Podcasts about national bureau

China's surveyed urban unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in June, the lowest level this year, as the government's push for an "employment first" strategy showed early signs of progress, official data showed on Wednesday.官方数据周三显示，随着政府实施就业优先战略初见成效，6月份全国城镇调查失业率降至5%，为本年最低值。The rate eased 0.1 percentage point from May and extended its decline from a March peak of 5.4 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.国家统计局数据显示，该数值较5月回落0.1个百分点，延续3月份5.4%峰值之后的下行态势。The first-half average stood at 5.2 percent, unchanged from a year earlier, leaving economists confident that Beijing will comfortably meet its annual target of about 5.5 percent.上半年城镇调查失业率均值为5.2%，与去年同期持平。经济学家认为，中国有望顺利实现全年5.5%左右的失业率调控目标。Together with other indicators, the first-half data "shows the economy is generally stable, with key indicators running within a reasonable range", NBS Deputy Head Mao Shengyong told a State Council Information Office news conference in Beijing.国家统计局副局长毛盛勇在北京国务院新闻办新闻发布会上表示，综合各项指标来看，上半年数据表明经济总体平稳，主要指标运行在合理区间。He said authorities would step up efforts to stabilize employment, businesses, markets and expectations while promoting higher-quality development and sustaining reasonable economic growth.他表示，相关部门将持续着力稳就业、稳企业、稳市场、稳预期，推动高质量发展，保持经济合理增长。The jobless rate rose from 5.2 percent in January to a March peak of 5.4 percent before declining for three consecutive months. Officials attributed the March increase to a seasonal postholiday surge in job-seeking by migrant workers.失业率从1月份5.2%升至3月份5.4%的高点，随后连续三个月回落。相关负责人表示，3月失业率走高源于节后农民工集中求职的季节性因素。In June, the unemployment rate was 5 percent for locally registered workers, 4.9 percent for workers registered outside their place of employment and 4.8 percent for rural migrant workers, the NBS said.国家统计局称，6月本地户籍劳动力失业率5%，外来户籍劳动力失业率4.9%，农民工失业率4.8%。The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities also fell 0.1 percentage point from May to 5 percent. By the end of June, the number of rural migrant workers employed outside their hometowns reached 192.27 million, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.31个大城市城镇调查失业率同样较5月下降0.1个百分点，至5%。截至6月末，外出农民工规模达1.9227亿人，同比增长0.5%。The decline in unemployment came amid a national push to build an "employment-friendly" development model, a concept highlighted in this year's Government Work Report. The approach places "stable employment" first among four key priorities, followed by stable businesses, markets and expectations.失业率回落的背景下，全国着力构建有利于就业的发展模式，这一理念在今年政府工作报告中重点提出。政策将“稳就业”列为四大重点工作之首，其次是稳企业、稳市场、稳预期。In June, the State Council, China's Cabinet, unveiled a plan to implement the "employment first" strategy during the 2026-30 period.今年6月，国务院印发方案，部署2026至2030年间实施就业优先战略相关工作。Last week, authorities released key employment targets for the period, including helping 25 million unemployed people return to work and assisting 6.5 million people facing employment difficulties in finding jobs.上周有关部门公布该阶段就业主要目标，包括帮扶2500万失业人员再就业，助力650万就业困难人员实现就业。The plan also calls for keeping the urban surveyed unemployment rate below 5.5 percent throughout the period and providing subsidized vocational training to more than 50 million people, including 17.5 million rural migrant workers.方案提出，在此期间城镇调查失业率控制在5.5%以内，面向超过5000万人开展补贴性职业技能培训，其中包含1750万农民工。"The latest jobless figures were in line with expectations and will significantly strengthen efforts to achieve the full-year employment target," Li Chang'an, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics' Academy of China Open Economy Studies, said in an interview with China Daily.对外经济贸易大学中国开放经济研究院教授李长安在接受《中国日报》采访时表示：“最新失业数据符合预期，将有力支撑全年就业目标完成。”Separately, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security's employment promotion department said in a statement on Wednesday that China created 62.42 million new urban jobs over the past five years, while the average surveyed urban unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent.另据人力资源社会保障部就业促进司周三发布消息，过去五年我国城镇新增就业累计6242万人，城镇调查失业率均值维持在5.2%。The employed population reached 725 million in 2025, with urban workers accounting for 65.6 percent of the total and nonfarm employment making up 77.8 percent, reflecting a continued shift toward higher-productivity sectors.2025年我国就业人员总量达7.25亿人，城镇就业人员占比65.6%，非农就业占比77.8%，体现就业持续向更高生产率产业转移。unemployment /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt/失业；失业率consecutive /kənˈsekjətɪv/连续不断的unveil /ʌnˈveɪl/公布，推出vocational /vəʊˈkeɪʃənl/职业的indicator /ˈɪndɪkeɪtə(r)/指标；标志productivity /ˌprɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/生产率，生产力

That Solo Life Episode 347: Why Senior PR Pros Should Focus on Development Not Decline Episode Summary Are you in the later stages of your Solo PR career?  Today's episode of That Solo Life is one of the most grounded, research-backed, and genuinely useful conversations the show has had about what it means to be a late-career practitioner in an AI-dominated landscape — and why the narrative telling experienced pros they're behind the curve is not only wrong, it's the exact opposite of what the evidence shows. Karen and Michelle walk through the real data on AI adoption, two peer-reviewed studies that directly challenge the 'experience is a liability' myth, a practical three-bucket framework for deciding what to ignore, what to adopt, and what to anchor, four mindset shifts for the final stretch, and three action items that can be done this week. The tone throughout is not inspirational poster energy. It's honest, warm, and built for practitioners who are genuinely tired and need a practical path forward, not another list of tools to chase.   Episode Highlights [00:25] The Opening Sentence That Names What Everyone Is Feeling: Michelle opens with what she calls 'a statement a lot of our listeners have either said out loud or are saying to themselves': she's five years from wrapping up her career, and she just doesn't have it in her to learn one more new tool. Karen doesn't argue. She validates it — and then reframes it. The feeling isn't laziness or fear. It's the cumulative weight of four or five complete technology revolutions inside a single career. [01:59] The Real Weight of Experience: Four Technology Revolutions in One Career: Karen lists what experienced PR pros have already navigated in a single career: typewriters to desktop publishing, fax machines to email, print media to social, and now AI. The question she frames for the rest of the episode: the real question isn't 'can I learn this?' — you've already proven you can, repeatedly. The question is how much of this do you actually need to learn, and how do you protect your energy for what matters most. [03:16] The Data on the AI Usage Gap — and What It Actually Means: Karen cites National Bureau of Economic Research data: AI tool usage at work is about 34% for workers under 40, and about 17% for workers 50 and up. That gap is real. But the research also shows it's not about ability — it's about confidence and on-ramps. Nobody handed experienced practitioners a clear 'start here' door. The industry is selling urgency, not discernment. And discernment is exactly what experience builds. [04:41] Busting the Myth: Experience Is Not a Liability in an AI World: The myth Karen and Michelle want to kill: that going further along in your career means you're slower, behind, and less valuable in an AI world. The counter-argument is research-backed. As AI makes production work cheaper, what becomes scarce and valuable is judgment — knowing what's worth doing, what's true, and what will land with a reporter versus blow up in a client's face. Karen's line: you cannot prompt your way to 30 years of pattern recognition. [05:51] Two Studies That Prove Experience Is an Advantage, Not a Liability: Karen cites two unexpected findings. A University of Mannheim study of BMW plant workers found productivity actually increased with age, right up to retirement — because veterans knew which problems were expensive and headed them off before they occurred. A North Carolina State study of software developers found that older programmers knew a wider range of topics, answered questions better, and in some cases were more adept with newer systems. The researcher's theory: if you're fluent in old technology, you understand new technology better because you know what problem it's solving. [09:48] The Three-Bucket Framework: Ignore, Adopt, Anchor: The practical core of the episode. Ignore: the platform of the month (if it's durable, it'll still be there in a year), tool maximalism (one capable AI assistant covers the overwhelming majority of actual work), becoming a technologist (fluency, not engineering), and anything you're only doing out of fear. Adopt: baseline AI fluency using one tool for real tasks, and understanding how audiences are now finding information through AI rather than clicking through to websites. Anchor: the things you don't age out of — judgment, relationships, trust built over decades, storytelling, strategy, and ethics. [15:30] Anchor: The Things You Don't Age Out Of: Karen's framing for the anchor bucket: as the tools get cheaper, your judgment gets more valuable. This includes knowing what not to publish, when to tell a client to stay quiet, and how to catch the AI-generated thing that is confidently, completely wrong. Michelle: that last one is becoming a job all in itself. Karen's reframe for the whole framework: the new tools handle the first draft. You handle the final judgment. That's not a demotion. That's the senior seat. You've earned the editor's chair. [16:33] Four Mindset Shifts for the Final Stretch: Development not decline — treat this stage as its own stage with its own strengths, not as a countdown. Curiosity over mastery — you don't have to be the best at the new thing, just conversant enough that you're never in a meeting where a term comes up and you have no idea what it means. Pick one tool and go deep — depth in one beats a panic attack across many. Partner, don't martyr — bring in a younger pro or a specialist for execution-heavy tasks; you bring the strategy and judgment, they bring the hands-on tooling. Everybody wins. [21:04] Legacy: The Mindset Piece That Reframes Everything: The fourth mindset shift is the one that hits differently: legacy. The mentoring, the coaching, the teaching, the writing — these are not the consolation prize of winding down. They are how your judgment keeps compounding and outlives your client roster. At this stage, the experience is the product. And that's exactly what the Solo PR Pro community is built around — a private, safe place to ask the questions you don't want to ask out loud in front of a client or prospect. [22:07] Three Action Items — Small Ones: Karen closes with three specific, this-week actions. Pick one AI assistant and use it for one real task — not a course, not a certification, just one task. Take your 'supposed to learn' list and run it through the three-bucket framework — cross out everything in the ignore column and watch the list get lighter. Have one conversation about partnering — find one execution-heavy thing you keep avoiding and find a person to delegate it to, not to learn it. Resources & Additional Information National Bureau of Economic Research: Workplace Adoption of Generative AI Oxford Academic: Work, Aging and Retirement late-career development mindset study Science Direct - Productivity and Age: Evidence from work teams at the assembly line Muck Rack: The State of AI in PR (2026, 2025) North Carolina State University: Older is Wiser Solo PR Pro membership community: soloprpro.com That Solo Life podcast website: thatsololife.com Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

The Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte officially opened this week with testimony from the National Bureau of Investigation, alongside the high-profile arrest and hospitalisation of Senator Rodante Marcoleta. - Umarangkada na ngayong linggo ang impeachment trial ni Bise Presidente Sara Duterte sa Senado kung saan sumalang sa matinding pagtatanong ang testigo ng NBI, habang naospital naman si Senador Rodante Marcoleta matapos arestuhin sa kasong plunder.

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific. The US military struck Iran for the second straight day, an escalation of violence that threatens to strain an already fragile ceasefire. The attacks came just hours after President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Turkey said the US would probably target Iran again. The US launched attacks on Tuesday and revoked a waiver allowing new sales of Iranian oil in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz that the administration blamed on the Islamic Republic. Oil extended its gains. We spoke to Stephen Stapczynski, Bloomberg's Asia Energy Team Leader. Plus - China's consumer prices rose slower than expected and factory inflation showed signs of peaking, after a pullback in commodity costs with an easing of tensions over Iran last month. The consumer-price index decelerated to 1% in June from a year earlier, compared with a gain of 1.2% in the previous month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 1.1%. Producer inflation accelerated slightly to 4.1% from a year ago, matching forecasts. On a month-on-month basis, factory prices declined 0.3% from May, their first drop since July 2025. Bloomberg TV hosts Haidi Stroud-Watts and Avril Hong spoke to Robin Xing, Chief China Economist at Morgan Stanley. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China cannot sell as much as it used to in the United States. That trade has to go somewhere, and somewhere might be Europe.In this week's VoxTalk, Tim Phillips asks Pol Antràs (Harvard) and Beata Javorcik (EBRD, Oxford) what this means for European producers and consumers.Antràs and Andrea Presbitero have mapped which countries and sectors face the sharpest competition from redirected Chinese exports, and which stand to gain. Does cheap Chinese tech ease Europe's energy cost crisis, or squeeze European manufacturers of wind turbines and electric cars?If Europe decides to take the gains where consumers and firms can get them, and compensate the producers who are legitimately hurt, how do they go about it? And can raising tariffs in a world of global value chains protecting one sector without damaging others?New episode, recorded at the PSE-CEPR Policy Forum 2026 in Paris.The research behind this episode:Antràs, Pol, and Andrea F. Presbitero. 2026. "The Remains of the Trade: The U.S.-China Trade War and its Aftermath." Preliminary versionTo cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, Pol Antràs, and Beata Javorcik. 2026. "Europe in the Middle." VoxTalks Economics (podcast). About the guests:Pol Antras is Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His research spans global value chains, the organisation of multinational firms, and, most recently, the intersection of trade policy and geopolitics.Beata Javorcik is Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, on leave from her position as Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College. She is Director of the International Trade Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Her research spans foreign direct investment, industrial policy, and, increasingly, the economics of geopolitical fragmentation.Research cited in this episode:The Great Reallocation is the term coined by Laura Alfaro and Davin Chor for the reorganisation of United States sourcing away from direct imports from China and toward alternative suppliers such as Vietnam, Mexico, and Taiwan. Antrà s and Presbitero's paper extends this idea to third countries, showing that Chinese exports displaced from the American market are increasingly landing in Europe and Asia rather than disappearing.Geopolitical externality is a concept developed by Laura Alfaro, Maggie Chen, and Beata Javorcik in their working paper "The Battle over Knowledge: Multinationals, Diffusion, and Governance." It describes how knowledge transferred abroad by multinational firms can strengthen a rival state's strategic capability in ways the firm never intended and the market never prices, which is why governments increasingly restrict flows of codified, tacit, and organisational knowledge that would once have passed unremarked.Voluntary export restraints were the mechanism used to defuse the United States' trade conflict with Japanese carmakers in the 1980s. Rather than imposing tariffs, Japan agreed to limit its car exports, and Japanese manufacturers responded by building plants directly in the United States. Javorcik cites this as the precedent for how the current standoff over Chinese electric vehicles and knowledge transfer might eventually be resolved.The Draghi report on European competitiveness, published by the European Commission in September 2024, recommended conditioning Chinese investment in the European electric vehicle sector on mandatory knowledge transfer. Javorcik notes the difficulty of calibrating such requirements: demand too little and Europe gains nothing from the technology; demand too much and Chinese investors have no reason to come at all."Industrial Policies for Multi-stage Production: The Battle for Battery-powered Vehicles," by Keith Head, Thierry Mayer, Marc Melitz, and Chenying Yang, models how tariffs and subsidies reshape the location of battery and vehicle assembly plants across a multi-stage supply chain. Antrà s cites the paper's finding that protecting the electric vehicle sector through tariffs can produce worse outcomes than the problem it was meant to solve.Export controls and innovation, discussed by Javorcik with reference to Chinese firms such as DeepSeek and Huawei, illustrate a pattern in which restricting a country's access to a technology, in this case advanced semiconductors, can accelerate that country's innovation in adjacent areas rather than simply constraining it. She draws a parallel with rare earth export restrictions, which have historically spurred substitute technologies rather than suppressing them.More VoxTalks Economics episodes:In a conversation recorded at the CEPR Annual Forum in Paris called "What should Europe do about Trump?" Tim Phillips spoke to Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Ugo Panizza of the Graduate Institute Geneva, about how Europe should respond to the second Trump administration's trade policies.Listeners interested in how firms navigate geopolitical trade disruption should also hear "Trading around geopolitics," in which Giancarlo Corsetti, Banu Demir, and Beata Javorcik discuss how Turkish exporters filled the gap left by sanctions on Russia.Related reading on VoxEU:"An update on the great reallocation in US supply chain trade" uses detailed United States import data through 2025 to track the scope and pace of the reallocation discussed in this episode."From tariffs to trade flows: Diversion effects and China's exports to the EU" examines the evidence for and against the trade deflection story that Antras and Javorcik discuss, and finds the picture more mixed than a simple diversion narrative suggests."China shock 2.0 and the euro area: Cheaper imports, tougher competition" decomposes the recent surge in Chinese exports to the euro area and argues that structural forces within China, rather than diversion from the American market, explain most of it."The impact of trade wars on firms in third countries" proposes a model of how bilateral trade shocks spill over to bystander economies, applying it to Italian firms during the 2018 to 2019 trade war.

