DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Global Growth Forecast Is Lifted but Risks Loom, O.E.C.D. Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the United States, the Federal Reserve left interest rates steady on Wednesday, citing wariness about how stubborn inflation was proving. Even so, the United States is expected to remain an engine of global growth this year, expanding at a 2.6 percent pace, the O.E.C.D. Both the euro currency bloc and Britain ended 2023 in recession, deepened by record high interest rates deployed by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to help fight inflation. The outlook should improve next year, as high interest rates come down, unleashing more spending by businesses and households. forecast the eurozone economy to expand at 1.5 percent in 2025, more than double the expected growth rate this year.

Persons: “ We’ve, Clare Lombardelli, Lombardelli Organizations: Federal Reserve, Britain, European Central Bank, Bank of England Locations: United States, Europe, Germany, Greece, Spain

☆ Europe’s Economic Laggards Have Become Its Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Liz Alderman | Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The dynamic is bolstering the economic health of the region and keeping the eurozone from slipping too far. In a reversal of fortunes, the laggards have become leaders. Since then, the same countries have worked to mend their finances, attracting investors, reviving growth and exports, and reversing record-high unemployment. Now Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is dragging down the region’s fortunes. It has been struggling to pull itself out of a slump set off by soaring energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Locations: Southern, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Southern Europe, Europe’s, Ukraine

☆ What Is a ‘Decent Wage’? France’s Michelin Raises a Debate.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the French tire maker Michelin closed its factories during the coronavirus pandemic, Florent Menegaux, the company’s chief executive, took stock of the closures’ impact on employees worldwide. Thousands of workers in Asia, Europe and the United States at the lower end of the company’s pay scales could barely get by, an independent review showed. “If workers are just in survival mode, it’s a big problem,” Mr. Menegaux said in an interview. “When the wealth distribution in a company is too unequal, that’s a problem, too.”The announcement quickly ignited a debate in France over what exactly constitutes a decent wage and whether more French corporations should follow suit. Unions warned that the Michelin pledge would still leave some workers struggling and that it did not come with a guarantee against future layoffs or site closures.

Persons: Florent Menegaux, Mr, Menegaux, “ Organizations: Michelin, Unions Locations: Asia, Europe, United States, France

☆ Golden Visa Programs, Once a Boon, Lose Their Luster
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But when she started looking at houses in the same village, almost everything was priced at more than 500,000 euros. The amount — nearly 20 times more than the average annual salary in Spain — happens to correspond to the cost of the country’s “golden visa,” a program that offers residency to wealthy foreigners who buy real estate there. “There’s nothing I can afford,” said Dr. Barba, an allergist who has been working 100 hours overtime every month to save up a nest egg. “If foreigners inflate the prices for those of us who live here, it’s an injustice,” she said. Faced with growing pressure to address its housing crunch, Spain said this month that it would scrap its golden visas, the latest in a wider withdrawal from the program by governments around Europe.

Persons: Ana Jimena Barba, Spain —, ”, Barba Locations: Madrid, Spain, Europe

☆ To Fight ‘Shrinkflation,’ France Will Force Retailers to Warn Shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

“Shrinkflation,” the signs say. “This product has seen its volume decrease and the price charged by our supplier increase.”On Friday, the French government took steps to require every food retailer in the country to follow suit. By July 1, stores will have to plaster warnings in front of all products that have been reduced in size without a corresponding price cut, in a bid to combat the consumer scourge known as shrinkflation. “The practice of shrinkflation is a scam,” Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, said in a statement. “We are putting an end to it.”

Persons: “, ” Bruno Le Maire, ” Organizations: France’s, Pepsi Locations: Carrefour

☆ Europe’s A.I. ‘Champion’ Sets Sights on Tech Giants in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Liz Alderman | Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Arthur Mensch, tall and lean with a flop of unkempt hair, arrived for a speech last month at a sprawling tech hub in Paris wearing jeans and carrying a bicycle helmet. Mr. Mensch, 31, is the chief executive and a founder of Mistral, considered by many to be one of the most promising challengers to OpenAI and Google. revolution, the French government has singled out Mistral as its best hope to create a standard-bearer, and has lobbied European Union policymakers to help ensure the firm’s success. should not be dominated by tech giants, like Microsoft and Google, that might forge global standards at odds with the culture and politics of other countries. At stake is the bigger question of which artificial intelligence models will wind up influencing the world, and how they should be regulated.

Persons: Arthur Mensch, Mensch, ” Matt Clifford, Europe scrambles Organizations: Mistral, Google, European Union, Microsoft Locations: Paris, United States, China, France, British, Europe

As pale morning light flickered across the Seine, Capt. Freddy Badar steered his hulking river barge, Le Bosphore, past picturesque Normandy villages and snow-fringed woodlands, setting a course for Paris. Onboard were containers packed with furniture, electronics and clothing loaded the night before from a cargo ship that had docked in Le Havre, the seaport in northern France. Using Le Bosphore and its crew of four prevented tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. “The river is part of a wider solution for cleaner transport and the environment,” Captain Badar said, his eyes scanning other vessels carrying wares up and down the Seine.

Persons: Freddy Badar, Le Bosphore, Captain Badar Locations: Normandy, Paris, Le Havre, France, European

☆ Starbucks Franchise Lays Off Workers in Mideast Amid Gaza-Tied Boycotts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Starbucks franchise operators across the Middle East and Southeast Asia are losing significant business amid boycotts linked to the Israel-Hamas war, and at least one has started laying off employees. Alshaya Group, a Kuwait-based franchise operator that owns the rights to operate Starbucks in the Middle East, confirmed on Tuesday that it planned to cut 2,000 jobs across the region “as a result of the continually challenging trading conditions over the last six months.”Alshaya Group, which operates over 1,900 Starbucks shops in the Middle East and North Africa that employ 19,000 workers, said in a statement that it would provide affected employees and their families with “the support they need.”The cuts added to drama playing out in the United States, where Starbucks management and a union of Starbucks workers sued each other after the union expressed solidarity with Palestinians.

Persons: ” Organizations: Starbucks, Alshaya, ” Alshaya Locations: East, Southeast Asia, Israel, Kuwait, North Africa, United States

☆ Farmers Clash With Police and Macron at Paris Agricultural Fair
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

France’s farmers vented their fury at President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday as he arrived at the annual agricultural show in Paris, a giant fair long seen as a test of presidents’ relationship with the countryside. A large crowd that had camped outside the night before broke in and scuffled with police officers in riot gear while Mr. Macron entered through a side door to meet with unions demanding an end to hardships in the industry. During an hourlong closed-door meeting before the fair opened, with top cabinet members at Mr. Macron’s side, farmers sang the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” at the top of their lungs, blew whistles, raised fists and shouted for the president to resign, as skittish prize cows and pigs brought to the capital from farms around the country looked on nervously from their display pens. The rowdy confrontation was the latest in a monthlong showdown that has seen farmers blockade roads around France and in Paris — a movement that has spread to other countries, including Greece, Poland, Belgium and Germany.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, ” Locations: Paris, French, France, Greece, Poland, Belgium, Germany

☆ France Will Cut Spending as It Sees a Weaker Economy Ahead
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, on Monday revised the forecast for economic growth this year to 1 percent, down from 1.4 percent at the end of last year. “Lower growth means lower tax receipts, so the government must spend less,” Mr. Le Maire said at a news briefing. After spending lavishly during the pandemic to support the economy and shield consumers from high energy prices, France is now at risk of breaching European Union budget rules that restrict government borrowing. To avoid that, the government must cut costs to lower the deficit to 4.4 percent of gross domestic product this year, from 4.8 percent

Persons: Bruno Le Maire, Mr, Le Maire Organizations: European Union Locations: France, Ukraine, Gaza, Germany, China

☆ Can the Olympics Rejuvenate One of France’s Poorest Corners?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Liz Alderman | Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Parisians are already grumbling about the crowds for this summer’s Olympics. They envision sweaty tourists jamming the subway cars, making the hell of commuting even more, well, hellish. They are planning their summer escapes; at worst a “télétravail” schedule to work from home. Glancing out at a corner known for drug dealing near his family’s kebab shop in the low-income district just north of Paris, he sees the upcoming Olympics as heralding something totally different: opportunity. “They are redoing the streets and refurbishing buildings,” said Mr. Buyukocakm, as a woman in a thin coat dragged a grocery trolley toward a dilapidated housing project.

Persons: Ivan Buyukocakm, ”, Buyukocakm, Denis Locations: Paris, Seine

☆ TikTok Is Subject of E.U. Inquiry Over ‘Addictive Design’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

European Union regulators on Monday opened an investigation into TikTok over potential breaches of online content rules aimed at protecting children, saying the popular social media platform’s “addictive design” risked exposing young people to harmful content. TikTok has been under the scrutiny of E.U. regulators for months. The company was fined roughly $370 million in September for having weak safeguards to protect the personal information of children using the platform. Policymakers in the United States have also been wrestling with how to regulate the platform for harmful content and data privacy — concerns amplified by TikTok’s links to China.

Persons: TikTok Organizations: Digital Services, European Commission Locations: United States, China

☆ Airbus Pulls Further Ahead of Boeing in Global Plane Rivalry
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Airbus, the European aerospace giant, plans to deliver around 800 commercial aircraft this year, including the popular single-aisle A320neo, its main competitor to the 737 Max. Airbus pulled in a record 2,094 commercial aircraft orders last year, partly on a surge in demand for narrow-body and mid-sized jets from India and other rapidly growing countries. That added to the company’s extensive backlog of 8,598 commercial aircraft at the end of 2023. By contrast, Boeing delivered 528 commercial airplanes and recorded 1,576 net orders. The company added a special dividend, on top of its usual payout, as its net cash exceeded €10 billion.

Persons: Guillaume Faury Organizations: Airbus, Boeing Locations: India

☆ Eurozone Economy Flatlines, Raising Concerns About Falling Behind
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The eurozone economy stagnated late last year as a lingering energy crisis sparked a loss of competitiveness in some European industries, and consumers reined in spending to grapple with high living costs, Europe’s statistics agency reported Tuesday. But economists believe the worst may be over, as the European Central Bank continues its campaign to wring out inflation without plunging the eurozone economy into a deep downturn. Compared with a year ago, the eurozone grew by just 0.1 percent. The anemic pace is keeping Europe far behind the United States, where the economy, although slowing from a breakneck growth pace, continues to be powered by consumer spending. Aggressive interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve have brought a slowdown in inflation, and the Fed is expected to begin unwinding those increases soon.

Organizations: European Central Bank, Federal Reserve Locations: Europe, United States

☆ Airbus Is Pulling Ahead as Boeing’s Troubles Mount
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Airbus cemented its position last week as the world’s biggest plane maker for the fifth straight year, announcing that it had delivered more aircraft and secured more orders than Boeing in 2023. At the same time, Boeing was trying to put out a huge public-relations and safety crisis caused by a harrowing near disaster involving its 737 Max line of airliners. In the long-running duel between the two aviation rivals, Airbus has pulled far ahead. “What used to be a duopoly has become two-thirds Airbus, one-third Boeing,” said Richard Aboulafia, the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory in Washington, D.C. “A lot of people, whether investors, financiers or customers, are looking at Airbus and seeing a company run by competent people,” he said. “The contrast with Boeing is fairly profound.”The incident involving the 737 Max 9, in which a hole blew open in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines flight in midair, was the latest in a string of safety lapses in Boeing’s workhorse aircraft — including two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 — that are indirectly helping propel the fortunes of the European aerospace giant.

Persons: ”, Richard Aboulafia Organizations: Airbus, Boeing, Washington , D.C, Alaska Airlines Locations: Washington ,

☆ It Could Be a Vast Source of Clean Energy, Buried Deep Underground
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the rocky soil of Lorraine, a former coal mining region near the French-German border, scientists guided a small probe one recent day down a borehole half a mile into the earth’s crust. Frothing in the water table below was an exciting find: champagne-size bubbles that signaled a potentially mammoth cache of so-called white hydrogen, one of the cleanest-burning fuels in nature. “Hydrogen is magical — when you burn it you release water, so there are no carbon emissions to warm the planet,” said one of the scientists, Jacques Pironon, a senior researcher and professor at the University of Lorraine. “We think we’ve uncovered one of the largest deposits of natural hydrogen anywhere in the world.”The discovery by Mr. Pironon and another scientist, Philippe de Donato, both members of France’s respected National Center for Scientific Research, caused a sensation in France, where the government has vowed to become a European leader in clean hydrogen.

Persons: ”, Jacques Pironon, “, Pironon, Philippe de Donato, France’s Organizations: University of Lorraine, National Center for Scientific Research Locations: Lorraine, France

☆ Eurozone Inflation Falls Faster Than Expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Excluding food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose 3.6 percent, a sharply slower pace than previous months. “The price to pay is higher interest rates, more difficult financing and therefore an economic slowdown,” he added. Interest rates were raised from below zero and are now at the highest level in the central bank’s two-decade history. But Europe is facing a drawn-out economic slowdown as high interest rates and the lingering impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine continue to curb activity. to start lowering interest rates next year, possibly before the summer.

Persons: ” Bert Colijn, ” Bruno Le Maire, Christine Lagarde, Colijn Organizations: ING Bank, European Central Bank, ”, Eurostat, France Inter Locations: Ukraine, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Europe, United States

☆ X Has Become a ‘Global Sewer,’ Mayor of Paris Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced Monday on X, formerly Twitter, that she was quitting the social media site because it had devolved into a “gigantic global sewer” for disinformation, hatred, anti-Semitism and racism, and a “tool for destroying our democracies.”Without naming Elon Musk directly, she added: “This platform and its owner intentionally exacerbate tensions and conflicts.”In recent weeks, dozens of advertisers paused their campaigns on X after Mr. Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory this month, and the company could lose as much as $75 million in ad revenue by the end of the year. Mr. Musk has strenuously denied that he is antisemitic or that the site supports disinformation, and visited Israel on Monday in an apparent bid to repair the damage. He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took him to an Israeli kibbutz where dozens of people were killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7. Mr. Musk was scheduled to meet later with President Isaac Herzog to discuss “the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.” Israel also appeared to reach an understanding to deploy Starlink, the satellite internet service Mr. Musk owns, in Gaza for aid agencies to use amid cellular and internet blackouts.

Persons: Anne Hidalgo, Elon Musk, Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog, ” Israel Organizations: Elon Locations: Paris, Israel, Gaza

More than 100,000 demonstrators in Paris and cities across France took to the streets on Sunday to show their solidarity with the country’s Jews and to deplore antisemitic acts that have multiplied across the nation since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The marches in France came a day after a huge pro-Palestinian protest in London that police said involved about 300,000 people. Tensions have been rising in France and particularly in Paris, home to large Jewish and Muslim communities, after Hamas’s attack and during Israel’s subsequent military campaign in the Gaza Strip. In the past month, over 1,240 antisemitic acts have been reported in France. The police had made 539 arrests as of Nov. 10.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, ”, Macron Organizations: Senate, National Assembly, Le Parisien Locations: Paris, France, Israel, London, Gaza, Le

☆ Eurozone Economy Shrinks, While Price Pressures Ease
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Growth in the eurozone contracted unexpectedly this summer, as rising interest rates cooled momentum in Germany and France, the region’s two biggest economies, Europe’s statistics agency reported Tuesday. The downturn reflected the challenges facing policymakers at the European Central Bank, who last week paused their campaign of interest rate increases to fight inflation amid signs the region’s economy has weakened. Data showed the eurozone’s inflation rate in October eased to 2.9 percent, another sign of the impact of the central bank’s higher interest rates. Compared with a year ago, economic growth was up just 0.1 percent. Europe’s anemic growth pace is in sharp contrast to the United States, where the economy has surged despite a steep hike in interest rates by Federal Reserve to tame inflation.

Organizations: European Central Bank, Data, Federal Reserve, Gross Locations: Germany, France, United States

☆ War With Hamas Hits Israel’s Economy, Central Bank Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The war between Israel and Hamas will abruptly slow the Israeli economy this year and next and send the nation’s budget deficit soaring as the country ramps up spending to support the military, civilians and businesses during the conflict, the Bank of Israel said on Monday. Many businesses have been forced to pause activity, and hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists are now on active duty, while many people are in shelters. Even so, he added, “it is clear that a shorter or longer duration, as well as any developments of the war to additional arenas,” would add uncertainty to the economic outlook. The conflict has dealt a fresh blow to a resilient economy that until recently had been hailed as an entrepreneurial powerhouse. Israel had low debt, a current account surplus and high foreign exchange reserves, although growth had begun to slow amid high interest rates, rising inflation and expectations of a slowdown in the global economy.

Persons: “, Amir Yaron Organizations: Bank of Israel Locations: Israel, Jerusalem

☆ Prospect of Prolonged Israel-Gaza War Adds Economic Havoc to Human Toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That has concentrated the pool of recruits around people who make up the bulk of Israel’s entrepreneurial economic activity. Two credit ratings agencies this week warned that Israel’s debt could be downgraded. The Bank of Israel has about $200 billion in foreign exchange reserves — close to 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product — which its governor, Amir Yaron, told I.M.F. and World Bank officials in a video call on Sunday provided ample capacity to support the economy. Since the conflict, the central bank has earmarked $30 billion in foreign exchange to support the shekel, which has fallen to an eight-year low.

Persons: ”, Ben, David, Moody’s, Fitch, Israel’s, Israel, Goldman Sachs, Amir Yaron, I.M.F Organizations: Bank of Israel, World Bank

☆ Greece, Battered a Decade Ago, Is Booming
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paris Skouros pointed toward the sky outside his office in Athens on a recent weekday. Greece’s financial crisis almost ruined his firm, Skouros & Sons, an elevator company. Years of harsh austerity measures imposed by international bailouts had been wrenching, Mr. Skouros said, as new construction ground to a standstill. “During the crisis, we just wanted to survive,” Mr. Skouros said, as the sound of hammers hitting sheet metal rang out in his workshop. “Now we’re profitable, and business is so strong that we can’t find enough workers to keep up with demand.”Laden with debt it couldn’t pay back, Greece nearly broke the eurozone a decade ago.

Persons: Paris, bailouts, Skouros, Mr Organizations: Skouros Locations: Athens, “, Greece

The falling shares mean that Mr. Arnault (now worth about $195 billion, Forbes says) dropped to the second-richest person in the world in June, eclipsed by Elon Musk. Mr. Arnault has broadened LVMH beyond extravagant playthings into the world of experiences, acquiring over 50 grand hotels and resorts. Mr. Arnault’s changes mean he doesn’t have to retire next year as originally expected. The French media is full of headlines comparing the Arnaults to the Roys, the fictional family in the HBO series. There are TikTok videos explaining why the Arnaults are “the real ‘Succession’ family.” The family hates this talk, and takes pains to play down parallels to the show.

Persons: Arnault, Forbes, Elon Musk, LVMH, —, gobbling, Delphine, Dior Organizations: Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, HBO

☆ Can There Be Too Many Cafes in Paris?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Liz Alderman | More About Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The sound of clinking wine glasses floated through the evening air recently as throngs of patrons sipped chilled rosé and nibbled on cheese plates in front of the cafes, restaurants and épiceries bordering Place d’Aligre in the Bastille district of Paris. Waiters threaded through the crowd, their trays loaded with Aperol spritzes and oysters, as more people hurried in to meet friends. Paris has long been renowned for its bustling cafe culture, with 13,000 open-air terraces occupying sidewalks and squares in the years before the pandemic. But thousands of additional outdoor spaces bloomed under an emergency program set up to relieve businesses during Covid lockdowns. They are now permanent, after a 2021 decree by Mayor Anne Hidalgo that allows them to return every year from April through November.

Persons: lockdowns, Anne Hidalgo Locations: Bastille, Paris

Search resuls for: "Liz Alderman"

25 mentions found