And what would you do with a spare 25 Billion Euros . Thats the question facing the irish Government Today as it delivers its budget following a huge Tax Windfall from Tech Firms. Live from london, this is business today. Im lukwesa burak. We start in the us where in the last 30 minutes tens of thousands of East And Gulf Coast Port workers have started striking for the first time in nearly 50 years. This comes after the international longshoremen s association and the us Maritime Alliance were unable to reach an agreement on the terms of their contract. The strikes will halt trade in a wide range of goods and disrupt the Countrys Economy just as we enter the final weeks before the president ial election. Our North America Business correspondent Ritika Gupt the two major sticking points between international longshoreman s association and the us Maritime Alliance are wages and automation for the workers are unhappy with the current contract which spanned the pandemic and dockworkers st
As much as 5 Billion each day according tojpmorgan analysts. Us retailers, automakers and other businesses now face Ballooning Freight rates ahead of the crucial festive shopping season. Large retailers have pulled forward imports of much of their Holiday Merchandise and made reservations with west Coast Ocean and Rail Carriers in hopes of avoiding any disruption. Lets speak to peter sand, chief analyst at xeneta, an Ocean Freight analytics firm. Hello to you. I know you have already calculated what this could mean if the Strike Action goes ahead, so do tell us more. A disruption like this always comes at a bad time for European Exporters into North America as well as North American exporters out of thE East Coast And Gulf coast. It will be impacted at first but this seems to be a first for almost 50 years, has the potential not only to lift Freight Rates higher due to the disruption from the strike, but certainly also to have wider implications, one or two months later down the road w
Bumper cut the Federal Reserve slashes the cost of borrowing by half a Percentage Point. We take a look at what this says about the us economy. And the Bank Of England are minutes away from telling us whether theyre cutting rates or not. Markets think theyre staying where they are. Welcome to business today. We start in the us, and a big move by the Central Bank in cutting the cost of borrowing for the first time in overfour years. The Federal Reserve have dropped the main Interest Rate in the worlds biggest economy by half a Percentage Point bringing it down to between 4. 75 and 5 . A drop larger than many expected with some wondering now if this reflects the scale of the problems facing the american economy or the success in getting the pace of price rises, inflation, close to the banks targets. The governor of the fed Jerome Powell says the us economy is in good shape and they intend to keep it that way. Our North America Business correspondent Ritika Gupta has the details. The Fede
Could you elaborate on what this would mean for consumers . Sure, consumers will be affected by this policy change through commercial banks changing its short term crime rate, it will be impactful in two ways, for Savings Account for instance it is good news because we will finally see some positive numbers is interest on our savings. But for the borrowers it would mean if you have a variable rate it could go up, according to the commercial banks decision, and you would be liable for a greater interest payment. If you would be liable for a greater interest payment. If we are talking greater interest payment. If we are talking about greater interest payment. If we are talking about moving greater interest payment. If we are talking about moving out i greater interest payment. If we are talking about moving out of negative Interest Rates, what sort of a move are we looking at . ~. ,. ,. ,. , at . Mood, the mood in businesses. At . Mood, the mood in businesses. Not at . Mood, the mood in
Does donald trump have that kind of money sitting around . Of course he has money. Hes a billionaire. We know that. Well, it turns out he actually doesnt have that money sitting around. Donald trumps attorneys are now saying he cannot secure the roughly half A Billion Dollar bond for his Civil Fraud Judgment. That means the former president could be days away from having some of his assets seized by new yorks attorney general. That comes as the trump appointed judge in the classified documents case issues a controversial ruling that once again seems to benefit the former president. Well get expert legal analysis on both of those developments straight ahead. Plus, well go through what President Biden and israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed yesterday in the first phone call between the two leaders in more than a month. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this tuesday, march 19th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And well begin this mornin