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1
« en: Hoy a las 15:32:29 »
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/04/23/why-a-stronger-dollar-is-dangerousFinance and economics | Battles to come
Why a stronger dollar is dangerous
It sets the stage for a nasty new Trump-China clash, among other things
Photograph: Getty Images
The dollar is looking increasingly formidable. As American growth has stayed strong and investors have scaled back bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, money has flooded into the country’s markets—and the greenback has shot up. It has risen by 4% this year, measured against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, and the fundamentals point to further appreciation. With a presidential election looming, and both Democrats and Republicans determined to promote American manufacturing, the world is on the verge of a difficult new period of strong-dollar geopolitics.
This situation is made still more difficult by the fact that the currency’s strength reflects weakness elsewhere. By the end of 2023, America’s economy was 8% larger than at the end of 2019. Those of Britain, France, Germany and Japan each grew by less than 2% during the same period. The yen is at a 34-year low against the dollar. The euro has dropped to $1.07 from $1.10 at the start of the year (see chart 1). Some traders are now betting that the pair will reach parity by the beginning of next year.
Should Donald Trump win in November, the scene is therefore set for a fight. A strong dollar tends to raise the price of American exports and lower the price of imports, which would widen the country’s persistent trade deficit—a bugbear of Mr Trump’s for many decades. Robert Lighthizer, the architect of tariffs against China during Mr Trump’s time in the White House, wants to weaken the dollar, according to Politico, a news website. President Joe Biden has made no public pronouncements on the currency, but a strong dollar complicates his manufacturing agenda.
Elsewhere, a mighty greenback is good for exporters that have costs denominated in other currencies. But high American interest rates and a strong dollar generate imported inflation, which is now exacerbated by relatively high oil prices. In addition, companies that have borrowed in dollars face steeper repayments. On April 18th Kristalina Georgieva, head of the IMF, warned about the impact of these developments on global financial stability.
Many countries have ample foreign-exchange reserves that they could sell to bolster their currencies: Japan has $1.3trn, India $643bn and South Korea $419bn. Yet any relief would be temporary. Although sales slowed the strengthening of the dollar in 2022, when the Fed began raising interest rates, they did not stop it. Central banks and finance ministries are loth to waste their holdings on fruitless fights.
Another option is international co-ordination to halt the greenback’s climb. The start of this was on display on April 16th, when the finance ministers of America, Japan and South Korea expressed concern about the slump of the yen and won. This may be the precursor to more intervention—in the form of joint sales of foreign-exchange reserves—to prevent the two Asian currencies from weakening further.
But as much as these countries may want to be on the same page, economics is unavoidably pulling them apart. After all, yen and won weakness is driven by the gap in interest rates between America and other countries. South Korea’s two-year government bonds offer a return of around 3.5%, and Japan’s just 0.3%, while American Treasuries maturing at the same time offer 5% (see chart 2). If interest rates stay markedly higher in America, investors seeking returns face a straightforward choice—and their decisions will buttress the dollar.
Then there are countries with which America is less likely to co-operate. According to Goldman Sachs, a bank, China saw $39bn or so in foreign-exchange outflows in March as investors fled the country’s languishing economy—the fourth most of any month since 2016. The yuan has weakened steadily against the dollar since the beginning of the year, and more rapidly from mid-March, since when the dollar has risen from 7.18 yuan to 7.25. Bank of America expects it to reach 7.45 by September, when America’s election campaign will be in full flow. That would put the yuan at its weakest since 2007, providing a boost to China’s government’s latest export drive. Cheap Chinese electric vehicles may be about to become even cheaper, infuriating American politicians.
Even protectionists in America may be willing to overlook allies’ weak currencies, at least for a time. They are less likely to for China. This raises the risk of further tariffs and sanctions, and maybe even the return of China to America’s list of currency manipulators. So long as America’s economy outperforms, the dollar is likely to remain strong. And so long as American politicians see that as a cause for concern, trade tensions will rise. ■
2
« en: Hoy a las 14:20:07 »
https://stevesaretsky.substack.com/p/no-panaceaNo Panacea
Happy Monday morning!
Housing affordability, or lack thereof, is all the rage these days. Politicians from every colour of the political rainbow are rallying around restoring some semblance of price stability, or so they say.
They’ve been working hard lately, through mass rezoning, tax breaks on new rental construction, and even housing catalogues. In fact, billions of dollars are being thrown at the problem.
How will we know if any of it worked? For most people they’d tell you housing affordability will have been achieved when prices are lower.
However, in a recent podcast interview with The Globe & Mail, Trudeau said the quiet part out loud.
For affordability to improve, do home prices have to come down?
“No. I think housing prices and houses will always be valuable in this country,” but “anyone who hopes for housing prices to remain on the kind of trajectory they’ve been on over the past decade or two should maybe think about what kind of society or world they want to live in.”
On the other hand, “housing needs to retain its value,” because “it’s a huge part of people’s potential for retirement and future and nest egg.”
In other words, everyone wants affordable housing but nobody wants their house to become affordable.
Trudeau just reiterated what we already knew. Housing is politically backstopped, and we must not jeopardize the 30 year bull market. After all, the tax free primary residence has become the defacto retirement plan for most boomers.
Inflating home prices have also been a boon for government coffers. The tax revenues derived from housing via capital gains taxes, property transfer taxes, development fees and property taxes are what underpin the entire system.
Trudeau’s freudian slip was an admission of what we already knew, maintaining home prices is a matter of national security.
So how else do we achieve housing affordability? We are told we can build our way out, yet housing starts are crashing as we speak, despite billions being thrown at municipalities to unlock zoning.
Over in the orange corner, Jagmeet says we should build affordable housing on all federally owned land. However, an analysis from the Globe & Mail this week highlights the grim reality.
Using the government’s federal registry of properties, The Globe identified federally-owned land that is at least half an acre in size, sitting vacant or occupied by a building not more than two storeys, and located in municipalities with at least 10,000 people.
After a months-long analysis, The Globe found 613 pieces of lazy land in cities and towns across the country – a collection of federal real estate large enough to create about 288,000 new housing units.
In other words, if we took all the under utilized federally owned land and redeveloped it for affordable housing we would create 288,000 new housing units which is the equivalent to just over a years worth of completions in any given year.
So now what?
If we could get incomes to rise faster than house prices, over a long enough period of time, housing could slowly get more affordable. But that is no quick fix, and everyone is looking for quick fixes.
The fact that real GDP per capita has now been declining for seven consecutive quarters isn’t helping that idea either. According to RBC we are now marred in what appears to be a lost decade.
