Latest news with #ScottBenson
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Be ready' to live in 'tariff world' for years: Fmr. trade diplomat
President Trump delayed his "Liberation Day" tariff pause deadline until August 1, allowing more time for the US to make trade deals. Asia Society Policy Institute vice president Wendy Cutler, who is also a former diplomat and negotiator for the Office of the US Trade Representative, joins Market Catalysts to share her expert analysis of the ongoing trade talks. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. as the president has ramped up deal making pressure on US trading partners in recent days. He said his August 1st deadline would not be extended. Joining us now, Wendy Cutler, Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute. She spent nearly three decades shaping US policy within the office of the US Trade Representative, and also with us for the morning reminder, Kevin Gordon, Director and Senior Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab. Um, Wendy, so we've got this latest tactic of the administration. The Wall Street Journal reporting this morning that part of the reason the administration pushed things back to August 1st was because Treasury Secretary Scott Beson had asked the president for more time. He said he was making some progress on these frameworks and that he needed a little extra time. What do you make of what we've seen so far in terms of some of these agreements between the US and other countries? Well, clearly, we haven't seen 90 deals in 90 days. The 90-day period now is up. There are two deals that have been announced, one with the UK and one with Vietnam. And even with Vietnam, it seems that we're still negotiating with them on many of the important details. Um, look, as a former trade negotiator, the minute I heard about their objectives here, I just thought they were totally unrealistic. Trade negotiations take time. And the notion you're going to be simultaneously negotiating with dozens of countries just really limits the bandwidth of, um, of the negotiating teams. And so, yeah, I think more time is needed. And, you know, August 1 now is the next deadline. And even though the president is saying there'll be no more further extensions, I think our trading partners are beginning to realize that this may go on and on and on. When I mean from a from a non-professional trade negotiators seat here, it feels like the administration is content in many cases to just get sort of headlines, right, that they've agreed upon the very broadest outlines for these deals. What then is the risk that they get the outline and then as the negotiations go on to figure out those details that they're not entirely favorable to the US? Well, I think the risk is going to be, as you have all these follow-on negotiations to hammer out details and important details, that we're going to see more bumps in the road and probably more tariff threats, because I don't think these follow-on negotiations are going to go smoothly either. And so what I keep telling people is we need just to be ready for living in a tariff world for the next three and a half years. And when you add on to that the the rollout now of these sectoral tariffs, starting with copper, but there's there's six other active section 232 investigations where other tariffs can be announced and rolled out, um, this is going to make these follow-on negotiations even more difficult.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US dollar falls, stock futures drift, as trade uncertainty reignites
US stock futures (ES=F, NQ=F, YM=F) and the US dollar (DX=F) inch lower ahead of the July 9 expiration of Trump's tariff pause, as the US government signals another possible delay. President Trump also threatened new tariffs Morning Brief: Market Sunrise Host Ramzan Karmali breaks down the latest from Yahoo Finance's London studio. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief: Market Sunrise here. Well, let's have a look at what's moving markets. Well, stocks edged downwards and the dollar drifted near multi-year lows this Monday. Why? Well, US officials flagged a delay on tariffs, but failed to provide specifics. Washington says it is close to finalizing trade agreements in the coming days. Now, Scott Benson, he's the Treasury Secretary, said that by noon today letters will be sent out to countries where no deal is in the offering. Those trading partners, by August the 1st will be put on the original levies announced back in April on President Trump's liberation day, or as Best put it, they'll be hit by a boomerang. Well, with just two deals done, many analysts thought the deadline date would be pushed out. Dozens of countries, including top US allies, such as the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, have been left in limbo and face the renewed risk of high tariffs. And as I mentioned earlier, the extra 10% levy threat to those bricks nations, well, China has come out and said once again that there are no winners in a trade war. Now, President Trump though insists that most countries will be done by July 9th, whether that's a letter or a deal. Now, since President Trump paused