World Bank projects weak global growth
The World Bank said Tuesday the global economy remained in a “precarious state” and warned of sluggish growth this year and next as rising interest rates slow consumer spending and business investment and threaten the stability of the financial system.
The bank's tepid forecasts in its latest Global Economic Prospects report highlight the predicament global policymakers face as they try to corral stubborn inflation by raising interest rates while grappling with the aftermath of the pandemic and continuing supply chain disruptions stemming from the war in Ukraine.
The World Bank projected that global growth would slow to 2.1% this year from 3.1% in 2022. That is slightly stronger than its forecast of 1.7% in January, but in 2024, output is now expected to rise to 2.4%, weaker than the bank's previous prediction of 2.7%.
“Rays of sunshine in the global economy we saw earlier in the year have been fading, and gray days likely lie ahead,” said Ayhan Kose, deputy chief economist at the World Bank Group.
Kose said the world economy was experiencing a “sharp, synchronized global slowdown” and that 65% of countries would experience slower growth this year than last. A decade of poor fiscal management in low-income countries that relied on borrowed money is compounding the problem. According to the World Bank, 14 of 28 low-income countries are in debt distress or at a high risk of debt distress.
Optimism about an economic rebound this year has been dampened by recent stress in the banking sectors in the United States and Europe, which resulted in the biggest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis.
The World Bank sees widespread slowdowns in advanced economies, too. In the United States, it projects 1.1% growth this year and 0.8% in 2024.
Tesla Model 3's up for tax credit
All of Tesla's Model 3 sedans are now eligible for the full US tax credit under new criteria for battery-sourcing set by the U.S. Treasury Department, part of a Joe Biden administration plan to spur adoption of electric vehicles.
The U.S. government confirmed the tax credit of as much as $7,500 for all variations of the Model 3 in an update on its website Tuesday.
The change brings the total number of electric vehicle models eligible for the full tax credits to 22, including those from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
Only the performance version of the Model 3 was previously eligible for $7,500 in tax credits. Before Tuesday, the Treasury Department had said the long-range Model 3, which Tesla recently resumed selling, would qualify for only $3,750 in federal tax credits.
Tesla's Model S and Model X vehicles do not qualify for any tax credit.
Google workers fight mandate
Google employees are pushing back against the tech giant's mandate that staffers spend at least three days a week in the office.
“Overnight, workers' professionalism has been disregarded in favor of ambiguous attendance tracking practices tied to our performance evaluations,” Chris Schmidt, a Google software engineer, said Thursday in a statement released by the Alphabet Workers Union, which represents some contract and direct employees at Google.
Alphabet Inc.'s Google sent an email to employees Wednesday saying the company expected most staffers to return to the office regularly.
“Not everyone believes in `magical hallway conversations,' but there's no question that working together in the same room makes a positive difference,” Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi wrote in the email, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Cicconi said many of the products unveiled in May at Google I/O, the tech company's annual developer conference, and at its Google Marketing Live event were “conceived, developed and built by teams working side by side.”
Attendance will now be a factor in employees' performance reviews, Cicconi said, and teams will start sending reminders to workers who are consistently absent from the office barring special circumstances like the air-qualitycontrol warning in Canada and the US East Coast.