World & Politics
Lagarde: Trade war is the biggest threat to the global economy - 09/24/2019
Christine Lagarde, who is preparing to take the post of chairman of the European Central Bank, considers the trade war between the US and China the biggest threat to the global economy. Lagarde, who has been heading the International Monetary Fund since 2011, and will head the ECB on November 1, said the mutual duties between the United States and China would reduce global economic growth by 0.8%...
En + calls on aluminum producers to disclose emission figures - 09/23/2019
En + Executive Board Chairman Greg Barker has called on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to oblige aluminum producers who use the site to sell metal to disclose their carbon footprint. “As a first step towards significant emission reductions, every company in the sector should be much more transparent in disclosing carbon emissions from aluminum production,” Lord Barker, formerly UK Energy...
Companies increase climate commitments in the lead-up to Global Climate Strike - 09/20/2019
The global climate strike, scheduled for September 20, is expected to be held in 160 countries. Employees from major global corporations will take part in the event: for instance, more than 15 thousand employees of Amazon and employees of Microsoft are planning to join the protest in New York. Meanwhile, Head of Amazon spoke about the company's efforts to preserve the climate and the transition...
Allianz: China's slowdown and general economic uncertainty froze middle class growth - 09/20/2019
The slowdown in the growth of the global economy pinned the size of the global middle class at around 1 billion people. The growth of this part of the world's population stopped for the first time in the last ten years, Allianz experts note. Besides, total size of global financial assets of households froze at the level of € 172.5 trillion due to disruptions in the usual economic order. Financial...
Central Bank of Japan maintains monetary policy, notes possibility of easing - 09/19/2019
Following a two-day meeting, the Bank of Japan left the monetary policy unchanged, but signaled the possibility of expanding incentives. As expected, the interest rate on deposits of commercial banks with the Central Bank was maintained at minus 0.1%. The target yield of 10-year government bonds in Japan remained at about 0%. 7 out of 9 members of the Board of Governors voted for this decision....
US, Japan announce initial agreement on custom duties - 09/16/2019
Donald Trump announced final signing of the agreement in the coming weeks. The White House has published a statement by US President Donald Trump addressed to the US Congress. The statement reads that the negotiation process is nearing successful completion. "I am pleased to inform that my administration has reached a preliminary trade agreement on tariff barriers with Japan, and I intend to...
Experts’ debate: what does a cashless society mean? - 09/16/2019
The phenomenon is only just coming into debate but has been underway for many years: as time goes by, economies resort less and less to cash for payments, and increasingly to digital means. If cash is no longer king, what can we expect our societies and economies to look like tomorrow? The lay of the land A century ago, purchases as large as houses were often still made with cash,...
Finland calls on EU to stop imports of meat and soy from Brazil due to Amazon fires - 09/14/2019
Finnish Finance Minister Mika Lintilä stated that the Finnish authorities have stopped importing the products from Brazil, and were seeking a general ban on the import of Brazilian meat and soybeans throughout the European Union. This was announced by Head of the Finnish Ministry of Finance at a press conference in Helsinki. According to him, Finland has already suspended purchases of Brazilian...
Oil prices jump after attacks in Saudi Arabia - 09/14/2019
The attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, for which Yemeni rebels claimed responsibility, deprived the country of nearly 60% of its production, and the world - of 6% of its oil supplies. The fires at the two facilities have not yet been extinguished; the extent of their damage is unknown. In the worst case scenario, recovery may take several months. Markets do not yet expect significant...
EU backs off in Brexit talks, says Brexit may be postponed - 09/13/2019
The European Parliament (EP) may advocate postponement of Brexit. It may happen in case when the agreement with the EU is not reached by October 31. According to President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, a vote on the relevant resolution will be held next week. Not only European parliamentarians, but also the British are worried about the consequences of the UK leaving the EU without...
