Economics

• EU Pushes for Fiscal Prudence as Italy and Greece Seek Leeway
  European Commission finance chief Valdis Dombrovskis urged euro-area member states to observe budgetary restraint, pushing back against a proposal from Italy and Greece to introduce additional leeway.
• CBO Chief Warns Growth Solution for US Debt Is Unlikely to Work
  Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel warned the idea of embracing faster economic growth as the solution for reining in the US federal debt — one being championed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — is unlikely to work.
• France to Fight Student Unrest by Sending Thousands of Teachers
  France’s government pledged to dispatch thousands of additional teachers to understaffed schools throughout the country in an effort to rein in student protests that have led to clashes with riot police.
• Zimbabwe President Makes Wealthy Ally Tagwirei a Minister
  Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has split the country’s finance ministry into two and made wealthy ally Kudakwashe Tagwirei a minister.
• Hedge Funds That Won Big on Brazil Vote Bet on More Gains
  Brazilian hedge-fund managers who outperformed by positioning for a strong showing by right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential election are fine-tuning derivatives bets that soared on Monday’s historic rally in local markets.
• Venezuela Bolivar Hits New Milestone as Dollar Supply Declines
  Venezuela’s bolivar weakened past 1,000 per dollar in the parallel market for the first time, testing authorities’ efforts to contain its slide amid declining government sales of hard currency.
• UK Tory Inheritance Tax Pledge Could Cost £11 Billion, Think Tank Warns
  The Conservatives’ plan to cut the number of Britons paying inheritance tax risks costing almost twice as much as the party estimates, a think tank warned
• ECB Has Tools to Counter Unwarranted Market Moves, Lagarde Says
  The European Central Bank has the instruments to stabilize financial markets if required, President Christine Lagarde told euro-area finance ministers.
• Why the ECB Is Wary of Stepping Into France’s Bond Turmoil
  A sudden selloff of French bonds has stirred memories of the sovereign debt crisis that cascaded across Europe between 2009 and 2015. Attention is now turning to how the European Central Bank might respond.
• How a Democratic Wave Threatens to Upend Trump’s Final Two Years
  When the same party controls both the US presidency and Congress, ambitious legislation can happen. Look at the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, passed under Democrats in 2010, or the tax-cut measures that congressional Republicans enacted in 2017 and 2025.
• What Can Trump Do to Tame Diesel and Gasoline Prices as Midterms Loom?
  President Donald Trump returned to office promising to lower the cost of living for Americans. At the start of his second term, the price of gasoline in the US was, on average, around $3 a gallon. It’s now above $4 — a record high for this time of year — posing a problem for Republicans as they seek to hold onto both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
• Europe Has Got Its Made-in-China Policy Wrong
  If the definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result, what are we to make of the latest broadsides in the trade war brewing between the European Union and China?
• The World Isn’t Ready for a Japan With Interest
  Two years ago, when Japan embarked on its path toward policy normalization, I asked whether the country was ready for a “world with interest.” It was a question many were asking as the Asian nation rediscovered inflation and non-zero interest rates after decades without either.
• Bolsonaro Says He Would Work With US, China as Brazil’s President
  Flávio Bolsonaro said he would work with the US and China if he becomes Brazil’s president, after a surprise election performance left him poised to join a wave of conservative leaders pushing Latin America closer to Washington.
• Carney Launches C$2 Billion Home Retrofit Program
  Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is rolling out a new rebate program to help Canadians to adopt electric heat pumps, providing households with as much as C$10,000 ($7,021) to make the switch.
• UK Police Arrest Latvian Men Found at Second Airbase Used by US
  British police arrested two men on suspicion of trespassing and national security offenses at an airbase that’s used by the US for intelligence and analysis work, just weeks after a suspected terror plot at another base that was home to American bombers.
• Poland’s Glapinski Ready to Raise Rates If Inflation Risks Mount
  Poland is ready to increase interest rates for the first time in four years if inflation risks escalate, according to the central bank governor.
• Schnabel ECB Job Deadline Set as Lagarde Plans Stay Unclear
  Nominations to succeed European Central Bank official Isabel Schnabel must be submitted by the end of the month as President Christine Lagarde’s future there remains shrouded in mystery.
• Poland’s Glapinski Calls Probe Into His Conduct Baseless
  Polish central bank Governor Adam Glapinski dismissed a parliamentary inquiry into his alleged wrongdoing as baseless and warned against its potential negative consequences for the country.
• Singapore’s Wong Warns AI Tech Rally Faces Eventual Correction
  Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong cautioned that the global tech rally powering regional economic growth will inevitably face a market correction, saying his government intends to capitalize on the current window of opportunity before trade momentum cools.