the high levies, well, stock markets have rebounded strongly, while the bond markets have stabilized. Now, don't forget, the markets hit a record high last week, partly due to the strong jobs data released last Thursday, but also perhaps in response to getting the big beautiful bill over the line before the president's self-imposed July 4th deadline. Well, this morning, it's fair to say that the market reaction, although negative generally globally, has been pretty muted. It could be argued that this latest tariff twist shows that investors are becoming more attuned to the cycle of dramatic lurches in US trade policy under the Trump administration. Gold prices did slip, but it's worth remembering that they did gain almost 2% last week. However, safe haven bonds were better bid. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped by two basis points, for example. But the possibility of a rapid return to exceedingly high tariffs on many countries may reignite investor concerns, and the recent stock market rally and bond market stability could once again be under threat. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Starling Physicians Celebrates 30 Top Doctors from Connecticut Magazine
ROCKY HILL, Conn., May 22, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thirty doctors from Starling Physicians have been named Top Doctors by Connecticut Magazine in 2025. Being named to this list is a testament to their dedication, compassion and commitment to providing the highest standard of patient care. The highlighted physicians were chosen by their peers and recognized as the best in their fields as part of the national Castle Connolly annual survey for doctors. One physician was also listed as a Rising Star in the May issue. "We are delighted to celebrate our outstanding physicians who have been named Top Doctors," said Sarit Patel, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Starling Physicians. "This honor reflects their unwavering commitment to patient care, clinical excellence and lifelong learning. We are proud and humbled to have each of them on our team as we strive to offer the best possible care to patients in our communities." Congratulations to Starling Physicians Top Doctors (in alphabetical order): Scott Benson, DO, Nephrology Matthew Carley, MD, Nephrology Raphael M. Cooper, MD, Urology Renee Cortland, MD, MSCP, Obstetrics & Gynecology Stephen I. Firshein, MD, Medical Oncology Jessica M. Gjede, MD, Dermatology Vishal Kochar, MD, Family Medicine Jeffrey Laut, MD, Nephrology Lawrence Z. Lazor, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology Tracy Levine, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology John R. McArdle, MD, Pulmonary Disease George A. Melnik, MD, Otolaryngology Kenneth A. Merkatz, MD, FACC, Cardiovascular Disease Christopher W. Norwood, MD, Dermatology Robert M. Oberstein, MD, FACE, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Terrence F. Oder, MD, ABIHM, Nephrology Sarit M. Patel, MD, Ophthalmology Mark D. Pennington, MD, Dermatology Joshua L. Rock, DO, Cardiovascular Disease John H. Russomanno, MD, Pulmonary Disease Thomas J. Savinelli, MD, Internal Medicine Eric T. Shore, MD, Pulmonary Disease Joseph Singh, MD, Nephrology David E. Sowa, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology Alan L. Stern, MD, Ophthalmology Kory A. Tray, MD, Nephrology Joseph M. Tremaglio, MD, Nephrology Alfred A. Vichot, MD, FACP, Nephrology Kevin W. Watson, MD, FCCP, ABSM, Pulmonary Disease Jonathan Winkler, MD, Cardiovascular Disease Congratulations to the Rising Star from Starling Physicians Jessica Lovesky, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology About Starling Physicians Starling Physicians is Connecticut's physician-led multispecialty group, delivering the highest quality medical care to people of all ages. Starling Physicians works as a unified team to deliver personalized treatment with compassion and skill, resulting in better outcomes and a more enjoyable healthcare experience. Starling Physicians practice healthcare the way it should be -where patients and doctors form enduring relationships. To learn more visit, View source version on Contacts Media Contact: media@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
In Full: Greek Finance Minister on Trade, Loans, Economy
00:00 So listen, we just had the press conference from Geneva, from the Swiss. We have this sort of reprieve on the trade deal with the United States and China sitting here in Brussels, sitting in Athens. What does that tell you about what the United States is trying to achieve? And do you think that puts us closer towards some kind of resolution with the United States? First of all, it's great to be with you. I think that the news are positive. It's a positive development. The one that we are seeing. Obviously, we will have to study the details of any agreement as we plan to do in the Eurogroup and the ECOFIN meetings with my colleagues at the EU Council. But overall, our position as Greece, you know, we're a member State of the European Union that believes in free trade, in a union that believes in free trade. We hope to lower the temperature in the room, and any such