Meta had ‘monopoly power’ after buying rival apps, FTC says
Blockbuster antitrust trial that could force break-up of $1.5tn tech giant gets under way in Washington
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US government debt steadies after week of brutal selling
10-year yield falls for first time since April 4 as investors scoop up Treasuries
‘The sky won’t fall’: China plays down Trump tariff risks as stock markets rally
Chinese customs official says trade has diversified away from US in recent years and plays up its ‘vast domestic market’
China has played down the risk of damage to its exports from Donald Trump’s tariffs, with an official saying the “sky won’t fall,” as stock markets rose amid signs of a retreat on electronics restrictions.
The US president claimed his strategy was working on Monday, with record levels of investment. Addressing reporters at the White House, he continued to threaten new tariffs on pharmaceutical goods.
The Guardian view on Friedrich Merz’s grand coalition: gambling on a new centre ground | Editorial
The deal signed last week between the centre-right CDU and centre-left SPD paves the way for vital investment in Europe’s biggest economy
Some years ago, hundreds of German finance ministry staff dressed in black and formed a giant zero to salute their boss, Wolfgang Schäuble, as he left office. It was a tribute to Mr Schäuble’s extreme fiscal conservatism, which had delivered Germany’s first balanced budget in the postwar period. Amid resurgent prosperity in the Angela Merkel years, the so-called black zero – symbolising a constitutional prohibition on public debt – had gradually acquired cult status.
As a new administration prepares to take power in Berlin, it seems unlikely that human euro signs will welcome the latest politician to take on Mr Schäuble’s former role. But in dramatic fashion, the spending taps are set to be turned on. Via a swiftly staged March vote in the outgoing Bundestag, “debt brake” dogma was consigned to history by the chancellor‑elect, Friedrich Merz. The way was thus paved for groundbreaking expenditure on defence, and the overhaul of an economy being left behind in a changed, suddenly menacing world.
Fed Governor Waller sees tariff inflation as ‘transitory’ in ‘Tush Push’ comparison
The central banker embraced. a term that got the central bank in trouble during the last bout of inflation.