People don’t like to hear this but there really is no panacea for housing in this country. This is just the uncomfortable truth.
Housing affordability will ultimately be achieved through some form of an exogenous shock outside of the governments control, creating a temporary over supply of housing and lower prices. Kind of like what we’re experiencing now with an inflationary shock that ripped interest rates higher and will probably keep them there for the foreseeable future, regardless of what the BoC does this week.
3
« en: Hoy a las 14:01:25 »
https://annpettifor.substack.com/p/time-to-tighten-financial-seatbeltsTime to tighten financial seatbelts?
Interest rate hikes as a guide
In the run-up to the Great Financial Crisis I repeatedly warned that high real central bank rates of interest were like ‘a dagger aimed at a bubble of debt’. As I wrote on the Open Democracy site in 2003 in a piece titled The Coming First World Debt Crisis:
When interest rates begin to rise again, when debt costs soar both for corporates and households, when defaults and bankruptcies increase more rapidly than now, then the tipping point will be reached.
The point about the impact of higher interest rates is well illustrated by the above FT chart published after the GFC.
The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England began hiking rates in 2004. Alan (‘the Maestro’) Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee hiked aggressively each quarter. They did so until the dagger burst the bubble of debt in August 2007.
I was reminded of their decisions by a chart posted by the Bank of England this last week. The Bank, led by an overtly political governor, Andrew Bailey, began hiking in February, 2022 and since then Monetary Policy Committee members have hiked higher and faster than the Federal Reserve between 2004-2007.
Now we know that levels of public and private debt as a share of global income (GDP) were high in 2007 when the Great Financial Crisis broke. Back then, public debt was 61% of global GDP; private debt was 134 % of GDP; and the total of both public and private debt was 193% of GDP.
We also know that debt is global. High UK rates impact debtors from afar. Many US and Australian-based so-called ‘Private Equity’ firms have, since the GFC, dumped large amounts of debt on UK companies, including Thames Water, ASDA, Morrisons, the AA and Liverpool football club.
It took just four years for the dagger of high real rates of interest to burst the 2007 debt bubble.
Since then, and going into the pandemic, volumes of both public and private debt have expanded according to the IMF.
Today, global private and public debt is near 250% of global income.
The Bank of England began the latest round of interest rate hikes in December, 2021. Subsequent hikes have been more rapid and more brutal than the Fed’s hikes over three years to 2007.
December, 2024 will mark three years since the Bank of England began raising rates.
Who knows what will happen then?
Given recent history, it might be wise to tighten your financial seatbelts.
4
« en: Ayer a las 19:04:54 »
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ecb-rate-cuts-premature-given-uncertain-forecasts-and-structural-issues-by-axel-a-weber-2024-05The Danger of Premature ECB Rate Cuts, AXEL A. WEBER*
By embarking on a new cycle of interest-rate cuts now, the European Central Bank appears to be relying too heavily on flawed forecasts and ignoring economic and geopolitical realities. Faced with the risk of either cutting interest rates prematurely or maintaining an overly restrictive monetary policy, the ECB has not chosen wisely.
FRANKFURT – With inflation in the eurozone dropping from a peak of 10.6% in October 2022 to 2.6% in May 2024, the European Central Bank is optimistic that inflationary pressures will continue to ease. Its March projections show inflation averaging 2.3% in 2024, before falling to 2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. Thus, the ECB is expected to cut its key policy rate, the deposit facility rate, from 4% to around 3.75% on June 6.
Markets foresee this as the first of many cuts that will substantially lower the ECB’s policy rates over the next two years. The signaling effect and the timing of the move are indeed significant, because this marks only the fifth time since the ECB’s inception (26 years ago) that it has initiated a new rate-cut cycle. But while a forward-looking monetary policy is commendable, it faces inherent limitations, particularly given the uncertainty of economic forecasts.
After all, predicting inflation beyond a one-year horizon is notoriously difficult, and this uncertainty has only increased in recent years. The ECB’s own failure to address the recent surge of inflation in a timely and effective manner was partly owing to inaccurate forecasts. Model-based forecasts, by design, tend to revert to historical averages in the medium term, and history also suggests that long-term inflation projections often converge to the central bank’s targets. Thus, the ECB’s forecasts showing declining inflation are partly a result of historical bias.
Moreover, the lingering effects of pandemic-related measures (such as inflated central-bank balance sheets and higher fiscal deficits), coupled with economic sanctions on Russia, are also challenging to model and predict. Equally, additional geopolitical risks – including the Middle East conflict and escalating tensions between the United States and China – further complicate the inflation outlook, with most inflation risks tilting to the upside.
Structural changes also point toward higher inflation. Obvious sources of inflationary pressure include tight labor markets (driven by aging populations); extensive investments in the energy transition, energy security, and defense; deglobalization; and the eventual costs of rebuilding Ukraine.
Currently, the annual inflation rate in the eurozone remains above 2%, and recent trends are worrisome. Looking at consumer price levels (instead of growth rates) shows that, after a slight decline in late 2023, consumer prices have accelerated in 2024, rising at an annualized pace of 3.1% so far this year (measured by the seasonally adjusted Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices).
With consumer inflation above 2% and accelerating, historically low unemployment, and rapid wage growth (negotiated wages increased by 4.7% year on year in the first quarter), initiating a rate-cut cycle now could lead to another serious policy misstep. The ECB already erred previously, in 2021-22, when it based its monetary policy on faulty forecasts, and it now seems poised to repeat the mistake. Relying on undependable forecasts and ignoring current economic realities is not a forward-looking policy; it is a hope-based one.
Forecast uncertainty presents significant challenges for all central banks, since successful policymaking requires reasonably accurate foresight. As the reliability of forecasting wanes, effective risk-management becomes crucial. Under conditions characterized by a high degree of uncertainty, monetary policy must avoid significant errors, above all.
The ECB could make either of two potential mistakes: an overly restrictive policy or a premature easing. An overly restrictive policy could cause a recession and deflation, potentially threatening the stability of financial markets or real-estate prices. While undesirable, this scenario does not pose an existential threat to the eurozone. The ECB has ample leeway, tools, and experience to combat deflation if necessary.
Conversely, premature easing could reignite inflation, forcing the ECB to reverse its initial cuts and to hike rates to higher levels than today. This scenario really could threaten the eurozone’s stability, as highly indebted member states might face unsustainable debt dynamics, with bond markets questioning their ability to repay. Central banks would then come under more pressure from governments, leading to fiscal dominance. If they are reluctant to do what is necessary, inflation could become persistent.
