Recession risk, US tariffs, women’s retirement age: your commercial news round-up
updated on 03 October 2019
Boris Johnson has finally revealed his proposals for a changed Brexit withdrawal agreement that would see Northern Ireland remain in the European single market for goods, but leave the customs union. As EU leaders and UK MPs consider the plans, there has already been opposition from several political parties in Northern Ireland, and doubts linger over whether a deal on these terms can gain the approval needed from leaders on all sides.
While we wait for news on those discussions, there are other important stories that aspiring lawyers should be keeping up with from the world of business and economics.
- The risk of a UK recession has increased after the services sector, which makes up 80% of the economy, contracted in September. The whole Eurozone is suffering from an economic slowdown, with fears that even Germany, one of the strongest economies in the EU, could slip into recession. Brexit uncertainty and Boris Johnson’s latest “take it or leave it” offer to the EU have rocked the confidence of investors, but a global manufacturing downturn exacerbated by US-China trade disputes has also been a major contributor.
- Yet another trade dispute is now adding to the gloom, as the US has been given the go-ahead by the World Trade Organisation to impose swingeing $7.5 billion US tariffs on EU goods. This is the latest eruption in a long running row between the US and EU over cheap European loans to aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The EU has threatened to retaliate with new tariffs on US goods, which would do further damage to the global economy.
- Stock markets have plunged as a result of the tariffs and disappointing US jobs figures, with the UK’s FTSE 100 suffering its worst day in over three years.
- But in what could be better news for the markets, short-term rental giant Airbnb is reportedly preparing a flotation. If true, the company will be one of the biggest names to debut on the stock markets in 2020.
- Campaigners have lost their case against the government’s decision to raise the retirement age for women from 60 to 65, in line with men. The stage pension age for women and men will rise to 67 by 2028. Women born in the 1950s claim the rise is unfair because they were not given enough time to make adjustments to cope with years without a state pension, but judges said that the government’s move treats women and men equally.
- A group of over 100 of the UK’s most successful women in the fields of business, politics and the arts have launched a campaign to end pay discrimination. The #MeToo pay campaign was galvanised by a high-profile Employment Tribunal claim brought by banker Stacey Macken against her employer BNP Paribas.
