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Mumbai: The Indian economy is recovering from the slowdown in momentum witnessed in the September quarter, driven by strong festival activity and a sustained upswing in rural demand, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin released on Tuesday. An article on the ‘State of the Economy’ in the December bulletin noted that the global economy continues to exhibit resilience with steady growth and moderating inflation. “High frequency indicators (HFIs) for the third quarter of 2024-25 indicate that the Indian economy is recovering from the slowdown in momentum witnessed in Q2, driven by strong festival activity and a sustained upswing in rural demand,” it said. The article further said the growth trajectory is poised to lift in the second half of 2024-25, driven mainly by resilient domestic private consumption demand. “Supported by record level foodgrains production, rural demand, in particular, is gaining momentum. Sustained government spending on infrastructure is expected to further stimulate economic activity and investment,” the authors said. Global headwinds, however, pose risks to the evolving outlook for growth and inflation, said the article authored by a team led by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra. India’s GDP growth slowed to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent during the July-September period of the current fiscal year. The article said that from the expenditure side, the major factor contributing to the decline in the growth rate of the economy is fixed capital formation and from the production side, the main concern is manufacturing. “Undermining both is inflation. The erosion of purchasing power due to repeated inflation shocks and persisting price pressures is starkly reflected in weakening sales growth of listed non-financial nongovernment corporations,” it said. Their outlook on demand conditions also remains subdued as no let-up in the incidence of price shocks seems to be in sight; they will increasingly be inclined to pass on input costs to selling prices. Consequently, there is no robust capacity creation by investing in fixed assets. Instead, corporations are churning and utilising existing capacity to meet the inflation-dented consumer demand, the article said. “The result is lacklustre private investment. The slowdown in consumer demand seems to be associated with slower corporate wage growth,” it said. The authors further said another headwind emerging is the slowing rate of nominal GDP growth, which could hinder fiscal spending, including on capex, to achieve budgetary deficit and debt targets. The article also noted that as per the projections based on the in-house Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE), real GDP growth is likely to recover to 6.8 per cent and 6.5 per cent in Q3 and Q4 of 2024-25, respectively. Growth for 2025-26 is projected at 6.7 per cent while headline CPI inflation (retail) is projected to average 3.8 per cent in 2025-26. In the December monetary policy, the RBI had projected the GDP growth for 2024-25 at 6.6 per cent with Q3 at 6.8 per cent; and Q4 at 7.2 per cent. GDP growth for the April quarter of 2025-26 was projected at 6.9 per cent; and Q2 at 7.3 per cent. The RBI said the views expressed in the bulletin are of the authors and do not represent the views of the central bank.
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Andrew McCutchen is running it back with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025, and he celebrated the occasion with a great social media post. The Pirates on Monday shared that McCutchen would be returning to the team for a third straight season. He’s getting a 1-year, $5 million deal, which is the same contract he has been on the last two years. McCutchen responded to the Pirates’ post on X about the matter with a GIF of Big Bird from “Sesame Street” kicking in a door to announce his arrival. https://t.co/eOWQcHOoBU pic.twitter.com/V6w0N4fj2e — Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) December 23, 2024 McCutchen, 38, is in his second stint with the Pirates. He played with them to start his career from 2009-2017. He made five All-Star teams during that span, won a Gold Glove and four Silver Slugger honors. McCutchen then was traded to the San Francisco Giants for 2018, and they traded him to the New York Yankees. After that McCutchen played with Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers before returning to the Pirates in 2023. Despite being 37 years old last season, McCutchen was still productive. He batted .232 with 18 doubles and 20 home runs in 120 games. His .411 slugging percentage was his best since 2021. The Pirates went 76-86 in 2024 and are looking to improve from that mark. This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.