deal, any such development is already reflected in the markets is quite positive. And in terms of kind of what we because we also heard from Scott Benson saying that the EU has fallen further back in the line in that press conference. He says that the UK jumped to the front. The Swiss are doing well. What is your sense of how close the Europeans are to actually reaching a deal with the United States, that their task is made more difficult obviously by the fact that there are 27 member states. Do you think that that puts us at a disadvantage, as here in Europe, in terms of negotiating an actual outcome? I had the chance to meet with Scott Benson in Washington in the context of the IMF spring meetings. And my message to my American colleague was the fact that we hope to move quite fast, quite swiftly, vis a vis achieving a very positive trade deal. The position of my Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was ideally we should have a020 tariff relationship with the United States. As I said, we hope to lower the temperature in the room. I think it's feasible. We are a 27 member State union, as you suggested, but I think that we can move quite fast. And given what we saw from the U.K., you still have those 10% tariff barriers there. Does that give you an idea of kind of what you can hope for from a deal with the United States? Because zero zero seems fairly unlikely at this stage. Well, look, we're going to shoot for the best. We're hoping to achieve the best. Generally speaking, we should try to remove trade barriers. But if you look at the EU budget, by the way, of the section of the EU budget, I think it's around 13.7% of the EU budget already comes from tariffs as we speak. It's part of the overall EU trade architecture. But hopefully, you know ideologically what we believe as Europeans should be to eliminate those trade barriers. Plus we should be trying to remove the internal barriers that we already have within the European Union. Draghi Report the latter report, and this is part of an overall discussion of an overall new architecture that we should aim to strive for. And one of the features of the trade war has also been extremely heightened market volatility that we've seen throughout the world. I remember a time that when you had that market volatility, you had German and Greek yields moving in the opposite directions. They have been moving in lockstep. We've seen basically, you know, that story being sort of haven assets within Europe. What do you think the opportunity is from the sort of U.S. policy in terms of attracting capital here into Europe, attracting talent? How does your capitalize on kind of some of the uncertainty we've seen? And it's funny that you mentioned that volatility, because in the past, my country used to play a role in this discussion that we created that volatility. And now we're a stability story 15 years later after after the last decade plus. To add to your point, you know, we discussed that uncertainty is a much bigger problem. So the both the premium of those discussions of those trade deals that we're seeing on the ground right now on behalf of the United States with China, with the United Kingdom, with us as a next step is to remove that uncertainty from the table in order to have know positive a positive growth dividend in this debate. Is it an opportunity for Europe? Yes, we should. We should always view crisis as opportunities. If you look at European history, by the way, in every move of European integration, you had the crisis that catalyzed that integration, which we then metabolized as a positive institutional reform move. We should be able to do the same. The banking union, the savings and investment union, the Capital Markets union, all of those things that we have been discussing, as you very well know, for quite some time. It's a topic, again, of discussion at the Eurogroup meetings, at the ECOFIN meetings. It's an opportunity and we should grasp it. And when you think about that integration kind of concretely, because again, as you know, we've been talking about the Capital Markets Union for a decade at least, and now we have some renewed urgency. But I'd like to get a sort of an idea from when do you think we can make meaningful progress on this? And where do you sort of stand and where do you think the sort of hurdles are the hurdles to that? We have to negotiate the full spectrum of things with details of, you know, member states sensitivities and all of those discussions. But again, a crisis can help us, regardless of is a very moving those sensitivities vis a vis removing those hurdles. I think that there's a real opportunity on the table and we plan to be very constructive with regards to achieving a very positive result. And I also want to get your your take on some of the domestic issues going on within Greece. You are now rescheduling, you're paying ahead of schedule a lot of your first bailout debt. Is that something that we can expect more of? When do you think the first bailout can be completely behind you? Are we expecting that to come ahead of time? We should be completely behind this by 2031. This is ten years ahead of schedule, as we have been