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The 2008 crash, Trump, aid budget cuts and a more fragmented world has made debt relief seem a lost cause but there are murmurs of a renaissance 
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The president said the levy will apply to "any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of Brics".
Graham Watson's insight:
And there's more - President Trump continues to conduct policy via social media rather than more conventional channels - asserting that he's going to impose an additional 10% tariff on nations that side with the BRIC economies. Quite how he's going to discern who's siding with the BRIC economies, I don't know.
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Trump's 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs plan is about to expire. But already some firms are radically changing how they work.
Graham Watson's insight:
The BBC article details how the introduction of President Trump's tariffs has shifted global supply chains, using the example of an Illinois toymaker, who has seen tariffs damage his business and sought to mitigate their effect by shifting production from China to Vietnam and India.
Other businesses are also affected - and not only have their costs increased but there's also a substantial opportunity cost associated with finding new suppliers because you need to spend time identifying them, and building relationships to ensure that they provide exactly what you require.
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President Trump's budget bill will add to the US debt pile but is there a limit to how much the rest of the world will lend Uncle Sam?
Graham Watson's insight:
President Trump's new budget bill, much to Elon Musk's annoyance, is adding to government debt rather than reducing it - and makes the existence of DOGE a bit of a contradiction.
So what are the macroeconomic implications of this? Well, in the short-term, the dollar's weakening and the interest rate that investors are demanding has increased. Further, at the current rate, it will soon annually cost the US $10 trillion in debt interest repayments and many people see this as significant, although the debt: GDP ratio is still well below that of Japan.
If this is the case the US faces three options - cutting the budget deficit, printing money to buy government debt - which has inflationary implications - and defaulting on its debt, none of which seem likely at the moment. However, longer term, this looks like it might be problematic.
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Japanese negotiators have just days before the end of Trump’s 90-day pause on punishing tariffs to pull off a breakthrough
Graham Watson's insight:
Not that much economics, just a state of the nation assessment of the Japanese economy and acknowledgement that it's keen to negotiate a trade deal with the US before next week's rise in tariffs which might tip the country into recession.
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Diplomats and officials say bloc willing to accept 10% tariffs, but talks may go down to wire before Wednesday deadline
Graham Watson's insight:
It seems as though the EU and the US are on the verge of agreeing a trade deal, with the EU seemingly accepting a 10% tariff but there's still work to be done ahead of Wednesday's deadline.
But who has gained from the disruption of the past six months. No-one unless you argue that it allows President Trump's administration to get avoid without having a coherent domestic agenda.
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The president has repeatedly criticised Jerome Powell for not cutting rates but has sent mixed signals about removing him from the role.
Graham Watson's insight:
A busy evening for the keyboard warrior - a phrase arguably more suited to bedroom-bound teenagers than the leader of the Free World - but there you are.
President Trump has attacked the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, calling on him to lower interest rates to boost growth. It really does show a lack of shame, a lack of respect for central bank independence, and as with almost every Presidential pronouncement, a general lack of intelligence. If you impose tariffs, and increase uncertainty, you are going to increase inflation and reduce the level of economic activity, as every competent post-16 economist knows.
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Acceding to US demands to exempt its companies from an agreed global tax deal is morally and financially indefensible
Graham Watson's insight:
After all the talk last year about a global minimum tax rate being introduced by G7, it seems that the proposal has been watered down to pander to US firms. Joseph Stiglitz alleges that this is indicative of the fact that when push comes to shove, the world's developed economies still put producers interests above those of ordinary citizens.
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Euro zone inflation edged up last month to the European Central Bank's 2% target, shifting policymaker focus to trade war-induced economic volatility.
Graham Watson's insight:
Eurozone inflation edged up slightly last month to 2.0%, however, that's exactly the inflation target and the suggestion is that it signals that inflation fears are abating, the disruption caused by the ongoing trade war apart. This is likely to change the tenor of monetary policy and may permit further interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank going forward.
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Simon Johnson explains how to find out whether rich countries have good institutions because they are rich or whether they are rich because their institutions are good. In places where European colonizers settled, the institutions they brought like the rule of law had a lasting positive impact on GDP growth. Where they did not settle, growth was lower.
Graham Watson's insight:
Core Econ is back - this clip is two weeks old but no worse for that and looks at the importance of institutions in promoting development. It argues that good institutions drive development, and then, more controversially suggests that European colonization was associated with establishing good institutions, something that I'm sure is not universally supported.
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The Öresund bridge, which connects Denmark and Sweden, is celebrating 25 years since its opening.
Graham Watson's insight:
A lovely example of how investment can have significant demand- and supply-side impacts, with the Öresund bridge - connecting Denmark and Sweden - celebrating 25 years since its opening.
The project has had many benefits, boosting regional trade, increasing labour mobility, albeit it seems that the largest initial boost was for the Swedish city of Malmo, although since then some companies that have relocated there are slightly worried about their ability to attract young Danes to live in a smaller, regional city rather than their more cosmopolitan capital, Copenhagen.
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A new tax on technology firms is being halted after Trump threatened new tariffs on Canadian goods.
Graham Watson's insight:
Off, then on. It seems that Canada has blinked first, abandoning plans for a digital services tax on US tech terms. The proposed tax would have imposed a 3% tax on their Canadian revenues above $20m.
Trade talks will restart, with the aim of reaching some sort of agreement by 21 July.
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Canada had been hoping to secure a trade deal with the US next month to avoid steep tariffs.
Graham Watson's insight:
It seems as though US-Canada trade talks may have collapsed with President Trump asserting that he is going to cut off trade talks, and enforce tariffs at some point in the next seven days.