Grandma Accidentally Invited Teen to Thanksgiving in 2016. How They've Spent the Holiday Together Ever SinceGolden State Warriors vs. Brooklyn Nets live stream info, start time, TV channel: How to watch NBA on TV, stream onlineDonald Trump is not racist, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith says as he insists 'brothers found him to be cool' READ MORE: Jake Paul's savage response to fellow Donald Trump supporters READ MORE: My message to athletes doing the Trump dance - TIM HOWARD Follow DailyMail.com's politics live blog for all the latest news and updates By ALEX RASKIN and ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 21:56 GMT, 25 November 2024 | Updated: 22:02 GMT, 25 November 2024 e-mail 5 View comments Donald Trump is not a racist, or at least not in the eyes of black men, says ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. Speaking with comedian Bill Maher on his show, Club Random , the increasingly political Smith dismissed the accusations of racism Trump has faced since the early 1970s. 'If we're being totally honest, all the brothers found him to be cool,' said Smith, who has been very critical of Democrats since their election defeat. 'They found him to be very cool. So, let's be clear. Because he knew his sports, all right? He would say what he feels, he bucked the establishment, which we love, and we gravitated to that.' Maher agreed. 'I don't think his motivation is ''I don't like black people,''' Maher said. 'I think his motivation is: ''Everybody must love me.'' Donald Trump is not a racist, or at least not in the eyes of black men, says Stephen A. Smith Smith leapt to Trump's defense following his victory in the presidential election this month Read More Trump at UFC footage Claiming he knew Trump from before his days as a politician, Smith then denied ever calling the 78-year-old racist. 'I have never spoken about him that way,' Smith said. 'Ever. Not one time. Not one time. Because I knew him beforehand.' Trump was able to make slight inroads with black voters nationally, who made up about 1 in 10 voters across the country. Nationally, about 8 in 10 black voters supported Harris. But that was down from about 9 in 10 in the last presidential election who went for Joe Biden. Trump about doubled his share of young black men – which helped him among key Democratic voting group. About 3 in 10 Black men under the age of 45 went for Trump, roughly double the number he got in 2020. Allegations of racism against Trump did not originate with his first foray into politics eight years ago. In 1973, for example, the Justice Department sued the real estate tycoon and his father for their alleged refusal to rent apartments in predominantly white buildings to black tenants. Testimony showed that applications filed by black apartment seekers were marked with a 'C' for 'colored.' The lawsuit ended in a settlement in which the Trumps acknowledged they 'failed and neglected' to comply with the Fair Housing Act, though they were never required to explicitly acknowledge discrimination had occurred. Stephen A. Smith and Bill Maher disputed the notion that Trump is a "terrible racist." Smith: "If we’re being totally honest, all the brothers found him to be cool. They found him to be very cool. So, let’s be clear. Because he knew his sports, all right? He would say what he... pic.twitter.com/AWT9NbmQt7 — Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) November 25, 2024 Trump, seen alongside billionaire donor Elon Musk, has faced racism accusations since the 70s In 1989, Trump infamously took out full page newspaper ads calling for New York state to reinstate the death penalty as five black and Latino teenagers were set to stand trial for beating and raping a white woman in Central Park. Black clergy leaders responded with their own full-page ad denouncing Trump's as a 'thinly veiled racist polemic' meant to divide the city. The Rev. Al Sharpton also organized a demonstration outside Trump Tower. The five men were eventually exonerated in 2002 after another man admitted to the crime and it was determined their confessions were coerced. In the 1990s, the Atlantic City casino mogul frequently cast doubt about the legitimacy of tribes seeking to build casinos in the New York area, citing their dark skin as evidence they were faking their ancestry. 'They don't look like Indians to me, and they don't look like Indians to Indians, and a lot of people are laughing at it,' Trump said of the Mashantucket Pequots who operate Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut during testimony before Congress in 1993. Tribe leaders at the time called out the remarks as racist. The National Indian Gaming Association filed a Federal Communications Commission complaint after Trump made similar remarks on Don Imus' talk radio show. The group described his on-air comments as 'obscene, indecent and profane racial slurs against Native Americans and African Americans.' The FCC declined to take action, though it called the remarks 'deplorable' and 'offensive.' Trump picked one prominent African-American candidate for his second term in ex-NFL player Scott Turner (right), who will head Housing and