Economy

Fed vs. inflation
Fed governors' conflict: Yellen questions Warsh

The Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting next week is described as one of the most difficult to assess in years. The choice is between raising the key interest rate to counteract inflation or waiting in light of the more subdued inflation figures of recent times.

At the same time, the newly appointed Fed governor Kevin Warsh's communication strategy is being questioned, which is based on not giving signals in advance of upcoming interest rate decisions, which the Fed has done in the past.

One of the critics is former Fed governor and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She believes that the secrecy leads to greater fluctuations in the bond market because investors do not know how the central bank intends to act.

- It's about taking responsibility and explaining what you are doing, Yellen tells the Financial Times.

Warsh instead argues that the central bank will become less flexible and risks locking itself into previous statements if it is too open about how it thinks.

Tariff crisis  Trump's tariff policy
EU questions Trump's new tariffs

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas questions Washington's motives for imposing new tariffs on European goods. She believes that the accusations of shortcomings in the Union's control of forced labor are unfounded. Reuters reports.

At a meeting in Manila, Kallas said that the EU's labor laws are clearly better than those of the United States on several points and that the decision on new tariffs is therefore unfounded.

- We had an agreement with America and we have kept that agreement, said Kallas.

The EU will now seek clarification from the United States.

Tech millionaires shop at auction - everything is selling

The major auction houses around the world sold almost $10 billion during the first half of the year, which meant that it was one of the strongest starts to a year ever. CNBC reports.

Auction houses say sales are strong across all price points and categories. Eight lots sold for more than $50 million in the first half of the year, compared with none in the past two years.

Everything from art, classic cars, watches, handbags, diamonds, whiskey to dinosaur skeletons are selling well.

A new wave of younger collectors, who have made their money in the tech sector, are also redefining what constitutes interesting collectibles.