Saturday, March 01, 2025

How Donald Trump Rattled a Continent | Bloomberg Next Africa

 

Feb 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump's return to the White House has had an immediate effect in reshaping global geopolitics. 
Sub-Saharan Africa has been one of the most impacted regions by the flurry of activity out of Washington. 
Trump ordered a freeze on USAID, and announced plans to exit the World Health Organization, two highly active organizations on the continent. 
  • He also targeted South Africa, freezing financial aid and claiming the government is seizing land from white farmers -- an accusation that's being backed by Trump's South African-born ally, Elon Musk. 
On this episode of Bloomberg Next Africa, we discuss the future of US-Africa relations with Bloomberg Opinion columnist, Justice Malala. 
 
We also speak to Ghanaian President, John Mahama, who says the US's decision to freeze international aid will likely cause "blowback" for the world's largest economy. 
 
Also on the program, we unpack Africa's mineral wealth, as South Africa hosts the continent's biggest mining summit. 
 
CHAPTERS:  
00:00:00 - Next Africa Introduction  
00:01:01 - Trump & Africa: A Rocky Start  
00:02:49 - Justice Malala weighs in: The new administration rattles relations with the continent, but it could be 'just the beginning.'  
00:06:04 - Counting the cost of Washington's funding freezes on the continent 
 00:11:15 - Investing Africa: Partech's Tidjane Dème on the biggest challenges facing investors on the continent  
00:12:07 - Ghanaian President John Mahama warns America may lose influence in Africa 00:17:16 - Africa's vast mineral wealth, a breakdown  
00:18:29 - Mining leaders weigh on future trends  
00:20:28 - Guinea's Minister of Mines would like his country to become 'The Saudi Arabia of Aluminum. 
00:23:24 - Bloomberg Next Africa Podcast and Newsletter
 
-------- More on Bloomberg Television and Markets
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BEA News: Personal Income and Outlays, January 2025

 

US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis

BEA News: Personal Income and Outlays, January 2025

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today:

Personal income increased $221.9 billion (0.9 percent at a monthly rate) in January, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 
  • Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $194.3 billion (0.9 percent) and 
  • Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $30.7 billion (0.2 percent). 
  • Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—decreased $52.7 billion in January. 
  • Personal saving was $1.01 trillion in January and the Personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6 percent.

The full text of the release can be found at www.bea.gov/news/2025/personal-income-and-outlays-january-2025.

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EST, Friday, February 28, 2025

 

Personal Income and Outlays, January 2025

Personal income increased $221.9 billion (0.9 percent at a monthly rate) in January, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $194.3 billion (0.9 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $30.7 billion (0.2 percent).

Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—decreased $52.7 billion in January. Personal saving was $1.01 trillion in January and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.6 percent.

Disposable Personal Income, Outlays, and Saving

The increase in current-dollar personal income in January primarily reflected increases in personal current transfer receipts, compensation, and personal income receipts on assets.

The $30.7 billion decrease in current-dollar PCE in January reflected a decrease of $76.7 billion in spending for goods and an increase of $46.0 billion in spending for services.

Changes in Monthly Consumer Spending, January 2025

From the preceding month, the PCE price index for January increased 0.3 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.3 percent.

Percent Change in PCE Price Indexes from Month One Year Ago

From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index January increased 2.5 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.6 percent from one year ago.

*          *          *

Next release:  March 28, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
Personal Income and Outlays, February 2025

For definitions, statistical conventions, updates to PIO, and more, visit “Additional Information.”

Technical Notes

Changes in Personal Income and Outlays for January

The increase in personal income in January primarily reflected increases in personal current transfer receipts, compensation, and personal income receipts on assets.

  • The increase in personal current transfer receipts was led by social security benefits, reflecting a January cost-of-living adjustment based on data from the Social Security Administration.
  • The increase in compensation was led by private wages and salaries, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES). Wages and salaries in services-producing industries increased $38.0 billion. Wages and salaries in goods producing industries increased $1.9 billion.
  • Within personal income receipts on assets, the increase was led by personal dividend income, based on data from publicly traded companies.

Within personal outlays, personal current transfer payments to rest-of-world (net) decreased $26.4 billion, reflecting a settlement from a foreign pharmaceutical company that was paid to U.S. households.

Revisions to Personal Income

Estimates have been updated for July through December. The estimates for July through September for compensation, personal taxes, and contributions for government social insurance reflect the incorporation of third-quarter wage and salary data from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. The estimates for October through December reflect updated BLS CES data.

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MUSK MUST GO AWAY — A Founders Sing Parody featuring Elon Musk & the 5th...