Urban Development The Republican businessman also famously used the 'birther' conspiracy to propel himself into national politics in the late 2000s. During the Obama administration, he baselessly claimed the nation's first black president wasn't qualified to hold the office because he was born in Kenya, not the U.S., as is required under the Constitution. He recanted the statements, however, during his winning 2016 campaign. Trump's cabinets have been largely without of any African Americans with the notable exception of his Housing and Urban Development nominees: Ben Carson, from 2017 through 2020, and his current pick, former NFL player Scott Turner. Donald Trump Share or comment on this article: Donald Trump is not racist, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith says as he insists 'brothers found him to be cool' e-mail Add comment
Alex Jones’ bankruptcy judge orders new hearing on The Onion’s Infowars bid
The General Authority of Customs and Malomatia signed an agreement on Tuesday to renew their partnership to work on the digital transformation of the Qatar Electronic Customs Clearance Single Window (Al Nadeeb). The purpose of the renewal is to enhance the efficiency of customs operations, simplify customs procedures using the latest digital and technological innovations, and promote cooperation and integration between the government and private sectors, which will support the national economy in line with the Third National Development Strategy. This partnership comes as part of both entities' efforts to expand the range of services offered through three main areas: operations, managing Al Nadeeb around the clock with constant service improvement and operations excellence. This also includes developing services for the security operations center and improving customer experience, ensuring the highest standards of performance in digital customs operations. The second area is advanced information technology, which aims to use artificial intelligence for data management, developing a platform to manage financial operations, and establish a central operations control center, in addition to connecting both internal and external systems to a single platform to improve operations and adopting emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) to achieve new levels of operational efficiency and flexibility, supporting the third area, which is value-added services. This area aims to offer solutions that go beyond traditional technological services by providing Managed IT services and supporting the General Authority of Customs with innovative marketing solutions. On this occasion, HE Chairman of the General Authority of Customs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Jamal said that the five-year partnership will expand the scope of customs services, increase innovation in the customs and logistics sector, and enhance procedural flexibility. This will help create a transparent and secure customs environment and reinforce Qatar's position as a global center for trade and logistics services. For his part, Malomatia CEO Khalid Mohammed Al Kubaisi said that Al Nadeeb has brought about significant transformations in the customs and logistics sector over the past decade, through smart solutions and services facilitating procedures. This has made customs operations smoother and more efficient. Al Kubaisi added that the renewed partnership with the General Authority of Customs is a key step toward operational excellence, leveraging the latest digital technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT, which will help transform Qatar into an active partner in facilitating international trade. Related Story Customs thwarts bid to smuggle chewing tobacco GTA organises workshop on implementing global minimum corporate taxKim Kardashian admonished for wearing rosary in new scantily clad advertisement: 'Nothing about you is holy'WASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in northern Gaza as soon as next month owing to Israel's “near-total blockade” of food and other aid, the U.S.-created global food-crisis monitor said on Tuesday. The finding by the Famine Early Warning System Network appeared to expose a rift within the Biden administration over the extent of starvation in northern Gaza, with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, disputing part of the data used in reaching the conclusion and calling the stepped-up famine warning “irresponsible." Northern Gaza has been one of the areas hardest-hit by fighting and Israel's restrictions on aid throughout its 14-month war with Hamas militants. Israel at one point increased the number of aid deliveries it permitted into northern Gaza under pressure from President Joe Biden. But the U.N. and aid groups say Israel recently has blocked almost all aid again. Only nine U.N. trucks have been able to bring in food and water over the past 2 1/2 months, Oxfam says. Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and relocated to Gaza City, where most aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza’s far north, near the Israeli border. FEWS Net said unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in northern Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between next month and March. The internationally recognized mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people. Cindy McCain, the American head of the U.N. World Food Program, in a Dec. 15 appearance on CBS' “Face the Nation” called for political pressure to get food flowing to Palestinians trapped in north Gaza. “We need unfettered access. We need a ceasefire and we need it now,” she said. “We can't ... sit by and just allow these people to starve to death.” FEWS Net was created by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises. The United States, Israel's main backer, provided a record amount of military support in the first year of the war. At the same time, the Biden administration repeatedly urged Israel to allow more access to aid deliveries in Gaza overall, and warned that failing to do so could trigger U.S. restrictions on military support. The administration recently said Israel was making improvements and declined to carry out its threat of restrictions. Military support for Israel's war in Gaza is politically charged in the United States. Republicans and some Democrats have staunchly opposed any effort to limit U.S. support over the suffering of Palestinian civilians trapped in the conflict. The Biden administration's reluctance to do more to press Israel for improved treatment of civilians undercut support for Democrats in last month's elections. Lew, the U.S. ambassador, challenged the famine warning in a posting on social media, saying it was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over how many of the 65,000 people remaining in northern Gaza had fled in recent weeks, saying that skewed the findings. FEWS said its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 remain there. “We work day and night with the U.N. and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible.,” Lew wrote. AP writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Commentary: COP29 climate finance deal is a decade late and US$2 trillion shortTories urge PM to reject Netanyahu arrest warrant and alter ‘nonsensical’ stanceTeenager Sam Konstas will make his Test debut in the cauldron of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground tomorrow as Australia look to take the game to India’s bowlers, coach Andrew McDonald said on Tuesday. Konstas, 19, was brought into the squad at the expense of Nathan McSweeney after Australia’s top order struggled for runs in the first three tests of the series, which is tied 1-1 with two games to play. “He’s composed, relaxed, knows his game is in a good place at the moment, he’ll play Boxing Day,” McDonald told reporters at the MCG. “We said from the get-go that age was no barrier. And what he’s shown is an array of shots, the ability to put pressure back onto opponents and he gets his opportunity. “We’re really excited for him, Boxing Day, the biggest stage. He might as well get that one out of the way early.” With bowlers, particularly Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, having had the upper hand in the series so far, McDonald said switching McSweeney for Konstas was a tactical move. “We want to throw a different challenge at India at this point in time,” he said. “We believe Nathan is good enough for Test level. We weren’t sure about how the top order was functioning. We challenged ourselves for that decision. Whether it works or not, time will tell (but) we’re really confident that Sam can do the job.” McDonald was also confident Travis Head, who has scored 409 runs with two centuries in the first three Tests, would be fit to play despite a quad strain preventing him from training on Monday. “Has he got some things to work through? Yeah, he has,” McDonald said. “There’s no concern at the moment. Has he been officially ticked off? I’m not sure. I didn’t see the back end of his training session there, but I’m pretty confident he’ll play. I think he’ll be fully functional come the game time.” While McDonald said captain Pat Cummins would reveal the rest of the Australia line-up for the match today, he all but confirmed that Scott Boland would come in for the injured Josh Hazlewood in the pace attack. “I don’t think I’m coming to the ground on Boxing Day if Scotty’s not in the 11,” he joked. McDonald also moved to quash rumours about the health of Mitchell Marsh and suggested the all-rounder would play a bigger role with ball in hand than he did in the drawn third test in Brisbane. “Mitch Marsh is fully fit and available to bowl,” he said. “I know that he only bowled two overs last game, and people were speculating around that, but that was more because of the weather interventions so we were able to keep our fast bowlers fresh.” Related Story PM meets India's external affairs minister Qatar imposes anti-dumping duties on imports of automotive batteries from Korea, India
