The outcome of US efforts to redraw the international trading regime remain highly uncertain. They are likely to most directly impact the US itself as well as China, who may be left with the largest increase in tariffs once the dust settles. Over time, however, any reconfiguration may have a profound effect on one of China’s bordering nations. India, where the US Vice-President has undertaken a four-day visit, and hailed ‘very good progress’ on a trade deal. India, which is seen as one of the more protectionist large economies, may opt to liberalise in order to maintain access to the

Getting tough on student loans will be a teachable moment. The U.S. Department of Education is restarting collection efforts on federally backed debt used to pay for higher education, five years after the introduction of a pandemic-related reprieve. It’s a dangerous time to crack down, not least because flagging the liabilities to credit scorers risks making it harder to borrow as concerns about inflation and recession rise. Some 43 million U.S. graduates owe more than $1.6 trillion in school-related debt. More than 5 million of them have failed to make a payment for at least a year and another 4 million are

Buyout barons are wearing pocket protectors and green visors with their tailored suits. Baker Tilly, an accounting firm recently backed by private equity shop Hellman & Friedman, unveiled a plan to merge with rival Moss Adams in a $7 billion deal that would create the sixth-largest U.S. bean counter. Like much investment these days, it turns growing public market liabilities into private market assets. Below the Big Four of Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG sits a raft of peers whose size drops off precipitously, according to research outfit Inside Public Accounting. Baker Tilly is the country’s tenth largest while Moss Adams

Worldpay is a prime exhibit of how sharp-toothed buyout barons are masters of getting a good deal from a flailing industry. The payment processor once part of Royal Bank of Scotland has changed hands four times between 2010 and 2023. Now majority owner GTCR is shuffling it to U.S.-based Global Payments. All along, the only reliable outcome has been profits for private equity firms. Worldpay, which helps merchants take payments in stores and online, was first acquired by Bain Capital and Advent in 2010. It listed in 2015, merged with a rival in 2017, and was then sold to industry