Persistent inflation, generated by an overly expansionary policy, is clearly the more perilous scenario. Yet this is precisely the risk that the ECB will be taking by launching a new rate-cutting cycle now. A premature shift to easing could undermine its credibility and heighten future inflation risks. By overlooking the asymmetry of risks, the ECB is exhibiting poor risk management. Central banks should not allow market pressures to dictate their policies. Premature easing is a dangerous gamble. * Axel A. Weber, Co-Chair of the Bretton Woods Committee Multilateral Reform Working Group, is a former chairman at UBS Group and a former president of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
5
« en: Ayer a las 18:46:00 »
https://elpais.com/ideas/2024-06-02/por-que-cada-vez-menos-gente-se-siente-clase-trabajadora.htmlPor qué cada vez menos gente se siente clase trabajadora
Solo un 10,3% de la población se considera clase trabajadora en España, mientras un 58,6% se autopercibe como clase media. ¿Por qué cada vez menos gente siente que pertenece a un grupo social desfavorecido?
El estereotipo de la clase obrera es este: los trabajadores saliendo de la fábrica en una película de los hermanos Lumière, los turnos en la cadena de montaje, los currantes de mono azul con la frente empapada en sudor y las manos manchadas de grasa, las vidas familiares y austeras en barrios de extrarradio, la solidaridad sindical, los mineros cortando carreteras. Parece un retrato sacado de un tiempo pretérito. En cierta forma, lo es.
El Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) determinó en 2019, basándose en los datos de ocupación de la ciudadanía, que el estatus socioeconómico (no es exactamente lo mismo que la clase social) del 41% de la población era el de obreros, cualificados o no cualificados. Entre los primeros se encuentran, por ejemplo, los carpinteros, los maquinistas, los cocineros o los trabajadores de artes gráficas; entre los segundos, los jornaleros, los peones de la construcción, los reponedores de supermercado o los teleoperadores. Tal vez la épica haya desaparecido, pero los obreros siguen ahí. Y son muchos.
Sin embargo, cuando se pregunta a la gente, se hace evidente el cambio mental. Solo un 10,3% de los encuestados se consideran de clase obrera o trabajadora (la encuesta agrupa los dos términos), mientras que un 58,6% se autoperciben como de clase media (alta, media o baja), según el Barómetro del CIS de febrero de 2024. Existe una fuerte divergencia entre los resultados empíricos y la percepción de los hechos. La ciudadanía prefiere no verse como de clase trabajadora, aunque trabaje. Debido a los fuertes cambios económicos y sociales operados en las últimas décadas, la conciencia de clase va menguando, y van surgiendo nuevos perfiles, como el precariado o las infraclases, más apropiados para la coyuntura actual.
“Necesitamos entender qué quieren decir las personas cuando no se definen como clase trabajadora. Si eso es visto como vergonzoso o propio de un grupo que no tiene voz política, entonces cada vez menos gente se identificará así”, opina la historiadora británica Selina Todd, autora de El pueblo, auge y declive de la clase obrera (Akal). Es curioso: el presidente Pedro Sánchez apeló en 2022 a la “clase media trabajadora”, causando cierto revuelo terminológico. Hubo quien señaló que su objetivo era hacerle ver a la clase media que también trabaja, una jugada interesante desde un partido cuyo nombre contiene la palabra obrero. Por otro lado, el término proletariado ya solo es utilizado por un 0,1% de los encuestados, como un resto arqueológico de un pasado remoto.
En los países occidentales, tras la deslocalización y la desindustrialización, se ha pasado a una economía posfordista: predominan los trabajos líquidos en el sector de la información, la tecnología o los servicios. Trabajos que no duran toda la vida y no otorgan sentido ni identidad. En la fábrica, el roce hacía el cariño (y el sindicato), pero la terciarización, atomización y automatización del trabajo (y el teletrabajo) no colaboran a que la población se autoperciba como de clase trabajadora. Todos somos de clase media. Currantes son los otros.
¿Quién es de clase trabajadora?
“Yo me preguntaría: ¿tengo que madrugar el lunes para trabajar? ¿Puedo vivir sin trabajar? Si necesito trabajar, si no vivo de rentas y otros beneficios empresariales, es que soy de clase trabajadora”, dice José Saturnino Martínez García, autor de Estructura social y desigualdad en España (Catarata). Los que trabajan en una oficina, en la tecnología, en la cultura, en las llamadas profesiones liberales no suelen considerarse clase trabajadora, mucho menos obrera. Sin embargo, el 77% de los españoles opinan que la explotación laboral es habitual y un 40% está descontento con el salario, según un estudio realizado por la agencia 40dB para este periódico. Curiosamente el 82% está conforme con su trabajo, lo que podría encajar con esa conversión en clase media aspiracional: la tarea nos satisface, aunque las condiciones no sean buenas. Es cuestión de esforzarse, y así triunfar.
En la segunda mitad del siglo XX el ascensor social funcionó con brío: las familias invirtieron en vivienda, se alcanzó la seguridad vital y cierta comodidad, los hijos de los obreros pudieron ir a la universidad… dejando de ser obreros. “Después de la II Guerra Mundial, algunos países introdujeron la socialdemocracia, un sólido Estado de bienestar y un empleo casi pleno para ganarse el apoyo de la clase trabajadora. Esto se debió a la presión de los sindicatos y también de personas que habían ascendido en el movimiento obrero para ingresar en la política nacional”, dice Todd. Paradójicamente, en el corazón de las luchas obreras estaba el germen de su declive. Algunas corrientes sociológicas hablan, no sin controversia, de un “aburguesamiento”: los trabajadores mejoraron notablemente su nivel de vida, pero también quisieron alejarse de sus orígenes.
“Se creó así cierta distinción: ahora está bien visto venir de la clase obrera, pero no tanto serlo, y estar en tránsito para llegar a la clase alta”, abunda Martínez. No es extraño escuchar a los que alcanzan el éxito presumir de humildes orígenes, aquella infancia grisácea correteando por el barrio de ladrillo visto. Pero se abandonan el imaginario, la conciencia y la tradición reivindicativa, que queda como alimento para nostálgicos con el puño en alto. Y se abre un hueco difícil de llenar en la identidad y base social de la izquierda (un hueco donde trata de medrar la ultraderecha). Una tradición tan significada puede suponer otro motivo por el que ciertos trabajadores no se identifiquen con ese historial de huelgas y sindicatos, sobre todo en tiempos en los que el centro político se ha escorado a la derecha, se sigue agitando el fantasma del comunismo y se promueve el más feroz individualismo. La mayoría prefiere identificarse como clase media aspiracional, inmersa en los algodones de la cultura del ocio y el consumo. Con el debilitamiento de la clase obrera y la difuminación de la clase media, hay quien alerta de una creciente dualización de la sociedad entre los más ricos y las infraclases, como hace el sociólogo José Félix Tezanos, y presidente el CIS, en La sociedad dividida (Malpaso).