The Patriots released starting left guard Michael Jordan on Tuesday. Head coach Jerod Mayo hinted that lineup changes would be coming this week, and Jordan, who’s started 11 games through 12 weeks including Sunday’s 34-15 loss to the Dolphins, is out. To take his place on the 53-man roster, the Patriots claimed guard Lester Cotton off waivers from the Dolphins. Cotton, 28, has appeared in 32 career games with nine starts. He started his career with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama in 2019. He’s been with the Dolphins since 2022. Jordan ranks 75th out of 82 qualified guards with a 51.5 overall PFF grade this season. He’s allowed three sacks and 23 total pressures. He now must pass through waivers since it’s after the NFL trade deadline. Cotton has played just 61 snaps this season, earning a 67.0 PFF grade. He started at left guard and right guard last season for the Dolphins. With Jordan off the roster, the Patriots have five possibilities to start at left guard in Week 13 against the Colts: Sidy Sow, Cole Strange, Tyrese Robinson, rookie Layden Robinson and Cotton. Layden Robinson, who has been spotted taking reps at left guard in practice, has started six games this season. Strange is still on the PUP list as he returns from a knee injury suffered late last season. Sow filled in for Demontrey Jacobs at right tackle after the latter was benched last week. Tyrese Robinson was signed off the Vikings’ practice squad earlier this month.Brazil's Bolsonaro planned and participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report alleges
Joanna Gaines is creating spaces for everyone, and when she says everyone, she means it. Over the past 20 years that she has been building her home renovation empire, and especially since becoming an HGTV darling, the Magnolia founder has found national, if not global, stardom. However, being in the spotlight hasn't come without its fair share of ups and downs and backlash, and though she has typically shied away from addressing it, she's now speaking out on why it's so important to her to clarify some misconceptions about her. For a new feature on Architectural Digest , Joanna, who runs her business with husband Chip Gaines , opened up about the hate she has received online for her perceived political inclinations; though she has never disclosed her family's political affiliations, people have made assumptions, and criticized her from that, nonetheless. "I get emotional about it," she said, before noting that she grew up in Kansas and later Texas, in the 1980s, being half-Korean, as the daughter of a Korean immigrant, her mother Nan Stevens. She continued: "You’re talking about a little girl who, for years, tried to hide pieces of herself, because I felt as though I wasn't included, or good enough. I looked like what I was: Korean — half Korean." "Now that I'm older, I realize the things I was picked on for are what I’m the most proud of," she then noted, adding: "Having to work out of that [headspace], even in my 40s, I am so empathetic towards people who feel different and who look different." MORE: Joanna Gaines opens up about poignant moment concerning six-year-old son Crew MORE: Joanna Gaines delivers 'grateful' message with family photo as fans react "I understand how much harder you have to work to just show up and say, 'Well, I'm good! It's me!" she maintained. "And so, when I hear people labeling me as someone who wouldn't like someone because of this or that reason, it couldn't be further from who I am as a human being." "We believe everyone has a seat at the table. I don't say that to mean: 'Well, but not you, and you, and a little bit of you.' We wouldn't put that statement on our website, in our restaurants, on our books because we kind of mean it. We truly mean everyone has a seat at the table," she emphasized. MORE: Joanna Gaines reflects on 'tensions' for 5 kids in reflective message Elsewhere in the interview, Joanna also opened up about the feelings of imposter she felt coming up in her industry with no formal education in design and architecture. MORE: Chip Gaines dreading big day ahead in personal life: 'I feel conflicted' "I was a local boutique owner, and then I was doing design and renovations with Chip for years. And then, you get noticed by a production company — you're naive, you think: 'Maybe some people in Waco will see the show,'" she first said. She then added: "And then you realize, six months later, 'Oh, my gosh, this is national. People are watching our work.' I remember, in that moment, thinking, 'I'm going to get found out. Every 'real' designer is going to be, like, 'Why is she on TV? She's not real.' I had to have a real come-to-Jesus moment with myself: If I want to stay true to what the client wants, their story, this is what design is for me."2024 will go down in history as the most bruising year ever for the Conservative and Unionist Party. It was clear from Liz Truss’s 2022 Mini Budget that the Tories had run out of road and public goodwill, but the exit poll on July 4 2024 will never be forgotten by the party. Unlike the disastrous 1997 election, however, the Tories do not have the luxury of time between now and the next election in 2029 to get their ducks in a row. Nigel Farage ’s Reform UK appears to be the only party in British politics with momentum, and they will be looking to consolidate their polling and council by-election successes next year. Ahead of the new year, we take a look at some of the key areas the Tories