And finally…

And finally…

To mark the start of the holiday season and the twelve days of Christmas, we present 12 of our best and ‘pun-niest’ "And finally" news stories from the Monday Briefing in 2023. The Monday Briefing is taking a break until Monday, 8 January. In the meantime, the Deloitte Economics team wishes you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

• The EU is cracking down on fake honey imported from a number of countries including China. Half of the honey sold in the trading bloc is not compliant with EU rules – honey-laundering

• Blackpool Zoo is trying to recruit people to wear bird costumes and scare away the seagulls from stealing people’s food – fowl job

• Police in Maryland tracked down a man involved in a series of night-time explosions by following a trail of Pokémon cards left by the suspect – gotta catch’em all

• Hundreds of divers and snorkelers attended an underwater music concert in the Florida Keys, aimed at highlighting coral reef protection. The concert involved people swimming along Looe Key’s marine life and coral formations while listening to music – dive bar

• North Carolina police arrested a man for reckless driving after a high-speed chase. The suspect, who fled on foot into nearby fields, was located thanks to cows that led police to his hiding spot – udder-cover work

• A cinema in India mistakenly played the film Oppenheimer with the subtitles to Barbie, mashing up the two films – Come on Barbie, let’s go part the atom

• Police in Lower Sayreville, New Jersey, reported that a widespread power cut had been caused by a fish being dropped by a bird onto a transformer at a power station – electric eel

• Enthusiastic Taylor Swift fans have set a new record. In her show in Seattle, eager Swifties enjoyed the concert so much that they caused a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to seismologists – Shake it off!

• A 14-year-old cat entered the Guinness World Records book. Bella, a cat from Huntington, Cambridgeshire, broke the world record for the loudest purr made by a living feline. The purr reached 54.6 decibels, which is the equivalent of a boiling kettle – purr-sonal best

• A large pig spent days on the loose in Aurora, Colorado, disrupting traffic and making a nuisance of himself before eventually being captured. Fred, as he’s been named by his new home, the Aurora animal shelter, was captured by a coordinated effort between five animal services employees, three parks employees and two others – colla-boar-ation

• A rare bottle of whisky was sold for a record-breaking $2.7m at auction by Sotheby’s in November, more than double its estimated price. The Macallan 1926 single malt spent 60 years maturing in dark oak sherry casks before being one of just 50 bottled in 1986 – old fashioned

• A lion was spotted roaming the streets of Ladispoli in Italy after escaping from a circus – mane attraction

OUR REVIEW OF LAST WEEK’S NEWS
The UK FTSE 100 equity index closed the week up 0.3% at 7,576.

Economics

• US consumer inflation fell to 3.1% in November in line with expectations as food and energy prices continued to moderate. Core inflation remained at 4%
• The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at 5.25%-5.5%. However, officials are now forecasting a 75 basis points cut to rates by the end of 2024 – this represented the first dovish shift in the Fed’s stance since they started raising rates in late 2021
• US two-year treasuries rallied on the back of the Fed’s meeting as yields dropped by 35 basis points, reaching 4.45% for the first time since May
• President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John Williams, said that it is “premature” to talk about imminent interest rate cuts
• The S&P 500 hit a 23-month high as investors’ risk appetite grew due to lower interest rate expectations
• CEOs felt more confident in the US economic outlook and expected to increase hiring despite a cooling economy, according to a survey by Business Roundtable
• UK GDP declined by 0.3% in October, with production and construction the worst hit, increasing the likelihood of a contraction in the fourth quarter
• UK business activity rose more than expected to 51.7 in December, according to the flash Purchasing Managers’ Index, as the expansion in services activity offset the continuing decline in manufacturing
• The Bank of England kept interest rates at 5.25% but stressed that monetary policy will need to be restrictive for an “extended period of time” as inflation risks remain “skewed to the upside”
• Interest rate expectations in the UK fell following the disappointing GDP figures and the Bank of England meeting. Investors now expect interest rates to reach 4.1% by the end of 2024
• UK wage growth moderated somewhat to 7.3% in the three months to October and vacancies continued to decline indicating a further gradual softening of the labour market
• UK productivity growth from 2011 until 2019 has been more dependent on a few extremely efficient businesses than before the financial crisis as productivity is weighed down by a long tail of poorly performing companies, according to the ONS
• House prices in the UK are expected to decline by 2% to 4% next year as high borrowing costs hit affordability, according to retail bank Halifax
• Mortgage arrears in the UK increased to the highest levels in six years in the third quarter of 2023 as higher interest rates hit homeowners
• Global oil demand growth slowed “drastically” in the fourth quarter due to high interest rates darkening the economic outlook, according to the International Energy Agency
• Euro area industrial production fell by 0.7% in October, increasing the chances of a contraction of the bloc’s economy in the fourth quarter. However, economists estimated that the contraction is closer to 0.1% as volatile Irish production figures distorted the headline number
• Euro area economic activity fell faster than expected in December as the flash Purchasing Manager’s Index dropped to 47, as businesses reported falling order and depleting inventories
• The German government managed to secure a last-minute budget deal and averted a government shutdown in January after it agreed cuts on energy and industry subsidies as well as slashing its transport budget
• The International Monetary Fund approved the release of loans to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the countries suffered from high inflation, falling foreign reserves and high government deficits
• Recently elected Argentine president Javier Milei announced a devaluation of the peso, cuts in spending and smaller energy and transport subsidies to rein in fiscal deficits and hyperinflation
• The Israeli central bank warned that war spending may add to inflation as it forecasts a government deficit of 3.7% this year and 5% in 2024

Business

• US pharmaceutical company Pfizer warned that its 2024 revenues may be weaker than expected as its sales struggle without the demand for its COVID-19 products
• The UK Payment Systems Regulator cautioned that cross-border debit and credit card charges should be capped “to protect UK businesses from overpaying” when trading internationally
• The UK Financial Conduct Authority promised to intervene if investment and pension platforms continue to withhold interest payments from customers
• The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed to acquire Icosavax for $1bn to snap up a potential breakthrough vaccine for two common respiratory diseases
• Chinese property developer Country Garden slashed the salaries of its chair and other executives as the company struggles with the Chinese property crisis
• US toymaker Hasbro announced that it will cut 1,100 jobs, around 10% of its global workforce, as weak demand during the holiday period is likely to extend to next year
• Online marketplace Etsy announced 225 job cuts, around 11% of its workforce, as sales have flatline due to consumer preferences for services and experiences

Global and political developments

• Countries attending the COP28 summit agreed to “call on parties to contribute” and transition away from fossil fuels. However, the agreed text stopped short of calling for the full phase-out of coal, oil and gas
• US president Joe Biden urged Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change the right wing of his government to stem the loss of global support as the countries disagree on the post-war future of Gaza
• The UN General Assembly voted in favour of a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages
• The US House of Representatives approved an impeachment inquiry into president Joe Biden based on allegedly benefitting from his son’s business dealings
• EU leaders vowed to find a way to send an additional €50bn of financial support to Ukraine despite Hungary’s veto
• The first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, announced he would be stepping down as Welsh Labour leader, triggering a leadership contest
• Newly elected Polish prime mister Donald Tusk was sworn into office as he promised to unlock EU funds frozen by Brussels over fears of the country’s limited judicial independence

And finally… viewers were beside themselves after an audio malfunction in the intellectual British TV quiz show University Challenge made chicken noises when announcing a contestant’s name – talon-ted contestant