Lo mencionado, sin embargo, no quiere decir que el mundo del trabajo haya ido a mejor: “Si la clase obrera se aburguesó, la clase media se está proletarizando”, señala Martínez, “y se hacen muchos esfuerzos por hacer pasar la lucha de clases como una lucha generacional, culpando al sistema de pensiones, sin criticar las contradicciones del capitalismo”. Después de la caída de la hegemonía socialdemócrata de posguerra, con la llegada del orden neoliberal, se da la vuelta a la tortilla: las condiciones laborales empeoran, se busca mano de obra en países con menor regulación laboral y medioambiental y, en fin, la parte de la tarta destinada a los que trabajan cada vez es menor. La clase obrera pierde poder político: la afiliación sindical es baja y la abstención electoral suele ser mayor en los barrios de trabajadores. Aumenta la desigualdad.
Del proletariado al precariado
Con la disolución del proletariado como clase, llegan nuevas tipologías laborales como el precariado. dice el econom“Se define por el trabajo inestable e inseguro, la falta de narrativa ocupacional o sentido de dirección, la presión constante para hacer una gran cantidad de tareas por las que no es remunerado”,ista Guy Standing, autor de libros como Precariado. Una carta de derechos (Capitán Swing). En las austeras y apretadas filas del precariado se encuentra buena parte de la fauna laboral de nuestra época: riders, kellys, sanitarios, periodistas, vigilantes, camareros, informáticos, trabajadoras domésticas, trabajadores culturales, etcétera.
Tal vez su emergencia se refleje en que actualmente más personas se definan como de clase baja o pobre (18% entre ambas, según el CIS) que como clase trabajadora (11%). Es decir, si uno es reponedor, rider o tiene un puesto precario, es probable que diga antes que es pobre a que es trabajador. Este colectivo tiene una particularidad llamativa, que también le diferencia del viejo proletariado: es la primera clase en la historia que está sobreformada; es decir, su nivel medio de estudios es superior al necesario en los trabajos que puede obtener. Y, muy notoriamente, el precariado no tiene control sobre su tiempo, según señala Standing en su último libro, The Politics of Time (La política del tiempo, sin edición en español). Y la vida está hecha de tiempo.
El 48% de los asalariados en España tienen trabajos precarios, un 75% en el caso de los más jóvenes, según datos de Comisiones Obreras. Standing distingue ahí tres grupos: los atávicos, aquellos que han caído de familias y comunidades obreras y perciben a sus espaldas un pasado perdido (suelen ser caladero de la extrema derecha populista); los nostálgicos, que han perdido el presente y no se sienten arraigados a ningún lugar (por eso, sienten desafección y no votan), son migrantes y minorías, y los progresistas, que poseen el mayor nivel educativo y lo que han perdido es el futuro: no ven opciones políticas que les ofrezcan un provenir halagüeño. “Creo que los atávicos han llegado a un pico y ahora están menguando, pero sus líderes seguirán ganando elecciones hasta que la izquierda ofrezca políticas progresistas”, dice el economista, pensando en Geert Wilders en Países Bajos, Giorgia Meloni en Italia y, por supuesto, Donald Trump en Estados Unidos.
La tecnología tiene una influencia decisiva. En los años noventa coge fuerza el acelerón tecnológico y el trabajo comienza a hacerse cognitivo: se habla entonces del cognitariado. La digitalización rampante provoca deslocalización y precarización, por un lado, e implicación del conocimiento y la innovación, por otro. “La transformación de las últimas décadas es ambigua”, dice por correo electrónico el pensador Franco Bifo Berardi (su último libro es Medio siglo contra el trabajo, publicado por Traficantes de Sueños), “los trabajadores tienen una potencia de transformación importante, pero al mismo tiempo se ha perdido la subjetividad social [la también llamada conciencia de clase] debido al efecto tecnológico”. La precariedad trae una competencia entre los trabajadores que rompe la solidaridad. La deslocalización trae la soledad, la falta de una relación afectiva con el territorio. Y, así, la clase obrera (que para Bifo todavía existe) pierde capacidad de acción política. “El cognitariado, que en décadas pasadas yo creía capaz de actuar en un proceso de recomposición, se ha revelado hasta hoy incapaz de tener autonomía”, dice el italiano. Esa falta de capacidad hace que la protesta ante la injusticia se vehicule muchas veces a través de opciones nacionalistas y de ultraderecha.
Paralelamente, el término cuidatoriado ha sido impulsado por la socióloga María Ángeles Durán: designa a ese colectivo de mujeres que, con su trabajo doméstico y de cuidados, no remunerado, ha mantenido la sociedad a flote e incluso, según la teórica Silvia Federici, permitió la acumulación de capital. También el antropólogo David Graeber señaló que la clase trabajadora es ahora la clase cuidadora (caring class).
“La clase trabajadora nunca estuvo solo conformada por trabajadores de fábricas; el grupo más grande de trabajadores en Europa hasta la II Guerra Mundial era el de las sirvientas domésticas, la mayoría mujeres, muchas migrantes”, dice Todd. Uno de los grandes problemas a la hora de comprender a la clase obrera, y fuente de debilidad de los sindicatos, ha sido obviar esta composición. Un 54% de las mujeres y un 67% de los migrantes tienen trabajos precarios actualmente, según Comisiones Obreras.
El malestar sigue ahí
Aunque la conciencia de clase está de capa caída, se siguen dando muestras de descontento: las protestas de los agricultores, los chalecos amarillos y otros movimientos que trabajan por el cambio social. A veces las protestas son capitalizadas por la ultraderecha. El malestar está ahí, no se ha disuelto en el aire, y requiere soluciones. “Tanto el mundo como el activismo están cambiando. Necesitamos más medios e investigación sobre iniciativas de base como cooperativas de vivienda, decisiones ambientales y campañas comunitarias para comprender en toda su amplitud lo que la gente quiere y cómo busca conseguirlo”, dice Todd. Son necesarios políticos que presenten alternativas a lo que la historiadora define como “suicidarse para poner pan en la mesa, trabajar todas las horas con la esperanza de que los hijos reciban una educación o morir en la pobreza”.