must focus on if they have any chance of staving off the tsunami of Reform UK. Kemi Badenoch won the Tory leadership largely because her supporters believe she has a star power to cut-through to ordinary voters. Focus groups during the leadership election suggested this was the case, and her backers still believe she has the right priorities and beliefs on the key issues. However it is fair to say that she has not secured enough cut-through with the general public since her election in November. Her outings at PMQs have been largely successful, demonstrating a force of nature, and a willingness to talk about issues in a fresh way. One half-hour session a week is not enough. Beyond PMQs, one might observe Ms Badenoch’s only cut-through so far has been a questionable row about whether sandwiches are woke. Against Nigel Farage , the Tory Party needs to get Ms Badenoch out there on the front foot, capturing the limelight and grabbing voters’ attention on a weekly basis. This will become easier the more there is media buy-in she is the real deal and could beat Keir Starmer in 2029 - but Reform’s continued high polling numbers make that much more difficult. Ms Badenoch has turned policy ambiguity into an art form. Unlike her rival Robert Jenrick who appeared to have a clear-cut and fully-though out policy on just about everything, Ms Badenoch demurred from setting her views in stone. I’m told that 2025 will not be the year she changes this strategy, with loyalists insisting she is right to insist there is no point announcing policies this far out of an election. Kemi’s main offering is a 'rewiring of the state’, a top-to-bottom reset of the civil service, human rights laws, regulations, the judiciary, quangos, public services. The problem with this is it’s simply not ‘retail’ enough - voters do not have a clue what it means. Will it mean more money in their pocket? What taxes will she cut? What levels of immigration does she want? Will she leave the ECHR? I appreciate Kemi wants to take all of this slowly, but she needs to come out with some popular mass-appeal policies in the next year so voters can start to form some idea of what she stands for. As I say, this is not 1997. Reform UK is breathing down her back and she does not have the luxury of time to wait until 2029 before getting on top of this. Westminster may be glamorous, but real politics still happens on the local level, in communities and on doorsteps. The Tory Party is currently a walking corpse of a party, there have been mass redundancies, much of the talent from government has now gone to earn a proper wage in the private sector, and the membership is pitiful. In the 2022 leadership contest between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak , there were 172,437 eligible members; two years later that had dropped by 25% to just 131,680. Reform UK now has a live website ticker counting up their membership to the moment they overtake the Tories - they’re now fewer than 5,000 members from overtaking them. Members are the essential backbone of a party, they’re more likely to get involved in leafletting and campaigning at elections. The Tories need to rediscover mass membership and have an offer to both general members and particularly young Britons. Nigel Farage is undoubtedly the king of social media. Across X, Facebook, TikTok , Instagram and YouTube he has an enormous following of 5.4 million. This is over twice the number of Sir Keir Starmer (2.6 million), and 17 times higher than Kemi Badenoch’s 320,000. Traditional media cut-through is essential, as explained above, but in 2025 social media is increasingly where voters get their information. Kemi’s 260,000 X followers and 34,000 Facebook followers are simply not good enough and will prove useless in combatting Mr Farage’s following. In the 2019 election, the Tories won the social media war for the first time ever using the ingenious methods developed by campaigning agency Topham Guerin. In 2024 the party could no longer afford their services, and the social media war was a wipeout for the Tories . Kemi Badenoch must build her social media following urgently. Why couldn’t the Tories afford Topham Guerin in 2024? Because they have completely run out of money. During the Tory leadership race, the final two candidates had to give CCHQ £150,000 each - the rumour was this would go to funding post-election redundancy payouts for staff. According to one Tory MP: “Money is by far [Kemi’s] biggest problem”. They added: “Here in Parliament, you’ve got a whole bunch of people who are prepared to muck in, to do multiple jobs and get on with it. Policy is way down the line, it’s cash we need right now.” The party ended the election with only £5 million in the bank, that’s now down to just £3 million - well below the annual £25 million-a-year operating cost for a major political party. The Tories need big money donors now, and Reform UK’s new treasurer Nick Candy is already on a mission to steal that money away. Without cash, a party is like a rowing boat with no oars. To beat Nigel Farage , Kemi Badenoch needs a V8 outboard motor - and at the moment it appears no benefactor is willing to stump up for one.
