Friday, March 3, 2023

Banker backlash is back

For the love of money.

The US dollar's rampage looks to be finally over, and its peak will bring some much needed inflation relief. Meanwhile, rate hikes meant to tame rising prices are boosting bank profits while leaving savers behind.

China's about to get new economic leaders — and depending on who you ask, they'll either be Xi Jinping yes-men or the ones who'll pull off painful yet needed reforms.

In Tunisia, a wave of violence against Black Africans is raising alarm in the region. Japan is moving past trauma as it exhibits a change of heart on nuclear energy. We take a journey across a 200-mile stretch of pristine Alaska that could be devastated by a plan to tap its minerals.

And if you're looking for a new financial instrument, collectors and investors alike are eyeing a nearly 300-year-old violin that's soon hitting the auction block. Enjoy!

The Fall of King Dollar

Photographer: Islam Safwat/Bloomberg

It's the world's most-traded currency and one that ripped the economy apart after its strength smashed records last year. Now the tide is finally turning on the US dollar, top money managers say — and that's largely good news for you and me. A falling dollar would help everything from lowering inflation to easing the cost of filling up your gas tank. But is the greenback truly down and out? We explore how it could take just a whiff of a crisis to spark a stampede to the dollar once more. —Ruth Carson

No Interest in Savers

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Banker bashing is back more than a decade after the 2008 financial crisis. This time, though, they're being blamed for making too much money instead of losing it. As interest rates soar on seemingly everything except deposits, banks are making big money on the widening gap between what they charge borrowers and pay to savers. That's attracting the wrath of politicians from London to Seoul at a time when rampant inflation is stoking cost-of-living crises and forcing central banks to constrict economic growth. —Ambereen Choudhury

Xi's New Money Men

Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

China's National People's Congress kicks off this weekend, and it's expected to usher in the country's biggest reshuffle in decades. A generation of internationally respected economic officials is making way for politicians better known for their strong ties with Xi Jinping, including Li Qiang, the new No. 2 in the Communist party who is set to be made premier, and He Lifeng, the close aide of Xi likely to become China's top economic official. Expected changes to the country's financial policy structure should further centralize decision making to a small group trusted by Xi as China races to overtake the US economy. —Tom Hancock and Tom Orlik

Nuclear Change of Heart

Photographer: Noriko Hayashi

Twelve years after one of the worst nuclear disasters in modern history, a global energy crisis is nudging Japan back to using atomic energy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has plans to restart more reactors that have been idle since 2011, and for the first time since the Fukushima disaster, a majority are in favor of that. Some who live near nuclear power plants, like Tsutomu Hirayama (above), are looking beyond their fears of another catastrophe. "It's difficult for me to completely be against it when I know there will be people who can be helped by lower power bills," he said. "I really wish there was some magical, new alternative energy that can make everyone happy." —Shoko Oda

Not Welcomed

Photographer: FETHI BELAID/AFP

Five years after becoming the first Arab nation to criminalize racism, Tunisia has turned into a hostile ground for Black Africans, with President Kais Saied accused of stoking xenophobia to deflect from a growing economic and political crisis. His remarks blaming migrants for a rise in violent crime and threatening the north African country's Arab identity has set in motion the worst wave of racial violence in Tunisia's modern history, according to Human Rights Watch. They've drawn rebukes from his opponents and the African Union, as governments work to repatriate their citizens. —Souhail Karam

Alaska's Mother Lode

Photographer: Kiliii Yuyan

Beneath the northernmost tip of the United States, there are enough raw materials to power a green energy revolution without forcing the US to depend on imports from China or elsewhere. Alaska's remote Ambler Mining District has been on the mining industry's wishlist for decades, and President Biden's push to bring supply chains back to America has empowered them to start preparing for work. But the 211-mile road to the minerals is projected to cost twice as much as it returns to locals, with Native communities and pristine, jaw-dropping wilderness likely to pay the price. —Jeff Muskus

A $10 Million Instrument

Photographer: Robert Bailey

When the Guarneri "del Gesù" violin hits the auction block later this month, bidders won't be vying over its sound alone. The forthcoming sale of the nearly 300-year-old violin nicknamed the Baltic could top the existing $15.8 million record set for a violin at public auction, underscoring the intricate system of determining value in the fine instrument market. These are antiques whose quality is dictated by condition, provenance, and nearly as important, sound. As such, the extremely rare and exquisite violin will attract institutions, private individuals and consortiums of investors. —Hannah Elliott

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