Germany’s Merz to press cabinet for faster pro-growth reforms

After a year of commentators lamenting the extent to which Donald Trump had emboldened the world’s autocrats, the political tables may have begun to turn. Not only is Trump deeply unpopular globally, but any government that gets into bed with him is effectively offering proof of its own corruption. TIRANA—Here in the Albanian capital, the…

Photo by Brett Hondow, Pixabay The US federal government’s Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) has asked agencies to submit “high-impact and shovel-ready” project proposals for improving the use of technology in permitting and planning decisions, and in AI adoption. The TMF – a funding initiative created in 2017 by the General Services Administration (GSA) to modernise…

Occidental Petroleum (OXY -0.50%) and Energy Transfer (ET -0.29%) are both energy companies. Either one would give you exposure to the sector, but their businesses are dramatically different. The geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has once again highlighted the world’s reliance on oil and natural gas. However, it has also highlighted the importance of…

20 July 2026 Firms reported further net tightening of bank loan interest rates and other loan conditions related to price and non-price factors. Firms signalled a small increase in financing needs, while availability of bank loans remained broadly unchanged, but with notable differences between SMEs and large firms. Firms expected lower increases in selling prices,…

en English Economics Jul 30, 2026 Miao Yanliang External headwinds have not weakened China’s manufacturing competitiveness. That is because the Chinese economy combines an unusually large manufacturing base, deep supply chains, fast engineering feedback loops, and cutthroat domestic competition to create…

One of the most heavily-traded ETFs tracking performance in the U.S. Treasury market has just fallen to its lowest level in over 20 years.