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific. The yen slid to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986, a milestone that will generate unease in Japan and put traders on high alert for authorities wading into the market. The currency depreciated 0.2% to touch 161.98 versus the greenback in New York trading overnight, breaching the 161.95 mark touched in July 2024 during an earlier campaign by Japan to shore up the exchange rate. The last time the yen traded at this level it was barreling in the opposite direction, midway through a massive and years-long rally that followed a currency accord engineered by the US. The world was a different place — Japan's asset bubble was still forming, the Soviet Union was cleaning up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Top Gun had just launched Tom Cruise toward the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom. We speak to David Finnerty, Bloomberg's FX and Rates Strategist. Plus - China's factory activity improved more than expected in June, as booming exports offset cooling growth in the domestic economy.The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index climbed to 50.3, versus 50 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 50.1. The non-manufacturing measure of activity in construction and services unexpectedly rose to 50.2 from 50.1 last month. Bloomberg's Yvonne Man and Avril Hong spoke to Helen Qiao, Chief Economist for Greater China at Bank of America Global Research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vous aimez notre peau de caste ? Soutenez-nous ! https://www.lenouvelespritpublic.fr/abonnementUne émission de Philippe Meyer, enregistrée au studio l'Arrière-boutique le 26 juin 2026.Avec cette semaine :Antoine Foucher, président de la société de conseil Quintet, spécialiste des questions sociales.Lucile Schmid, présidente de La Fabrique écologique et membre du comité de rédaction de la revue Esprit.Lionel Zinsou, ancien Premier ministre du Bénin et président de la fondation Terra Nova.LA CANICULE, SUJET POLITIQUE ?Le 17 juin, quelques jours avant le nouvel épisode caniculaire, le ministre de la Ville et du Logement, Vincent Jeanbrun, a présenté un plan « endurance » pour l'adaptation à la hausse des températures, alors qu'un tiers des logements est constitué de bouilloires thermiques. Selon lui, « la canicule n'est pas une question météorologique ou climatique, c'est désormais une question de justice sociale ». Intervenant aux côtés du ministre du Logement, la ministre de la Transition écologique, Monique Barbut a reconnu que la France souffre d'un « grand retard collectif » tout mettant en avant trois axes : « Remettre la nature dans les villes pour les rafraîchir » et faire des quartiers prioritaires « des précurseurs de la transformation écologique des territoires » ; « encourager les solutions efficaces pour limiter la surchauffe des bâtiments », comme les volets, en demandant par exemple aux bailleurs sociaux un recensement des bâtiments sans occultation des baies vitrées ; et développer « des solutions performantes pour permettre le rafraîchissement des bâtiments » avec « d'ici à septembre » un tarif réduit de TVA à 5,5 % pour les climatiseurs réversibles, décidé en loi de finances 2026.« Aucune annonce réelle », a cinglé la Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés (ex-fondation Abbé Pierre) qui a annoncé qu'elle s'associait à un recours en justice, lancé en 2025 par des citoyens et les ONG de « L'affaire du siècle » qui accusent l'Etat de manquer à son obligation de protéger la population des impacts du réchauffement climatique. Associations et climatologues déplorent une politique qui met l'accent sur la gestion de crise plutôt que sur une véritable adaptation. Pourtant, en 2023, pour faire face aux canicules répétées, la France s'était dotée d'un plan d'adaptation, une feuille de route censée préparer le pays à un réchauffement de 4 °C d'ici à 2.100, avec une batterie de mesures sur les logements, les exploitations agricoles ou les transports afin de se préparer à une hausse des températures de 4 °C en 2.100. Jugé insuffisant, y compris par le Haut Conseil pour le climat, le plan dispose de peu de moyens financiers. Au cours de ces dernières années, des outils pour s'adapter au changement climatique comme le fonds vert ont été fortement rabotés dans un contexte budgétaire contraint : la dotation de ce dispositif très prisé des élus locaux est passée de 2,4 milliards d'euros en 2024 à près de 840 millions d'euros en 2026.LE BREXIT 10 ANS APRÈSÀ la veille du dixième anniversaire du vote en faveur du Brexit, le premier ministre britannique travailliste, Keir Starmer, a été contraint à la démission, deux ans à peine après une nette victoire électorale. Si la décision prise, le 23 juin 2016, par une majorité (51,9 %) des électeurs britanniques de quitter l'Union européenne n'est pas directement la cause de la disgrâce de M. Starmer, elle a contribué à créer un climat économique et politique dégradé.Les études sur l'impact du Brexit sur l'économie vont toutes dans le même sens. Celle publiée en novembre 2025 par le National Bureau of Economic Research, un groupe de réflexion américain, a estimé « qu'à la date de 2025, le processus du Brexit a réduit le PIB britannique de 6 % à 8 %, l'investissement de 12 % à 18 %, l'emploi de 3 % à 4 % et la productivité de 3 % à 4 % ». D'après un récent sondage du think tank European Council on Foreign Relations, les Britanniques estiment que le Brexit a eu un impact négatif sur presque tous les sujets : le coût de la vie (66 %), l'économie (65 %), les perspectives des jeunes (57 %) ou encore l'immigration clandestine (56 %). Interrogés sur les effets positifs du Brexit, la réponse la plus donnée par les Britanniques est : « je ne sais pas ».Dans ce contexte, les termes de « Breturn » ou « Breunion » ont surgi ces dernières semaines. Une majorité de Britanniques (55 %) se déclarent favorables à un retour de leur pays parmi les membres de l'UE, quand un tiers (34 %) s'y opposent, d'après YouGov. Toutefois, les Britanniques favorables à un retour du Royaume-Uni dans l'UE tomberaint à 35 % si le pays ne pouvait plus bénéficier de ses dérogations antérieures et devait donc adopter la monnaie unique et participer à l'espace Schengen. Un retour à l'Europe des 28 ne semble donc pas se dessiner. Bruxelles et Londres avancent plutôt depuis plusieurs mois vers un rapprochement. Un sommet entre les deux parties doit avoir lieu le 22 juillet prochain dans la capitale européenne. Ce serait le deuxième après un précédent tenu en mai 2025. Reste à savoir si ce rendez-vous, annoncé la semaine dernière, sera maintenu à la suite de la démission de Keir Starmer. Andy Burnham, nouvel élu de la région de Manchester et favori pour le remplacer à la tête du Parti travailliste et du même coup à Downing Street, ne cache pas qu'il considère le Brexit comme une erreur sans prôner un retour dans l'Union.Le flou entretenu par les brexiters concernant le régime qui suivrait la sortie de l'UE a été pour beaucoup dans le chaos de l'après-23 juin, et notamment la succession rapide de six premiers ministres en moins d'une décennie. Surtout, le Brexit a ouvert un boulevard à une extrême droite contre laquelle on avait imaginé le Royaume-Uni vacciné. La figure de proue en est Nigel Farage – chef, avant le référendum de 2016, du Parti pour l'indépendance du Royaume-Uni, et aujourd'hui de Reform UK, parti actuellement en tête des sondages britanniques.Chaque semaine, Philippe Meyer anime une conversation d'analyse politique, argumentée et courtoise, sur des thèmes nationaux et internationaux liés à l'actualité. Pour en savoir plus : www.lenouvelespritpublic.frHébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

China's jobless rate for its youngest workers fell to 15.6 percent in May, the lowest level in 11 months, official data showed on Monday, ahead of a record wave of college graduates entering the job market.6月22日公布的官方数据显示，5月份中国16至24岁青年劳动力失业率降至15.6%，为11个月以来的最低水平。这一数据发布之际，新一轮创纪录的高校毕业生即将进入就业市场。The unemployment rate for the 16-to-24 age group, excluding students, dropped 0.7 percentage points from 16.3 percent in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.据国家统计局数据，16至24岁青年劳动力（不含在校生）失业率较4月份的16.3%下降了0.7个百分点。The rate had peaked at 18.9 percent in August — the highest since China revised its survey methodology in December 2023 — before declining steadily between September and February.该失业率在去年8月曾达到18.9%的峰值——这是自2023年12月中国调整调查方法以来的最高水平，随后在去年9月至今年2月期间持续回落。It ticked up again in March before resuming its downward trajectory in April and May.3月份该数据再度小幅回升，随后在4月和5月重新进入下行通道。The improvement was broad-based across age groups. The unemployment rate for the 25-to-29 age group cohort fell to 7.2 percent in May from 7.4 percent in April, the lowest in three months, while the rate for the 30-to-59 age group edged down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent, a four-month low.失业率的改善在不同年龄段具有普遍性。25至29岁年龄组失业率从4月份的7.4%降至5月份的7.2%，为三个月来最低；30至59岁年龄组失业率则从4.2%微降至4.1%，创四个月新低。The overall urban survey unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from April.全国城镇调查失业率为5.1%，较4月份下降0.1个百分点。Li Chang'an, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics' Academy of China Open Economy Studies, attributed the improvement to stable macroeconomic fundamentals and the continued strengthening of pro-employment policies, particularly those targeting young people.对外经济贸易大学中国开放经济研究院教授李长安将失业率的改善归因于宏观经济基本面的稳定以及稳就业政策的持续发力，尤其是针对青年群体的就业支持政策。"The employment first policy, I should say, has played a very positive role," he said.“应该说，就业优先政策发挥了非常积极的作用，”他说。China has made job creation a top priority. Earlier this month, the State Council, China's Cabinet, unveiled a plan to place an "employment first" strategy into action over the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period. The blueprint seeks to stabilize overall employment while better aligning what students learn in school with what employers actually need.中国始终将就业置于优先位置。本月初，国务院发布了在“十五五”规划期间（2026—2030年）全面实施就业优先战略的行动方案。该方案旨在稳定整体就业的同时，更好地实现学校教育与市场需求之间的衔接。For young people — especially the record number of college graduates this year — the plan aims to broaden job and career pathways. Steps include building a national big data platform to match talent with job openings, and revamping university curricula to better serve emerging industries.针对青年群体——尤其是今年创纪录的高校毕业生——该计划旨在拓宽就业与职业发展通道。具体措施包括建设全国性大数据平台，实现人才与岗位的精准匹配，以及调整高校课程设置，更好对接新兴产业需求。Other programs feature skills training for 1 million young workers in advanced manufacturing and modern services, as well as a million apprenticeships in technology, technical, and management fields.其他项目包括为100万青年劳动者提供先进制造业和现代服务业技能培训，以及在科技、技术和管理领域设立100万个学徒岗位。Despite the decline in youth joblessness, the 15.6 percent youth unemployment rate remains more than double the 7.2 percent rate for the 25-to-29 group and nearly four times the 4.1 percent rate for the 30-to-59 group, underscoring persistent structural imbalances in the labor market.尽管青年失业率有所下降，但15.6%的青年失业率仍为25至29岁年龄组（7.2%）的两倍以上，且接近30至59岁年龄组（4.1%）的四倍，凸显出劳动力市场中持续存在的结构性失衡问题。Li said the elevated youth unemployment rate is a mix of a chronic oversupply of college graduates and a persistent disconnect between what young people learn and what employers need — particularly as adoption of artificial intelligence accelerates demand for highly skilled workers while education and vocational training fall behind.李长安表示，青年失业率居高不下，既是高校毕业生长期供给过剩的结果，也反映了青年所学与企业所需之间的持续脱节——尤其是在人工智能快速普及加速了对高技能人才的需求之际，教育与职业培训明显滞后。The data comes as China prepares for a record 12.7 million college graduates this year, up 480,000 from 2025, according to the Ministry of Education. The influx is expected to keep pressure on youth employment in the coming months.据教育部数据，今年中国高校毕业生人数将达到创纪录的1270万人，较2025年增加48万人。预计这一增量将在未来几个月内继续对青年就业形成压力。Li warned that youth employment pressure will persist over the next decade as graduate numbers continue to climb, though he added that the central government's sustained employment first policies should help keep the situation on track.李长安警示称，随着毕业生人数持续攀升，未来十年青年就业压力仍将持续。但他同时表示，中央政府持续实施的就业优先政策应有助于保持总体局势稳定。"With employment pressure remaining intense this year, it is essential to keep pushing the employment first strategy and policy support — that is the bedrock for lasting stability in youth jobs," Li said.“今年就业压力依然较大，必须持续推动就业优先战略和政策支持——这是实现青年就业长期稳定的基石，”李长安说。

