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Category: Economics/Business

Will the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s, divest from Israel?

Will the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s, divest from Israel?

+972 reports: In 1990, Norway established the Oil Fund, a long-term investment vehicle to manage the country’s growing oil and gas revenues. Formally known as the Government Pension Fund Global, its primary aims were to safeguard these revenues for future generations and to protect the Norwegian economy, increasingly reliant on oil, from global market volatility. Managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) with operational independence under the central bank, the Oil Fund invests globally in equities, real estate, government bonds,…

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White House prepares order to punish banks that supposedly discriminate against conservatives

White House prepares order to punish banks that supposedly discriminate against conservatives

The Wall Street Journal reports: The White House is preparing to step up pressure against big banks over perceived discrimination against conservatives and crypto companies with an executive order that threatens to fine lenders that drop customers for political reasons. A draft of the executive order, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, directs bank regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions might have violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial-protection laws. Violators could be…

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U.S. defence firms scramble for rare earth minerals after China blocks exports

U.S. defence firms scramble for rare earth minerals after China blocks exports

The Telegraph reports: The US is scrambling to get hold of the rare earth metals needed to make weapons after China slashed its supply to American defence firms. Prices of some rare earths have increased more than 60-fold after Beijing restricted the export of the materials for defence purposes earlier this year, amid a trade war with the US. Beijing controls around 90 per cent of the world’s rare metal supply and dominates the production of many other critical minerals,…

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Trump is turning America into a banana republic

Trump is turning America into a banana republic

Tom Friedman writes: Of all the terrible things Donald Trump has said and done as president, the most dangerous one just happened on Friday. Trump, in effect, ordered our trusted and independent government office of economic statistics to become as big a liar as he is. He fired Erika McEntarfer, the Senate-confirmed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for bringing him economic news he did not like, and in the hours immediately following, the second most dangerous thing happened:…

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For America’s thirty-five million small businesses, tariff uncertainty hits especially hard

For America’s thirty-five million small businesses, tariff uncertainty hits especially hard

By Peter Boumgarden, Washington University in St. Louis and Dilawar Syed, The University of Texas at Austin Imagine it’s April 2025 and you’re the owner of a small but fast-growing e-commerce business. Historically, you’ve sourced products from China, but the president just announced tariffs of 145% on these goods. Do you set up operations in Thailand – requiring new investment and a lot of work – or wait until there’s more clarity on trade? What if waiting too long means…

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Why Trump’s meddling in the Bureau of Labor Statistics matters

Why Trump’s meddling in the Bureau of Labor Statistics matters

George A. Akerlof writes: Imagine a group of 5-year-olds playing a board game. The rules are clear, the goal is fair, and one child edges ahead — until, suddenly, another child starts losing. That’s when the trouble begins. “He cheated!” the losing child yells. “I’m the winner anyway!” he declares. And then, like clockwork, he flips the board. In the world of kindergarten conflict resolution, we expect this kind of behavior. We chalk it up to development. We teach better…

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Expect coffee prices to soar as Trump’s tariffs backfire

Expect coffee prices to soar as Trump’s tariffs backfire

Reuters reports: China has approved 183 new Brazilian coffee companies to export products to the Chinese market, according to a social media post of the Chinese embassy in Brazil on Saturday. The measure, a boon to local exporters after the United States government’s announcement of steep tariffs on Brazilian coffee and other products, took effect on July 30. The new Chinese export permits are valid for five years, according to the post. The U.S.’s 50% tariff on some Brazilian products…

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Economic fears of investors are here — and stoked by Trump’s reckless reaction

Economic fears of investors are here — and stoked by Trump’s reckless reaction

The Washington Post reports: For months, the U.S. economy appeared to be weathering the disruptive effects of President Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies. But over the course of 72 hours, that sunny outlook darkened, as the latest government data this week showed the president’s revolutionary remaking of the world’s largest economy had hit a snag. Friday’s disappointing jobs report revealed a labor market that is much weaker than either the White House or Federal Reserve understood. Inflation, the voter…

