Latest from Jo Critcher

• Feb 1, 2023

  India bets on a budget boost

  

  From the BBC World Service: We look at India’s finances as it tries to supercharge its manufacturing sector in a final budget before key elections. Plus, with the value of gold heading to new highs we hear from a mine in Scotland. And, why spending on players in England’s top soccer league continues to break records.

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• Jan 31, 2023

  Why Gen-Z is bringing back their parents’ digital cameras

  

  Young people have done it again — “it” being reviving an old piece of technology from the dead. This time, it’s old digital cameras that their parents likely used. We talked to David Little, head of the International Center of Photography, about the latest trend. Johnson & Johnson is seemingly deeper in legal trouble after a court rejected its bankruptcy filing amid lawsuits over its baby powder. And, on the third anniversary of Brexit, the BBC reports on the increasing pressure over the UK’s land border with Ireland, an EU member.

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• Jan 31, 2023

  Global growth outlook more optimistic for 2023, says IMF

  

  The global economy is projected to be low in the coming year but beat previous expectations, a fresh report from the International Monetary Fund says. Optimism about inflation, loosening supply chain backlogs, and the re-opening of China are all contributing to rosier predictions. A check-in with the so-called “resolution economy,” which revolves primarily around people wanting to improve themselves in the new year. And, the French tech company Thales has launched a credit card that talks as an aid for people with visual impairments. 

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• Jan 31, 2023

  Is there a Brexit dividend three years on?

  

  From the BBC World Service: Three years on what has Brexit meant for businesses in the U.K. and the European Union? Britain’s official exit from the E.U. and its single market on January the 31st, 2019 marked the biggest shake-up of the economy for decades. How have businesses responded and what impact has it had? Plus, negotiations continue over the U.K.’s one land border with the E.U., between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We hear about the complexities involved and the dual status enjoyed by businesses in Northern Ireland that can still operate within the E.U. single market.

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• Jan 30, 2023

  Nissan and Renault seemingly kiss and make up

  

  Nissan and Renault, two of the world’s largest automakers, announced that they are renewing their alliance after months of talks. The relationship previously deteriorated after a financial scandal involving past CEO-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn. The Federal Reserve faces a tough decision on how much it should raise interest rates at the bank’s next meeting. And, Ukraine has arguably been fighting two wars simultaneously — one against Russian invaders, and another against corruption at home. 

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• Jan 30, 2023

  Consumers are expecting lower inflation in the year ahead

  

  Consumer sentiment is on the up-and-up relative to the lows it’s been sitting at. According to the University of Michigan’s most recent Consumer Sentiment Index, people surveyed are now expecting inflation to fall below 4 percent in the coming year. The Fed, meanwhile, is still deciding what to do in its next rate-hiking cycle, as some prominent voices disagree about the scale of a potential increase. And, a check-in on the manufacturing sector with Julie Schertell, CEO of Georgia-based manufacturer Mativ.

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• Jan 30, 2023

  Ukraine’s war on corruption

  

  Representatives of different Ukrainian political parties and movements stage a protest outside the constitutional court building in Kiev on October 30, 2020. – Activists protested against the ruling of Ukraine’s constitutional court that blocked a number of anti-corruption laws including on free public access to officials’ declarations, a significant rollback of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

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• Jan 27, 2023

  Jerome Powell and co. gain ground on inflation

  

  The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, out this morning indicates that inflation tempered last month. FHN Financial Chief Economist Christopher Low helps us look behind the numbers. And, China’s holdings of developing countries’ debt is beginning to play into the wider U.S.-China relationship, says David Dollar of the Brookings Institution. 

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• Jan 27, 2023

  Why are there fewer scientific innovations nowadays?

  

  A new paper finds that the rate of scientific innovation has been on a steady decline, despite living in the most technologically advanced age in the history of humanity. According to co-author Russell Funk, a professor at the University of Minnesota, helps us understand what’s going on. This round of corporate layoffs could portend a larger slowdown in the labor market, which has remained hot. And, yesterday’s GDP numbers may be good on the surface, but there are some less-than-ideal signs deeper in the report. 

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• Jan 27, 2023

  European firms demand a response to U.S. green subsidies

  

  From the BBC World Service: In a special programme from Dresden in east Germany, we hear from one European green tech company – Solarwatt – who are calling for the EU to give the industry similar tax breaks and financial incentives to those introduced by President Biden in the U.S. We also talk to the semi-conductor manufacturer Global Foundries about how to keep the supply chain secure, amid concerns about China’s data collection. 

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