It's Thursday, June 11th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Nigerian court sentences Muslims to death for executing Catholics Last week, a court in the African nation of Nigeria sentenced four Muslim men to death for killing dozens of Catholics. Four years ago, the gunmen attacked a Pentecost Sunday service at a Catholic Church in southwest Nigeria. They killed 41 people, including children. Authorities determined that the armed men belonged to Al-Shabaab, an Islamic terrorist group. The massacre was the first terrorist attack on a church in southern Nigeria.   According to Open Doors, Nigeria is the seventh most dangerous country worldwide for Christians. Proverbs 7:14 and 16 says, “Behold, the wicked man conceives evil . . . His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.” Sudanese man arrested in Ireland for attempted beheading Authorities in Northern Ireland arrested a migrant from the African nation of Sudan on Tuesday. Police in Belfast accused him of carrying out a severe knife attack on a man in his 40s. People across the United Kingdom responded to the attempted beheading with protests. The victim was hospitalized with significant injuries to his face, neck, and back. Many U.K. citizens question their government's immigration policies, including Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe. In February, the lawmaker launched a national political party called Restore Britain. The party is devoted to ending mass immigration and also openly recognizes Britain's Christian heritage.  Congress funds $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol In the United States, President Donald Trump signed the Secure America Act yesterday. The $70 billion package fully funds the Department of Homeland Security. The bill specifically covers U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the rest of President Trump's second term.  Listen to comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson after Congress passed the bill. JOHNSON: “The historic mandate that put President Trump in the White House and Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate is evidence of the fact that Democrats' ‘Defund the Police' agenda is wildly out of step with hardworking American families. After four long years of Democrat policies that opened the door to dangerous criminals and deadly drugs, Republicans are delivering on our promise to restore safe streets and secure our borders.” Inflation rose 4.3% Inflation reached a three-year high last month for American consumers.  The cost of goods and services rose 4.2 percent in May compared to a year ago. Rising energy costs drove the inflation. Gasoline prices were up 40 percent from a year earlier.    iPhone launch connected to lower U.S. fertility rate A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that the launch of the iPhone contributed to declining fertility rates in the U.S. Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. The U.S. general fertility rate has fallen by 22 percent since then. People have been spending more time on their smartphones and less time with each other.  The study noted, “Overall, the diffusion of the iPhone explains 33–52% of the decline in the general fertility rate among women aged 15–44.” Southern Baptists: Only men can serve as pastors The Southern Baptist Convention affirmed its position yesterday that only men can serve as pastors. Over 70 percent of the denomination's representatives voted in favor of the “Truth and Unity Amendment.” The measure was sponsored by Albert Mohler Jr., the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The amendment would require churches in the denomination to not appoint women as pastors, elders, or overseers.  Listen to comments from Dr. Mohler. MOHLER: “This motion makes very clear that we affirm the historic Baptist understanding of the pastor, elder, overseer. The structure of the language I have brought goes all the way back to the 1689 Baptist Confession, where the office and function of the pastor are clearly delineated. “This amendment makes very clear that a church, in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention, doesn't have anyone other than a man as pastor in the office of pastor and specifies on the functions of the pastor that the key central function of preaching the Word of God to the gathered assembly is limited to men by Scripture.” 1 Timothy 3:1-2 says, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.”  Animated movie “David” claims #1 spot on Netflix And finally, the animated film David reached the number one spot on Netflix for movies in the United States over the weekend.  The Bible movie from Angel Studios officially premiered on the streaming service just last Wednesday. (audio from David movie trailer) DAVID: “I'm just a shepherd, but deep down I know I can take on the world.” NARRATOR: “There is a darkness over the land.” SAMUEL:  “Our enemies will strike once more.” MAN: “Imagine the biggest warrior you have ever seen!” DAVID: “Okay.” MAN: “Now imagine somebody ate him.” GIRL: “Remember when I told you God had big plans for you?” GOLIATH: “You will serve us!” GIRL: “They may have been bigger than even I thought.” Christian music artist Phil Wickham voiced the adult David in the movie. Wickham told Crosswalk Headlines the film is “full of the story of God and full of Psalms and full of hallelujah and faith and hope.  … I think this movie will last decades. I think it will be something our grandkids watch.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, June 11th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

The birth rate in the U.S. has dropped by an astonishing 22% since 2007. Are smartphones to blame?Yes, according to a groundbreaking new study by Middlebury economist Caitlin Myers. Her smartphone study is garnering national attention this week, confirming an idea that people have long speculated about but until now have lacked data. Myers and co-author Ezekiel Hooper showed that from 2007 to 2011, after the iPhone was introduced, there was a sharp decline in births, up to half of which can be attributed to the smartphone. They say that smartphones have led to “reducing in-person interactions, increasing pornography use, and reducing sexual frequency.”Myers says a declining birth rate is not necessarily bad, but that there are “many aspects of it that really concern me, aspects that relate to economic growth and supporting older generations, but also questions of what does this mean for humans.”“Everybody's just doom scrolling on their phone alone and isolated and not forming relationships.” Myers is the John G. McCullough Professor of Economics at Middlebury College and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is well known for her research into the effects of abortion policy on people's lives. She has testified in the U.S. Senate about the economic consequences of the 2022 Dobbs decision ending the constitutional right to abortion, and she spearheaded the amicus brief in the Dobbs case that was signed by over 150 economists, highlighting the negative impact of limiting abortion access. Myers also runs a national database of abortion providers.Myers said the Dobbs decision has resulted in about 30,000 additional births “concentrated among people who are younger, have less education and have really limited financial resources.”“The post-Dobbs era is an inequality story,” she told me. “There are parts of the country like ours where the Dobbs decision almost paradoxically expanded abortion access” due to increased availability of telehealth and medication by mail.But in states like Texas, Louisiana and West Virginia that have enacted near-total abortion bans, only 80% to 85% of people who want an abortion are getting one. That leaves up to one-fifth of people who want an abortion “trapped. They aren't finding the means, the information, the resources, the safety and security to travel long distances or to order pills through the mail, and they're giving birth as a result.”Myers grew up in rural West Virginia and Georgia. She empathizes with those who don't think like her. “As a Southerner it breaks my heart when I hear people dismiss the people I grew up with, the places I'm from, the beliefs that they have.”“We all know it's not just about dismissing far-away Southerners. There are divides within our own state.”Myers wonders “whether we could potentially bridge these divides rather than saying, ‘Yeah, I just don't think this is going to work out,' like we're never going to agree.” She wants to do her “tiny little part to create a world where we give each other more grace.”

For decades, marketers have debated one question:How much frequency is enough?But what if the industry has been arguing about two completely different things the entire time?In Part 2 of this Sharp Cut series, Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros revisit the reach vs frequency debate after a wave of listener feedback challenged, refined, and strengthened the original episode. What emerges is a far more nuanced framework built around one critical distinction: burst frequency vs drip frequency.Drawing on work from Byron Sharp, Les Binet, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Stu Carr, Dale Harrison, Paul Hindle, and real-world incrementality testing from industry practitioners, this episode breaks down:Why frequency is not one thingThe difference between burst and drip frequencyHow memory actually works in advertisingWhy brands quietly lose effectiveness when they go darkThe hidden risks of streaming frequency capsWhy low frequency can appear more effective than it really isThe three real jobs of frequency: building, refreshing, and activatingWhy impressions and average frequency often mislead marketersHow last-click attribution continues to distort decision makingThe planning mistakes quietly wasting media budgets todayThis episode reframes one of marketing's oldest debates through the lens of memory, incrementality, and effectiveness.Because the real question was never reach versus frequency.It was burst versus drip.Chapters00:00 - Introduction to Comfort Blankets in Advertising03:40 - Understanding Memory in Advertising08:05 - Building and Refreshing Memory Structures10:08 - The Impact of Streaming on Frequency13:50 - The Three Jobs of Advertising20:38 - Measurement Challenges in AdvertisingOriginal LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7453434962604691457/Special thanks to all those who inspired this follow-up episode:Stu Carr, Dale Harrison, Paul Hindle and Dennis A.ResourcesBinet, L. (2024, January 17). How advertising REALLY works [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9EDJs3evCIBinet, L., & Davis, W. (2025, October). Go big or go home [Conference presentation]. IPA Effectiveness Conference, London, UK. https://ipa.co.uk/news/go-big-or-go-homeBinkley, M. (2025, August 7). 4Ps - Promotion: Why your customers say ads don't work on me. WARC. https://www.warc.com/en/article/4ps---promotionCarr, S. (2026, February 2). Why a frequency of 1 works, and why it isn't nearly enough. Mi3. https://www.mi-3.com.au/02-02-2026/why-frequency-1-works-and-why-it-isnt-nearly-enoughEbbinghaus, H. (1885). Uber das Gedachtnis: Untersuchungen zur experimentellen Psychologie. Duncker & Humblot.Gordon, B. R., Moakler, R., & Zettelmeyer, F. (2026). Predictive incrementality by experimentation (PIE) for ad measurement (NBER Working Paper). National Bureau of Economic Research.Harrison, D. W. (2022, November). Ad reach and frequency are not independent variables [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dale-w-harrisonKlepek, M. (2025). Duplication of purchase and double jeopardy in social media markets [Working paper]. Silesian University of Technology.Krugman, H. E. (1972). Why three exposures may be enough. Journal of Advertising Research, 12(6), 11-14.Ritson, M. (2023, October 16). Consumers don't get tired of ads, only marketers do. Marketing Week. https://www.marketingweek.com/consumers-tired-ads-marketers/Sharp, B. (2010, September 4). Frequency and frequency: Something to watch out for [Blog post]. Marketing Science. https://byronsharp.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/frequency-and-frequency-something-to-watch-out-for/Sharp, B., Romaniuk, J., & Kennedy, E. (Eds.). (2021). Marketing: Theory, evidence, practice (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.Taylor, J., Kennedy, R., & Sharp, B. (2009). Is once really enough? Making generalizations about advertising's convex sales response function. Journal of Advertising Research, 49(2), 198-200.Thomaz, F. (2024, October 15). Reach sufficiency and the missing dimension [Conference presentation]. SXSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Reported in Mi3. https://www.mi-3.com.au/15-10-2024/really-mediocre-outcomes

Expulser davantage de travailleurs immigrés pour créer plus d'emplois pour les Américains? C'est l'argument défendu par Donald Trump. Mais selon une étude du National Bureau of Economic Research, le durcissement des contrôles de l'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ne produit pas de gain net pour les travailleurs nés aux États-Unis et pourrait même fragiliser l'économie américaine. C'est une idée avancée, martelée même, par Donald Trump. Expulser davantage de travailleurs immigrés, notamment sans papiers, permettrait de libérer des emplois pour les travailleurs nationaux. Mais selon la dernière étude du National Bureau of Economic Research, ce raisonnement ne se vérifie pas dans les faits. La méthode employée par les chercheuses est simple : comparer les zones fortement touchées par les arrestations de l'ICE aux zones moins concernées, avant et après le durcissement des contrôles. Premier constat, dans les zones où l'ICE intervient davantage, les travailleurs immigrés les plus exposés travaillent moins. L'emploi recule de 4 %. Mais le plus frappant est ailleurs. Cette baisse ne s'explique pas uniquement par les expulsions. De nombreux travailleurs immigrés restent sur le territoire américain, mais réduisent leur activité ou cessent de travailler, par peur. Peur d'être contrôlés sur le chemin du travail, peur d'être arrêtés directement sur leur lieu d'activité. La politique migratoire produit ici un effet psychologique qui devient, par ricochet, un phénomène économique. À lire aussiÉtats-Unis: la politique migratoire de Donald Trump provoque un choc démographique et économique Le mythe du « job replacement » ne résiste pas aux faits Autre enseignement majeur de cette étude : les travailleurs nés aux États-Unis ne récupèrent pas ces emplois. L'argument du job replacement, selon lequel lorsqu'un immigré quitte son poste, un travailleur américain prend naturellement sa place, apparaît faux. Pour comprendre pourquoi, il faut regarder de plus près le fonctionnement du marché du travail. La vision politique suppose que travailleurs immigrés et travailleurs natifs sont interchangeables. Or, dans la réalité économique, ils sont souvent complémentaires. Prenons l'exemple d'un chantier de construction. Un ouvrier sans papiers effectue fréquemment les tâches physiques les plus pénibles, tandis qu'un salarié américain supervise, coordonne ou gère la logistique. Si le premier disparaît, le second ne récupère pas automatiquement un emploi supplémentaire. Au contraire, le chantier ralentit, certains projets sont retardés, voire annulés. Pourquoi les travailleurs américains peu qualifiés ne prennent-ils pas ces postes ? Parce que beaucoup de ces emplois restent peu attractifs : physiquement éprouvants, parfois dangereux, souvent saisonniers, avec des horaires irréguliers et des salaires jugés insuffisants. Dans l'agriculture, la construction ou certaines activités industrielles, les employeurs peinent déjà à recruter, même lorsque le chômage progresse. À lire aussiPourquoi l'immigration va déterminer le sort de l'économie américaine sous Donald Trump Moins d'activité, plus de tensions économiques Autre surprise, les entreprises ne réagissent pas forcément en augmentant les salaires pour attirer davantage de travailleurs locaux. L'étude montre au contraire que les rémunérations n'augmentent pas significativement. Face à la pénurie de main-d'œuvre, beaucoup d'employeurs font un autre choix : ils réduisent leur activité. Ils acceptent moins de commandes, ralentissent leur production et repoussent certains investissements. C'est ce que les économistes appellent un choc d'offre négatif, ou lorsque moins de travailleurs disponibles signifie moins de production, avec un risque de hausse des prix à long terme. Autrement dit, une politique pensée pour protéger le marché du travail pourrait, paradoxalement, contribuer à le fragiliser. Les effets dépassent même le seul marché de l'emploi. Dans le Minnesota, une autre étude évoque plus de 600 millions de dollars de consommation perdue en un mois, signe que la peur des contrôles réduit aussi les dépenses des ménages immigrés. Cela rappelle autre chose d'essentiel dans l'économie américaine. Certains secteurs sont structurellement dépendants de la main-d'œuvre immigrée, y compris irrégulière. Elle fait partie intégrante du fonctionnement de l'économie américaine. Et comme pour une tour en briques de bois, lorsqu'on retire une pièce essentielle, ce n'est pas seulement un poste qui disparaît, c'est tout l'équilibre de l'édifice qui peut vaciller. À lire aussiDonald Trump lié à des transactions financières de centaines de millions de dollars avec des entreprises américaines