La clase obrera fue en un tiempo el llamado sujeto de emancipación, es decir, el colectivo que iba a cambiar el mundo (para mejor). Durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX, y hasta hoy, esa certeza ha ido mutando, y lo laboral ha perdido protagonismo en el debate social en favor de lo identitario, lo cultural o lo medioambiental, lo que ha generado un notorio cisma en la izquierda. En los últimos tiempos, sin embargo, se han registrado destellos de protagonismo de lo laboral, por ejemplo, en el fenómeno de la Gran Dimisión, en Estados Unidos, y en un renacimiento de las luchas sindicales en sectores tradicionales, como la industria del motor, o inopinados, como las grandes empresas Starbucks o Amazon, de fuerte tradición antisindical. O en la industria de Hollywood. “Lo cierto es que la situación de los trabajadores ha empeorado”, concluye el sociólogo Martínez, “pero la lucha contra esa precariedad está en el corazón de la lucha obrera”.
6
« en: Ayer a las 17:50:21 »
https://www.ft.com/content/6ff9ec1c-9c8a-4873-aa5a-89e7eb4c0982Volodymyr Zelenskyy says China helping Russia by sabotaging peace summit
Ukraine president urges US to go further to ease curbs on using weapons it supplies
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused China of helping Russia to pressure countries not to attend a planned peace summit this month, as Ukraine’s president urged other Asian leaders to join the event.
Speaking in Singapore at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum, Zelenskyy said Beijing, which has refused to attend the June 15-16 summit in Switzerland, was trying to disrupt the event for Moscow.
The Ukrainian leader said China was “in the hands” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy also criticised China for supplying Russia with dual-use items that the US says are being used to rebuild Moscow’s defence industry.
“With Chinese support to Russia, the war will last longer,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference on Sunday after speaking at the defence forum, which is attended by many defence ministers from the Indo-Pacific region.
Zelenskyy also met US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, his first meeting with a senior US official since the Biden administration partially lifted its ban on the use of some American-supplied weapons to strike military targets inside Russian territory across the border from Kharkiv region.
The Pentagon said Austin had used the meeting to “reiterate unwavering US support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression”.
At the press conference, Zelenskyy said the shift on US-supplied weapons was appreciated but still “not enough.” The White House still bars Ukraine from using long-range ATACMS missiles inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader also questioned how China could insist that it respected the territorial integrity of other nations when it was enabling Russia to prosecute its war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy went to Singapore to urge countries to participate in the summit in Switzerland. “We need the support of Asian countries,” Zelenskyy said at the press conference.
Zelenskyy said he did not meet any Chinese officials in Singapore.
Earlier on Sunday, Chinese defence minister Dong Jun told the forum that China had not provided weapons to either party in the war in Ukraine. He said Beijing had “strict” export controls on dual-use items and had “never done anything to fan the flames”.
Washington has not accused Beijing of supplying weapons to Russia. But it says China has provided technology such as engines for drones and cruise missiles and machinery to make ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy said 106 nations, and 75 leaders, had agreed to attend Ukraine’s peace summit.
Speaking at the Shangri-La event on Friday, Cui Tiankai, a former Chinese ambassador to Washington, said China would not attend because Russia was not invited. He said it was “impossible” to achieve peace without the participation of both parties in the conflict.
Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren told Cui that Chinese participation would help. “I regret that China does not use its position as one of the countries that has an intense dialogue with President Putin,” said Ollongren.
China has published its own position paper on the Ukraine war that fails to condemn Russia’s invasion and contains veiled criticisms of Nato.
But while it has tacitly supported Russia, with Chinese state media copying Moscow’s talking points on the war, Beijing has been scathing of Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza.
The absence of Russia and China from the Switzerland summit has cast doubt about how much it can achieve. The Swiss government has said others could follow and a second meeting could include Moscow.
The summit will address three of the issues in Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan — security concerning nuclear facilities, food security and the release of prisoners of war — as well as the return of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia.
Zelenskyy has spent months planning the summit and trying to attract as many countries and leaders as possible. He has strongly urged global south nations as well as presidents Biden and Xi to attend.
“The peace summit needs President Biden,” Zelenskyy said this week. “His absence would only be met by an applause by Putin, a personal, standing applause by Putin.”
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« en: Ayer a las 17:39:08 »
https://www.ft.com/content/ff3053df-344a-4ba7-b1f3-75b07a780b4fNestlé CEO says feeding ageing populations a priority as birth rates fall
World’s largest food group wants to focus on products that boost health of elderly
Nestlé is developing products that address the concerns of ageing populations, including avoiding micronutrient deficiencies © Joni Hanebutt/Alamy
The chief executive of Nestlé said feeding ageing populations had become a major priority as the world’s largest food company and infant formula pioneer reckons with dwindling birth rates around the globe.
“You’re seeing there is a longer term secular trend towards globally lower birth rates,” said Mark Schneider. “The 50+ age group in most countries around the world is going to increase significantly over the next 10 to 20 years. With that, and with the specific nutritional needs of that age group, there is an opportunity for us.”
Schneider said the company was focused on developing products that directly address the concerns of ageing populations, including maintaining a target weight, preserving muscle mass, avoiding micronutrient deficiencies and controlling blood sugar levels.
The former chief executive of healthcare group Fresenius has already invested heavily in specialised nutrition — fortified drinks, protein powders, vitamins and supplements — and led the company’s first foray into drugs with peanut allergy treatment Palforzia, which it sold last year after doctors failed to take it up.
Over the past 15 years food giants such as Nestlé, Danone and Mars have diversified away from just groceries into higher-growth sectors like specialised nutrition, petcare and coffee.
The category, which also includes infant formula, made up 15 per cent of Nestlé’s profits last year, compared with 50 per cent at French competitor Danone. Nestlé’s portfolio is weighted more towards adult and medical nutrition at 30 per cent compared with Danone’s 20 per cent.
“We’re not walking away from what we got started on, which is infant nutrition,” added Schneider, who in 2016 became the first ever outsider to be appointed to the helm of the Swiss multinational. “But we do see that in most economies around the world, the bigger demographic opportunity is among the middle aged and elderly.”
Last year the company announced it was closing an infant formula factory which serves the Chinese market, citing a sharp decline in the country’s falling birth rates. The number of deaths outstripped the number of births in the country by 2mn in 2023.