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Firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner moves us into banana republic territory

Firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner moves us into banana republic territory

The Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a statement following Commissioner McEntarfer’s removal: Today, President Trump called into question the integrity of the Employment Situation report that the BLS released this morning. He accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of deliberately reporting false numbers to reflect poorly on this administration. This baseless, damaging claim undermines the valuable work and dedication of BLS staff who produce the reports each month. This escalates the President’s unprecedented attacks on the independence and…

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For Israel’s warfare-based economy, peace isn’t an option

For Israel’s warfare-based economy, peace isn’t an option

The Financial Times reports: Since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, the best-performing major stock market in the world is … Israel. After taking an initial hit, the market recovered fully in four weeks, and since then is up around 80 per cent in dollar terms. This ascent continued through the recent 12-day war with Iran, when most geopolitical experts thought their worst fears of a wider conflict were coming to pass. The stock market, in contrast, kept signalling…

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This construction project was on time and on budget. Then ICE attacked

This construction project was on time and on budget. Then ICE attacked

Reuters reports: Under a broiling Alabama sky a frustrated Robby Robertson, a construction site superintendent, surveys an 84,000 square foot, mostly built recreation center close to the Gulf coast port city of Mobile. The site is eerily quiet. Last month, the $20 million project was on track for on-time completion by November 1. Now Robertson says he is looking at a three-week delay after about half of his workers – scared by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a…

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Powerful Americans are acting with no more courage than their Hungarian counterparts

Powerful Americans are acting with no more courage than their Hungarian counterparts

David Pressman writes: As the most recent U.S. ambassador to Viktor Orban’s Hungary, I’m often asked if the Trump administration’s tactics and policies feel familiar. The short answer is yes. But the more important — and unsettling — question is this: Does the way Americans are responding feel familiar, too? After years watching Hungary suffocate under the weight of its democratic collapse, I came to understand that the real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially…

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Silicon Valley AI startups embrace China’s grueling ‘996’ work schedule

Silicon Valley AI startups embrace China’s grueling ‘996’ work schedule

Wired reports: Would you like to work nearly double the standard 40-hour week? It’s a question that many startups in the US are asking prospective employees—and to get the job, the answer needs to be an unequivocal yes. These companies are embracing an intense schedule, first popularized in mainland China, known as “996,” or 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. In other words, it’s a 72-hour work week. The 996 phenomenon in China gave rise to major…

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The ‘enshittification’ of American power

The ‘enshittification’ of American power

Wired reports: For decades, allies of the United States lived comfortably amid the sprawl of American hegemony. They constructed their financial institutions, communications systems, and national defense on top of infrastructure provided by the US. And right about now, they’re probably wishing they hadn’t. Back in 2022, Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to describe a cycle that has played out again and again in the online economy. Entrepreneurs start off making high-minded promises to get new users to try…

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America’s allies want to redraw the global trade map, minus the U.S., with Europe at the center

America’s allies want to redraw the global trade map, minus the U.S., with Europe at the center

The New York Times reports: Trade chaos is forcing America’s allies closer together, and further from the United States. And as that happens, the European Union is trying to position itself at the center of a new global trade map. The bloc learned this weekend that Washington would subject it to 30 percent tariffs starting Aug. 1. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the E.U. executive branch, responded with a pledge to keep negotiating. She also made it clear…

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Scientists discover what’s driving record die-offs of America’s honeybees

Scientists discover what’s driving record die-offs of America’s honeybees

The Guardian reports: Bret Adee is one of the largest beekeepers in the US, with 2 billion bees across 55,000 hives. The business has been in his family since the 1930s, and sends truckloads of bees across the country from South Dakota, pollinating crops such as almonds, onions, watermelons and cucumbers. Last December, his bees were wintering in California when the weather turned cold. Bees grouped on top of hives trying to keep warm. “Every time I went out to…

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