Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson said that a week is a long time in politics. So how long does a month feel? It has turned out to be a very long time, given the troubled political and economic landscape, since Liz Truss became party leader in early September. Perhaps she should pay more attention to Advice from the FT . editorial board.
This week, Truss will explain herself in front of her team, assembled for its annual conference in Birmingham. Although there have been reports of Tory MP is absent, Truss will certainly have the participation of prime minister Kwasi Kwarteng. He will speak before the conference on Monday. Truss delivered his closing remarks on Wednesday.
On the other side of the world, China’s leadership is also involved in some party management. The country is kicking off its annual Golden Week holiday, kicking off what is expected to be patriotic emulation month in which President Xi Jinping will be assigned an unprecedented third term as General Secretary of the Communist Party and head of China’s military.
Then there are the more conventional elections. You will be able to read analysis by Brazilian FT reporters”imperfect“Vote for the presidential election. And this Sunday, Austria will go to the polls to elect its new president.
It’s finally going to be another big week for rocket enthusiasts as the SpaceX Crew-5 astronaut mission for Nasa is planned. take off for the International Space Station from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center – as long as Hurricane Ian doesn’t disrupt the process.
Economic data
Employment will be the focus in a rather sparse week of economic data. The US and Canada release the numbers on Friday.
There will also be an opportunity for international comparisons with purchasing managers’ index reports for manufacturing and services.
Companies
It was another busy week for news from the high street. Inflation will dominate UK retailer Tesco’s semi-annual results: how much to absorb, how much to force suppliers to absorb and how much to pass on to consumers. Investors were slightly surprised in April when the supermarket chain said it would give up some of this year’s profits to continue pricing, but the decision appears to have been made before.
Other retailers are using the funds to help their employees deal cost of living crisis. The John Lewis Partnership will this week begin delivering free food to Waitrose department stores and supermarket employees. It’s not quite an altruistic measure given the growing “war for talent” ahead of the busy Christmas sales period and the employee-owned company’s warning this month that it may not be able to pay Its annual employee bonus.
Wages are rising in this sector. At least three retailers pushed for a pay hike for the year, and now they’re scrapping it too for benefits – free meals, employee discounts and paid breaks among them.
Read the calendar a week in advance here.