China's value-added industrial output, a key economic indicator, increased 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first four months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.国家统计局周一发布数据显示，作为一项重要经济指标，我国前四个月规模以上工业增加值同比增长 5.6%。In April alone, industrial output grew 4.1 percent year-on-year, and rose 0.05 percent compared to the previous month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.国家统计局数据显示，仅 4 月当月，工业增加值同比增长 4.1%，环比增长 0.05%。The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.92 million).工业增加值用于衡量年主营业务收入不低于 2000 万元人民币（约合 292 万美元）的大型企业生产经营活动。In terms of sectors, the value added output of the mining sector increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 5.8 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply sectors went up by 4.5 percent, the data showed.数据显示，分行业看，今年前四个月采矿业增加值同比增长 5.5%，制造业增加值增长 5.8%，电力、热力、燃气及水生产和供应业增加值增长 4.5%。China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2026, official data showed Monday.官方数据周一显示，作为衡量我国消费活力的重要指标，2026 年前四个月我国社会消费品零售总额同比增长 1.9%。During the January-April period, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached about 16.49 trillion yuan. Excluding automobiles, retail sales grew by 3.1 percent to 15.2 trillion yuan, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.国家统计局数据显示，1—4 月，社会消费品零售总额约达 16.49 万亿元；剔除汽车品类后，零售额增长 3.1%，达 15.2 万亿元。Urban retail sales totaled 14.29 trillion yuan in the January-April period, up 1.8 percent year-on-year, while rural retail sales posted faster growth of 2.8 percent, reaching 2.2 trillion yuan.1—4 月，城镇消费品零售额达 14.29 万亿元，同比增长 1.8%；乡村消费品零售额增速更快，同比增长 2.8%，达 2.2 万亿元。Retail sales of services grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first four months, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter. Fast growth was recorded in telecommunications and information services, tourism and rental services, cultural and recreational services, and transportation and travel services, the data showed.数据显示，前四个月服务类零售额同比增长 5.6%，较一季度加快 0.1 个百分点，通信信息服务、旅游租赁服务、文化娱乐服务、交通出行服务均实现较快增长。From January to April, total online retail sales of goods and services reached 6.53 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent year-on-year. Online goods sales rose 5.7 percent to nearly 4.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 25 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods. Online services sales grew at an 8.3 percent rate, reaching 2.41 trillion yuan, according to the data.数据显示，1—4 月，实物商品和服务网上零售额总额达 6.53 万亿元，同比增长 6.6%。其中实物商品网上零售额增长 5.7%，近 4.12 万亿元，占社会消费品零售总额的 25%；服务类网上零售额增长 8.3%，达 2.41 万亿元。In April alone, total retail sales edged up 0.2 percent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, the volume went down 0.48 percent from March.4 月当月，社会消费品零售总额同比微增 0.2%，环比 3 月下降 0.48%。indicator /ˈɪndɪkeɪtə(r)/n. 指标；标志turnover /ˈtɜːnəʊvə(r)/n. 营业额；成交量retail /ˈriːteɪl/n. 零售 v. 零售accelerate /əkˈseləreɪt/v. 加速；加快

Angesichts der immer weiter steigenden Verschuldung ist es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sich die Notenbank der “Fiskalischen Dominanz” beugen muss. Mit diesem Begriff bezeichnen Ökonomen den Zustand, in dem die Sicherung der Zahlungsfähigkeit des Staates vor der Inflationsbekämpfung steht. Doch nicht nur die fiskalische Dominanz gefährdet die Unabhängigkeit der Notenbank, sondern auch die “Finanzielle Dominanz”. Davon spricht man, wenn das Finanzsystem dereguliert und fragil wird und die Notenbank die Zinsen nicht mehr erhöhen kann, ohne eine Krise auszulösen.Hinzu kommt, dass auch ein hoch verschuldeter Nicht-Finanzsektor die Wirksamkeit der Geldpolitik einschränken kann, wie eine aktuelle Studie zeigt. Die Veröffentlichung des renommierten National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Cambridge/Massachusetts kommt zu dem Schluss, dass sich die Europäische Zentralbank faktisch von ihrem Zwei-Prozent-Ziel verabschieden muss. Mit Daniel Stelter dazu im Expertengespräch: der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Dr. Guillaume Plantin, Professor für Economics und Fakultätsdekan an der französischen Universität Sciences Po.Hinweis ABSTURZ – So retten wir Deutschland: das neue Buch von Daniel Stelter. Jetzt überall, wo es Bücher gibt. Auch bestellbar bei Thalia, Amazon, geniallokal.HörerserviceRede The quiet erosion of central bank independence von EZB-Direktoriumsmitglied Isabel Schnabel: https://is.gd/OEqQhg Studie Indebted Supply and Monetary Policy: A Theory of Financial Dominance des National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) zur Financial Dominance: https://is.gd/s8mfH7 beyond the obvious – Neue Analysen, Kommentare und Einschätzungen zur Wirtschafts- und Finanzlage finden Sie unter think-bto.com.Newsletter – Den monatlichen bto-Newsletter abonnieren Sie hier.Redaktionskontakt – Wir freuen uns über Ihre Meinungen, Anregungen und Kritik unter podcast@think-bto.com.Handelsblatt – Ein exklusives Angebot für alle „bto – beyond the obvious – featured by Handelsblatt”-Hörer*innen: Testen Sie Handelsblatt Premium 4 Wochen lang für 1 Euro und bleiben Sie zur aktuellen Wirtschafts- und Finanzlage informiert. Mehr erfahren Sie unter: https://handelsblatt.com/mehrperspektiven Werbepartner – Informationen zu den Angeboten unserer aktuellen Werbepartner finden Sie hier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most parents share concerns about rising rates of depression, anxiety, and social disconnection among younger generations, especially how those issues intersect with increased time spent on smartphones and social media platforms. But what's the solution? Countries around the world, including Canada, are attempting various models of school cell phone bans. But evidence of their effectiveness has been mixed. Just last week, the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research released the largest study ever of school cell phone bans, looking at data from about 4,600 schools across the country. While teachers did report fewer distractions in class, researchers found only a small impact on academic achievement among students, and no measurable impact whatsoever on rates of online bullying, school attendance or student attention spans. Here in Canada, at the provincial level, Premier Wab Kinew recently announced that Manitoba will soon be the first province to ban youth from using social media and AI chatbots, with ministers in Ontario and British Columbia pledging to follow suit. On the level of individuals, some young people are finding success through imposing their own restraints—timers to lock out apps or limit access to websites—or embracing "digital minimalism", buying flip phones, MP3 players and analog cameras to limit their digital engagement. Another model may be trying to enforce restraints through social and community pressure, as in the Haredi community, where community norms around "Kosher phones" and appropriate internet access have limited many members of community's engagement with the online world, for good and for ill. On this week's Not in Heaven, we ask what role rabbis and Jewish community institutions have in this conversation, and what would a Jewish ethic look like that seeks to maintain the health and wellbeing of our young people—and all members—from the harms of digital life. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

Matt Weinzierl is Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development at Harvard Business School, where he is the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. From 2022 through 2025, he served as Faculty Chair of the MBA Program at HBS, where he also teaches courses on economic policy and the space sector. His research focuses on the optimal design of economic policy, in particular taxation, with an emphasis on better understanding the philosophical principles underlying policy choices, and on the commercialization of the space sector and its economic implications. Prior to completing his PhD in economics at Harvard University in 2008, Professor Weinzierl served as the Staff Economist for Macroeconomics on the President's Council of Economic Advisers and worked in the New York office of McKinsey & Company.  Professor Weinzierl has written on a range of topics in optimal taxation and optimal economic policy more generally. His work in Positive Optimal Tax Theory has focused on identifying and formalizing the goals for tax policy that hold sway among the public, political and economic leaders, and leading tax thinkers, and then characterizing the implications of using those objectives in the analysis of optimal taxation.Professor Weinzierl currently serves as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research. He previously served as Senior Associate Dean, Chair of the MBA Program and as Chair of the MBA Required Curriculum (RC). Prior to those positions, he was the coursehead for Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE), an RC course, and Chair of MBA Community Standards and the Conduct Review Board at HBS. He has created and currently teaches two courses in the Elective Curriculum: The Role of Government in Market Economies (RoGME) and Space, Public and Commercial Economics (SPACE).Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontierhttps://shorturl.at/5W1QU

Episode 263 covers the unfolding Instructure/Canvas breach by the threat group ShinyHunters. Josh, Chris, and Mark discuss the timeline, the potential scope of compromised data, and immediate steps schools should take. The episode also examines a new bill aimed at restricting AI companion chatbots for minors and debates age verification and safety concerns. Finally, the guys review a National Bureau of Economic Research study on lockable cell phone pouches, weighing the limited academic impacts found after one year against observed cultural benefits in schools. Finally, Chris interviews Dave Barclay, Director of Product with Deledao! https://www.k12dive.com/news/proposal-to-ban-ai-companions-for-minors-advances-in-senate/819239/ ———— Sponsored by: PowerGistics: How K-12 Charging Models Impact Chromebook Sustainability Textbooks Didn't have Cables Bring Chromebooks Back to the Classroom, but NOT Carts! One-Person Tech Department Success Story SysCloud Meter Fortinet VIZOR Lightspeed Extreme Networks Managed Methods ———— Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals) Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!! Email us at k12techtalk@gmail.com OR our "professional" email addy is info@k12techtalkpodcast.com X @k12techtalkpod Facebook Visit our LinkedIn Music by Colt Ball Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

Today's Headlines: Trump hosted kids at the White House for a Presidential Fitness Award ceremony, fell asleep while RFK Jr. spoke, and used the occasion to rant about Iran to a room full of children — meanwhile, Pete Hegseth was simultaneously insisting the ceasefire was still intact while missiles were actively flying over the Strait of Hormuz, and Marco Rubio filled in at the press briefing to tout US humanitarian aid for Cuba, a country we are currently blockading. In other news, over a quarter of DOJ attorneys — roughly 3,400 lawyers with an average tenure of over 13 years — have walked out or been fired since Trump took office, ICE's own internal records confirm a 37% spike in use of force against detainees across 98 facilities, and a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that ICE enforcement is actually hurting US-born workers in construction and similar sectors, with no wage increases to show for it. In creepy Congress members news, Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards is under investigation for alleged misconduct toward two female staffers in their 20s, including gifts, a handwritten love letter, and a Las Vegas vacation he took during a government shutdown he almost missed voting to end — his office also had a 59% staff turnover rate in 2025, more than double the House average. In tech and media news, the White House is planning an executive order on AI oversight involving Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI before models are released to the public, Pennsylvania sued Character.AI for having its chatbot impersonate a licensed psychiatrist complete with a fake license number, and James Murdoch is reportedly in talks to acquire Vox Media, which owns New York Magazine, The Verge, and Eater, potentially outbidding the competing offer from former NBC spinoff Versant. And finally, NPR went to Panama looking for Polymarket's corporate headquarters and found an essentially empty office where nobody had ever heard of the $15 billion prediction market platform — which also happens to share a law firm with FTX, so that's extremely reassuring. Resources/Articles mentioned: The New Republic: Trump, 79, Falls Asleep After Bragging to Kids About Iran War Plans Common Dreams: Hegseth Brags About Attacks on Iranian Ships in Strait of Hormuz While Claiming Ceasefire Holds The Hill: Marco Rubio gets presidential tryout in White House briefing room Axios: Scoop: Rep. Chuck Edwards singled out young female aides for special attention Financial Times: US Department of Justice loses a quarter of its lawyers WaPo: Internal ICE records reveal widespread use of force in detention centers Axios: ICE activity hurts some U.S.-born workers, study finds Axios: SEC proposes rule to allow public companies to report twice a year NYT: White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released Reuters: Pennsylvania sues Character AI, says chatbot poses as doctors NYT: James Murdoch's Company Said to Be in Talks to Acquire Major Parts of Vox Media NPR: NPR went looking for Polymarket's Panama headquarters. It's elusive  Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New findings from the National Bureau of Economic Research find strong relationships between America's community colleges and local labor markets, but what does that mean for higher education? Josh Goodman, Associate Professor of Education and Economics at Boston University and co-author of the report joins host Jason Altmire to discuss how strong labor markets drive down demand for education as people are incentivized to enter the workforce rather than pursue a degree. On the other hand, a weaker labor market sees a significant increase in community college enrollment as people want a next step even if they can't find employment. Because colleges play a key role during difficult economic times, Josh argues that policymakers should rethink how they fund post-secondary education in order to support a vital tool for rebuilding America's economy.To learn more about Career Education Colleges & Universities, visit our website.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman talks with Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute about China's growing demographic problems, and what they signify for the PRC's future - and for Beijing's strategic rivalry with Washington. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:-- The PRC's Chinese New Year robot demonstration can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUmlv814aJoBIO:Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he researches and writes extensively on international security in the Korean Peninsula and Asia, demographics, and economic development. Domestically, he focuses on poverty and social well-being. Dr. Eberstadt is also a senior adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research.His many books and monographs include Men Without Work: Post-Pandemic Edition (2022); Russia's Peacetime Demographic Crisis: Dimensions, Causes, Implications (2010); The Poverty of “the Poverty Rate” (2008); The End of North Korea (1999); The Tyranny of Numbers (1995); and Poverty in China (1979). His latest is Lessons for an Unserious Superpower: The “Scoop” Jackson Legacy and US Foreign Policy (2024).

