Economics

Escalating protests expose three fault lines on American campuses

Published

7 months ago

April 30, 2024

PRO-PALESTINIAN protests at American universities are escalating. In the early hours of April 30th more than 200 demonstrators at Columbia University barricaded Hamilton Hall, a building famously occupied by anti-war protesters in 1968. At the University of California, Los Angeles, scuffles erupted this week between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students. Police have arrested students in recent days at Virginia Tech, the University of Florida, Tulane University and elsewhere. The total number of campus arrests is now near 1,000, yet tented encampments—the signature motif of pro-Palestinian campus demonstrators—continue to bloom like spring flowers from coast to coast.

The blame game is also intensifying. University leaders are again in the firing line, accused by some of having brought the chaos on themselves by coddling student trespassers and allowing antisemitic speech to go unpunished. On April 29th 21 Democrats in the House of Representatives signed a letter to Columbia’s board demanding that it “act decisively” to disband the protest encampment there, arguing that its presence violated federal civil-rights law by creating an “impermissibly hostile and unsafe environment for Jewish students”. Yet teachers at Columbia and elsewhere are castigating their administrators for turning to the police. Student protests, they argue, should be handled as a teachable moment via negotiations and campus discourse.

Economics

What would Robert F. Kennedy junior mean for American health?

Published

8 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Business Finance News

AS IN MOST marriages of convenience, Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy junior make unusual bedfellows. One enjoys junk food, hates exercise and loves oil. The other talks of clean food, getting America moving again and wants to eliminate oils of all sorts (from seed oil to Mr Trump’s beloved “liquid gold”). One has called the covid-19 vaccine a “miracle”, the other is a long-term vaccine sceptic. Yet on November 14th Mr Trump announced that Mr Kennedy was his pick for secretary of health and human services (HHS).

Economics

What would Robert Kennedy junior mean for American health?

Published

12 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Business Finance News

Economics

UK economy ekes out 0.1% growth, below expectations

Published

13 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Business Finance News

Bank of England in the City of London on 6th November 2024 in London, United Kingdom. The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the primary central business district CBD of London. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City is also colloquially known as the Square Mile. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images

The U.K. economy expanded by 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics said Friday.

That was below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters who forecast 0.2% gross domestic product growth on the previous three months of the year.

It comes after inflation in the U.K. fell sharply to 1.7% in September, dipping below the Bank of England’s 2% target for the first time since April 2021. The fall in inflation helped pave the way for the central bank to cut rates by 25 basis points on Nov. 7, bringing its key rate to 4.75%.

The Bank of England said last week it expects the Labour Government’s tax-raising budget to boost GDP by 0.75 percentage points in a year’s time. Policymakers also noted that the government’s fiscal plan had led to an increase in their inflation forecasts.

The outcome of the recent U.S. election has fostered much uncertainty about the global economic impact of another term from President-elect Donald Trump. While Trump’s proposed tariffs are expected to be widely inflationary and hit the European economy hard, some analysts have said such measures could provide opportunities for the British economy.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey gave little away last week on the bank’s views of Trump’s tariff agenda, but he did reference risks around global fragmentation.

“Let’s wait and see where things get to. I’m not going to prejudge what might happen, what might not happen,” he told reporters during a press briefing.

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