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Packaging group Amcor is good for a big deal every decade. This decade is its biggest yet.

Amcor’s whopper $76b tie-up shows it’s ready to rule the world

It’s one of the biggest deals of the year – and the financial numbers are eye-catching. Imagine $US650 million in synergies.

  • Anthony Macdonald

This Month

Xi Jinping and Dina Boluarte at a ceremony to virtually inaugurate the Chancay port.

China’s $2b Peru port faces obstacles from the Andes to the Amazon

While Chancay may rekindle an old dream of integrating South America’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts, there is no effective way to make it happen.

  • Dayanne Sousa and Rachel Gamarski
Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden with, from left, Dana White, Kid Rock and Elon Musk.

Bessent, Lutnick in final push for Trump’s Treasury pick

Allies of both men have been lobbying in calls to the president-elect, which is creating tension and increasing the chance that another candidate emerges.

  • Nancy Cook, Saleha Mohsin and Annmarie Hordern
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Retreat meeting, in Lima, Peru, on Saturday 16 November 2024. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Peru.

IMF warns Australia and APEC on budget spending

Managing director Kristalina Georgieva told leaders while it was “remarkable” that inflation was retreating globally without recession, “in many countries it is not reflected in public sentiment”.

  • Phillip Coorey
Chinese President Xi Jinping os attending the APEC and Group of 20 summits in South America this week.

Xi defends globalisation as Trump threatens tariffs

In his first major remarks since the US election, Xi Jinping’s message to the APEC summit was that the world was entering “a new period of turbulence and change”.

  • Bloomberg News
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America’s commercial property sector is the world’s largest, and it is struggling.

US unemployment claims fall to lowest in six months

The Labour Department figures are a sign that layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels.

  • Matt Ott
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto take part in a welcome ceremony in Beijing.

China, Indonesia strengthen ties as they brace for Trump

President Prabowo Subianto strikes deals with China before heading off to the US, as he tries to play a neutral role between the superpowers.

  • Ella Cao
The Bank of England is hoping for a soft landing for the UK economy.

Bank of England cuts interest rates again, keeps counsel on Trump

The BoE boss warned that the inflation fight wasn’t won, and said it was too early to tell how Trump’s presidency might shift the global economy.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
A Business Council campaign promotion from the 2016 US election.

Trump win would pressure Australia to cut 30pc corporate tax rate

Competition between nations on business taxation and investment will be heavily influenced by the US election outcome.

  • John Kehoe
Olaf Scholz.

Germany’s government at risk of collapse over economic policy

The main political parties are already laying out their campaign positions, and coalition leaders are barely talking.

  • Steven Erlanger and Christopher F. Schuetze
Chinese shoppers in Beijing.

Consumer giants sceptical of China’s economic recovery

Falling sales for luxury, beauty and beer companies fuel doubts about Beijing’s attempts to boost confidence.

  • Richard Milne, Madeleine Speed and Oliver Ralph
US spending shows a healthy economy.

Key US inflation gauge and spending pick up in solid economy

The figures cap a month of upside surprises in vital reports that will likely augur a cautious approach to interest rate cuts in the months ahead.

  • Matthew Boesler

October

The Benjamin Button economy has resulted largely from post-pandemic distortions in the US labour market.

The curious case of America’s Benjamin Button economy

Movie buffs will remember the title character, played by Brad Pitt, ages in reverse. The US economy is doing something similar.

  • Jared Franz
British Chancellor Rachel Reeves and her red box, heading to parliament to deliver the budget.

UK Labour budget smashes record for highest tax take in modern history

A blockbuster $79 billion taxation slug indicates Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s hope that ailing public services can be fixed before the 2029 election.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
The US economy is growing ahead of the presidential election next week.

US economy expands on the back of consumer resilience

Inflation-adjusted GDP grew by 2.8 per cent while consumer spending advanced 3.7 per cent, the most since early 2023.

  • Matthew Boesler
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Jim Chalmers and Jerome Powell.

Chalmers prepares for US tariffs and debt burden

The treasurer said he was working on scenarios for potential changes in America during and after its presidential election.

  • Matthew Cranston
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the BRICS summit.

BRICS alliance takes on global payments system

The group of developing nations is attempting to challenge the SWIFT international payments messaging system by setting up its own sanctions-proof one.

  • Jessica Sier
A food stall in Beijing. Consumers have been spooked by lower property prices and the threat of unemployment.

Local government key to reigniting China’s economy

Concerned by the social risks of high unemployment and falling asset values, the government of Xi Jinping is trying to reboot the economy from the ground up.

  • Jessica Sier
Reform and renewed confidence might lead to an upsurge in global investment.

Resilient global economy must brace for Trump and other risks

The world’s record-high inflation is largely easing, but significant downside risks will continue to pose a challenge for policymakers.

  • Martin Wolf
A local market burns after a Russian strike in Mykolaiv. The Ukraine war is on the agenda for this week’s meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

IMF, World Bank meetings clouded by wars, economy, US election

The elephant in the room will be the potential for an election victory by Donald Trump to upend the international economic system with massive new US tariffs.

  • Updated
  • David Lawder

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/global-economy-1n6f