Want to destroy American business? Protect it, writes Carl Benedikt Frey
By Invitation | American business and trade Illustration: Dan Williams
D ONALD TRUMP insists that tariffs will bring back jobs and revitalise American industry, and that short-term pain would be worth it for long-term gain. Yet history suggests they are more likely to steepen America's slide into stagnation.
It is time to think beyond regional success, says Yannis Stournaras
Investment in supporting democracy in its neighbourhood and beyond is not charity. It serves strategic interests
But the country must also modernise monetary policy, rewire banking and reconnect with global markets, argues Abdulkader Husrieh
One version of thought control is being replaced with another that is worse, argues Richard Hanania
Russia is less visible, the Gulf more so, and America and China are rethinking their traditional roles
Two human-rights barristers on how to address systemic abuse by authoritarian states
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Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Most Gulf bourses trade lower as tariff tensions continue to weigh
June 2 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf were trading lower early on Monday as U.S.-China trade tensions continue to weigh on sentiment, with U.S. President Donald Trump accusing China of violating a bilateral deal on tariff roll back. Investor sentiment rattled on Trump's plans on doubling worldwide steel and aluminium tariffs to 50%, adding to the unpredictability of global trade tensions. The heightened tariffs are set to go into effect this week. S&P 500 futures eased 0.5% and Nasdaq futures lost 0.6%. GLOB/MKTS Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded by more than $1 a barrel after OPEC+ increased output in July by the same amount as it did in the previous two months. This came as a relief to investors who were expecting a larger increase. The group decided to raise output by 411,000 barrels per day in July. Brent crude futures was up 2.33% to $64.24 a barrel, as of 0626 GMT. Analysts, however, said that low levels of fuel inventories in the U.S. have stoked supply concerns ahead of expectations for an above-avaerage hurricane season. Markets in the UAE were subdued, with Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), opens new tab down 0.17% in early trade and Abu Dhabi's benchmark index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab falling 0.21%. The Abu Dhabi index is set for a second staright session of losses. In Dubai, utility services provider Dubai electricity and Water Authority ( opens new tab was the top loser, down 1.47%. The banking sector also faced losses, with Ajman Bank ( opens new tab down 1.33% and Emirates NBD ( opens new tab trading 1.12% lower. Bucking the trend, Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI), opens new tab was up 0.44%. Saudi Print and Packaging Company ( opens new tab was the top gainer on the index, up 5.66%. Qatar's benchmark stock index (.QSI), opens new tab was down 0.56% in early trade, with Dukhan Bank ( opens new tab down 0.71% and Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan ( opens new tab declining 0.62%.
Telegraph
41 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Britain should ditch ‘distorting' stamp duty, says Reagan's economic tsar
Britain should ditch 'distorting' stamp duty charges that 'lock people in their homes', Arthur Laffer has urged. The economist behind the Laffer curve said property transaction taxes are such a big problem in the national tax system that the UK would be better off with an American-style annual property wealth tax. Mr Laffer, who has served as adviser to both former president Ronald Reagan and president Donald Trump, told The Telegraph that the UK would be better off if homeowners paid annual property taxes as they do in the US instead of stamp duty. He said: 'The [annual] property taxes in Britain are low, but the transaction tax is very high. The US is the reverse. We have property taxes everywhere, which is a wealth tax, and we don't have transaction taxes on houses. 'All property taxes do in Britain is lock people into their homes that they can't get out. It just distorts the whole tax system in Britain, it's just awful. 'It is one of the very biggest problems in Britain's tax system.' Mr Laffer is most famous for conceiving the Laffer Curve, an illustration of the concept that increasing tax rates can eventually lead to lower revenue because the higher taxes trigger so much behavioural change. Stamp duty is widely hated by economists and consumers alike because it makes it increasingly difficult to move home and makes the housing market inefficient – which in turn takes a toll on productivity. In America, by contrast, homeowners do not pay large taxes when they purchase their homes but instead pay an annual tax based on a percentage of their property's value. Mr Laffer said: 'Income tax is a problem in Britain, but these transaction taxes are big stuff too.' Stamp duty is taxed in bands that are not adjusted to account for house price growth, meaning homeowners get dragged into higher tax brackets as house prices rise. Since the tax bands were last adjusted in 2014, the average London house price has climbed by 30pc. Over the same time period, the stamp duty bill on the average home in the capital has surged by 54pc. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast in March that the Treasury's tax take from property transactions will nearly double from £15bn in 2024-25 to £26.5bn in 2029-30. Trump's tax cuts will 'save us from a disaster' Mr Laffer was an adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and says he has met with the US president several times since he took office earlier this year. He said he has told the Mr Trump that he should scrap US corporation tax on profits and replace it with a value added tax on sales. Although Mr Laffer is i n favour of Mr Trump's tax bill, he said the president should go further with measures to boost the economy. The biggest measure in the bill will be an extension to the tax cuts that Mr Trump introduced in 2017 and are due to expire this year. Mr Laffer said: 'I know they talk about it as being a tax cut. It's not. It's just making Trump's tax cuts permanent. 'If it were not passed, there would be a huge increase in taxes across the board, which would be very detrimental. The bill going through the Senate right now does not create something wonderful but it saves us from a disaster.' Mr Laffer said that America should establish a free trade agreement with the UK, and that Ireland should leave the EU to become part of the trading bloc too. 'You're gonna hate me for this, but I think it should be with Ireland too. I think they should get out of the EU and should become part of the sort of the US/ UK/Ireland group. I think that would be a terrific free trade group.'
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
European shares start lower after Trump's fresh tariff threats
June 2 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Monday, after rounding off monthly gains in May, as U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff plans threatened to rekindle global trade tensions. The continent-wide STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab was down 0.2% as of 0708 GMT. Late on Friday, Trump said he planned to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, to which the European Union said it was prepared to retaliate. Steel companies in Europe fell, with ArcelorMittal down 1% and conglomerate Thyssenkrupp ( opens new tab down 1.1%. The tariffs, which can impact automobiles, weighed on stocks of carmakers, with the sector (.SXAP), opens new tab down 1.2%. Meanwhile, Sanofi ( opens new tab agreed to buy U.S.-based Blueprint Medicines Corporation (BPMC.O), opens new tab, paying $129 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $9.1 billion. Shares in the French pharma group were slightly lower. This week, the spotlight will be on the European Central Bank, which will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday. Comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and ECB President Christine Lagarde will be on tap, alongside a slew of economic data out of the trade bloc.
