It is not often that two heads of Western powers celebrate a birthday in the same week. Rarer still that both are in their eighth decade. Should we celebrate that age is clearly no longer a barrier to such leadership positions? King Charles III turns 74 on Monday and will be honored with a 41-gun salute and a rendition of “Happy Birthday” at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. But US President Joe Biden passes a more significant milestone as he turns 80 on Sunday. He also has to deal with one more pressing week of international diplomacy and domestic politics before blowing out the candles on his cake.
First, there is the G20 summit in Bali, or what one FT colleague called the first global meeting of governments of the second cold war. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend, but China’s Xi Jinping is expected to attend, so there will be pressure for Biden to speak to him.
At home, there is the small matter of the “very important announcement” widely followed by Donald Trump on Tuesday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
This is also the week of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand, which will bring together 21 countries from the region, the first face-to-face meeting since 2018. Once again, the US, China and Russia are invited, and again Putin not being there. However, French President Emmanuel Macron will be in attendance, having been invited to speak on global trade ties.
fix a hole
Across the Atlantic, in the UK, where potential holiday roasts are having a particularly miserable season, the biggest date on the paper is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s financial statement on Thursday.
The country is in a “fiscal hole” (not my phrase, Hunt’s) and the chancellor’s plan is to meet around half of the required £55bn deficit in public spending cuts, with measures including a delay on social care reforms, a freeze on income tax thresholds and a sneaky foray into inheritance tax.
The FT’s parliamentary and economics team will be on hand to translate the words of politicians and find key points buried in Treasury documents. Read this explainer to understand why the UK needs to act urgently. And if you think you can do a better job than the chancellor, indulge in our interactive “fill the black hole”.
In keeping with UK politics, Nicola Sturgeon will mark eight years as leader of the Scottish National Party on Monday. He got the job when his predecessor and mentor Alex Salmond resigned in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum. While Westminster is cutting central government spending, Holyrood is enacting its own austerity campaign. Will Sturgeon’s milestone prompt an assessment of her record as her prime minister?
The UN climate change conference COP27 comes to a close on Friday, but on Sunday we have the start of something that will most likely dominate world news and sports headlines for the next month: the FIFA World Cup. Qatar 2022. To say this is likely to be a controversial tournament would be an understatement: read our magazine report here. The FT will be on hand to provide comprehensive coverage.
Finally, we have more choices. Malaysia goes to the polls on Saturday. Nepalis will vote for parliamentary and provincial government seats on Sunday and the FT’s sister title Nikkei Asia has produced this handy guide to the key points. Kazakhstan’s general election on Sunday is noteworthy because it represents the most significant constitutional change for the oil-rich Central Asian country since it declared independence from the former Soviet Union.
Economic data
Carpenters work on new townhomes in Tampa, Florida © Octavio Jones/Reuters
There are some potentially big data releases coming out of the US next week, namely Producer Price Index inflation rate figures, retail sales figures and more updates on the shaky US housing market. .us
The big economic event in the UK is the Autumn Statement, but before that, the UK unemployment data will be updated on Tuesday. The British government has focused attention on its record here because it is one of the only good news for them. However, it’s not that good.
The UK will be the only developed economy with employment still below pre-pandemic levels by early 2023, according to a new analysis. Another “winter of discontent” is also looming as a variety of workers (nurses being the latest) demand pay increases in line with inflation.
Then more inflation data arrives on Wednesday with concerns that the measure of the consumer price index will remain in double digits. The week will end for the UK with an update on retail sales, although hopes are not high given gloomy predictions that the country will enter recession.
The cost of living will also be a focus for the EU this week, with inflation data released on Thursday. There will also be an estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product on Tuesday.
companies
The words “Elon Musk will be in the headlines again this week” could be written here at any time of the year, but this week there’s an outburst in the newspaper. This time it’s about his $56 billion payout package at Tesla. A court in Delaware, where the electric vehicle maker is registered, will hear the lawsuit filed by a shareholder.
Vodafone, which reports interim results on Tuesday, has been under pressure to review its operations. Shareholders will watch the amount the company has been able to reduce debt after announcing the sale of a stake in its Vantage mast business last week.
Fashions change and so do senior management teams, as British brand Burberry discovered this year. Investors will be eager to see which new chief executive, Jonathan Akeroyd, has come up with to fuel growth when the company reports first-half figures on Thursday. Analysts expect it to focus on improving profit margins, which have historically lagged those of its biggest French and Italian rivals.
Read the full schedule for next week here.
