logo
ECB's Panetta Says Economic Outlook Faces ‘Substantial' Risks

ECB's Panetta Says Economic Outlook Faces ‘Substantial' Risks

Bloomberg18-06-2025
By and Alexander Weber
Save
The euro-zone's economic prospects face 'substantial' dangers that officials are struggling to assess, according to European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta.
President Donald Trump's tariffs, as well as the fighting in the Middle East, mean monetary policy is being conducted 'under conditions of heightened uncertainty,' the Bank of Italy governor said Wednesday in Milan.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Bessent says child savings accounts in Trump law are 'a back door for privatizing Social Security'
Bessent says child savings accounts in Trump law are 'a back door for privatizing Social Security'

Washington Post

timea few seconds ago

  • Washington Post

Bessent says child savings accounts in Trump law are 'a back door for privatizing Social Security'

WASHINGTON — The children's savings program included in President Donald Trump's tax break-and-spending cut law 'is a back door for privatizing Social Security,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday. Bessent's remark, which he made at a forum hosted by Breitbart News, was striking after Trump's repeated promises that he would not cut Social Security. Democrats quickly seized on the comment as a sign the GOP wants to revive a dormant but unpopular push to privatize the long-running retirement program. 'Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just said the quiet part out loud: The administration is scheming to privatize Social Security,' Tim Hogan, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. The White House did not immediately respond to a message about Bessent's remarks. The GOP's 'big, beautiful bill,' as the law is called, created a new children's savings program, Trump Accounts, which can be created for babies born in the U.S. and come with a potential $1,000 deposit from the Treasury. The accounts can grow over time, much the way college savings plans or other accounts do, and the accumulated funds can eventually be tapped in adulthood. But Bessent on Wednesday allowed for another option for the accounts. 'In a way, it is a back door for privatizing Social Security,' Bessent said while speaking about the program. Bessent's comments were striking for his casual revival of a polarizing issue. Ever since the George W. Bush administration considered proposals to privatize Social Security more than 20 years ago, Republicans have publicly moved away from talking about the issue that proved politically unpopular and was swiftly abandoned. Democrats at the time used GOP plans to privatize Social Security in the run-up to the 2006 midterm elections and won back control of both House and Senate in Congress. The Democrats warned Wednesday that Republicans are again trying to dismantle the long-running retirement program. 'It wasn't enough to kick millions of people off their health care and take food away from hungry kids. Trump is now coming after American seniors with a 'backdoor' scam to take away the benefits they earned,' Hogan at the DNC said in the statement. ___

ICE entices new recruits with patriotism pitch and promise of $50,000 signing bonuses
ICE entices new recruits with patriotism pitch and promise of $50,000 signing bonuses

Associated Press

timea few seconds ago

  • Associated Press

ICE entices new recruits with patriotism pitch and promise of $50,000 signing bonuses

WASHINGTON (AP) — The agency responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportations is launching a recruiting campaign to entice 'brave and heroic Americans' to serve as new deportation officers, lawyers and investigators as the government gears up for a major expansion of immigration enforcement thanks to a recent infusion of money from Congress. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign, which rolled out late Tuesday, recalls recruiting posters from World War II with images of Uncle Sam and the words 'AMERICA NEEDS YOU.' There also are photos of Trump and top homeland security officials with the words 'DEFEND THE HOMELAND' across the images. 'Your country is calling you to serve at ICE,' said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a news release. 'This is a defining moment in our nation's history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.' In addition to appealing to prospective applicants' patriotic fervor, Homeland Security is making a pocketbook pitch. The agency is promising up to $50,000 in signing bonuses, the potential for lots of overtime for deportation officers and other benefits such as loan repayment or forgiveness options. Lots of money is coming to ICE All of this is made possible by a big infusion of money to ICE. The package of tax breaks and spending cuts that Trump signed into law this month includes about $170 billion for border security and immigration enforcement, spread out over five years. ICE is set to get $76.5 billion, nearly 10 times its current annual budget. Some $45 billion will go toward increasing detention capacity. Nearly $30 billion is for hiring 10,000 more staff so the agency can meet its goal of 1 million annual deportations. New hires include deportation officers responsible for tracking down, arresting and removing people who the administration determines no longer have the right to remain in the United States. Under the Republican president, those officers are high-profile roles, making arrests at immigration courts, in the streets and at businesses. They often are criticized by immigration activists and Democratic lawmakers for wearing masks while carrying out their duties. On the recruitment webpage, the link to learn more about applying to be a deportation officer shows a photo of an armored vehicle rolling down a street with officers in military gear hanging onto the sides of the vehicle. The government is also seeking criminal investigators and lawyers who will prosecute immigration cases. The agency said it will advertise at college campuses, job fairs and law enforcement networks, starting this week. But the recruiting drive has raised concerns about what happens if the agency grows too fast. Staffing is a long-standing challenge ICE staffing has long been an issue, said Jason Houser, a former agency chief of staff during the Biden administration. At the beginning of the Trump administration there were roughly 6,000 officers within ICE tasked with monitoring noncitizens in the country, then finding and removing those not eligible to stay. Those staffing numbers remained largely static over the years even as the caseload ballooned. During the Biden administration, when the number of people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border skyrocketed, ICE workers were often pulled from their regular duties to go to the border. 'ICE does need more employees to handle the volume of what they're handling,' Houser said. But he is concerned about whether the rush to increase staffing could mean lower standards for recruits and training. The Border Patrol's rapid expansion during the early 2000s serves as a cautionary tale. To meet hiring goals, hiring and training standards were changed. Arrests for employee misconduct rose. 'If they start waiving requirements there like they did for Border Patrol, you're going have an exponential increase in officers that are shown the door after three years because there's some issue,' he said. At the same time, Houser noted the Department of Homeland Security has dismantled some of the key agencies that have provided some level of oversight over ICE and other DHS arms. Houser estimated it would take three years to four years to actually hire and train that number of new ICE staffers. In the meantime, he worries that ICE will rely on private contractors, National Guard troops and other federal law enforcement officers to meet the administration's goal of 3,000 arrests a day.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store