Mark Schneider: ‘When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years’ © Fabrice Coffini/AFP via Getty Images
Schneider acknowledged that the group had made errors in China.
“In China what happened in the last decade was a number of mistakes that prevented us from fully capturing the opportunity. A couple of ventures didn’t work out,” he said, citing the acquisition of peanut milk brand Yinlu and the loss of market share in infant formula.
The opportunity in providing nutritional products for ageing populations intersects with the opportunity presented by the growing uptake of obesity drugs, he added.
Research shows, for example, that people using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs struggle to maintain muscle. Nestlé has responded by launching a line of ready meals — Vital Pursuit — which contain extra protein and fibre, and portioned to suit a GLP-1 user’s appetite.
“When we talk about healthy ageing in humans, it is not only longevity but also about improved quality of life in your later years,” he said.
The ageing opportunity also applied to pets, another growth driver for the group, he added.
“As you become beholden to a particular pet, you want to preserve its lifespan as much as possible and avoid any medical issues.” The company sells a smart litter box system for cats, which can detect health conditions based on the animal’s behaviours and weight changes.
Schneider said premiumisation in wealthier markets, where pets are increasingly seen as fully entitled household and family members, was still driving growth in pet food and petcare sales.
The other driver was “caloric conversion” in emerging markets, he said, where people were switching away from using household food waste to feed their animals dedicated pet food.
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« en: Ayer a las 12:48:24 »
https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240601271/the-us-economy-may-be-cooling-and-helping-to-tame-inflation-tooThe U.S. economy may be cooling - and helping to tame inflation, too
Consumer spending and inflation show signs of ebbing
A cooler economy is usually not a welcome prospect, but the Federal Reserve's fight to restore low inflation might be dependent upon it.
That's why the latest report on consumer spending and inflation is sure to please worried Fed officials. Spending fell to a three-month low in April and a recent surge in inflation appeared to show signs of cresting.
"This was a Fed-friendly personal income and spending report that shows a clear shift in consumers' willingness and ability to spend in the second quarter," said chief U.S. economist Scott Anderson of BMO Capital Markets.
"Moreover, moderating demand appears to be starting to temper the surge in inflation we saw in the first three months of the year."
The Fed could get some more good news next week if the May employment report due on Friday shows another modest increase in new jobs. A shortage of labor has pushed up wages and made it harder to get inflation under control.
Wall Street forecasters predict the U.S. added 178,000 jobs in May, similar to the preliminary 175,000 increase in April that was the second smallest in two years.
To be sure, inflation is still too high.
The PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation barometer, is running close to 3% and other measures such as the consumer price index are even higher.
Yet the April price report also offered hints that the early 2024 surge in inflation may be over.
"Things didn't get any worse - that is the good news," said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.
The next step would be for inflation to begin to subside again - and that means economic growth likely has to cool further.
When consumers spend less, businesses hire less and or cut prices to attract buyers. Both of those approaches tend to lower inflation.
The danger, of course, is that a weaker economy could morph into a recession.
While a downturn would almost certainly quash inflation, it would also do grave damage to millions of Americans who would likely lose their jobs.
Fed officials most emphatically want to avoid such a scenario and cutting interest rates would help stave off a recession. But before the Fed can cut rates, the central bank needs further proof that inflation is resuming a downward trend.
Even some Fed economists, however, question whether the bank's long-term goal of 2% inflation will be achieve anytime soon.
A new research paper by the Cleveland Federal Reserve, for instance, suggests a 2% annual rate of inflation might not be achievable until 2027. That's a lot longer than top Fed officials in Washington are forecasting.
Fed officials have already made it clear, though, they would be willing to cut interest rates as long as inflation begins to slow again. They won't wait until the inflation rate drops to 2% again.
And the Fed would almost certainly act quickly if the economy sputtered.
-Jeffry Bartash
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« en: Ayer a las 11:40:18 »
https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2024-06-02/gente-espana-padres-muerte-herencia_3892512/'TRINCHERA CULTURAL'
Hay demasiada gente en España esperando a que sus padres se mueran
Cada vez son más los que se dan cuenta de que no podrán acceder a la vivienda hasta que no reciban una herencia: qué terrible es que tu estabilidad dependa de la vida de tus padres
Me lo dijo una vez una amiga y no he podido quitarme la frase de la cabeza, sobre todo porque la he vuelto a oír en múltiples variantes: muchos españoles solo van a poder acceder a una vivienda en el momento más triste de sus vidas. Es decir, cuando sus padres mueran y hereden su casa. Solo en ese instante podrán tener un piso en propiedad o acceder a la entrada de una hipoteca. Triste, algo en lo que la mayoría no querríamos pensar, pero razonable en un contexto de acceso cada vez más difícil a la vivienda.
La desigualdad en España se explica en un alto grado por el reparto de las propiedades inmobiliarias, como explicaba El Confidencial la semana pasada. Solo el 31% de los hogares cuyo cabeza de familia tiene menos de 35 años posee una vivienda en propiedad, mientras que casi dos tercios de los jubilados poseen más de una propiedad inmobiliaria. Gran parte de esas viviendas (no todas) terminarán pasando de padres a hijos. Pero a saber cuándo. La tortura está en la espera. Qué triste que el tic tac hasta la estabilidad económica sea el del declive biológico de tus padres.
La vivienda ha sido desde hace décadas el lugar donde se han depositado la mayoría de ahorros de las clases medias y bajas españolas, especialmente en la época de acumulación inmobiliaria de los años ochenta y noventa, como explica Pedro Salas-Rojo, investigador de la London School of Economics, en el recién publicado La desigualdad en España (Lengua de Trapo y Círculo de Bellas Artes). "La vivienda es la parte fundamental de la riqueza en todas las familias, a no ser que seas extremadamente rico o pobre", recuerda.
Es decir, todo ese grueso de la sociedad que pudo acceder a un piso (y algunos de ellos a un apartamento en la playa, y algunos de ellos a otro piso, y algunos de ellos a un chalet) y que siempre tuvieron la idea y la ilusión de que fuesen a parar a manos de sus hijos. Eso se refleja en la obsesión tan reconocible entre los que hoy tienen más de 60 en dejar una casa a sus descendientes, y que estos compren en cuanto puedan. Pero la vivienda como inversión definitiva acarrea una maldición, que es que sus hijos solo la podrán disfrutar cuando no estén. Y, tal vez, sin confesarlo, estos se hayan puesto a hacer cuentas.
