Berkshire Hathaway announced this Friday that Warren Buffett will step down as chairman of the conglomerate and become chairman emeritus with immediate effect. Earlier this year, Buffett had already left the position of CEO, handing over the reins of the company to his longtime collaborator Greg Abel.
A few hours before the first legislative elections in wartime began in Russia and amid rising tensions with the European countries allied with Ukraine, the Kremlin chief, Vladimir Putin, ordered by decree to take control of the businesses of two major Western companies in the country, the French Auchan and the Swiss multinational Nestlé. In recent years, this measure has been a first step before large foreign firms were bought by Russian owners.
There is a number to consider: 16. That is the number of times (a minimum documented, but there could be more) that the U.S. president, Donald Trump, has asked in just under two years for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Almost one appeal per month. The latest complaint came yesterday, and the magnate went a bit too far, claiming that the price of money should be set, according to the parameters of the U.S. economy, at 1% or less.
Seat cut more than 11% of its workforce in the last five years. According to the company’s annual reports, last year ended with 13,058 employees on the payroll compared to 14,751 in 2020. The adjustment of nearly 1,700 employees took place within the framework of an agreement between the company and the unions to adapt the workforce to the expected workload. Union sources explained that this plan is not yet finished and that some more departures will be counted this year. The same sources detailed that the layoffs have been agreed upon and are not traumatic for the employees.
The price of gasoline continues its upward trend. In its eleventh consecutive week of increases, it has reached a new annual high, while diesel has resumed its climbs to cancel out much of the tax cuts due to the activation of the safeguard mechanism in September.
Spain will continue without a lobbying law that provides transparency to private relations between companies and politicians. The Congress of Deputies has rejected the royal decree-law approved by the Government at the end of August, so the regulation has been in force for less than a month and has ended up lapsing. PP, Vox, and Junts have voted against the rule. Spain will lose 260 million from European funds, less than expected after a negotiation with the European Commission.
The Federal Reserve meeting this September posed a challenge that went beyond an economic decision. That is why this Wednesday was called “Fed Independence Day,” or its submission to power.
The high housing costs in Spain cause a large number of people to become de facto poor, according to a study published by Fedea this Wednesday. The most alarming situation occurs among citizens who live in market-rate rentals. Specifically, half of the tenants would join the poverty group if conventional metrics took into account the rents they have to pay for the leases where they reside. With housing at peak prices, almost two million more people would fall below the poverty line if this cost were included.
The Council of Ministers has given the green light today to the airport regulation document for the period 2027-2031, known as DORA III. This includes an investment of nearly 13 billion euros across the entire network of Spanish airports managed by Aena, of which 1.963 billion euros will be invested in the airports of Catalunya.
Spaniards take longer to leave their parents’ house. Last year, the average age at which they became independent was 30.2 years, above the 30 of the previous year, according to data published this Tuesday by Eurostat. Difficulties in accessing their own home, both for purchase and rent, break the downward trend seen in the previous two years. The trend occurs despite the fact that the employment level of young people is at its highest in almost twenty years.
