Investors appear unconcerned by the impact of the prospect of a US default on its debts within the next fortnight, despite US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning of a "catastrophic" financial collapse unless Republicans and the ruling Democrats agree a deal on spending and the debt ceiling. However, it is suggested bond investors and traders are less sanguine than their equity counterparts, with warning signs being seen in yields on shorter-term debt bills. Analysts have noted the US stock market's growth has been largely driven by the "mega caps", the biggest technology stocks. The New York "FANG" index, which tracks Facebook's parent, Meta, Apple, Google's Alphabet and Amazon, has surged 52% YTD. Despite this, the cost of US credit default swaps has risen and investors have withdrawn over $24bn from equity funds so far in May.
Stan Grant's departure from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) illustrates the structural barriers hindering diversity in the media, according to Isabel Lo, founder of Media Diversity Australia. Lo argues that the issue of discrimination has become so pervasive that it has transformed into an "insidious problem" of structural barriers, beyond the ABC and extending across the entire industry. She notes that Grant, an Indigenous Australian journalist who resigned from the ABC after being criticised for his coverage of the country's bushfires, had been a "shining light" for many diverse media workers.
Lo co-founded Media Diversity Australia in 2017 after leaving the ABC, where she had encountered “pipe blockages, talent blockages, workplace hostility and rates of attrition” among diverse journalists. The group has called on media organisations to show greater responsibility towards diverse employees and to improve their training processes and workplace evaluation to account for online risks. Lo also pointed to research findings showing that 85% of Aboriginal people and CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) and LGBTQIA+ media workers with disabilities had experienced abuse online.
Grant is a former ABC journalist who had a portfolio career, spanning commercial and public media outlets. His departure from the ABC early this year prompted an apology from the broadcaster’s managing director and heightened calls for greater diversity in newsrooms. Australia has recognised the issue of a lack of diversity in the media, but remains unsure how to address it, according to Lo.
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has announced that he will be stepping down within a year, but will remain as executive chairman with a yet-to-be-revealed successor to take his place as CEO. Under Gorman's leadership since 2010, the firm made a series of major acquisitions, including Eaton Vance, E*Trade and Solium Capital, transforming it into a wealth management firm that manages up to $15tn. Gorman has so far made no announcement regarding the length of his tenure as executive chairman. Morgan Stanley's co-presidents Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein, along with head of investment management Dan Simkowitz, are viewed as potential successors to Gorman.
Jeremy Hunt's recent article condemning the "insidious declinism" of former optimists has been met with criticism from some readers. They argue that the government itself is responsible for the shift in national pessimism, pointing to issues such as housing, immigration, energy, and taxes. Hunt's statement that Conservative governments always make the "tough decisions necessary to put the economy back on track" is challenged by some, who feel that the current socialist government in power has failed in this regard. Readers also suggest that Hunt's own involvement in the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic and his role in the Treasury have contributed to declining optimism, with high taxation and regulatory red tape stifling economic growth. Similarly, Rishi Sunak's comments that people no longer judge others by their bank account to some ring hollow; one reader argues this emphasises how little he understands about poverty in the country. Meanwhile, a group of current students at the University of Oxford declared their support of the invitation to Professor Kathleen Stock, a gender-critical feminist philosopher, to a university event, arguing that free speech is key to the institution's heritage.
US President Joe Biden announced that he will allow American-made F-16 fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine, a move which emphasises Western commitment to Ukraine in the face of ongoing hostilities from Russia. The G7 meeting, which concluded yesterday, considered the situation in Ukraine, with the military aid being seen as a powerful symbol of long-term Western support. Despite Putin's willingness to mobilise for a long-term campaign, a strong sense of patience and commitment amongst Ukraine's allies was recognised by the Financial Times.
