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tv   Business Today  BBC News  August 16, 2024 11:30am-11:46am BST

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addressed in their campaigns. our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from maryland. along the shore of the chesapeake bay, it costs more to eat out than it did before. maryland's famous crabs and seafood have increased in price likejust about everything else in america. so it may look like the living is easy but people are still worried about inflation. who do you blame for the crisis? i blame the democrats. yeah? i believe... yeah, the policies are hurting the working man. i get paid by the hour so to get up and go to work every day, i take it you have to do that to get the american dream but ijust know it's getting harder. every three days i have to go to a grocery - store and i spend $100 every time i go to the grocery store. - it's nuts. that gets really hard to take. donald trump's pitch that he is making is, if you
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felt better off four years ago than you do now, vote for me. does that make sense? that isn't an compelling argument to me. i mean, maybe for people who already decided they are going to vote for trump will be something that they will repeat. most voters say the economy is their number one issue in the coming election, and despite good news about record job creation, economic growth and the lowest inflation rate in years, it is still a potential liability for the democrats. now, while the rate of inflation may be falling, prices are of course still increasing and very few voters say they feel as though the economy is improving. even in the white house economists describe there being a bad vibe around. and in an election year, that really matters. kamara harris plans to lay out an economic policy focused on reducing the cost of living, including banning excessive corporate profits on food. today, she is announcing lower prices for prescription drugs.
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and so in the united states of america, no senior should have to choose between either filling their prescription or paying their rent. now, this is a little bit day because this is... we're talking about a thing called the economy. the economy could be a winning issue for donald trump but he just can't stay on message. he says he doesn't think it's the most important topic and attacks the way ms harris laughs. he's got an idiosyncratic take on inflation. this is a tic tac. this is inflation. this is what has happened. kamara harris was right besidejoe biden as his vice president during a period of rampant inflation. will she be blamed for those price rises or rewarded for her promises to bring them down in future? sarah smith, bbc news, maryland. the fears over a possible recession in the us eased substantially on thursday — as data showed thatjuly retail sales increased by the most in a year and a half.
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add to that a lower than expected number of americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week and the economy currently seems to be in a good place right now. russ mould is investment director at aj bell. that bounce in us retail sales, does that suggest that however bad american consumers have been feeling in recent years, that sentiment is on the turn? it could be. there were quite a noisy set of numbers, there was a rebound in automotive sales, that could be due to a hike in a major dealer, they could be a bounce because of the technical factor but it is stronger than expected. the industrial production number was poon industrial production number was poor, the national house—building survey was poor, which is a big driverfor survey was poor, which is a big driver for the economy. the survey was poor, which is a big driverfor the economy. the picture is mixed but the gdp forecast for
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the third quarter is still 2.4% annualised growth, pretty healthy still overall.— still overall. governments of all colours tend — still overall. governments of all colours tend to _ still overall. governments of all colours tend to only _ still overall. governments of all colours tend to only want - colours tend to only want responsibility for inflation when it is going in the right direction. most economists would say that the government's control over the inflation is limited. bill president biden released a big chunk of the strategic oil reserve to drive prices at the pump down, vice president harris is in theory in the anti—fracking camp, if you put tariffs on things it does make the more expensive, so there is some influence politicians can have but a lot of what has happened, ukraine, russia, globalsupply lot of what has happened, ukraine, russia, global supply chains, politicians can't control. the federal reserve printed a lot of money during the pandemic, if you increase the supply of something the value goes down. that is the case
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with money in the form of inflation. donald trump wants to levy tariffs on oil imports, pretty inflationary stuff there. thank you for that. in other news.... uk retail sales enjoyed a summer bounce injuly. they grew by 0.5% compared withjune; and 1.4% compared with the same month last year. economists say it's because of the good weather, summer sales and sports events. it's a sharp reversal onjune when bad weather sent retail sales into reverse. shares in the biotech company bavarian nordic are up by as much as 14% today after it said it was seeking approval for an mpox vaccine especially for adolescents. children and teenagers are disproportionately affected by the mpox outbreak in africa. the world health organization this week declared mpox a public health emergency. the british fintech firm revolut has valued itself at ms billion,
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which is higher than legacy banking giants natwest and barclays. it based the calculation on a deal to allow staff to sell their shares to new investors. revolut, which started as a consumer money transfer service, has banking licences in the eu and uk and is planning to start selling mortgages. let's go to india now, where the country celebrated 77 years of independence from british rule on thursday. as is the tradition, the prime minister addressed the nation — touching on the country's goal by the mpox outbreak in africa. addressed the nation — touching on the country's goal of becoming the world's third largest economy.the bbc�*s india business correspondent, arunoday mukharji, listened to narendra modi's speech. the big message from prime minister modi was that his government is committed to economic reform, accelerating india's growth and also ensuring the country becomes the world's third largest economy in the next few years. obviously, this was a independence day speech, it was all about highlighting