Given the geographic proximity, and the fact that the US is Canada's biggest trade partner - buying $400bn from Canada - this will have adverse consequences for the Canadian economy.
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President says team will start sending trade partners letters with new tariff rates ahead of this week’s original 90-day deadline to make deal
Graham Watson's insight:
Policymaking and certainty. Two things that appear to be mutually exclusive under President Trump.
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The US president's tough stance on global trade is shaking up the region's crucial supply chains.
Graham Watson's insight:
And here's another article touching on exactly the same themes...
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EU says it ‘favours a negotiated solution’ but is prepared for potential trade war with retaliatory duties
Graham Watson's insight:
Buckle up. 9 July. The start of the next phase of President Trump's trade policy seems likely to include 17% tariffs on EU food and farm produce, to no-one's benefit.
And I wish for one thing, can the media please stop thinking there's some coherence to his policy, or suggesting that he's capable of learning lessons. It's self-evident that he's not learnt many so far.
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The move comes ahead of a deadline that may see much higher import taxes on goods coming into the US.
Graham Watson's insight:
With 9 July looming it seems that President Trump is on the point of sending out letters to individual economies with details of the tariffs that they're going to face going forward. Hopefully, after 6 months of nonsense, this might provide a scintilla of certainty, although I won't hold my breath.
I'm also wondering what the letters will be written in? Wax crayon, perhaps?
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As President Trump weighs tariff plans, he will have one eye on the US economy.
Graham Watson's insight:
I have to say that I'm irritated by the fact that the analysis of the effect of President Trump's tariffs starts by focusing on the stock market, albeit that's probably an important consideration of his, and his rich friends, as they seek to use his Presidency as a get-rich-quick (or keep out-of-jail) scheme.
The stock market isn't the real economy - and it would have been nice to have seen this focused on first - the disruption to supply chain, the likely price increases, the lower consumer spending and the likely implication of this for growth.
That said, I didn't expect the data to indicate a precipitous decline in US economic performance, so the fact that so much of the effect of the tariffs is yet to have worked its way through to real variables isn't surprising. Perhaps a more interesting question would have been to look at the counterfactual - how would the economy have fared if President Trump hadn't introduced tariffs?
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Economists anticipated drop, but 8,000 new positions were added in June compared with May, with unemployment rate down to 4.1%
Graham Watson's insight:
I'm not sure that this is a ringing endorsement of President Trump's economic policy, with a marginal increase in job creation and similarly small fall in unemployment, so I'd just suggest that the US economy is probably settling, and with further interest rate cuts to come, is going to improve further over time despite - not because of the best efforts of the President.
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The US plans to charge 20% tariffs on Vietnamese goods - less than half the rate set to go into effect next week.
Graham Watson's insight:
Once again, a triumph of stable genius over common sense - President Trump has announced a trade deal with Vietnam imposing a 20% tariff on Vietnamese exports to the US, rather than the 46% mooted.
C'est plus ca change - as they say in France (and Vietnam, as a former French colony). It's a marginal change - and one that's going to damage economic welfare to what end? Saving the odd job at the margin?
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Jerome Powell says inflationary impact of the president’s trade policies needs to be assessed before borrowing costs can be reduced
Graham Watson's insight:
It appears that the ongoing feud between the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and President Trump, with the former suggesting that he might be able to reduce interest rates quicker were it not for President Trump's trade policy.
He's no fool that Jerome Powell: protectionism increases costs both in terms of the direct cost of imports, but also in reducing cost pressures facing domestic firms. And that means monetary policy will be tighter than it would otherwise have been.
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It would be well above the 24% tariff imposed on Japan as part of the so-called "Liberation Day" in April.
Graham Watson's insight:
It seems as though, with the deadline looming, President Trump is doing his best to increase uncertainty by threatening countries with increased tariffs if they don't submit to his will.
Currently, Japanese exports to the US are subject to a 24% tariff but he's threatening to increase this to 35% on 9 July. He appears fixated on Japan not accepting US rice exports, so it seems that this will be a major focus of negotiations. And should the tariff rise it's likely to worsen economic welfare in both economies.
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Rising fruit and vegetable prices contribute to jump in annual food price inflation in June to 3.7%
Graham Watson's insight:
D&S in action - unseasonably hot weather has reduced harvest yields, pushing up food prices, with food price inflation jumping to 3.7% in June.
A lovely piece that shows chains of reasoning that leap from elementary Microeconomics to Macroeconomics.
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Access to finance creates jobs and opportunities in Pakistan, enabling small entrepreneurs, especially women, to start and grow their businesses. Microfinance is a gamechanger for 5.6 million women entrepreneurs in Pakistan who are using small loans to transform their livelihoods and improve their lives.
Graham Watson's insight:
Another World Bank clip looking at how female empowerment and entrepreneurship has a role to play in boosting development in Pakistan in this case. This brief clip highlights the role that microfinance has to play in backing women to start their own businesses.
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US President Donald Trump has said he is cutting off trade talks with Canada "immediately" as the country looks to start enforcing a tax policy targeting big tech companies.
Graham Watson's insight:
Here's the BBC's take on the US breaking off trade talks with Canada, and the prospect of new tariffs being imposed on Canadian exports to the US, and the implications of this for the Canadian economy in future.
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Heather Stewart considers whether the case of increased emphasis on debt relief might be an unintended consequence of cuts to aid budgets. If not, then she's keen to focus attention on things that aren't items of current spending that can help promote development in some of the world's poorest economies.