Euronews (July 20)
Spain’s economy looks set to receive a boost from its World Cup win. “FIFA pays the champion federation a record $50 million (€43.7m)… out of a $655 million (€572m) prize pool spread across the expanded 48-team tournament.” Though beneficial, the prize winnings and a surge in celebration spending are negligible at the macroeconomic level. Instead the real driver appears to be “exports, which grow five to six percentage points faster as the title acts as a global advertising campaign for the country’s goods and services.” A 2024 study suggests “winning the World Cup lifts a champion’s year-on-year GDP growth by at least 0.48% over the two quarters after the final, before the effect fades.”
Tags: 50 million, Advertising campaign, Celebration spending, Champion, Driver, Economy, Exports, FIFA, GDP growth, Macroeconomic, Prize winnings, Spain, Surge, World Cup
The Economist (July 11)
The Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Finland jointly champion “values-based realism” and “ad hoc coalitions.” They believe “the world order built after 1945 is unravelling” and that “neither wishful multilateralism nor cold realpolitik” provides a sufficient alternative.” Together “Mark Carney and Alexander Stubb suggest a third way…. “We must form calibrated alliances, integrating deeply with those countries that share our values, and remain open-eyed with those that do not.”
Tags: 1945, Ad hoc coalitions, Alliances, Canada, Carney, Champion, Finland, Multilateralism, Open-eyed, President, Prime minister, Realpolitik, Stubb, Unravelling, Values-based realism, World order
The Economist (April 2)
With rising anxiety, free trade has become “a touchstone issue in America’s presidential election.” Candidates across the spectrum are stepping back from free trade, if not outright attacking it. “Freer trade was one of the engines of the prosperous decades following the second world war, in America and beyond. Yet mainstream politicians are now not only afraid to champion it, they pour fuel on the fire. That is lamentable. Free trade still deserves full-throated support, even if greater care needs to be taken of those it hurts.”
Tags: Anxiety, Candidates, Champion, Election, Free trade, Lamentable, Support, U.S.