China's manufacturing sector remained in expansion territory in April, signaling stable growth momentum. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 50.3.

In this episode, Michael discusses the surprising truth about grocery shopping. He shares a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research that reveals men tend to spend more on groceries than women, even when buying the same items. They also dive into a humorous exchange with PETA about vegan tacos, which leads to a discussion about the rise of veganism in Denver. The conversation is light-hearted and entertaining, but also touches on the importance of being mindful of our spending habits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A sharp acceleration in infrastructure spending has emerged as a key pillar of China's investment stabilization drive, offsetting a persistent decline in the property sector and helping overall investment return to positive growth in the first quarter, officials and economists said.随着基础设施建设支出显著提速，我国稳投资格局初显成效。在房地产开发投资持续探底的背景下，基建领域的强劲增长有效对冲了行业下行压力，带动一季度整体固定资产投资重回正增长区间。The rebound came after authorities vowed late last year to halt the investment downturn, following a 3.8 percent contraction in fixed-asset investment in 2025.此番回暖发生在此前投资增速持续承压之后。数据显示，2025年全年固定资产投资曾收缩3.8%，有关部门于去年底明确释放了遏制投资下滑的政策信号。According to the National Bureau of Statistics, fixed-asset investment reached 10.27 trillion yuan ($1.51 trillion) in the first quarter, up 1.7 percent year-on-year. Beneath the headline figure, however, lies a sharp divergence. Infrastructure investment surged 8.9 percent, while property development investment plunged 11.2 percent.国家统计局最新公布的数据显示，今年一季度，全国固定资产投资达10.27万亿元，同比增长1.7%。尽管总量增长温和，内部结构分化却极为显著：基础设施投资同比大增8.9%，而房地产开发投资则同比下降11.2%。Wang Qing, chief macroeconomic analyst at Golden Credit Rating International, said that infrastructure investment — the area where the government has the most direct leverage — has ramped up significantly at the start of the year.东方金诚首席宏观分析师王青指出，基建投资作为政府宏观调控最直接有效的抓手，在开年即展现出强劲的拉升势头。"The pace of growth in the first quarter exceeded what the market had anticipated," Wang said.“一季度的实际增速已超出此前市场普遍预期。”王青表示。China has not disclosed the scale of its infrastructure investment in recent years. However, a report by China Galaxy Securities suggests that the proportion of infrastructure investment within total fixed-asset investment has been rising, estimating it at about 45.3 percent as of end-2023.近年来官方虽未单独披露基建投资的绝对规模，但据中国银河证券研报测算，基建投资在固投总额中的占比呈逐年抬升趋势，截至2023年底，该比例约为45.3%。Last year, the sector faced significant headwinds. Due to a combination of fiscal constraints and a high base of comparison, infrastructure investment saw a rare year-on-year decline of 2.2 percent for the full year, according to the bureau.回顾2024年，该领域曾面临不小的增长阻力。受制于财政紧平衡与高基数效应的叠加影响，国家统计局数据显示，全年基础设施投资罕见录得2.2%的同比降幅。Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, said the robust first-quarter growth accelerated by 8.3 percentage points from the full-year 2025 level and contributed 2.7 percentage points to overall investment growth.粤开证券首席经济学家罗志恒分析称，一季度基建投资增速较2025年全年大幅回升8.3个百分点，对整体投资增长的贡献率高达2.7个百分点。"Infrastructure spending countered the drag from the prolonged property downturn and served as the key factor behind the turnaround from negative growth last year," Luo said.“基建支出的放量，有效对冲了房地产长周期调整带来的拖累，是推动固投由负转正的决定性力量。”罗志恒指出。As 2026 is the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30),"Local governments have strong incentives to create economic activities in the first year to set the foundation for the next five years of development."2026年作为第十五个五年规划的开局之年，这一加速增长具有更强的导向意义。分析认为，地方政府在五年规划首年普遍存在“抢先抓早”的能动性，意在通过重大项目落地为后续发展筑牢根基。The NBS said that in the first quarter, investment in projects with planned total investment of 100 million yuan or more rose 4.5 percent year-on-year, indicating that large-scale construction is accelerating.国家统计局数据同时显示，一季度计划总投资亿元及以上大项目投资同比增长4.5%，表明大型工程项目正处于加速建设周期。Funding has followed the projects. Luo said fiscal resources were deployed early and aggressively in the first quarter.资金的保障为项目推进提供了坚实支撑。罗志恒表示，一季度财政资源体现出了明显的“靠前发力”特征。Public bond issuance data show that in the first quarter, local governments issued about 3.1 trillion yuan in bonds, an increase of about 9.3 percent from the same period last year. Newly issued special bonds directly tied to infrastructure project construction reached about 1.2 trillion yuan, up about 25 percent year-on-year.债券发行数据印证了这一判断。一季度，各地累计发行地方政府债券约3.1万亿元，较去年同期增长约9.3%。其中，直接用于项目建设的专项债券规模约1.2万亿元，同比增幅高达约25%。The shift is not just about spending more — it is about spending differently, according to analysts.在分析人士看来，此轮发力不仅体现在投入总量的增加，更体现在投向结构的优化。While traditional rail, road and airport projects remain important, new infrastructure areas including computing centers, 5G and 6G networks, electric vehicle charging piles, and low-altitude flight infrastructure are becoming the new growth drivers, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.中国民生银行首席经济学家温彬认为，在传统“铁公基”项目保持稳定投入的同时，算力枢纽、新一代移动通信网络、新能源充电设施及低空经济配套等新基建领域，正加速成长为驱动投资增长的新引擎。"The government is using infrastructure investment not just to stabilize growth in the short term, but to shape China's transition to a digital, green and innovation-driven economy for the future," Wen said.“当前的基础设施投资已超越单纯的短期逆周期调节功能，更多承载着推动经济向数字化、绿色化、创新驱动转型的长远战略意图。”温彬称。Entering the second quarter, with the peak of project launches coming to an end and special bond issuances normalizing, Luo cautioned that infrastructure growth may slow marginally.展望二季度，随着项目集中开工潮逐步退去，加之专项债发行节奏趋于常态化，罗志恒提醒，基建投资增速或有边际放缓的可能。"Local governments face a dual squeeze from debt servicing and falling land income. Whether infrastructure can continue to play its role as a ballast for investment will depend on policy support from the central level."“现阶段地方政府面临化债支出与土地出让金下滑的双重压力。未来基建能否持续发挥‘压舱石'作用，将在很大程度上取决于中央层面转移支付及增量政策的接续支持力度。”property sector /ˈprɒpəti ˈsektə(r)/房地产行业 halt the investment downturn /hɔːlt ðə ɪnˈvestmənt ˈdaʊntɜːn/遏制投资下滑 divergence /daɪˈvɜːdʒəns/分化；背离 plunge /plʌndʒ/暴跌；骤降 turnaround /ˈtɜːnəraʊnd/扭转；好转 inaugural year /ɪˈnɔːɡjərəl jɪə(r)/开局之年 public bond /ˈpʌblɪk bɒnd/政府债券；公债 ballast /ˈbæləst/压舱石；稳定器

Shownotes The forever costs of America's war on Iran could disfigure economic life for generations to come, around the world and in the United States. In an earlier era, war spending helped pull the United States out of the Great Depression by pulling unemployed farmers into the cities and retraining them for manufacturing. Even through the Cold War, many Americans viewed war spending as a major driver of high-quality manufacturing jobs and consumer well-being. The war economy since 9/11 has been different. The wars themselves drive antidemocratic currents and undermine well-being even for people, like most Americans, who are far from the battlefields. These wars also undermine economic life in less obvious ways, like incentivizing endless private sector investment in defense rather than more productive industries. Eamon Kircher-Allen joins Order from Ashes to explain the profound distortions of the modern American war economy. Inflation and a possible recession are only the most immediate economic costs of the Iran war. As the forever wars after 9/11 proved, runaway war spending disfigures every aspect of the economy. The true long-term costs of this war will be much higher than the price of military operations. Related article Commentary: “The Iran War's Forever Costs Will Far Exceed the Immediate Pain for Consumers,” Century International, by Eamon Kircher-Allen Reports Referenced Report: “The Cold War and the U.S. Labor Market,” National Bureau of Economic Research, by Ilyana Kuziemko, Donato A. Onorato & Suresh Naidu   Joseph Stiglitz, “Structural Transformation, Deep Downturns, and Government Policy” (referenced in the podcast by a one-time working title, “Sectoral Dislocations and Long-Run Crises”), National Bureau of Economic Research working paper no. 23794, September 2017. See also: Joseph Stiglitz et al., “Mobility Constraints, Productivity Trends, and Extended Crises,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 83 (2012): 375–93. Participants Eamon Kircher-Allen is editor-in-chief at Century International. Thanassis Cambanis is director of Century International.  Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026 Episode: Order from Ashes 109

China's economic growth accelerated to 5 percent in the first quarter of 2026 despite mounting external uncertainties, underscoring that the resilience of the world's second-largest economy is underpinned by its vast domestic market, officials and experts said on Thursday.Domestic demand contributed more than four-fifths of GDP growth, they said, with investment returning to positive growth and inflation picking up — a trend expected to anchor steady economic expansion in the coming months.However, analysts cautioned that the recovery in domestic demand may not yet be on firm footing, given the slowdown in household income growth and continued pressures from elevated international energy costs, highlighting the need for ramping up targeted policy support.China's GDP came in at 33.42 trillion yuan ($4.9 trillion) in the first quarter, growing 5 percent year-on-year in real terms and 0.5 percentage point faster than the fourth quarter of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday."The Chinese economy got off to a good start, with main macroeconomic indicators improving and new growth drivers expanding rapidly," said Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the NBS, adding that the economy is well-positioned to maintain steady growth in the coming period.Beating market expectations, first-quarter growth was supported by improving domestic demand and resilient export growth. Retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, grew 2.4 percent year-on-year, up 0.7 percentage point from the previous quarter, the NBS said.Fixed-asset investment rose 1.7 percent year-on-year during the first quarter, reversing a 3.8 percent decline in 2025, as infrastructure spending strengthened and manufacturing investment accelerated, while the contraction in property development investment narrowed.In total, consumption and investment accounted for 84.7 percent of first-quarter GDP growth, up nearly 30 percentage points year-on-year, the bureau said, pointing to a continued shift toward a growth model driven by domestic demand.Technological and industrial innovation also provided strong support. High-tech manufacturing contributed 32.6 percent of overall industrial output growth, which is up 6.1 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points faster than in the fourth quarter of 2025.Inflation has picked up as demand strengthened. Figures calculated by Japanese investment bank Nomura show that China's GDP deflator — a broad measure of price levels — improved from — 0.6 percent in the previous quarter to — 0.1 percent in the first quarter, the highest in three years."China's reflation has transitioned from hope or expectation to reality," said Xiong Yi, Deutsche Bank's chief economist for China.This trend could improve Chinese corporates' revenue and profitability and further support the recovery of investment and household income, Xiong said, with the bank upgrading the forecast for China's 2026 real GDP growth to 4.9 percent.Solid economic performance has provided support for China's stock market, with the ChiNext Index surging 3.17 percent to close at 3,626.27 points on Thursday, an 11-year high.Junjie Watkins, equity partner at Pictet Group, a Swiss financial services company, said the Chinese market offers "a degree of certainty in an otherwise uncertain environment", underpinned by its long-term development planning, improving earnings revisions and attractive valuations.Improving sentiment is also reflected in foreign direct investment trends. A report released by US consulting firm Kearney showed that China climbed two places to rank fourth globally in the firm's 2026 FDI Confidence Index, with China's leadership in artificial intelligence and its vast domestic market as key sources of appeal.Given that the first-quarter growth has laid the foundation for achieving China's annual GDP target of 4.5 to 5 percent, analysts said the likelihood of launching significant easing measures such as interest rate cuts is low in the near term, especially as rising international oil prices continue to feed through into the domestic market.However, targeted support measures may still be needed. "The external environment is becoming more complex and volatile, while the domestic imbalance between strong supply and weak demand is still acute," said Mao from the NBS, calling for more proactive and effective macro policies in the next phase.Tao Chuan, chief economist at Guolian Minsheng Securities, said that policymakers should guard against potential pressures on consumption, as the tapering of consumer goods trade-in subsidies, combined with higher energy prices, may weigh on consumption growth.Retail sales rose 1.7 percent year-on-year in March, down from 2.8 percent in the January-February period, the NBS said, while per capita disposable income grew 4 percent year-on-year in real terms during the first quarter, down by 1 percentage point from 2025.