discussing, both domestically and internationally. For us, for my generation, for my government, fiscal prudence is not a policy choice. Fiscal prudence is a regime. You know, after having a very difficult decade, the last decade, we lost one. Four points of GDP. Right now, we're growing ahead. Much higher than the EU average, 2.3% growth. We had the headline surplus. Six countries in the EU had the headline surplus. We were one of the six and we plan to continue de-escalating our debt. We don't plan to pass the bill to the next generation as all the previous generations in Greece did. And in this context, we hope to create positive tailwinds, even if we see negative headwinds in the international economy. And part of the kind of contributor to that surplus that you had, that a surprise surplus that you had last year ahead of that is quite ahead of what anybody had anticipated was a drive to basically deal with tax evasion to collect taxes. Again, is this something that we can expect more of going forward? And what is it going to mean, budgetary? Do you expect more surpluses in the future? And how big do you have an idea of how big that shadow economy is and how much revenue could be there for you? The first point would be that the expectation for the next primary budget surplus for next year for this year is 3.2%. So overall, we hope to achieve primary budget surpluses in all future scenarios. Second, if you look at studies that were conducted on behalf of the IMF in the previous years, the shadow economy was calculated to be in the ballpark figure of 30%. In the past it was even 40%. In the last IMF study that calculated the shadow economy in Greece, the number was 15%, and right now it's even lower. We plan to lower it further, using digital technologies to capture tax evasion. We managed to do that and achieve the budget surplus that you mentioned before. We had a VAT gap. We have a value added tax in Greece. Half of that VAT gap is already captured by our smartly shaped policies. We hope to do more. Overall, I would say digitization is a success story for Greece. If you look at our government platform that year, it has more than 2000 services offered digitally. And I've talked to a lot of finance ministers over the last couple of months. And as you can imagine, the focus has been on trade. I just want to return to that just for a moment. Do you have an idea? Do you have your arms around how damaging this could be to the trade war is to the Greek economy, or is it still too early to say? Because every finance minister I spoke to in the last few months said that basically it's incalculable. Now, do you have an idea of what the damage to the Greek economy could be? I adhere to the position that is extremely difficult to calculate the effects, the primary level of effects in Greece, if you look at them, they are limited. We have less than 5% of our exports. 4.8% of our exports go to the United States. It's less than 1% of our GDP for trade. But that's a huge flow for trade. We're a maritime nation, It's a huge flow for trade. We're primarily worried about the second order effects. What would happen, for instance, if the American economy moves into a recession or even to the inflationary environment? What happens if you have a recession in certain European markets, which they directly interact with the Greek economy? All of those things worry us. So this is why we believe that we should remove as much as we can the heat from the room. And one of the topics that you'll be discussing today will be no doubt the defense plans within Europe in terms of dealing in Greece is one of these sort of higher spending nations in terms of GDP, in the NATO commitment above 3%. You know, the Trump administration would like to see 5%. Do you think that we need to get to a world where we're closer to 5% rather than 2%? And is there an avenue to get there without European joint debt? And where do you sort of appraise the debate on the question of joint debt for defense in Europe? I would say, first of all, that for us, defense spending was not a policy choice. For us, it was geographic destiny. It was one of the things that we had to focus on and invest on many generations before. And we're hoping to do it better in the future with more spillover effects on the economy. There were certain Bloomberg reports in the past, which underlined that Greece was not spending the defense amounts in the maximum spillover effects capability that it could. We hope to do more of this. For us, that would be a growth dividend. But overall, the treatment of defense spending as it currently takes place in the context of the EU Council, I think it's positive we should have some exemptions vis a vis the new fiscal rules of the European Union and the current geopolitical environment mandates those exemptions. And you know, we pay their fair share even before more EU member states should be able to do that. Germany is now doing that. I think that we should have those degrees of flexibility with regards to achieving this. And it's a sort of final question on trade. This is another question that I think is a very big one, a difficult one to answer when we look at the trade