The "blob" of civil servants resistant to conservative politicians in the UK is preventing necessary policy moves, writes Allison Pearson. She argues that Suella Braverman, recently targeted by the "blob" after proposing economic intervention to protect national communities, may force the government to move rightwards if she is pressured by external forces outside the Conservative Party. Pearson highlighted that UK Conservatives and supporters scorned the recent National Conservatism Conference held in Rome, for which Braverman was a speaker and which discussed the challenges presented by globalisation.
The Australian government is due to introduce regulations meaning that the country's buy now, pay later services will be treated as a form of credit. The sector has boomed in recent years, offering consumers a way to spread payments for purchases over a series of instalments, but the lack of regulation has allowed some to take out multiple loans and build up unaffordable debts. Consumer groups had suggested buy now, pay later companies were exploiting a loophole by lending money without technically providing credit under the law.
Economists believe that inflation can be slowed down through the practice of "manifestation" - a term referring to making one's dreams come true by mentally visualising them. This is because inflation is fuelled by people's beliefs and expectations of where prices are heading, which can push forward purchases and increase demand and prices. However, there are many other factors behind inflation, such as supply and external events like natural disasters and wars. Nonetheless, economists are concerned about inflation expectations as they can lead to high inflation becoming entrenched in society.
The attorney-general responsible for advising the UK government on legal procedures has been accused of seeking priority in arranging a speeding awareness course following an incident. Suella Braverman was reported to have contacted her civil servants in an attempt to have the course arranged, according to The Times. The move would break the UK’s ministerial code, which seeks to avoid conflicts of interest. The papers have reported she ultimately opted to keep the three points on her licence. Braverman is part of a wider cabinet division regarding net migration figures, which are expected to roughly double post-Brexit.
The decision of New South Wales (NSW) Police Commissioner Karen Webb to approve a media release by an officer over the use of a Taser on a 95-year-old aged care resident with dementia has been heavily criticised. Some of the public have raised concerns over why Webb made herself the issue and her lack of response when it comes to relevant facts. The use of force against the great-grandmother has led to public outcry and cast the use of Tasers by police in a harsher light.
China has told operators of "critical information infrastructure" not to purchase US firm Micron Technology's products due to 'serious potential network security issues.' While this could just be a security review, it also raises concerns that it is a political move in the trade war between the US and China. Although Micron are the world’s third-largest supplier of dynamic random-access memory chips, DRAM, China is struggling to compete in the semiconductor market. Efforts in other areas, such as chip design, have also shown little result. This move will have a marginal effect on Micron as they received just 11% of their revenue from China last fiscal year and the majority of their chips sold in China are exported. However, it is short-sighted on the part of China as memory is a commodity and can be provided by other firms and it could weaken its capabilities while also playing into the hands of the US.
A Navy pilot landed his Skyhawk plane on a runway in Amberley, near Brisbane, in a belly-landing when one of the landing wheels on the aircraft broke. Fortunately, Lieutenant Barry Evans survived the crash. Meanwhile, Sydney City Council was divided on whether aldermen should wear robes during council meetings with some believing it would remove the council's dignity while others believed it preserved it. 138 dogs were removed from a home in Rooty Hill over concerns from neighbours about noise and mess and a court order had been issued to remove all but five of the dogs.
A former prime minister and president of Armenia, Dr Armen Sarkissian, has delivered a speech celebrating the life of William Gladstone, former prime minister of the UK. Despite Gladstone’s father being a known slave trader, Sarkissian says he was the greatest prime minister of the 19th Century, and “his views evolved as he aged”, noting that Gladstone became much more radical later in life, opposing what he called “the earth-hunger” of British imperial expansionists. Although Gladstone pursued Irish Home Rule, Sarkissian says Gladstone’s main involvement in later life was in “Armenia: his involvement in the ‘Armenian Question’, driven entirely by moral considerations, began in the late 19th Century”. Gladstone took diplomatic action to raise awareness of the “Hamidian massacres” by the Ottoman Empire which resulted in the killing of many thousands of Armenians in the late 19th Century. Although Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli earned a reputation for reshaping the law during his terms in office, Sarkissian notes, “Disraeli had the law; Gladstone had humanity”.
