Business review from the Economist
The Immelt era comes to an end after 16 years at General Electric
Jeffrey Immelt decided to retire as General Electric's chief executive and chairman, to be replaced by John Flannery, who runs its health care division. Immelt took over the reins at GE from Jack Welch in 2001. He reconstructed the unwieldy conglomerate, selling off most of GE Capital, which had been a money-spinner until the financial crisis. But GE shares are today worth a third less than when Immelt became CEO.
Travis Kalanick announced that he would step aside as Uber's chief executive for an unspecified period of time, as the firm endorsed the recommendations from an independent review into its abrasive corporate culture. These include appointing an independent chairman and a committee to oversee reforms to Uber's turbocharged management style, which has been blamed for a series of PR disasters, mostly related to sexism.
The Federal Reserve lifted the range for its benchmark interest rate to between 1 percent and 1.25 percent. It was the second increase this year; the central bank has suggested that it will raise rates three times in 2017. The Fed also laid out plans for the gradual "normalization" of its balance sheet after soaking up $3.5 trillion in bonds and other assets as part of its quantitative easing program.
The central bank in Iceland cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.5 percent. It was the second consecutive cut by the bank following an unexpected contraction of GDP in the first quarter.
Britain's rate of inflation rose to 2.9 percent in May, up from 2.7 percent in April and the highest level in four years. Retailers' import costs have jumped because of the fall in the pound, and they are starting to pass those costs on to consumers.
The U.S. Treasury Department published its proposals on financial regulations. The changes would rip up some of the edicts introduced under the Obama administration, reduce the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and dilute, but not overturn, the Volcker rule, which stops big banks from making certain kinds of risky Âspeculative bets.
Microsoft announced a revamp of its gaming console, the Xbox One, at E3, the industry's annual showcase. Competing with Sony's PlayStation 4, the new Xbox One X aims to improve performance at the high end of the gaming industry. The hitch: it costs $100 more than the updated PS4 Pro that was launched late last year.
Aldi and Lidl, two big discount supermarket chains loved by frugal shoppers throughout Europe, are expanding in the United States. Lidl opened its first stores this week and Aldi, which has been operating in the U.S. since 1976, announced plans to open 900 new stores. The German merchants have been a disruptive force in retailing. Walmart beware.
Wu Xiaohui, the boss of Anbang, one of China's biggest financial-services companies, was reportedly detained by officials investigating alleged financial crimes. The firm said he was "temporarily unable to fulfill his role for personal reasons."
Global politics from the Economist
Macron gets a solid majority in the French legislature
The final piece of France's electoral puzzle fell into place on Sunday, when voters handed Emmanuel Macron's party a solid majority of seats in the National Assembly. La République en Marche, the president's political movement, won about 359 of the 577 seats. This gives Macron a handsome working majority. After first-round voting on June 11, polls suggested LRM might grab more than 400 seats.
Hundreds of people were arrested in protests held in dozens of Russian cities. They were organized by Aleksei Navalny, an anti-corruption activist who plans to run against Vladimir Putin in presidential elections next year. Navalny was arrested and jailed for 30 days.
Coalition negotiations in the Netherlands collapsed after the GreenLeft party refused to support restrictive asylum policies.
Steve Scalise, a senior Republican congressman, was wounded by a gunman during a practice session for Congress' annual baseball game. The gunman, who died after a shootout with police, was an anti-Trump fanatic.
Donald Trump delegated to the Pentagon the authority to decide the number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. The generals had requested up to 5,000 more troops.
North Korea released in a comatose state Otto Warmbier, an American student arrested in 2016 and sentenced to hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster. Warmbier died Monday.
