Russia is poised to default on its foreign debt for the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, further alienating the country from the global financial system following sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine. The country faces a Sunday night deadline to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments originally due May 27. … Read more
Medicare’s prescription-drug program could save billions of dollars annually if it purchased generic acid-reflux, cancer and other drugs from a new pharmacy backed by investor Mark Cubanaccording to Harvard Medical School researchers. Mr. Cuban, the billionaire internet entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, launched his pharmacy in January with an eye toward disrupting … Read more
Energy bills are soaring. A cost of living crisis threatens millions of households. The government’s coffers are still depleted from Covid-19 lockdowns. The Ukraine war and the fallout from Brexit are piling even more pressure on public finances. Against such a backdrop, few jobs are more important than making sure that the government actually spends … Read more
Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon professor of government at Harvard University Is the US economy headed for a hard landing? US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell says no. At the Federal Open Market Committee’s 4 May press conference, he insisted that the Fed will manage a “softish” landing. To the contrary, former Treasury Secretary … Read more
“It feels a little bit like on variety TV shows years ago. You had those people who spin plates, and they’d go round and by the time the first one has stopped spinning, you’ve got to go back to the start and do it again. It does feel a little bit like that. ” The … Read more
Sir Vince Cable was shadow Chancellor from 2003 to 2010, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills from 2010 to 2015, and leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. It is now 15 years since the first tremors were felt. They became a financial earthquake that humbled – and almost destroyed – … Read more