What's New? America's billionaires enjoyed a stellar 2024, their collective net worth soaring by hundreds of billions of dollars on the back of a sustained boom in the tech sector. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which ranks daily the world's wealthiest individuals, nine out of the 10 individuals who saw the largest growth in their net worth since January are U.S. citizens. Elon Musk , the South African-born CEO of SpaceX , Tesla , and X (formerly Twitter), saw his net worth skyrocket by an astounding $222 billion for a total of $451 billion as of December 24. His shares in Tesla, which make up a significant portion of his total fortune, have grown by 81 percent over the same period. Taken together, the 10 centibillionaires—which included perennial frontrunners Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos —notched an additional $730 billion onto their collective net worth in 2024, a few billion shy of Taiwan's GDP. Why It Matters The staggering accumulation of wealth—boosted in early November by the re-election of Donald Trump and a surge in U.S. stocks—sheds light on the dynamics of economic inequality in the U.S. and its broader implications. These debates had already been ignited by the impacts of inflation and wage stagnation as suffered by America's middle- and working-classes, and in the past such high figures have prompted calls for higher taxation on the super-wealthy, as well as examinations into the influence of money in the American political system. What To Know The individuals on Bloomberg's list, ranked by the increase in their net worth over the past 12 months, are: Elon Musk (+$222 billion), Mark Zuckerberg (+$84 billion), Nvidia founder Jensen Huang (+$77.9 billion), Jeff Bezos (+$67 billion), Larry Ellison (+$67 billion), Michael Dell (+$46.6 billion), Larry Page ($46.1 billion), Sergey Brin (+$42.2 billion), and Walmart heirs Jim (+$39.6 billion) and Alice Walton (+$39.0 billion). The nature of the billionaires on Bloomberg's list also highlights the outsized and growing impact of technology on the global economy today, nearly all of the billionaires deriving their wealth from ownership of companies in this sector. The global reach of communication technologies, and the high scalability of companies dealing in cutting edge tech, means that businesses positioned at the forefront of the digital transformation are poised to reap even greater rewards, promising today's billionaires even greater fortunes in the future. On the other end of the spectrum, the continued downturn in the luxury goods sector has seen many well-known billionaires shed significant portions from their net worth. Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of LVMH who once held the title of the world's richest person, saw his wealth decline by $32 billion in 2024. Arnault is followed by Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, businesswoman and heiress to the L'Oréal fortune, whose net worth sank by $25.6 billion so far this year. What People Are Saying Peter Oppenheimer , Chief Global Equity Strategist and Head of Macro Research in Europe at Goldman Sachs, spoke to financial outlet Boring Money about the future of the tech boom: "The drivers of this success have reflected their ability to leverage software and cloud computing and to fuel high profitability generated by extraordinary demand growth. But their more recent surge in performance since 2022 owes much to the hopes and aspirations around AI." What Happens Next? Some analysts have likened the tech boom to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and warned that this too could burst, hurting those who hedged their fortunes on the transformative power of AI. For now, however, technology appears to have triggered an unparalleled rise in net worth for those at the pinnacle, leading to levels of individual wealth never before seen in history. Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.Ceasefire Deal Between Israel, Hezbollah Takes Effect Wednesday: Biden
Trump picks Jay Bhattacharya, who backed COVID herd immunity, to lead National Institutes of Health
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