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Swiss parliament rejects Credit Suisse rescue package

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The package was initially approved by the Swiss upper house, but rejected by the lower house

Switzerland’s parliament rejected a multibillion dollar Credit Suisse rescue package.

The deal included close to $121 billion in financial guarantees.

The vote was largely symbolic as the government’s commitment to financial guarantees cannot be overturned.

Authorities used an emergency law to largely bypass the legislative body last month to rescue the lender.

The move angered politicians, and saw widespread criticism in Switzerland.

It was the focus of a strident debate between Swiss lawmakers on Tuesday, which ran into the early hours.

“A Credit Suisse bankruptcy would have had disastrous consequences for the country, for companies, for private clients, but also for the reputation of Switzerland,” Swiss President Alain Berset said.

“So, in this context, we had to act fast, the federal council had to use the emergency law,”

Lawmakers were recalled to the country’s capital Bern this week for the rare extraordinary session to discuss Credit Suisse’s rescue.

The lender was taken over by rival UBS for just over $3 billion last month.

It was also backed up by $277 billion in guarantees and support.

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When will airfares begin to fall?

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As the global aviation market rebounds, airlines are changing their service offerings

 
Over 46 million workers in the global aviation sector lost their jobs as global aviation came to a grinding halt at the onset of the pandemic.

However, Geoffrey Thomas from AirlineRatings.com said passengers have returned to airport terminals and boarded flights in droves.

“When travelled returned, many of us wondered what sort of low airfares will we have to be charged to entice people back onto airplanes.”

In February 2023, total traffic (measured in revenue passenger kilometres) rose 55.5 per cent when compared to February 2022.

Globally, traffic is at 84.9 per cent of February 2019 levels.

“It was a stampede, the likes of which we have never seen before,” Mr Thomas said.

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The worst of inflation could be behind us

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The unprecedented nature of the pandemic continue to shape international fiscal policy

As reserve banks and federal reserves continue to battle the impacts of Covid-19, inflation has become a dominate issue.

In some parts of the world, rising household costs have slowed consumer spending by more than expected.

It means the end of aggressive rate hikes could come to an end in a matter of months.

In Australia, recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed inflation has passed its peak and is beginning to moderate.

The numbers show annual inflation peaked in December 2022 but will still remain higher for longer than anticipated.

Matt Grudnoff is a Senior Economist at The Australia Institute, who said these are uncharted waters.

“I don’t think they should be fully blamed.

“The pandemic was an entirely different kind of recession, one that we have never seen before.

“The world went into recession because the world shut down for very good health reasons.

“But the economy rebounded extremely quickly, simply because there was no underlying problem with the economy,” he said.

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“I think there is a great risk”: will AI steal our jobs?

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Artificial Intelligence has become an increasingly powerful and pervasive force in our modern world.

 
Artificial intelligence is not a new concept. However, the growing advancements have the potential to revolutionise industries, improve efficiency, and enhance the quality of life.

Along with its promising advancements, artificial intelligence also brings certain risks and challenges that must be acknowledged and addressed.

It has become the focus of lawmakers, who are working towards greater regulation of the sector.

U.S. and European Union officials recently met in Sweden to weigh up the benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies.

“The AI process is creeping up on us,” said Dr Keith Suter, who is a global futurist.

“You’ve got competition between companies.”

It’s almost like some of us can see this raft that’s heading towards the rapids and a disappearance towards the waterfall, and we’re giving a warning but it’s not being heeded because everybody’s in this race to get down to the river,” Dr Suter said.

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