Feb 26, 2025 #Founders

Friends, the time has come for the Resistance to kick into HIGH GEAR!  

Together, let’s sing along as we reclaim 
a) Democracy, 
b) Truth and 
c) Sanity — not necessarily in that order — from the MuskRats! 
We each have a unique part to play as we join forces with righteous politicians, journalists, and anyone who also enjoys the Rule of Law and the Constitution. 
Kudos to Jimmy Webb and the 5th Dimension for the iconic masterpiece, "Up, Up and Away."

 

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Prayers are being said all around the world for The Pontiff

Francis, who has spent the past two weeks at Rome's Gemelli hospital, "presented an isolated crisis of bronchospasm which... led to an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture", the Vatican said in a statement on Friday evening.
  • "The Holy Father promptly underwent broncho-aspiration and began non-invasive mechanical ventilation, with a good response on gas exchange," it said.
  • Francis "remained alert and oriented at all times, cooperating with the therapeutic manoeuvres", it added.
His doctors said it would take the next 24 to 48 hours to see if this breathing trouble has worsened his condition or not, a Vatican source said.
The pontiff, who is "not out of danger", was using an oxygen mask that covers his nose and mouth but was "in good spirits", the source added.

Ailing pope suffers breathing 'crisis', Vatican says

Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, suffered a breathing "crisis" on Friday which caused him to vomit but he was given air and responded well, the Vatican said.

Issued on: Modified:

Prayers are being said around the world for the pontiff
Prayers are being said around the world for the pontiff © Handout / Brazil's Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer/AFP
The episode came just hours after a Vatican source said the 88-year-old pontiff's condition was no longer considered critical, following a series of incremental improvements.
The pontiff, who is "not out of danger", was using an oxygen mask that covers his nose and mouth but was "in good spirits", the source added.
Francis has been in hospital four times since his election in 2013
Francis has been in hospital four times since his election in 2013 © Tiziana FABI / AFP
He also responded better than others might have done in his condition, the source said.
The pope was hospitalised on February 14 for breathing difficulties but his condition deteriorated into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking alarm.
He suffered a breathing attack at the weekend but since then appeared to have been getting slightly better, with the Vatican releasing more optimistic medical updates.
It has not yet modified the pope's prognosis of "reserved", however, which means doctors will not predict changes in his health.

Still reserved

Medical experts have warned that Francis's age and the chronic respiratory disease from which he suffers mean a sustained recovery could take time.
  • The pope, head of the world's nearly 1.4 billion Catholics, had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man and has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.
  • He is prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.
Nonetheless, Francis has continued to work from the special hospital suite on the Gemelli's 10th floor.
He also has been doing breathing exercises in between resting and praying, according to the Vatican.
 
  • This hospital stay is the fourth of the Argentine's nearly 12-year papacy and the longest.
  • In recent years, he has had surgery on his colon and a hernia operation, as well as a previous stay in hospital with bronchitis.
  • There has been speculation as to whether Francis might now resign, especially as his schedule has been packed with papal duties amid celebrations for the holy Jubilee year.
"If the pope survives, many imagine that he will want to finish the Jubilee year but that afterwards, when he is 89, he will face the question of whether or not to resign," Italian Vatican expert Marco Politi told AFP.
But before his hospitalization, Francis had repeatedly said it was not yet the time -- and may never be.
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Elon Musk Genius or Devil?

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Elon Musk Welcomes 14th Child: A Look into His Expanding Family

 
 
News18 - Elon Musk's latest child is a boy named Seldon Lycurgus with Shivon Zilis, an executive at Neuralink who is already the mother of his three children. #ElonMusk #Seldon #Children https://www.news18.com/world/ elon-musk-welcomes-14th-child-shivon ...

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Elon Musk Welcomes 14th Child: Seldon Lycurgus

 

Elon Musk welcomes his 14th child.

Elon Musk Welcomes 14th Child: Seldon Lycurgus

IT'S RAINING BABIES
The bouncing baby boy is Musk’s fourth child with Neuralink exec Shivon Zilis.
Catherine

 

Top stories

Elon Musk's ever-expanding family has welcomed another member. The billionaire tech mogul and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis recently announced the birth of their fourth child, Seldon Lycurgus. The revelation came on the

 

Threads
3 hours ago
Today, we learned that Elon Musk has welcomed a 14th child into the world. Important to add that he has *at least* 14 kids. We don't know the exact number.
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Cartoon Carousel The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics | By POLITICO STAFF 01/23/2026 05:00 AM EST

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the fo...