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india's achievements and how it has the potential to become a global manufacturing hub. how several countries and companies are looking at india as a favourable investment destination. while some of that is true, and it did help prime minister modi's case thatjust two days ago, foxconn�*s chief was here in india to discuss investment opportunities here in the country. you also have other big tech players like google, meta and apple looking at growth opportunities in the country. on a separate note, prime minister modi also highlighted the country's renewable energy ambitions as well and its efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. despite this glowing report card, it is also important to highlight a lot of the challenges that india's economy is facing. on renewable energy front, it is important to say that india is still heavily reliant on coal for its electricity needs. and remains the world's third largest emitter. on paper, india remains one of the fastest growing economies. but challenges like unemployment among the educated indian youth, as well as sluggish private consumption remain big challenges
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to the indian economy. so while progress has been made in many sectors, there are also several areas that the government still needs to focus on. new european union tariffs on chinese produced biofuels have come into force today. brussels is imposing provisional duties on chinese biodiesel after finding they're being sold in eu markets at unfairly low prices, and there are allegations some are not the real thing. for those who don't know, biofuels are liquid fuels made from renewable sources such as vegetable oils, waste or even algae. they can be used as a substitue for fossil fuels and they burn generally more cleanly. users say they're in short supply. european producers have been putting new production plants on hold. dickon posnett is the president of european biodiesel board and hejoins me now. an organisation which welcomes the introduction of these tariffs.
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explain for us, if biofuels are part of the climate change solution and they are in short supply, why does it make sense for the eu to put tariffs on imports from china? well, firstl i tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would _ tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would say _ tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would say it _ tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would say it is _ tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would say it is not _ tariffs on imports from china? well, firstly i would say it is not right - firstly i would say it is not right to say they are in short supply. the reason it make sense to put tariffs on the imports from china is that when looking at trying to build an industry in the eu, the eu is keen to have inward investment and build their facilities for renewable energy. to have imports which are unfairly subsidised or dumped, that will and has undermined dramatically the viability of eu manufacturing. the european biodiesel board which is there to support the industry right across europe has taken this
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action to level the playing field. they are not afraid of competition as long as it is fair and that is what these provisional duties will provide. if what these provisional duties will rovide. , ., what these provisional duties will rovide. . ., . ., provide. if solving climate change is the ultimate _ provide. if solving climate change is the ultimate objective, - provide. if solving climate change is the ultimate objective, isn't - is the ultimate objective, isn't having cheaper biofuels, no matter where they come from, advantageous? the issue here is... we want to be as cheap as possible, absolutely right. we want the eu to be able to make it as cheap as possible. what we are finding, as tends to happen in these cases, if we have imported biodiesel which is undercutting the market, destroying the industry. what you end up having in the long run is a reduced industry and companies like the company i work for and many others have had to make dramatic cuts in their production.
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some companies are closing completely which means you are reducing the availability and capability of producing biofuels. in the long run it is right to have a global, level playing field on these things so we don't become reliant. there are some allegations that the stuff coming from china is not the real thing. stuff coming from china is not the realthing. i'm not sure stuff coming from china is not the real thing. i'm not sure if those allegations come from your organisation, what is your understanding of that? we are certainly hearing _ understanding of that? we are certainly hearing complaints i understanding of that? we are i certainly hearing complaints and suspicions about that kind of thing. it is notjust us, we have seen germany, it is a global issue and concern. we have seen the environmental protection agency in the us recently announced an investigation into fraudulent material that is coming in, perhaps not what it says on the tin. unfortunately time is against us,
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thank you forjoining us on business today. that is it from me, stay with us here on bbc news.
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hello from the bbc sport centre. i'm hugh ferris. the new premier league season starts later on friday. and while fans of the 20 clubs have been eagerly counting down the last 12 weeks... ..one of the mangers involved in the opening match says his team isn't ready. that's manchester united's erik ten hag whose side play fulham at old trafford with the familiar problem of injuries to the fore again. the team is not ready. the league starts and there are problems, we can deal with these problems but we have rules and principles and we have rules and principles and we have to make a start. we can't hide ourselves or run away from it. we have to deal with it. united can call upon
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new signings mattijs de ligt and noussair mazraoui... but another recent addition leny yoro is injured... as is luke shaw... again. the left back only made 15 appearances last season before going to euro 2024 with england, has picked up a different injury in preseason which is a frustration united legend peter schmeichel as he looks ahead to his former team's campaign. i think it is really difficult to have any kind of expectations of what is going to happen tonight. obviously, we have come through the euros, there has been this big tour in america where manchester united went with one squad and the players added on. we have had injuries and added on. we have had injuries and added players. the thing is we don't really know where this team is, we don't know how it is going to look.
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i think

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