President Xi Jinping has called for building more "China Services" brands and breaking new ground in advancing the high-quality development of China's services sector.国家主席习近平近日就服务业发展作出重要指示，强调要培育更多“中国服务”品牌，努力开创服务业高质量发展新局面。He made the remarks in an instruction conveyed at a national conference on the services sector, which was held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday.全国服务业大会4月7日至8日在京召开，会上传达了习近平重要指示。China's services sector has steadily expanded in scale and continuously improved in quality and efficiency, playing an important role in supporting industrial upgrade, meeting people's livelihood needs and driving job growth, Xi said.习近平指出，我国服务业规模稳步扩大，质量效益持续提升，在支撑产业升级、满足民生需求、带动就业扩容等方面发挥了重要作用。Official statistics showed that China's value-added services output rose 5.4 percent year-on-year to 80.89 trillion yuan ($11.8 trillion) in 2025, with the sector contributing 61.4 percent of the country's overall economic growth.官方统计数据显示，2025年我国服务业增加值达80.89万亿元人民币（约合11.8万亿美元），同比增长5.4%，对国民经济增长的贡献率达到61.4%。Underscoring demand-driven development, reform breakthroughs and technology empowerment, as well as opening-up and cooperation, Xi called for carrying out capacity-expanding and quality-upgrading initiatives in the services sector.习近平强调，要突出需求牵引、改革攻坚、科技赋能、开放合作，深入实施服务业扩能提质行动。He stressed that efforts should be made to advance producer services toward greater specialization and the higher end of the value chain, and to foster high-quality, diverse and accessible consumer services.他指出，要着力推进生产性服务业向专业化和价值链高端延伸，促进生活性服务业高品质多样化便利化发展。Producer services and consumer services are the two pillars of the services sector. The index gauging China's services industry output rose 5.2 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.生产性服务业与生活性服务业是服务业的两大支柱。据国家统计局数据，今年前两个月，我国服务业生产指数同比增长5.2%，增速较去年12月加快0.2个百分点。Addressing the conference, Premier Li Qiang underlined the need to adapt to shifts in demographic structure, consumption upgrades and industrial transformation.国务院总理李强在出席会议时强调，要顺应人口结构变化、消费结构升级和产业结构转型趋势。He said efforts should focus on key areas of production and daily life, adding that it is crucial to promote the development of the services sector in a tiered and categorized manner, constantly cultivate new growth drivers, and foster a services sector that is digital, intelligent, standardized, integrated and internationally competitive.他指出，应聚焦生产生活重点领域，分层分类推动服务业发展，不断培育服务业新增长点，提升服务业数智化、标准化、融合化、国际化发展水平。In his closing speech at the conference, Vice-Premier Ding Xue­xiang called for efforts to advance the building of a unified national market, enhance the standardization of the services sector and expand institutional opening-up in services.国务院副总理丁薛祥在会议总结讲话中要求，要纵深推进全国统一大市场建设，加强服务业标准化建设，扩大服务业制度型开放。He emphasized efforts to strengthen and upgrade modern logistics, financial services and commercial services, in order to ensure smooth and coordinated flows across all links of the economy. Efforts will be made to meet people's livelihood needs, make daily services more convenient and public services more efficient and adaptable, and drive innovative development in culture, tourism, sports and other services, to better satisfy personalized, diversified and high-quality demand, Ding added.丁薛祥强调，要做强做优现代物流、金融服务、商贸服务，促进经济循环各环节畅通衔接。注重民生需要，促进日常生活服务更加便捷、公共服务高效适配、文旅体等服务创新发展，更好满足个性化、多样化、高品质需求。Edward Hu, president for China at International Workplace Group, a Switzerland-based hybrid workspace platform, expressed confidence in the prospects of China's services sector, citing the country's sustained commitment to its high-quality development and further improvements in the business environment.瑞士共享办公空间平台IWG集团中国区总裁胡懋对中国服务业前景表示乐观，称这源于中国持续推进高质量发展和营商环境改善的坚定决心。He said that China's continued opening of the services sector and efforts to improve the business environment are key drivers of growth. Policy support for services consumption and urban development continues to sustain demand for flexible office space, he added.他表示，服务业持续开放与营商环境优化是增长关键驱动力，而服务消费和城市发展的政策支持将持续催生灵活办公空间需求。Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, said that promoting the high-quality development of services consumption requires a systematic and well-coordinated policy mix, with efforts focused on two key fronts — ensuring income stability to bolster demand and improving the quality of services to enhance supply.粤开证券首席经济学家罗志恒认为，推动服务消费高质量发展需要系统性、协同性的政策组合拳，重点应从两方面着力——保障收入稳定以夯实需求基础，提升服务品质以优化供给水平。He called for easing market access while strengthening regulation in sectors such as cultural tourism, healthcare and education.他建议在文旅、医疗、教育等领域放宽市场准入的同时加强事中事后监管。industrial upgrade /ɪnˈdʌstriəlˈʌpɡreɪd/产业升级technology empowerment /tekˈnɒlədʒi ɪmˈpaʊərmənt/科技赋能producer services /prəˈdju:səˈsɜ:rvɪsɪz/生产性服务业consumer services /kənˈsju:məˈsɜ:rvɪsɪz/生活性服务业demographic structure /ˌdeməˈɡræfɪkˈstrʌktʃə/人口结构logistics /ləˈdʒɪstɪks/物流ease market access /i:zˈmɑ:rkɪtˈækses/放宽市场准入

Send us Fan MailBlack Zombie unearths the buried origins of the zombie, from Hollywood horror to the haunted cane fields of colonized Haiti. Director Maya Annik Bedward joins us to share why this cultural reckoning is so important for Haiti, her difficulties in figuring out what to include in the film, and how a special scene with Erol Josué, General Director of Haiti's National Bureau of Ethnology and Vodou Priest, was one of the most beautiful things she's ever filmed.In Scarlet Girls, women and girls speak out about the challenges and consequences of living in the Dominican Republic, a country where abortion is banned in all circumstances. Director Paula Cury shares the call to action she hopes this film will inspire, and how she had no shortage of women and girls interested in participating in the film.Follow Black Zombie on IGFollow director Maya Annik Bedward on IGFollow Scarlet Girls on IGFollow director Paula Cury on IGThank you to our sponsors, Standard Deviant Brewing and The Tech We WantAudio Produced by Jeff Hunt of Storied: SFCo-hosted by John Wildman of Films Gone WildSupport the showThanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 without you!--Fight fascism. Shop small. Use cash. Fuck ice.--Support Bitch Talk here!Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage!Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts!Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and SubstackListen every Monday at 7 am on BFF.FM

Manufacturing rebounds, but smaller enterprises remain under pressure制造业有所回暖，但中小企业仍面临压力China's manufacturing activity returned to expansion territory in March, offering an early sign that policy support is beginning to feed through to the real economy as measures to boost demand and stabilize growth gain traction, experts said on Tuesday.3月，我国制造业活动重返扩张区间。专家3月31日表示，这为观察中国经济提供了一个早期信号，表明随着提振需求、稳定增长的措施逐步显效，政策支持正开始向实体经济传导。However, they cautioned that prolonged weakness among small and medium-sized enterprises highlights lingering structural pressures and underscores the challenge for policymakers in fostering a more broad-based recovery in the world's second-largest economy.不过专家也提醒，中小企业持续疲软凸显结构性压力依然存在，也表明政策制定者在推动我国作为世界第二大经济体实现更广泛复苏方面仍面临挑战。They also said that continued countercyclical policy support, faster rollout of major government investment projects and more targeted measures to ease financing burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises will be key to boosting orders, reviving production and underpinning a solid start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.专家还表示，持续加强逆周期调节政策支持、加快重大政府投资项目落地、出台更有针对性的措施缓解中小企业融资压力，对于扩大订单、恢复生产、支撑"十五五"时期（2026-2030年）实现良好开局至关重要。Their comments came as China's official purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector stood at 50.4 in March, up from 49.0 in February and returning to expansion territory, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. The subindex for production stood at 51.4 in March, up from 49.6 in February, while the gauge for new orders came in at 51.6, up 3 percentage points from the previous month, the NBS said.国家统计局3月31日发布的数据显示，3月份，我国制造业采购经理指数（PMI）为50.4%，比上月上升1.5个百分点，重返扩张区间。国家统计局表示，生产指数为51.4%，比上月上升1.8个百分点；新订单指数为51.6%，比上月上升3.0个百分点。Huo Lihui, an NBS statistician, attributed the rebound in manufacturing PMI to the faster resumption of work and production after the Spring Festival holiday, as well as increased market activity, with the production index and the new orders index both returning to expansion territory.国家统计局服务业调查中心首席统计师霍丽慧表示，制造业PMI回升主要是受春节后企业加快复工复产、市场活跃度提升等因素影响，生产指数和新订单指数均回到扩张区间。Wang Qing, chief macroeconomic analyst at Golden Credit Rating International, said sentiment in China's manufacturing sector improved in March, buoyed by optimism after the recently concluded two sessions, the annual gatherings of China's top legislative and political advisory bodies, which underscored that China's macro policies would remain more proactive and effective this year.东方金诚首席宏观分析师王青表示，近期闭幕的全国两会释放出今年宏观政策将更加积极有为的信号，受此鼓舞，3月份我国制造业景气水平有所改善。That policy tone was reinforced by the People's Bank of China on Tuesday. In a statement released after the first-quarter meeting of its monetary policy committee for 2026, the PBOC said it would continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy, step up countercyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments, and improve coordination between monetary and fiscal policies to promote stable economic growth and a reasonable recovery in prices.中国人民银行3月31日进一步强化了这一政策基调。央行货币政策委员会2026年第一季度例会指出，将继续实施适度宽松的货币政策，加大逆周期与跨周期调节力度，加强货币财政政策协调配合，促进经济平稳增长和物价合理回升。Meanwhile, major manufacturing segments strengthened further and maintained a mild upward trend. High-tech manufacturing, for instance, posted a PMI reading of 52.1 in March, up 0.6 percentage point from February, and remained in expansion territory for the 14th consecutive month, the NBS reported.与此同时，重点制造业板块进一步增强，并保持温和上升势头。国家统计局数据显示，高技术制造业PMI为52.1%，比上月上升0.6个百分点，连续14个月处于扩张区间。Despite the overall expansion, small and medium-sized manufacturers remained under pressure, with activity still in contraction territory.尽管制造业总体扩张，但中小型制造企业仍面临压力，其相关活动仍处于收缩区间。According to the NBS, the subindex for medium-sized enterprises rose 1.5 percentage points to 49.0, while that for small enterprises climbed 4.5 percentage points to 49.3, but both remained below the 50-point threshold.国家统计局数据显示，中型企业PMI为49.0%，比上月上升1.5个百分点；小型企业PMI为49.3%，比上月上升4.5个百分点，但两者均仍低于50%的临界点。"Soaring raw material prices have dealt a heavier blow to small and medium-sized enterprises, which generally have weaker pricing power and thinner financial buffers," said Bai Wenxi, vice-chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union.中国企业资本联盟副理事长柏文喜表示，原材料价格飙升对中小企业打击更大，中小企业议价能力普遍较弱，财务缓冲能力也较为薄弱。Huang Yiping, dean of Peking University's National School of Development, said China has policy room, on both monetary and fiscal fronts, to cope with the potential economic headwinds stemming from geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East.北京大学国家发展研究院院长黄益平表示，面对中东地缘政治不确定性可能带来的经济逆风，中国在货币和财政两方面都有政策空间予以应对。Foreign companies also remain upbeat about the long-term prospects of China's manufacturing sector.外资企业也对中国制造业的长期前景保持乐观。Markus Kamieth, CEO of German chemical company BASF, said China has moved to the forefront of intelligent manufacturing and green transformation, driven by its scale, speed and innovation capacity.德国化工企业巴斯夫执行董事会主席凯礼表示，中国凭借其规模、速度和创新能力，已在智能制造和绿色转型领域走在前列。Philippe Delorme, president and CEO of Finnish elevator giant KONE Corp, said the company's core production base in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, has grown into the world's largest elevator manufacturing base. "This figure demonstrates our commitment to China's economic growth," he added.芬兰通力集团总裁兼首席执行官德龙表示，该集团位于江苏昆山的核心生产基地已发展成为全球最大的电梯制造基地。他表示："这一事实表明了我们对中国经济增长的坚定承诺。"countercyclical /ˌkaʊntərˈsaɪklɪkəl/逆周期的purchasing managers' index /ˈpɜːrtʃəsɪŋ ˈmænɪdʒərz ˈɪndeks/采购经理指数gauge /ɡeɪdʒ/指标resumption of work and production /rɪˈzʌmpʃən əv wɜːrk ænd prəˈdʌkʃən/复工复产buoy /bɔɪ/提振；使上涨financial buffer /faɪˈnænʃəl ˈbʌfər/财务缓冲能力

Profits of China's major industrial firms increased 15.2 percent in the first two months of 2026 compared with the same period last year. The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the growth to proactive macro policies.

Ted Joyce is a Professor of Economics at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York and a Research Associate in the National Bureau of Economic Research's program in Health Economics. He has published extensively in the area economic demography and reproductive health policy.  His work on abortion policy has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Human Resources and the Review of Economics and Statistics. His most recent work is on the evaluation of programs to improve the academic outcomes of low-income students in higher-education. Dr. Joyce is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Part 2 The discussion included the following topics: the speed at which change can occur; AI impact on higher education institutions and academic health science centers; trends regarding how AI and online learning might influence one another; and emerging ethical questions that must be addressed.    

