• Reuters

    Are you better off today? A question for voters as Biden, Trump debate

    Perhaps the most famous one-liner in a presidential debate, Ronald Reagan's "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" question to voters in his match with Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter in October 1980, came as high inflation pummeled consumers' spending power and captured a general malaise about the economy. As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump head to the first of two debates ahead of their rematch this November, some version of that question may well come up or at least be on the minds of people taking stock of the past, very turbulent, four years. Look at almost any economic data series and the pandemic is not just an obvious break in the trends, but poses the challenge of when to mark the end of the "normal" years for Trump and the resumption of a "normal" period for Biden.

  • Reuters

    Exclusive-Bosch eyes offer for appliance maker Whirlpool, sources say

    German engineering group Robert Bosch GmbH is weighing a bid for U.S. appliances manufacturer Whirlpool, according to three people familiar with the matter, a move that would boost its position in the white goods market. Bosch has been talking to potential advisers about the possibility of making an offer for Whirlpool, which has a market capitalisation of about $4.8 billion, one of the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential. Officials at Whirlpool were not immediately available for comment.

  • Reuters

    ECB's Panetta sees gradual policy easing if outlook holds

    The European Central Bank could gradually reduce interest rates as inflation falls, Italian central bank Governor Fabio Panetta said on Wednesday, arguing that much of the recent concern about sticky services costs is overblown. The ECB cut rates for the first time in June but has made no explicit commitment about a follow up move, even if policymakers are clear that further cuts are in the pipeline and only the timing is up in the air. "The current macroeconomic picture is consistent with a normalization of the monetary stance," Panetta said in Helsinki.