Qué bien se duerme sabiendo que algún día tendrás tu casa
Como explica Salas, ya ocurrió algo así en EEUU, donde nos llevan entre diez y quince años de ventaja y sus boomers son un poco mayores que nuestra generación de la Transición. Pero con matices. Esa transferencia se dio sobre todo en las clases más humildes. Las capas medias, sin embargo, ya habían vendido sus propiedades para disfrutar de jubilaciones más desahogadas porque sus hijos habían podido adquirir sus propias viviendas.
El economista recuerda que quizá se trate más bien de una sensación que cunde entre los jóvenes veinteañeros, que ven cada vez más lejos su acceso a la vivienda, porque a partir de cierta edad (40-45) se siguen comprando casas. Lo que está claro es que se ha producido un retraso respecto a la edad de adquisición de la primera vivienda, que no se refleja únicamente en lo que los herederos pueden hacer una vez han recibido su herencia, sino también antes. En otras palabras, qué bien se duerme sabiendo que algún día tendrás tu casa.
"Un joven proveniente de una familia de clase alta sabe que en algún momento futuro heredará una vivienda o parte de ella, además de cierta cantidad de activos financieros", explica Salas en su capítulo. "Esa certeza le otorga una mayor seguridad a la hora de tomar cualquier decisión a lo largo de su vida. Por ejemplo, podrá estudiar más tiempo, ya que probablemente recibirá también apoyo económico familiar sin perjuicio de su herencia futura. También podrá asumir riesgos, como iniciar varios negocios o invertir en mercados financieros con el ánimo de obtener rentabilidades más altas. Su fracaso en estas actividades no implicará necesariamente su pobreza futura, ya que ese bono actúa como red de seguridad. Todo ello impulsará sus oportunidades para obtener ingresos y ahorros elevados, acumulando así más riqueza".
O, como resume de forma descarnada, "hay gente que ya ha pegado el pelotazo aunque no se hayan muerto sus padres". Lo que ocurre con los futuros herederos es que son irreconocibles en apariencia. No es como el nivel educativo, que se refleja en la forma de hablar y comportarse; el dinero en el bolsillo, que se transforma en ropa de marca, belleza comprada y sospechosos trenes de vida; o los contactos, que se ven con echar un simple vistazo a los apellidos de sus amigos de Instagram. La frontera que separa a aquel que va a heredar del que no es casi imposible de ver.
La única forma de descubrirlo es fijarse en su comportamiento, como proponía el economista. Haga la prueba en su lugar de trabajo y descubrirá como aquellos que están seguros de su abundancia futura probablemente tengan menos miedo a un hipotético despido y sean más respondones, arriesgados o, directamente, ambiciosos que esos compañeros que carecen de una red de seguridad. Y que, por ello mismo, reflejan en su comportamiento el miedo a quedarse sin su principal sustento. El futuro heredero puede equivocarse una o dos veces. También, rechazar trabajos que a lo mejor no son muy interesantes, pero que otras personas necesitan para sobrevivir mientras que ellos "curran de lo suyo" (a veces gratis).
"Si sabes que vas a heredar, tienes más posibilidades de desarrollar tu proyecto"
Así, la sombra de la futura herencia se cierne sobre nosotros antes del momento de recibir ese "bono", como lo llama el economista. "Muchas veces pensamos en la herencia como algo que solo recibimos cuando se muere un familiar, pero no es así", explica. En Reino Unido, donde vive, los millennials que están pudiendo acceder a un piso no son solo los que lo han heredado, sino aquellos cuyos padres pueden figurar como aval para la entrada. Una "herencia implícita". "Si tus padres te hacen transferencias y sabes que tu herencia no va a mermar, tienes más oportunidades para desarrollar tu proyecto vital, sea emprender o presentarte a unas oposiciones".
Aquí todo el mundo se lo ha ganado
En la era de la crítica a la meritocracia nos centramos mucho en repetir que el esfuerzo no te lleva necesariamente al éxito, pero nos olvidamos del importantísimo papel que nuestros padres juegan a la hora de explicar todo tipo de desigualdades, tanto en sentido positivo como negativo. Por ejemplo, en lo material: cuántas vidas se han visto arruinadas por un padre que le ha dejado a su hijo deudas que ningún hombre honrado puede pagar.
También tiene su impacto en lo emocional y psicológico, una herencia que resulta mucho más difícil de medir porque se entremezcla fácilmente con lo biológico. Un padre maltratador o una familia disfuncional es una carga que nadie ha elegido y que puede condicionar en un alto grado la vida posterior de sus descendientes. Otra forma de herencia implícita que, sin embargo, también está relacionada con el nivel socioeconómico familiar. Por supuesto que en las clases altas también hay familias infelices, cada una a su manera, pero también que esos traumas pueden resultar más fáciles de aliviar en la abundancia económica. Las huellas del pasado son casi invisibles.
Para familias rotas que generan hijos truncados o limitaciones biológicas insuperables hay poca solución moralmente aceptable. Donde si hay es en aliviar esas desigualdades que las herencias agravan. Salas-Rojo recoge en su capítulo varias estrategias, como la subida de los tipos impositivos a las herencias y el establecimiento de unos mínimos comunes a nivel nacional para evitar las asimetrías fiscales dentro del territorio. Medidas que califica como limitadas si no van acompañadas de otras como "una activación completa del Estado de bienestar" a través de estrategias como el ingreso mínimo vital que acaben con la inseguridad económica de clases medias y desfavorecidas. O facilitar el acceso a la vivienda a través de transferencias directas, regulación del mercado de alquiler o el aumento del parque de vivienda pública.
Siendo un poco más utópicos, quizá se trata de convertir lo que hasta ahora ha sido un asunto privado de las familias en algo público, una idea que hace que mucha gente se tire de los pelos, pero que no se pone en duda en otras cuestiones. Me hacía gracia aquella idea de la herencia mínima universal, ese dinero que todos los españoles recibirían al cumplir 18, aunque solo fuese por su voluntad de repartir unas cartas que ya están marcadas de antemano. O una propuesta más arriesgada: que las herencias se repartan al azar. Así, al menos, nadie tendría que esperar la muerte de sus padres, sino la de unos desconocidos con los que no tiene ninguna vinculación emocional. Es menos triste.
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« en: Junio 01, 2024, 17:13:16 pm »
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-01/homebuyers-are-starting-to-revolt-over-steep-prices-across-usHomebuyers Are Starting to Revolt Over Steep Prices Across US
Key selling season is disappointing so far, economist says
Higher portion of home sellers are cutting asking prices
The US housing market — long crippled by an inventory drought — is finally starting to see listings rise. But now, in many places, the buyers just aren’t showing up.