Ukraine's cities were failing long before the Russian invasion began. Kyiv and Lviv ranked among the 40 most congested cities in the world, yet neither makes the top 100 by population. Ninety per cent of Ukraine's housing stock was built before 1990. Its urban infrastructure was designed for a Soviet economy and never properly adapted for the one that followed. So when reconstruction begins, the question is not simply how to repair what was there: it is whether repairing what was there is the right goal.Edward Glaeser of Harvard, Martina Kirchberger of Trinity College Dublin, and Andrii Parkhomenko of the University of Southern California argue that the most instructive precedent is not post-USSR Warsaw, or postwar Berlin, it is postwar Tokyo. Firebombed into ruin, Tokyo rebuilt in a way that was strikingly decentralised: master plans quickly abandoned, local communities empowered to combine small lots through land readjustment, and figure it out from the bottom up. Before the war, Ukraine's economic activity was already shifting away from heavy industry and the east, towards services and the west. Reconstruction that concentrates investment where the damage is greatest, rather than where people want to build a new life, would repair the buildings and miss the point.The research behind this episode:Glaeser, Edward L., Martina Kirchberger, and Andrii Parkhomenko. 2025. "Rebuilding Ukraine's Cities: Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Costs." Economic Policy: Papers on European and Global Issues, special issue: "What's Next for Ukraine?" To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim. 2026, "What's Next for Ukraine: Reconstruction." Economic Policy: Papers on European and Global Issues (podcast). Assign this as extra listening: the citation above is formatted and ready for a reading list or VLE.About the guestsEdward Glaeser is Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is one of the world's leading urban economists, with a research agenda spanning cities, housing markets, economic growth, and governance.Martina Kirchberger is a CEPR Research Affiliate and Assistant Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on structural transformation, urban economics, and development in low- and middle-income countries.Andrii Parkhomenko is Assistant Professor of Real Estate at the USC Marshall School of Business and a researcher at the Kyiv School of Economics. His work centers on urban and spatial economics, with a particular focus on housing markets and city growth.Research cited in this episodeUkraine Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, World Bank Group, European Commission, and UN, 2024. The source of the physical damage figure cited in this episode: approximately $175 billion by the end of 2024, with estimates for end-2025 likely exceeding $200 billion. Some independent projections cited by Glaeser run to $500 billion or above.The concept of investing-in-investing, referenced by Kirchberger, originates in work by Paul Collier on how resource-rich developing countries can scale up capital investment effectively. It refers to the prior investments in institutions, skills, and capacity that must be made before large-scale capital flows can be productively absorbed. The implication for Ukraine: there is work to do now, before reconstruction begins at scale.The Tokyo land readjustment model, which Glaeser cited as the most instructive reconstruction precedent, allowed owners of small fragmented lots to pool their land, redevelop it jointly, and receive a share of the new property in exchange for their stake in the old. It enabled large-scale urban reconstruction without central expropriation, and without waiting for government direction. The mechanism remains in active use in Japanese urban planning.The Solidere reconstruction of central Beirut was raised as a cautionary counterexample: a centralised, top-down rebuild that produced a high-end commercial district with questionable benefit to ordinary Lebanese, and which substantially enriched its private shareholders. The contrast with Tokyo's decentralised model is the episode's sharpest illustration of what reconstruction can and cannot achieve when organised from above.More in the "What's Next for Ukraine?" seriesThis episode is the second in a three-part series based on papers presented at the inaugural Economic Policy winter conference, Paris, December 2025.Episode 1: Yuriy Gorodnichenko and Maurice Obstfeld on the investment and financing challenge: $40 billion a year, debt restructuring as a prerequisite for private capital, and why the number is more achievable than it sounds.Episode 3: Demobilisation and the labour market: getting soldiers back into work without breaking the economy that kept the country going. Related reading on VoxEURebuilding cities in Ukraine: A VoxEU column on the urban reconstruction challenge, including the spatial decisions that will shape how Ukraine's cities develop in the decades after the war.A blueprint for the reconstruction of Ukraine: A comprehensive VoxEU overview of the reconstruction architecture: what institutions are needed, how international financing can be coordinated, and what the sequencing of investment should look like.Completing Ukraine's reconstruction architecture: On the remaining gaps in the international framework for financing and coordinating Ukraine's rebuild, and what needs to happen before reconstruction can begin at the required scale.Lessons for rebuilding Ukraine from economic recoveries after natural disasters: What the evidence from post-disaster reconstruction in other countries tells us about what works, what fails, and how quickly economies can return to their pre-shock trajectories.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs joins us to talk about his book, To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace. Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on a group of poverty alleviation initiatives called the Millennium Development Goals. American Exception followers on Patreon, regardless of the tier, get first access to new episodes! Paid subscribers enjoy access to the entire library of the best historical analysis of deep events on the American Exception podcast.  Subscribe to our Patreon at https://patreon.com/americanexception We are also on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@americanexception9407 Special thanks to: ·         Dana Chavarria, production ·         Casey Moore, graphics ·         Michelle Boley, animated intro ·         Mock Orange, music

Today we had the very exciting and interesting opportunity to visit with Dr. Fiona Murray, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Co-Director of the Innovation Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fiona is an internationally recognized policy expert on innovation ecosystems and the transformation of investments in science and technology into deep-tech startup ventures that address global challenges. In addition to her roles at MIT, where she previously served as an Associate Dean for Innovation, she is Chair of the NATO Innovation Fund and an Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to innovation and entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom. Fiona also serves on the UK Ministry of Defence Innovation Advisory Panel and the European Innovation Council Joint Expert Group and sits on a number of boards. We were thrilled to host Fiona to explore global markets, innovation ecosystems, and the shifting geopolitical landscape shaping technology and capital flows. In our conversation, Fiona shares her perspective on the intersection of geopolitics and innovation and how geopolitical shocks increasingly shape technology development and commercialization. She outlines the post-2016 shift toward framing priority technologies through the lens of national and economic security, and the growing geopolitical constraints facing entrepreneurs. Drawing on discussions at the Munich Security Conference, Fiona highlights Europe's strong talent base alongside structural constraints, including smaller venture capital pools, fragmented markets, pension fund limitations, and bureaucratic procurement processes. We explore how defense and security startups think about U.S. versus European capital and transatlantic expansion, the growing importance of dual-use investment, and resilience as a business case. Fiona explains NATO's two-pronged innovation strategy and emphasizes the need for a “resilience premium” to support domestic and allied production. We discuss China's competitive innovation model, industrial policy lessons for the West, and the need to scale critical technologies to reduce supply chain dependence and rebuild manufacturing capacity across allied markets. Fiona also shares her perspective at MIT, where students are increasingly prioritizing defense, security, and resilience, alongside energy and climate reframed through critical minerals and system resilience, with AI integration across disciplines. We cover AI's role in lowering experimentation costs through simulation, large-company AI execution pitfalls, drone and autonomy lessons from Ukraine, and how to avoid overspending on AI. We close by asking where she sees innovation over the next decade, which she describes as “innovation at the extremes,” including fusion energy, Arctic navigation and mining, space commercialization, and other frontier environments. It was a fascinating discussion and we greatly appreciate Fiona for sharing her valuable time and insights. To start the show, Mike Bradley noted that this week is centered on Tuesday's State of the Union address and the policy implications that follow. On the bond market front, the 10-year remains steady, with traders' attention turning to Friday's PPI report. On the crude oil market front, WTI is trading at ~$66/bbl as markets weigh the potential for a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal versus whether the U.S. follows through on its threat of limited military strikes. WTI price could fall to low-$60/bbl if a nuclear deal is reached or rise to $70/bbl on escalation. The DJIA and S&P 500 are both up marginally since the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's global tariffs last Friday. Technology stocks have staged a modest rebound after several weeks of underperformance. Energy has outperformed over the past week but has underperformed since last Friday's tariff announcement. E&Ps will dominate

Interview recorded - 19th of February, 2026On this episode of the WTFinance podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming on Barry Eichengreen. Barry is a renowned economist and Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1987. He is also the author of many books, including the upcoming book “Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto”During our conversation we spoke about his thoughts on the economy, the K-shaped economy, geopolitical shift, move away from the US dollar, what it means for the future and more. I hope you enjoy!0:00 - Introduction1:08 - Overview of the economy2:18 - K-shaped economy3:41 - Geopolitical shift6:13 - Europe becoming a world power?9:23 - US currency12:53 - China be trusted?14:58 - Precious metals movements17:09 - Next reserve currencies?19:58 - US Dollar devaluing21:47 - Bifurcating currency world23:56 - Influence for writing the book?25:58 - Any surprises?28:00 - One message to takeaway?Barry Eichengreen is George C. Pardee & Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1987. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (London, England). In 1997-98 he was Senior Policy Advisor at the International Monetary Fund. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (class of 1997). Professor Eichengreen is the convener of the Bellagio Group of academics and economic officials and chair of the Academic Advisory Committee of the Peterson Institute of International Economics. He has held Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships and has been a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Palo Alto) and the Institute for Advanced Study (Berlin). He is a regular monthly columnist for Project Syndicate. His books include The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era (2018), How Global Currencies Work: Past, Present, and Future, with Livia Chitu and Arnaud Mehl, (2017), The Korean Economy: From a Miraculous Past to a Sustainable Future (Harvard East Asian Monographs) with Wonhyuk Lim, Yung Chul Park and Dwight H. Perkins, (2015), Renminbi Internationalization: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges, co-edited with Masahiro Kawai, (2015), Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the Uses-and Misuses-of History, (2015). He was awarded the Economic History Association's Jonathan R.T. Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2002 and the University of California at Berkeley Social Science Division's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2004. He is also the recipient of a doctor honoris causa from the American University in Paris.Barry Eichengreen - Website - https://eml.berkeley.edu/~eichengr/X - https://x.com/B_EichengreenBook - https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691280530/money-beyond-borders?_glWTFinance - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wtfinancee/Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/67rpmjG92PNBW0doLyPvfniTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wtfinance/id1554934665?uo=4Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnthonyFatseas

AI had little to no impact on productivity in the past 3 years.This was according to a National Bureau of Economic Research survey released in February 2006 of 6,000 CEOs and executives across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia. Instead of throwing fruit at us, watch or listen as Enterprise Business Agility Consultant Om Patel and Product Manager Brian Orlando discuss why it won't be the loudest Silicon Valley CEO helping us make the most out of these new tools and technology, but boring old process improvement and org design!Yes, the current research-backed consensus (we review more such articles and research) is that AI adoption doesn't lead to productivity gains, but executives are going to still buy it anyway - they've got "positive vibes."

Every wave of new technology has come with the same promise: productivity rises, and everyone benefits. That's not how it usually plays out. This week, we're resharing our conversation with MIT economist David Autor, one of the world's leading experts on how technological change reshapes labor markets. Autor challenges the familiar story that innovation inevitably destroys good jobs, arguing instead that AI could expand human expertise and help rebuild pathways into the middle class — if the gains are broadly shared. As companies race to adopt AI and workers wonder what comes next, this episode offers a clearer way to think about the future of work: technology doesn't determine economic outcomes. The rules we build around it do. David Autor is a labor economist and professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies how technological change and globalization affect workers. He is also co-director of the MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program. Social Media: @davidautor.bsky.social @davidautor Further reading:  NOEMA - AI Could Actually Help Rebuild The Middle Class New York Times - How One Tech Skeptic Decided A.I. Might Benefit the Middle Class Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics TikTok: @pitchfork_econ YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research spotlights how immigrants may be shaping the health and mortality rates of older Americans. Researchers found that a roughly 25% increase in immigration to the United States could prevent nearly 5,000 deaths among seniors 65 and over. Today, we'll unpack the findings. But first, an ominous tale of AI destruction captured the imagination of the public — and stock market traders.

A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research spotlights how immigrants may be shaping the health and mortality rates of older Americans. Researchers found that a roughly 25% increase in immigration to the United States could prevent nearly 5,000 deaths among seniors 65 and over. Today, we'll unpack the findings. But first, an ominous tale of AI destruction captured the imagination of the public — and stock market traders.

Whether it be in politics, public health, or corporate finance, why are people more likely to interpret facts or data in a way that fits their preconceived notions about the world as opposed to searching for the fundamental truth?  A new paper from the Harvard Business School called, Sharing Models to Interpret Data (by Joshua Schwartzstein and Adi Sunderam)studies the propensity for people to adopt interpretations to data based on their community's beliefs, and why this can lead to less accurate conclusions. Hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen are joined by the paper's co-author  Adi Sunderam, who is a professor of corporate finance at Harvard Business School, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a co-editor of the Journal of Finance. The conversation covers the complexity of Bayesian updating and how the process is improperly deployed in today's thinking, not only in corporate decision-making but also on a sociological level. They also discuss Sunderam's model for explaining how people interpret data, why people are more likely to fall into group-belief dynamics, and if there are any interventions that would lead to better decision-making.  Read Adi Sunderam and Joshua Schwartzstein's paper: Sharing Models to Interpret Data  Find All Else Equal on the web:  https://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/allelse/ All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Podcast is a production of the UPenn Wharton Lauder Institute through University FM.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ted Joyce is a Professor of Economics at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York and a Research Associate in the National Bureau of Economic Research's program in Health Economics. He has published extensively in the area economic demography and reproductive health policy.  His work on abortion policy has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of Human Resources and the Review of Economics and Statistics. His most recent work is on the evaluation of programs to improve the academic outcomes of low-income students in higher-education. Dr. Joyce is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Part 1 The discussion included the following topics: does tension exist between AI and online learning; whether AI transforms online learning into something more effective; role played by AI in measuring student performance; and determining certainty that the work produced by a student is by that individual.      

A new study confirms Seattle's 2024 'Gig Worker' law has been a miserable failure. The National Bureau of Economic Research study showed higher per-delivery pay was offset by fewer deliveries and lower tips. Active drivers saw no net gain in monthly earnings. DoorDash reported a decline of 30,000 orders, while UberEats saw a 30 percent drop in order volume. Drivers earned less than half of what they had prior to the ordinance's passage. While per-task base pay doubled, driver tips decreased, and fewer tasks were completed. The law, intended to help gig workers, has backfired, leading to increased wait times and more idle time. Seattle's attempt to regulate the gig economy has resulted in unintended consequences, harming the very workers it sought to protect.