barriers that were erected between China and the United States, the big concern is that all of that overcapacity flows to rich markets. There really is only one that rivals the United States. That is a European Union. How do you treat some of that oversupply coming from China, potentially coming into the European market? And what we're seeing from the United States, rewriting this trade order? What have we learned about how trade deals should be structured and potentially differently in the future to protect, you know, sovereign industry? We don't yet know. There is lots of uncertainty. There is lots of uncertainty on the table right now in all of those discussions. We don't yet know if we're going to be in a zero in a limited or in a high state of environment, you know, the world that we're going to be at in 90 days, 100 days from now will directly affect the answer to your question. But what we do know is that tariffs are going to directly affect supply chains. If we look at what's happened in the past, think the 1930s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in the United States this. Had a very adverse effect for the global economy. We should do our best with regards to trying to avoid that at all costs. And this is what we plan to do at the Eurogroup in the vehicle for meetings.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Detroit Public Library to host free estate planning workshops at local branches
The Detroit Public Library is hosting free estate planning workshops throughout the spring and summer for Detroiters who need help ensuring their homes get passed down to the next generation. The workshops, which kick off May 17, cover estate planning tools such as wills, deeds and trust agreements. Attendees can also connect with an attorney to draft and execute documents. The push to educate Detroiters on estate planning is key because as many as 5,525 intergenerational properties in Detroit — worth more than $268 million — had unclear ownership, according to a 2024 analysis from the think tank Detroit Future City, which emphasized the importance of estate planning. Title problems can hurt Detroiters' financial well being, barring them from getting into assistance programs and building generational wealth through their homes. Detroit City Council Member Scott Benson is leading the effort. He chairs the city's Wealth Generation Task Force, which identified a lack of estate planning among Detroiters that undermines Black families' ability to build wealth, according to a news release. More: Home title problems leave some Detroit families who need debt help in tough spot The Detroit Future City report cautioned that homes that haven't gone through estate planning are at risk of becoming "heirs' property." That situation arises when a person dies and leaves behind a property without formal legal documents, like a will, to prove who owns it. Researchers found thousands of such properties, worth tens of millions of dollars, and pointed to education and outreach around wills and estate planning as one solution to prevent future heirs' properties. "The Detroit Public Library is pleased to facilitate these free informational workshops on estate planning to help people make important decisions about what will happen to their homes and other assets after they're gone. An estate plan is a gift that makes things easier for the loved ones left behind," said Margaret Bruni, director for public services at the Detroit Public Library, in a news release. The Detroit Public Library is partnering with the city of Detroit and the Elder Law & Advocacy Center, a division of the nonprofit Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan. The programming is an extension of free estate planning and legal services that began last year with funding from the city's share of American Rescue Plan Act dollars and the Gilbert Family Foundation. Here are where and when the workshops will take place: Main Library: 5201 Woodward Ave., 2 p.m., May 17 Chase Branch: 17731 West Seven Mile Road, 6 p.m., May 20 Jefferson Branch: 12350 E. Outer Drive, 5:30 p.m., May 21 Conely Branch: 4600 Martin St., 6 p.m. May 29 Jefferson Branch: 12350 E. Outer Drive, 3 p.m., June 6 Hubbard Branch: 12929 W. McNichols Road, 6 p.m., June 9 Lincoln Branch: 1221 E. 7 Mile Road, 2 p.m., June 10 Wilder Branch: 7140 E. 7 Mile Road, 4 p.m., June 17 Franklin Branch: 13651 E. McNichols Road, 6 p.m., June 24 Chandler Park Branch: 12800 Harper Ave., 4 p.m., June 25 Edison Branch: 18400 Joy Road, 4 p.m., July 2 Bowen Branch: 3648 Vernor Hwy., 6 p.m., July 8 Knapp Branch: 13330 Conant, 6 p.m., July 15 Redford Branch: 21200 Grand River Ave., 6 p.m., July 21 Elmwood Park Branch: 550 Chene St., 5 p.m., July. 22 Duffield Branch: 2507 W. Grand Blvd., 11 a.m., Aug. 4 Chaney Branch: 16101 Grand River Ave., 6 p.m., Aug. 5 Parkman Branch: 1766 Oakman Blvd., 6 p.m., Aug. 6 Douglass Branch: 3666 Grand River Ave., 2 p.m., Aug. 21 Campbell Branch: 8733 W. Vernor Hwy., 5 p.m., Aug. 27 To register, go to Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@ Follow her on X: @NushratR. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit libraries are offering free estate planning help
