For President Joe Biden, a debt-ceiling victory comes with a bittersweet taste. The White House and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy reached a tentative deal for lifting the government’s borrowing limit on Saturday night. Each party championed the deal as a crucial step toward avoiding a sovereign default. But between broad spending caps and stricter rules for food stamps, Republicans have more to celebrate than their Democratic peers. America and its creditors, generally, have even less to be happy about.
The threat of U.S. default isn’t the only thing bringing lawmakers to the negotiating table. After months of wrangling, posturing and volatility, Democrats and Republicans were getting closer on Friday to an agreement that would avoid the world’s largest economy failing to honor its debt – just before the holiday marking the start of summer. That unofficial deadline adds urgency, and also makes it likely that a deal will be no better than just good enough.
Italy’s epic airline soap opera has found a paradoxical end. After multiple sale attempts by Italian governments of all political leanings, plus over 10 billion euros of wasted state support, it’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – an avowed nationalist – who is cutting the umbilical cord with the country’s state-owned national carrier.
Bad ideas never die. European officials are still discussing options to use the proceeds of Russia’s frozen funds to help Ukraine. Yet funnelling the money to the war-torn country, which looks justifiable on moral grounds, would set a bad precedent.
Sharp has delivered a wake-up call to Foxconn. The $46 billion iPhone supplier, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry , rescued the Japanese electronics group in 2016 with a promise to turn it around. Sharp's surprise $1.6 billion writedown in the three months to March casts doubt on the Taiwanese group's grip on its investment - and its ability to strike similar deals.