Will the UK and EU Reach a New Free Trade Agreement?September 21, 2020—UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently introduced the Internal Market Bill (the Bill) into Parliament, which conflicts with the UK-EU divorce agreement (officially the withdrawal agreement). The Bill threatens to derail ongoing UK-EU negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) and has also provoked widespread outrage (in the UK, EU, and even the U.S.
September 2, 2020—Last week the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve announced changes to its Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy. That official statement, first adopted in 2012 and only modified slightly in years since, is an important guidepost for markets, as it formally establishes how the Fed interprets the mandate given by Congress.
August 31, 2020 — Citing a debilitating health condition, Shinzo Abe has resigned as Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) after eight years in office, and with one year remaining before the next general election. His resignation becomes effective once his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the dominant political party in Japan, selects a successor. During his eight years in office, PM Abe’s government had pursued policies that promoted corporate earnings growth and shareholder returns.
