Sweat at the Donmar Warehouse review: This Pulitzer winning play is a comprehensive dissection of de-industrialised American heartlands December 20, 2018 Following the US Presidential election in 2016, a slew of reporters were hastily dispatched to the backwaters of de-industrialised America to discover why large sections of the working class population there thought Donald Trump was the answer to their problems. They needn’t have made the trip. This play by Lynn Nottage, first performed in 2015, [...]
The Ghost of Christmas Past could tell us where the negotiations all went wrong December 19, 2018 In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge finds being haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past unbearable. He begs it to stop. The Ghost replies: “These are the shadows of things that have been. That they are what they are, do not blame me.” It might almost be the Prime Minister speaking about the whole [...]
From tech to Trump – here’s what prompted the big market moves of 2018 December 18, 2018 From Brexit to trade wars, nothing has been plain-sailing about 2018. It’s been a year of peaks and troughs across all major markets, so let’s have a look at the big moves of the past 12 months. Tech in turmoil This was the year when the tech giants raced to become the first ever $1 [...]
Trump attacks Federal Reserve again in row over interest rates hike December 17, 2018 President Donald Trump has continued his spat with America’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, ahead of its interest rates announcement this week. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates for the fourth time this year on Wednesday, a decision Trump today called “incredible” on Twitter. “It is incredible that with a very strong dollar [...]
Michael Cohen claims Donald Trump directed him to make hush money payments December 15, 2018 Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen claims the US president ordered him to make hush money payments. Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, claims he followed "a bad path" in being loyal to Trump but would "not be the villain" in the story, in an interview with US broadcaster ABC. "He [...]
US Senate passes resolution blaming Saudi Crown Prince for Khashoggi death December 14, 2018 The US Senate has passed a resolution on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, putting the blame firmly at the feet of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In a rare move against the wishes of US President Donald Trump, who has maintained the Crown Prince's innocence to date, seven Republicans joined Democrat lawmakers [...]
Trump denies asking former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law December 13, 2018 Donald Trump has denied directing his former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law following Cohen’s sentencing for making hush-money payments to aid Trump’s election campaign. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to the violation of campaign law and lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in [...]
China reduces tariffs on US cars to 15 per cent amid signs trade war is softening December 11, 2018 China has agreed to reduce tariffs on US cars from 40 per cent to 15 per cent. Shares in US car firms jumped slightly on immediate reaction to the news. Shares in General Motors were up 2.8 per cent, while Tesla was up 0.7 per cent and Ford 0.65 per cent. Meanwhile, US markets were up slightly [...]
Chief executives can no longer stay out of the political fray December 10, 2018 Activism is everywhere. From our neighbourhoods to boardrooms, national crusades to local causes, there is no shortage of people clamouring to bring pressing, worthy issues to our attention. And business is no exception, hence the rise of a new type of chief executive: the “activist”. This creature takes many forms: publicly outspoken, actively involved in [...]
Hubris will doom the imperial reigns of Macron and Trump December 7, 2018 A political outsider who came out of nowhere to ride to victory on a populist movement he built himself, to the shock of the mainstream establishment. An expert campaigner who promised that he alone had the easy fixes to the challenges that his country had been grappling with for years. A President who now faces [...]