Economics

Former US Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan has died aged 100, his wife has said.

NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell said in a statement reported by her employer that her husband had died from complications of Parkinson's Disease.

Mitchell's statement said Greenspan was "a giant of a man who helped shape the US economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes".

US central bank makes decision in first meeting under new chair and Trump appointee Kevin Warsh

The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for the fourth time this year after its first meeting under new chair, Kevin Warsh, a Donald Trump appointee who has taken over the central bank during a tumultuous time for the US economy.

“Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East,” the Fed’s open market committee said in a short statement. “Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”

The Fed was widely expected to keep rates at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, where it has remained since December.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/54733640

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China’s consumer spending may have contracted for the first time since the pandemic, a setback that would extend a slowdown in an economy whose momentum is faltering despite booming trade.

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Absent stronger demand at home, the economy is set to shift down a gear this quarter as it navigates the disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East while the government dials back spending.

Although exports are proving largely immune to the upheaval in shipping and energy markets, some analysts estimate that China’s growth slowed to roughly 4 per cent in April, tracking below the government’s official full-year target of 4.5 to 5 per cent.

“Soft Chinese domestic activity data is likely an omen of decelerating growth in the second quarter, even as external demand remains strong,” said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank. “While there appears to be limited urgency for now, China still has room for monetary easing this year if it’s needed.”

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Higher energy prices stemming from the war in Iran are adding further risk to what’s already a bumpy outlook, especially if companies begin to pass on more of their cost increases to consumers.

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A decline in retail sales in May would mark their first monthly drop since the country reopened after Covid-19 in late 2022. The drop is in large part a form of payback for a government programme that encouraged households to trade in old consumer goods, prompting them to bring forward their purchases.

Car sales plunged more than 22 per cent in May from a year earlier in the sixth straight month of double-digit declines. The government has scaled back subsidies for electric vehicle purchases this year, while the Iran oil shock hurt sales of petrol-powered cars.

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Fixed-asset investment (FAI) ...[in May] is estimated to fall 7 per cent on year following a 8.2 per cent slump the previous month, Goldman Sachs economists led by Andrew Tilton wrote in a Friday note. They blamed heavy rainfall and a heat wave in different parts of the country and the slow pace of government bond issuance for the weakness.

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The government lowered public spending in March and April as bond sales decelerated. Authorities likely felt comfortable with the economy’s first-quarter performance, while economists also pointed to a potential lack of eligible projects.

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“Domestic demand remains weak,” Huachuang Securities economists, including Zhang Yu, wrote in a note earlier this month.

“What stands out is the industrial output reading under high oil prices – if it continues to stay soft, it could signal a risk that second-quarter economic growth falls below the target range,” they said, referring to Beijing’s annual expansion goal.

Fox Corp. is buying streaming platform Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $22 billion, including debt.

The deal will give Fox access to the Roku channel, first-party data and more than 100 million global streaming households. Fox oversees a massive media network that includes sports, news and entertainment, as well as Tubi.

The companies said Monday that Roku will continue t be run as an open, partner-friendly platform. Fox and Roku said that the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.

They measured happiness and income. Obviously this is not a controlled trial, so there are strong confounders with wealth/family/access to credit.

Still, in CA those who did best financially made incorporated businesses early and pushed to grow, while independent contractors had a pretty rough time. Happy folks gained expertise in a field and then incorporated (making less money, but still more than usual employment, and feeling pretty good about the whole thing).

Elon Musk may never colonize Mars as promised, but enough investors consider the SpaceX founder to be a sort of miracle man that they’ll help him reach another fantastic goal Friday when he takes the rocket company public.

The world’s richest man is set to become its first trillionaire.

Musk on Friday marked the opening of trading on Nasdaq, where the company’s shares will be listed, by joining a ceremonial bell ringing from Starbase, the South Texas home of SpaceX.

Consumers and U.S. workers are feeling the pinch of a wage growth rate that lags behind the rate of inflation.

Inflation is likely to have increased for a third straight month in May as the war with Iran sent energy prices higher and ratcheted up pressure on U.S. consumers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for last month will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect it will show the annual rate of inflation hit 4.2%, well above the 2.4% level it hit before the war and its highest point since early 2023.

“High energy prices will again provide upward pressure, although potentially less than in the previous two months,” analysts at Lloyd’s Bank said.

The Trump administration is proposing that tariffs of 10% or more be imposed on products from dozens of major trading partners following a probe into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor.

The report released early Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative said Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and some other countries and territories would face 10% additional tariffs for allegedly failing to enforce a forced labor import ban.

A 12.5% additional tariff would be imposed on China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland and dozens of other countries.