short run, automating those functions will require organizational changes, but we'll get used to it.

The main obstacle to peace is the Russian army being in another country uninvited. Everything else is BS!

The price of silver surged more than 4% and crossed the $75-per-ounce mark for the first time as precious metal prices continue a record-breaking rally.

Interesting figure but two questions: How do you measure that? Why is Portugal the complete opposite of Spain?

Underrated fact: even if Russian GDP is growing due to the war economy, normal Russians are worse off due to inflation, sanctions and a redirection of labor and capital from goods and services towards military production lines. Even if you don't hear much about it, discontent is growing.

"Waller said he would “absolutely” emphasise the importance of Fed independence to the president" while promising lower interest rates to get the position. ... That's not how independence works! #Fed giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

"Waller said he would “absolutely” emphasise the importance of Fed independence to the president" while promising lower interest rates to get the position. ... That's not how independence works! #Fed giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Study on residential heating systems: The best option is an air-to-water heat pump paired with rooftop solar panels. "This configuration consistently outperformed fossil systems and even more complex hybrids, offering 17% fewer emissions and 6% lower lifetime costs than a modern gas boiler."

this is one of the most psychotic things Trump has ever posted

Study on residential heating systems: The best option is an air-to-water heat pump paired with rooftop solar panels. "This configuration consistently outperformed fossil systems and even more complex hybrids, offering 17% fewer emissions and 6% lower lifetime costs than a modern gas boiler."

Jamie Dimon signals support for Kevin Warsh in Fed chair race. Normally I would say Kevin Warsh is a terrible choice for Fed chair and who cares what Jamie Dimon thinks about it. But we live in times were up is down and Warsh might actually be the better choice. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

I can't read the article but I agree on different levels: 1. Many lawyers only tell you why you can't do something instead of telling you how you can actually achieve your goals. 2. They take a very narrow German approach also to international law. 1/6

"Some #Fed officials had expressed concern that rates in the repo market, which forms a vital part of the financial system’s plumbing, had repeatedly become unmoored from other borrowing costs the central bank sets." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Es gibt brisante neue Details zu einer nicht-öffentlichen Version von Trumps Sicherheitsstrategie. Die USA sieht die EU als Rivalen, den sie schwächen, nicht stärken will. Die größte Gefahr für den Kontinent aber geht von ihm selbst aus. Kommentar @t-online.de www.t-online.de/nachrichten/...

Yes, I might be a hopelessly naive European but especially with an independent institution like the ECB the nationality of its president should not matter! Though, Isabel Schnabel would definitely be a good choice for the job. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

"Hassett, the director of Trump’s National Economic Council, remains in pole position to succeed Powell as chair in May, despite concerns among some Wall Street investors that he is too close to the president and could cut interest rates too aggressively." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Wer es nochmal schwarz auf weiß bräuchte ... 🙄 Ein paar Kandidaten werden es aber wohl weiterhin nicht verstehen.

Be ready to fill US void in Europe after fresh Trump security shift, warns EU defence chief

Excellent piece! "The pardon of Hernández is one of dozens issued by the US president over the past year to an array of convicted fraudsters, drug traffickers, tax evaders and unregistered foreign agents that have upended the American justice system" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Fascism is so cringe!

"The ECB’s internal analysis concluded that the commission proposal was equivalent to providing direct funding to governments, as the central bank would cover the financial obligations of member states." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Major General Maik Keller, deputy commander of NATO’s Support and Training Staff in Ukraine, told Welt that an end to the war is "not in sight yet." He credited Ukraine’s continued resistance in part to NATO’s role, especially in coordinating and securing supplies.

A never ending story. Maybe demand is now high enough for two types of fighter jets. The US has different jets as well.

If I haven’t lost count entirely, this was the fourth time Europe was fooled. So yes it’s about time to finally figure out our own strategy instead of putting all energy into humouring Trump.