Economics

A private company will send your ashes to the moon

Published

12 months ago

April 1, 2024

Business Finance News

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Have you ever thought about what you want done with your body when you die? Many Americans opt for the traditional graveyard burial, others donate themselves to science. But if those don’t sound like the posthumous experience you are looking for, a Houston-based firm has something different on offer. For just $13,000—or a subscription fee of $99 per month until you pay it off—Celestis Memorial Spaceflights will send your cremated ashes to the moon.

If you choose to fly to space in an aluminium capsule the size of a lipstick tube you will be in good company. Celestis’s pioneer flight in 1997 carried the remains of Star Trek’s screenwriter, a German rocket engineer, a Princeton University professor, a restaurateur and a Japanese boy. In the quarter-century since, the firm has sent 2,300 capsules into orbit. It has no doubt been helped by a huge increase in the share of Americans getting cremated, from 21% in the mid-1990s to 61% today.

For some the prospect is life-changing. Don McInnis, a disabled man living in Nova Scotia who has never held a job, is only in his 50s but has already paid off 20% of his flight. He has dreamed of exploring space since he was six years old but his family always told him he wouldn’t amount to much. “Because I’m disabled NASA wouldn’t take me as an astronaut, so this might be my one crack at getting into space,” he says. He plans to go on the Voyager Mission, on which he hopes to perpetually circle the sun.

But if the Navajo Nation has its way many like Mr McInnis will remain earthbound. In January tribal leaders met with the Biden administration to try to stop Celestis from sending ashes to space. To them the moon is sacred and death a taboo. They bury their dead within days, discard their belongings and never visit grave sites. If the moon becomes a full-on cemetery they will have to stop performing some traditional prayer ceremonies. “It’s illegal to dump in the Grand Canyon,” says Justin Ahasteen, the head of the Navajo Washington office, “why can’t that be the US policy for space?”

To their relief the latest moon-bound rocket burned up over the Pacific in February, with 70 capsules aboard. But since approval for commercial flights is not contingent on passing a religious test there will be more—Celestis’s next moon flight is set for 2025. Charles Chafer, the firm’s founder, considers the native plea absurd. “In 50 years when there are 1,000 people living on the moon, somebody’s gonna die and you can’t say we can’t dispose of this person because there’s an earthbound Native American tribe that doesn’t want us to,” he says. His three pups have been to space and back and he plans to follow them. When the time comes he has one simple request: “Fly me until there is no more of me.”■

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Economics

Euro zone inflation, March 2025

Published

6 hours ago

April 1, 2025

Business Finance News

A man pushes his shopping cart filled with food shopping and walks in front of an aisle of canned vegetables with “Down price” labels in an Auchan supermarket in Guilherand Granges, France, March 8, 2025.

Nicolas Guyonnet | Afp | Getty Images

Annual Euro zone inflation dipped as expected to 2.2% in March, according to flash data from statistics agency Eurostat published Tuesday.

The Tuesday print sits just below the 2.3% final reading of February.

So called core-inflation, which excludes more volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices, edged lower to 2.4% in March from 2.6% in February. The closely watched services inflation print, which had long been sticky around the 4% mark, also fell to 3.4% in March from 3.7% in the preceding month.

Recent preliminary data had showed that March inflation came in lower than forecast in several major euro zone economies. Last month’s inflation hit 2.3% in Germany and fell to 2.2% in Spain, while staying unchanged at 0.9% in France.

The figures, which are harmonized across the euro area for comparability, boosted expectations for a further 25-basis-point interest rate cut from the European Central Bank during its upcoming meeting on April 17. Markets were pricing in an around 76% chance of such a reduction ahead of the release of the euro zone inflation data on Tuesday, according to LSEG data.

The European Union is set to be slapped with tariffs due in effect later this week from the U.S. administration of Donald Trump — including a 25% levy on imported cars.

While the exact impact of the tariffs and retaliatory measures remains uncertain, many economists have warned for months that their effect could be inflationary.

This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates.

Economics

Will Elon Musk’s cash splash pay off in Wisconsin?

Published

23 hours ago

March 31, 2025

Business Finance News

TO GET A sense of what the Republican Party thinks of the electoral value of Elon Musk, listen to what Brad Schimel, a conservative candidate for the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, has to say about the billionaire. At an event on March 29th at an airsoft range (a more serious version of paintball) just outside Kenosha, five speakers, including Mr Schimel, spoke for over an hour about the importance of the election to the Republican cause. Mr Musk’s political action committees (PACs) have poured over $20m into the race, far more than any other donor’s. But over the course of the event, his name came up precisely zero times.

Economics

German inflation, March 2025

Published

1 day ago

March 31, 2025

Business Finance News

Customers shop for fresh fruits and vegetables in a supermarket in Munich, Germany, on March 8, 2025.

Michael Nguyen | Nurphoto | Getty Images

German inflation came in at a lower-than-expected 2.3% in March, preliminary data from the country’s statistics office Destatis showed Monday.

It compares to February’s 2.6% print, which was revised lower from a preliminary reading, and a poll of Reuters economists who had been expecting inflation to come in at 2.4% The print is harmonized across the euro area for comparability.

On a monthly basis, harmonized inflation rose 0.4%. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, came in at 2.5%, below February’s 2.7% reading.

Meanwhile services inflation, which had long been sticky, also eased to 3.4% in March, from 3.8% in the previous month.

The data comes at a critical time for the German economy as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs loom and fiscal and economic policy shifts at home could be imminent.

Trade is a key pillar for the German economy, making it more vulnerable to the uncertainty and quickly changing developments currently dominating global trade policy. A slew of levies from the U.S. are set to come into force this week, including 25% tariffs on imported cars — a sector that is key to Germany’s economy. The country’s political leaders and car industry heavyweights have slammed Trump’s plans.

Meanwhile Germany’s political parties are working to establish a new coalition government following the results of the February 2025 federal election. Negotiations are underway between the Christian Democratic Union, alongside its sister party the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democratic Union.

While various points of contention appear to remain between the parties, their talks have already yielded some results. Earlier this month, Germany’s lawmakers voted in favor of a major fiscal package, which included amendments to long-standing debt rules to allow for higher defense spending and a 500-billion-euro ($541 billion) infrastructure fund.

This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates.