1 US Fed may raise rates soon (BBC) Federal Reserve
officials have said they may need to raise interest rates "fairly
soon" if the economy stays strong, minutes of their meeting show. The
first meeting of the Fed since Donald Trump took office as president discussed
the possibility of a rate rise as early as March.
Most economists have been forecasting a rise in
June. However, Fed officials appear divided on the timing of a rise amid
uncertainty over Mr Trump's policies. "Several'' expressed fears that
unemployment could fall substantially below the Fed's 4.8% target. That could
trigger inflation pressures and force the Fed to boost rates at a faster pace
than financial markets expect.
Unemployment in December was 4.7%, although it was
back at 4.8% in January. Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital
Economics, said the "fairly soon"' phrase in the minutes
"clearly leaves the door open to a March rate hike, although ... we still
think the Fed will delay until June".
2 French candidate pitches for franc’s return (San
Francisco Chronicle) If Marine Le Pen has her way, the French will soon pay for
their baguettes with francs, not euros. The presidential candidate from the
anti-EU, anti-immigration National Front party is all about national
sovereignty and independence. She wants France to take control of its money,
subject to a referendum that would lead France out of the European Union and
its shared currency.
But how would France pull off a euro exit, or
"Frexit"? No country has left the euro since its creation in 1999. A
number of economists paint dire scenarios in which the departure of one of the
euro's 19 countries unleashes chaos: market plunges, controls on money
transfers, customs officers stopping people carrying suitcases of cash out of
the country, a plague of defaults and lawsuits on bonds and contracts.
The euro was designed to be irrevocable. It's the
"Hotel California" principle, as in the Eagles' song: you may wish to
"check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Le Pen is
leading polls for the first round of voting April 23; most polls and
prognosticators see her losing the second round on May 7.
But after the British vote last year to leave the
28-member European Union, and after Donald Trump's election as US President,
fewer people are taking a Le Pen defeat for granted.
3 Apple HQ ready to open (Gulf News) Apple has announced
that it is set to open its sprawling new campus where thousands of its
employees will be moving into over a period of six months.
Officially called the Apple Park, the 175-acre site
features huge green spaces, a ring-shaped building, a 17-megawatt of rooftop
solar, an Apple Store and café open to the public, a 100,000-square-foot
fitness centre for employees, a theatre, as well as research and development
facilities.
The 12,000 employees of the iPhone maker will begin
moving into the new site in April, with the whole process taking over a period
of six months. The campus’ 2.8 million-square-foot main building is clad
entirely in the world’s largest panels of curved glass. It is located in the
heart of Santa Clara Valley in California.
Steve Jobs, who would have turned 62 on February 24,
had envisioned the facility as a centre for creativity and collaboration. In
honour of Jobs’ memory and his influence on Apple and the world, the theatre at
Apple Park, a 1,000-seat auditorium that is perched on a hill, one of the
highest points at the park, will be named the Steve Jobs Theatre.
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