Once upon a time the United States of America was a constitutional republic that was by design constructed with checks and balances to limit corruption and constrain the ability of any branch of government to initiate certain potentially harmful actions, like going to war, which required approval by both Congress and the Executive Branch.
In a devastating 6-3 ruling in Trump v. United States that is equal parts politically short-sighted, self-servingly partisan, and utterly devoid of any pretense that the president is anything other than a dictator, the Supreme Court has validated what Richard Nixon once claimed: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
Megamergers are back in vogue, climbing by 22 percent and booking $1.5 trillion in new deals in this year’s first six months, the London Stock Exchange Group reported, as the number of takeovers in the U.S. surged.
China’s manufacturing sector weakened further in June, with the National Bureau of Statistics’ purchasing managers index (PMI) remaining flat from May at 49.5, equaling analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll.
Alone among major auto companies, Toyota still refuses to fully commit its future to all-electric mobility. Instead, it has introduced a redesigned piston engine for gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
Investors who bought securities made up of bundles of commercial mortgage loans bought them in part because the securities earned top credit ratings.
Wall Street banks are continuing to try to sell their troubled commercial real estate loans as office occupancy rates remain halved from pre-COVID levels and the value of office buildings slides, The New York Times reported.
Bankruptcies in Canada rose 3.1 percent in May from April and a stunning 19.2 percent year on year, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
From January through March, the U.K. economy managed to grow by 0.7 percent compared to the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics reported on 28 June.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Monday that there is “momentum” building up for an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel, according to a report.