Sellers are grappling with the fact that higher-for-longer rates are choking off demand during what’s typically the key season for the market. And more of those owners are cutting asking prices than any time since November 2022 as inventory grows stale, according to Redfin Corp.
“With mortgage rates rising back over 7%, the willingness of homebuyers to take a stab this season is diminished,” Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com, said. “You can have high prices or you can have high mortgage rates, but you can’t have both for long.”
Coming into this year, the prospects of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve stirred up some optimism for a housing market that had just emerged from its worst year for sales of previously owned homes in nearly three decades. But the economy continued to roar on, diminishing hopes for interest rate cuts anytime soon.
“Without the rate cuts, a cold reality is settling down on the housing market,” Robert Frick, corporate economist for Navy Federal Credit Union, said.
Buyers are getting very little, if any, relief from high borrowing costs. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has hovered near 7% since the middle of April. And prices have continued to climb higher. In the four weeks ended May 26, the median sale price was up 4.3% from a year earlier to a record $390,613, according to Redfin.
House hunters of all kinds are being squeezed out of the market. Sales of new homes — a bright spot for the inventory-constrained market — fell in April. Contracts to purchase existing homes that month slumped to the lowest level in four years. The pullback is causing listings to accumulate rather than getting matched with buyers, according to Realtor.com’s McLaughlin.
The spring selling season so far is “definitely a disappointment,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “At the beginning of the year, I thought sales would increase throughout the year.”
Across the Country
While sales are falling on average in the US, geography matters. Sun Belt markets including Florida and Texas, which boomed with the influx of new arrivals during the pandemic, are now cooling in part because people have been priced out, according to Redfin. Meanwhile, metros in the west such as Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area had sharper corrections in late 2022 and are already beginning to recover.
Contract signings were down at least 14% in Houston, West Palm Beach, Florida and Atlanta, but surged by roughly that amount in San Jose, California, according to year-over-year data from Redfin for the four weeks through May 26. Redfin’s measure of pending sales was down 3.4% nationwide.
Eighteen months ago, homes in the booming suburbs north of Nashville wouldn’t even stay on the market for a day, said Don Hackford, a real estate agent in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Nowadays, a developer client recently pulled two homes off the market after getting some low-ball offers.
“Everything has kind of stagnated, and it’s frustrating for Realtors, because it’s like we’re being shut out,” Hackford said. “There’s no work.”
Along Florida’s southwestern coast, a boom region hard hit by soaring home insurance rates, the number of active single-family home listings in the Punta Gorda area has doubled to 2,143 over the past year. Meantime, the median sale price of a single-family home fell by almost $30,000 to $351,000 in April from a year ago, said Leanne Walker, a local broker and president of Realtors of Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc.
“It has gotten very flat,” Walker said. “It has become very much a buyer’s market. Lots of price reductions happening.”
Price growth could slow more broadly in the coming months, Redfin Economist Chen Zhao said. But any deceleration would likely be slow, given the pent-up demand from the Millennial generation that will likely keep buoying the market.
“The consensus expectation was that rates would have eased by now, bringing more demand and supply and higher transaction volume,” Redfin’s Zhao said. “But instead we’re continuing to slog around the bottom that we reached about 18 months ago.”
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« en: Junio 01, 2024, 11:38:12 am »
https://www.breakingviews.com/considered-view/trumps-rich-backers-normalize-criminal-behavior/Trump’s rich backers normalize criminal behavior
In a historic verdict, the property mogul became the first US president convicted in court. His outlandish behavior hasn’t cost him support from billionaires such as Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, whose money may help Trump get re-elected. Their collective greed is now on trial. https://www.ft.com/content/7f4ff592-f44b-464a-8b6f-911e991b9f2bTrump campaign claims fundraising windfall in wake of guilty verdict
Joe Biden attacks predecessor for criticising verdict that ‘reaffirmed’ rule of law in America
Donald Trump’s campaign said it had shattered its own fundraising record after his felony conviction on Thursday, even as US President Joe Biden said the rule of law in the country had been “reaffirmed” by the New York jury.
The Trump campaign on Friday morning said it had raised $34.8mn following the verdict, showing again the former US commander-in-chief’s ability to capitalise on his legal problems to bankroll his re-election bid.
The verdict in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 counts in his ‘hush money’ case, ushering in a new and unprecedented era in US presidential politics.
Trump hailed the verdict’s impact on his fundraising efforts at a Friday press conference in Trump Tower, his New York home.
“The good news is last night . . . they raised with small money donors, meaning like $21, $42, $53, $38, [for each donation], a record $39mn in about a 10-hour period,” he said, adding that he would be appealing against the “scam”
Within minutes of the guilty verdict on Thursday, the campaign acted to raise money, calling the ex-president a “POLITICAL PRISONER” on its website.
“I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial,” wrote Trump on the campaign page. “I DID NOTHING WRONG!”
Biden criticised his predecessor and his allies for attacking the US justice system.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed, Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself,” the president said, speaking from the White House on Friday afternoon.
“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous. it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged, just because they don’t like the verdict.”
The Trump campaign said the near-$35mn raised was almost double the sum garnered on its best-ever day on the WinRed donation platform. The site briefly crashed on Thursday.
Trump’s campaign has stepped up its fundraising efforts, including holding events with oil barons in Texas and a planned June trip to Silicon Valley, as the Republican tries to narrow Biden’s cash advantage with five months to go before November’s election.
Republicans and donors immediately claimed fundraising victories after the verdict, which found Trump guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of porn actor Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election and cover his tracks in business records.(...)
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« en: Mayo 31, 2024, 18:00:54 pm »
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274391315/ex-russian-president-warns-nato-of-nuclear-miscalculationEx-Russian president warns NATO of nuclear miscalculation
Dmitry Medvedev believes that the Ukraine conflict is developing according to the worst-case scenario
The West is bringing the Ukraine conflict to a stage in which it could spiral into uncontrolled escalation with potentially global repercussions, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said. This comes amid reports that many Western countries have allowed Ukraine to use foreign-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.
Writing on Telegram on Friday, Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chief of Russia's Security Council, stated that Western countries, which are said to have signed off on long-range strikes, must understand that their military equipment and personnel either operating in Ukraine or carrying out attacks on Russia from other countries, "will be destroyed."(...)
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« en: Mayo 31, 2024, 17:33:41 pm »
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« en: Mayo 31, 2024, 17:24:25 pm »
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