Economy

Israel-Hamas warPolitical situation in Israel  

A fifth of Israel's GDP went up in smoke after the war 

 

Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by almost a fifth - minus 19.4 percent - in the fourth quarter of 2023. The quarter was marked by Israel's war against the terror-labeled Palestinian organization Hamas.  

 

The economic setback – as a result of fighting, assassinations, more able-bodied Israelis being called up for service in the country's armed forces and evacuations of parts of the country – was unexpectedly large and is among the biggest economic setbacks for Israel on record.  

 

Analysts on average had expected minus 10.5 percent for GDP during the quarter, according to a compilation of forecasts made by Bloomberg. 

 

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Swedish inflation  

Analysis: The appearance is deceiving - hottest number in the right direction  

 

The CPIF report for January looks like a setback at first glance, but the underlying figures paint a brighter picture, according to several analyses.  

 

- If you want to measure the temperature of inflation right now, you instead look at the monthly change, and then it looks better. If you remove energy prices, the monthly change in January is minus 0.5 percent, says SVT's economic commentator Alexander Norén.  

 

DI's Viktor Munkhammar also highlights core inflation, which excludes energy prices, as the most important measure. He writes that the outcome there was somewhat lower than the Riksbank's forecast.  

 

"Thus, the hope of a first interest rate cut in the spring remains alive."  

 

Munkhammar also notes that the reweighting of the CPI basket made a negative contribution, which will provide a tailwind during the year.  

DN's Carl Johan von Seth describes the inflation report as rather undramatic. SR's Kristian Åström also plays down the significance of the numbers. He points out that inflation is expected to creep down towards the two percent target in the spring.  

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Climate threatGlobal challenges 

Divided over the future of the ski industry: "Doomed" 

 

The lack of snow in the ski resorts in southern Europe is getting worse - according to SVT, 90 percent of the snow in Italy is artificial snow and the same figure in Austria is 70 percent.  

 

The mayor Giorgo Marchetti of the ski resort of Borgo Langes, where ski tourism "changed everything", believes that it is possible to resist development with better technology, he tells the channel. 

 

But Italy's largest climate organization believes that the industry is "doomed".  

 

- The ski resorts must wake up. Artificial snow requires enormous amounts of energy and water and there is an increasingly severe drought in southern Europe and not least here in Italy, says Vanna Bonardi.  

 

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EU vs the tech giants  

EU investigates Tiktok: "Must protect minors"  

 

The EU has opened a formal investigation against Tiktok, writes EU Commissioner Thierry Breton on X. The accusations concern violations of the protection of children and young people, through, among other things, addictive design, screen time restrictions and lack of age verification. 

 

"Today we are launching an investigation into Tiktok due to suspected violations of transparency and obligations to protect minors," writes Breton.  

 

A spokesperson for Tiktok says according to Reuters that it "looks forward" to describing the work being done to protect young people. 

 

If found guilty, Tiktok could be fined six percent of global profits.