Depending on one's outlook and relationship status (and a willingness to spend lavishly on romantic gestures), Valentine's Day is an annual ritual to be loved or loathed. But is it living up to its unstated end goal – i.e., romance blossoming into love and commitment, which in turn leads to parenthood? Valerie Ramey, an economist and the Hoover Institution's Thomas Sowell Senior Fellow, looks at the economic engine that is Valentines Day (literally “a day of wine and roses”), the various social factors that've contributed to America's declining birth rate, plus why it is that modern-day parents engage in what she calls the "rug rat race” – mothers and fathers raising children in a more hands-on manner so as to assure their progeny are admitted to top-flight universities. Recorded on February 12, 2026. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Valerie Ramey is the Thomas Sowell Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.  She is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy and Research, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Econometric Society.  Ramey has published numerous scholarly and policy-relevant articles on macroeconomic topics such as the sources of business cycles, the effects of monetary and fiscal policy, the effects oil price shocks, and the impact of volatility on growth.  She has also written numerous articles on trends in wage inequality and trends in time use, such as the increase in time investments in children by educated parents.  Her work has been featured in major media, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and a Hoover Institution research fellow since 1999, writes and comments on campaigns, elections and governance with an emphasis on California and America's political landscapes. Whalen writes on politics and current events for various national publications, as well as Hoover's California On Your Mind web channel. Whalen hosts Hoover's Matters of Policy & Politics podcast and serves as the moderator of Hoover's GoodFellows broadcast exploring history, economics, and geopolitical dynamics. RELATED SOURCES The Rug Rat Race by Garey Ramey & Valerie A. Ramey ABOUT THE SERIES Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests. To join our newsletter and be the first to tune into the next episode, visit Matters of Policy & Politics.

Disproving the popular narrative that shootings are the calculated acts of malicious or desperate people, Ludwig shows how most shootings actually grow out of a more fleeting source: interpersonal conflict, especially arguments. By examining why some arguments turn tragic while others don't, Ludwig shows gun violence to be more circumstantial—and more solvable—than our traditional approaches lead us to believe.Drawing on decades of research and Ludwig's immersive fieldwork in Chicago, including “countless hours spent in schools, parks, playgrounds, housing developments, courtrooms, jails, police stations, police cars, and lots and lots of McDonald's,” Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence (University of Chicago Press, 2025) is a breakthrough work at the cutting edge of behavioral economics. As Ludwig shows, progress on gun violence doesn't require America to solve every other social problem first; it only requires that we find ways to intervene in the places and the ten-minute windows where human behaviors predictably go haywire. Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He is the Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago's Crime Lab, codirector of the National Bureau of Economic Research's working group on the economics of crime, elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a member of the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academies of Science. Alfred Marcus is the Edson Spencer Professor at the Carlson School, University of Minnesota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Disproving the popular narrative that shootings are the calculated acts of malicious or desperate people, Ludwig shows how most shootings actually grow out of a more fleeting source: interpersonal conflict, especially arguments. By examining why some arguments turn tragic while others don't, Ludwig shows gun violence to be more circumstantial—and more solvable—than our traditional approaches lead us to believe.Drawing on decades of research and Ludwig's immersive fieldwork in Chicago, including “countless hours spent in schools, parks, playgrounds, housing developments, courtrooms, jails, police stations, police cars, and lots and lots of McDonald's,” Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence (University of Chicago Press, 2025) is a breakthrough work at the cutting edge of behavioral economics. As Ludwig shows, progress on gun violence doesn't require America to solve every other social problem first; it only requires that we find ways to intervene in the places and the ten-minute windows where human behaviors predictably go haywire. Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He is the Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago's Crime Lab, codirector of the National Bureau of Economic Research's working group on the economics of crime, elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a member of the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academies of Science. Alfred Marcus is the Edson Spencer Professor at the Carlson School, University of Minnesota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

As inequality deepens, democratic institutions strain, and climate risk accelerates, it's becoming impossible to ignore a basic question: What is capitalism actually for? This week, we revisit our conversation with Harvard Business School professor Rebecca Henderson who argues that today's economic crises aren't the result of isolated failures, but of an economic system designed around the wrong goal—maximizing shareholder value at any cost. Drawing from her book Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, Henderson makes the case that markets built around cooperation, dignity, and shared prosperity don't just serve the public good—they often outperform extractive, low-road models, while decades of trickle-down economics hollowed out institutions, rewarded cheating over value creation, and left businesses dependent on a society they are actively undermining. Together, they ask what it would take to build a new economic paradigm—one where firms exist to strengthen the communities, democracy, and planet they rely on to survive. Rebecca Henderson is the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the acclaimed course Reimagining Capitalism and explores how business can help build a more just, sustainable economy. She is the author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a fellow of the British Academy and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served on the boards of major public companies. Social Media: @RebeccaReCap Further reading:  Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire TED Talk: To save the climate, we have to reimagine capitalism Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics TikTok: @pitchfork_econ YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

It's Thursday, January 22nd, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Chinese-American Christians pray for those in China Chinese-American Christians are praying for their persecuted brothers and sisters back in China. Earlier this month, Harvest Chinese Christian Church in Los Angeles held an event called “Fasting Prayer Meeting for Persecuted Churches in China.” The event comes shortly after Chinese authorities detained the leaders of Early Rain Covenant Church. The congregation, like many “unregistered” churches in China, faces relentless persecution. International Christian Concern commented, “Please pray for these house church members in China, especially those who have been imprisoned or are missing after the police raids.” 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” China's birth rate plunged to a record low in 2025 Speaking of China, the country's birth rates plunged to a record low in 2025. New data from China's National Bureau of Statistics found there were 7.92 million births last year, down 17% from 2024. The birth rate in 2025 was 5.63 per 1,000 people. Meanwhile, the death rate rose to 8.04 per 1,000 people. Despite China's recent attempts to incentivize families to have children, the population has now fallen for the fourth consecutive year. In Genesis 1:28, God commanded, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the Earth and subdue it.” British Christian nurse vindicated for calling a man “Mister” In the United Kingdom, a National Health Service hospital recently dropped its case against a Christian nurse. Jennifer Melle worked at St. Helier Hospital in south London. She faced suspension after referring to a man, pretending to be a woman, as “Mister.” Listen to comments she made after her vindication. MELLE: “I am deeply relieved and grateful to hear that St Helier [Hospital] has confirmed it would no longer take further action against me. This has been an incredibly long and painful journey.   “Today, I want to give thanks, first and foremost, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has sustained me every step of the way.” Young Canadians are planning to vote conservative Young adults in Canada are planning to vote conservative in the country's next election. A survey by Abacus Data found 50% of Canadians aged 18 to 29 would vote for the Conservative Party. Only 27% of that demographic would vote for the Liberal Party. The strongest support for the Liberals comes from people over 60. A decade of liberal polices has led to higher living costs, higher inflation, and higher taxes. Trump: “I will not use force” to get Greenland Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.  Notably, he announced that the United States would not use force to acquire Greenland. TRUMP: “We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won't do that. Okay. Now everyone's saying, ‘Oh, good!' “That's probably the biggest statement I've made because people thought I would use force. I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force.” President Trump also announced he will not be imposing tariffs on Denmark over the acquisition of Greenland. He wrote on Truth Social, “We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.” Arrests coming for Minneapolis leftists who invaded church service The Trump administration is investigating anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a house of worship in Minneapolis on Sunday. Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, wrote on X, “Arrests coming. … The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting. … These agitators will be held accountable.” The Department of Justice is also investigating the incident at Cities Church. Major snowstorm hits East Coast to Rocky Mountains The National Weather Service is expecting a significant winter storm to hit a large portion of the U.S. starting Friday. Heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain is forecast all the way from the southern Rockies to the East Coast.  Much of the U.S. is already experiencing dangerously cold weather. Over 40 million people were under cold weather alerts as of Tuesday. Even parts of Florida are under alert. 463rd anniversary of Heidelberg Catechism And finally, this week marks the 463rd anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism. The Protestant catechism was commissioned by Frederick III, the ruler of Germany's most influential province of Palatinate. The purpose of the catechism was for instructing the youth and for guiding pastors and teachers The catechism was the product of two young Protestant scholars—Zacharius Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus. The catechism was approved by a church synod in Heidelberg, Germany and published in German on January 19, 1563. It would become the most widely used catechism of the Reformation period.  The catechism's opening question reads, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” The answer begins, “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” Romans 14:8 says, “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.”  Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, January 22nd, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

There's more evidence that China's economy is stalling. Beijing released a batch of government data today that was not encouraging. Chinese consumers have slammed their wallets shut, and data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China paints a picture of stagnating investment, output, and consumption. And later, we'll preview long-delayed economic data slated to come out this week and learn why retailers are hiring fewer workers for the holiday shopping season.

There's more evidence that China's economy is stalling. Beijing released a batch of government data today that was not encouraging. Chinese consumers have slammed their wallets shut, and data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China paints a picture of stagnating investment, output, and consumption. And later, we'll preview long-delayed economic data slated to come out this week and learn why retailers are hiring fewer workers for the holiday shopping season.

Charles Burton Charles Burton discusses his book, The Beaver and the Dragon, illustrating China's fundamental untrustworthiness and statistical manipulation, which has intensified under centralized leadership, noting Canada's past cooperation with China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) failed as officials often falsely reported data, and despite historical deception and security risks, there is a push in Canada to increase trade with China to offset trade issues with the United States, with Burton cautioning that trusting the Chinese Communist Party has always "gone badly wrong."

SHOW  11-18-25 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR 1894 "THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION" THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT GAZA. FIRST HOUR 9-915 Liz Peek Liz Peek discusses the "AI bubble," noting the Magnificent Seven stocks are priced to perfection amidst concerns that massive investments may not yield adequate returns, observes that although the market is "risk off" the US economy seems "okay" according to data points, and expresses alarm about New York Mayor-Elect Mamdani, a socialist without management expertise who is surrounding himself with ideologues, including Hassan Sheheryar, his transition director, who is "clearly anti-Semitic" and anti-Israel, raising significant concerns for the city.E 915-930 CONTINUED 930-945 Judy Dempsey Judy Dempsey addresses the rising costs and future decline of the global cocoa crop, linking it to transcontinental climate change caused by Amazon deforestation, criticizes the EU and NATO for reacting too slowly and lacking strategic vision concerning the Ukraine war and defense, notes European military infrastructure is inadequate for rapid deployment forcing reliance on ships instead of trains, and observes that while the Russian threat is understood by most member states, political fumbling in Germany is allowing the anti-NATO, pro-Russia AfD party to gain significant ground. 945-1000 Gregory Copley Gregory Copley discusses the US military presence off Venezuela, noting President Trump seeks a negotiated outcome with Maduro to avoid long-term intervention, covers Mohammed bin Salman's influence in the Abraham Accords and the challenge posed by Turkey-backed Hamas, analyzes the symbolic rail sabotage in Poland questioning Russian involvement, and addresses the declining viability of NATO's Article 5 and the potential for King Charles III to intervene in UK political chaos. SECOND HOUR 10-1015 Charles Burton Charles Burton discusses his book, The Beaver and the Dragon, illustrating China's fundamental untrustworthiness and statistical manipulation, which has intensified under centralized leadership, noting Canada's past cooperation with China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) failed as officials often falsely reported data, and despite historical deception and security risks, there is a push in Canada to increase trade with China to offset trade issues with the United States, with Burton cautioning that trusting the Chinese Communist Party has always "gone badly wrong." 1015-1030 CONTINUED. 1030-1045 Jonathan Schanzer Jonathan Schanzer discusses Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), calling him a deeply flawed but essential leader driving Saudi modernization and normalization with Israel, with a "pathway to a Palestinian state" as the current diplomatic objective, emphasizing that resolving the Gaza situation and achieving broader peace hinges on eliminating Hamas, while the region faces long-term challenges from Iran and Turkey, the latter complicating Israel's security operations in chaotic Syria, with the UN endorsement of the Trump 20-point plan for Gaza reconstruction considered a landmark win. 1045-1100 CONTINUED CONTINUED KING CHARLES THIRD HOUR 1100-1115 Gregory Copley Gregory Copley discusses the US military presence off Venezuela, noting President Trump seeks a negotiated outcome with Maduro to avoid long-term intervention, covers Mohammed bin Salman's influence in the Abraham Accords and the challenge posed by Turkey-backed Hamas, analyzes the symbolic rail sabotage in Poland questioning Russian involvement, and addresses the declining viability of NATO's Article 5 and the potential for King Charles III to intervene in UK political chaos. 1115-1130 CONTINUED MBS 1130-1145 CONTINUED KING CHARLES 1145-1200 CONTINUED FOURTH HOUR 12-1215 Mary Kissel Mary Kissel addresses three foreign policy dilemmas: regarding Venezuela, the US military buildup is seen as leverage to force dialogue with Maduro following a successful playbook used against North Korea; in Europe, she notes a dichotomy between committed Eastern European states and "weaker lazier" Western powers regarding support for Ukraine; and the China dilemma involves whether to treat Beijing as a legitimate trading partner or an enemy narco-terrorist state responsible for exporting fentanyl precursors, with Kissel suggesting current US policy is confused and benefits the CCP. 1215-1230 1230-1245 oseph Sternberg Joseph Sternberg analyzes the BBC political bias scandal, which is significant because the BBC is "omnipresent" and arranges the "mental furniture for British society," noting the BBC, funded largely by a mandatory license fee, faced allegations ranging from deceptive editing of President Trump's remarks to the Arabic service pushing Hamas propaganda potentially fueling anti-Semitism, while domestically discussing the UK Labour Party's dilemma over controversial immigration policies to control illegal channel crossings, a crisis that has strengthened Nigel Farage's Reform party. 1245-100 AM