In a sticky spot

Hello from London, where bad economic news seems to be sticking. We don’t want to be alarmist, but our headlines told a worrying story.

Inflation stayed high at 8.7 per cent, the debt-to-GDP ratio has exceeded 100 per cent for the first time since 1961, average?mortgage rates hit 6 per cent, and rents are increasing at their fastest pace for seven years.

Traders are bracing themselves for further interest rate rises from the central bank, which could push the UK economy into a recession. The latest figures will put a?strain on the Conservative government’s election strategy?of promising big tax cuts this autumn, as the reality of rising prices and higher mortgage rates seems likely to continue into the coming general election year.

My choices this week

1. The Ukraine Recovery Conference, aimed at encouraging private sector investment in the recovery effort, is under way in London this week. As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeals to allies to move from “vision” to “real projects”,?stay up to date with the latest from the conference.
2. US-China relations are deteriorating — so it is no coincidence that President Joe Biden has rolled out the red carpet for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi this week. But?America’s all-out seduction of India is not necessarily the right approach, writes US expert Edward Luce.
3. Former UK cabinet minister Peter Mandelson appears to have had a close relationship with disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, a 2019 JPMorgan report released this week revealed.?Read about the texts, visits and favours that were exchanged.?(Free to read)
4. The rise in “early onset” cancer diagnoses among younger people in the developed world is so pronounced that some epidemiologists are calling it an epidemic. This thought-provoking article asks?why so many millennials are being diagnosed with the disease.
5. Europe’s economy is lagging ever further behind America’s.?Sector by sector, the EU and Britain are failing to match the strength and dynamism of their ally across the Atlantic. The gap seems likely to keep on growing, argues our chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman.?(Free to read)
6. Summer is here — and so is the FT’s much-anticipated 2023 Summer Books series. FT writers and critics have picked out their favourite reads of the year so far, from fiction and audio books to technology and business.

Thanks for reading,

Roula

PS?If you would like to read the article on cancer and young people for free, please download our iPhone app, FT Edit. The Edit gives you access to eight handpicked articles every weekday, and the first month is free.?Download it here.

Recommended newsletters for you

In Today’s FT: Your daily overview of FT’s top stories. Sign up

MBA 101: Take our six-week course on how to get into business school. Register here