The Great Exhibition of 1851, which more than two million people visited six million times over five and a half months, was a celebrated series of industry fairs aimed at promoting technological progress that in turn enabled global commerce, prosperity and peace. Today, specialist industry fairs and academic conferences replace these mass exhibitions, but like their predecessors, are a vehicle for industry innovation and are “a vital tool of innovation strategy”, according to Anton Howes, of The Entrepreneurs Network. He proposes that a modern Great Exhibition for the 21st century could showcase the drone deliveries in action, lifts in driverless cars, industrial manufacturing robots, lab-grown meat and the latest in fashion, art and architecture, powered by the cutting edge of energy technology. The event could also generate inspiring and creative opportunities and perhaps even unforeseeable advances that investors could then seek to capitalise on.
The outcome of the G7 summit gave a boost of diplomatic and military support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. While the commendation of the G7 for Ukraine in the communiqué was familiar, the unofficial message is more complicated: as long as it does not take too long. The best way of maintaining western support for Ukraine is to have significant wartime progress. If Kyiv cannot make progress, the country may find it difficult to receive political and financial support from its backers. Moreover, the mounting pressure on the country is related to the US election in 2024, and President Donald Trump’s emergence as the frontrunner increases fears that the next US president will significantly change policy on Ukraine. Consequently, Vladimir Putin has reason to be optimistic that the Trumpist cavalry might appear over the horizon.
The US has given the green light for a coalition to transfer F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine to replace its fleet of MiGs and Sukhoi jets. The UK and other nations have said they are ready to offer pilot training. The new F-16s could be a turning point in the air battle since they have modern radar and avionics and a highly capable electronic warfare suite. They are a multi-role fighter and would be able to carry the most modern and capable western weapons. Currently, the majority of equipment offered to Ukraine has been about holding the line or stopping endless missile salvos aimed at cities and civilians.
The soaring numbers of gulls in the UK are posing a threat to vulnerable birdlife, with complaints to local councils about noise and damage caused by gulls having doubled in the past five years. While the RSPB and Natural England have issues with culling the birds, which are often red-listed species, farmer-conservationists say that with curlews and other birds approaching extinction, action must be taken. A report in The Guardian suggests the government has made the predator imbalance worse by amending regulations governing culling and applications for special licenses to kill the birds now arrives too late in the season to be of use.
The frenzied speculation and gossip surrounding the alleged recent breakdown of the TV friendship between "This Morning" presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby has sparked PTSD in Emma Beddington who lived through a similar experience with suspended "Good Morning Britain" presenter Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid. Emma questions why audiences become so invested in the relationships between TV couples, with many people rushing to declare their allegiances and even speak about the "real" and "true" machinations of their on-screen couple. Emma suggests that TV couples mirror our own domestic frustrations and that viewers are projecting or seeking drama in their own lives.
Keir Starmer’s speech about the NHS on Monday was largely devoid of visions for how to improve the service, says Kristian Niemietz in The Critic. Starmer failed to offer any tangible policy measures, instead opting for vague goals that have been voiced time and time again throughout the past few decades. Niemietz argues that both Labour and the Conservatives are failing to address the bigger, structural issues facing the NHS and failing to confront the fact that UK system performs worse than international peers.
Britain's start-up scene is second to none, with the country's tech firms raising more funds in 2022 than those of France and Germany combined. However, the high level of entrepreneurial spirit in UK universities isn't matched by the support network they need to flourish, said Sir Nigel Wilson, the CEO of L&G. As a result, many firms are tempted to move overseas to Silicon Valley and New York, which benefit at the UK's expense. The toxic combination of "planning policy and regulation" and limited investment from de-equitisation of pensions are among the key factors holding UK business back.
