ECB cuts interest rates to support flagging eurozone economy

The European Central Bank has intervened to prevent a sharp slowdown in the eurozone economy with its first back-to-back interest rate cut since the euro crisis in 2011.With Germany on the brink of a recession and inflation tumbling across the 20 member single currency bloc, the ECB followed a reduction in the cost of borrowing at its previous meeting in September with a further 0.25 percentage point cut in its key deposit rate to 3.25%.Marking the third interest rate cut this year, the ECB’s president, Christine Lagarde, said the fall in inflation had surprised the central bank and meant a cut was needed to ensure a soft landing for the eurozone economy

Hike in capital gains tax will spark tech exodus from UK, investor says

Tech entrepreneurs will leave the UK “en masse” if the chancellor announces a significant increase in capital gains tax at this month’s budget, according to a leading industry investor.Harry Stebbings, a British podcaster turned investor who raised a $400m (£310m) fund this week, said the UK was “a bad place to do business” because of its tax environment.The Guardian reported last week that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was considering raising capital gains tax (CGT) to between 33% and 39% in the budget on 30 October.Stebbings said plans to scrap the non-dom tax regime had also sent a negative signal but an increase in CGT – which is levied on the sale of assets such as shares and second homes – would pose the most serious concern to entrepreneurs.“The stance on capital gains tax is by far the biggest [issue],” he told the Guardian

ECB’s Lagarde: ‘We’re breaking the neck of inflation’ after cutting interest rates – as it happened

Over at the Bank of Slovenia, in Ljubljana, the European Central Bank is holding a press conference to explain why it has lowered eurozone interest rates today.ECB president Christine Lagarde begins by running through the statement issued half an hour ago (it’s online here).She’s explaining that the ECB’s governing council decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points, because data shows that the disinflationary process is well on track.As flagged earlier, Lagarde says that inflation is expected to rise in the coming months, before declining to target in the course of next year.And she insists that the Governing Council is “determined” to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner

This woodworker perfected her craft during a summer of racial justice protest

Tonda Thompson got her start repairing her own furniture, and now she’s got a waitlist six months longIf it weren’t for Mickey Mouse, Tonda Thompson might never have become a carpenter. During the early weeks of the pandemic, the videographer and infant mortality activist’s then two-year-old son was performing Mickey’s hotdog dance on the living room coffee table, which broke under the weight of his enthusiastic rendition. Thompson was about to head to Target when she realized that another flimsy table would be doomed to fall apart. Inspired by a friend’s newfound woodworking skills, she secured some two-by-fours from Home Depot and got to work with her lumber. After sourcing plans from the internet and watching an instructional videos on YouTube, she set out to build a coffee table from scratch in her basement

Paul Johnson to leave influential IFS economics thinktank

The longstanding head of Britain’s most influential economics thinktank and one of the most influential figures in Westminster politics, Paul Johnson, will stand down next year.The director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said he would step down from the position in the summer of 2025 to take up the role as the provost of Queen’s College, Oxford.One of the leading authorities on tax and spending policy in Britain, Johnson is regarded as a significant figure in shaping policy, with the ear of the chancellor and MPs from across the political spectrum.Having led the IFS since January 2011, he holds significant influence in economic policymaking, with the thinktank occupying a pivotal role as an arbiter on government budgets and other tax and spending decisions.However, the thinktank, which was founded in 1969, has also faced criticism for reinforcing orthodox approaches to economic policymaking, and for focusing heavily on tax and spending issues at the expense of wider social considerations

US group Advent International ‘preparing bid for Tate & Lyle’

Tate & Lyle could become the next UK company to fall to an overseas takeover offer, after reports that the US private equity firm Advent International is preparing a bid for the group.Shares in Tate & Lyle, which makes ingredients such as artificial sweeteners, jumped by as much as 13% on Wednesday after the Financial Times reported that Advent was in the early stages of preparing an offer.If a bid comes, it would value the London-headquartered Tate & Lyle above its market value of £2.8bn before Advent’s interest emerged, the FT said. The company was valued at more than £3bn after Wednesday’s share price surge