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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Vice President Kamala Harris proposed a federal ban on price gouging for groceries.</li><li>While details are light, it would allow the FTC to intervene when companies charge excessive prices.</li></ul>Vice President Kamala Harris released the most detailed information yet on her economic platform, which pledges to lower prices for Americans.It won't be an easy feat.Last week, Harris announced a proposal for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grocery-costs-inflation-kamala-harris-ban-price-gouging-election-trump-2024-8">first-ever federal ban on price gouging</a>, a practice in which companies raise the price of goods to excessive levels. This move is part of her initiative to lower overall prices as Americans continue to recover from high inflation.The proposal is light on details but said it would enable the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate companies that don't comply with the ban.According to the fact sheet, Harris would also "crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions" that enable big food corporations to raise prices and undermine competition.However, the president can't just tell a grocery store or its suppliers what prices to charge. Experts told Business Insider that anyone wanting to enact a ban would have to carefully define what qualifies as price gouging, leaving little room for interpretation to ensure the ban is applied consistently. Using the Federal Trade Commission to penalize anti-competitive behavior could be an effective way to address excessive pricing, as well.Many states have existing laws on price gouging that attorneys general enacted during pandemic price hikes, and even former President Donald Trump took action at the start of his term. But state laws are lacking in some areas — and that's where a federal ban could help.<h2 id="5e5f133b-10f8-410b-9725-d27f49a3383a">A state-level patchwork and Trump's take on a federal action</h2>Dan Scheitrum, an associate agribusiness professor studying grocery price gouging at California Polytechnic State University, told Business Insider that existing price gouging laws are a patchwork at the state level. He said states have struggled to crack down on the issue because of the scope they use to detect excessive price increases.For example, he said, some states would consider a 10% to 20% price increase during a national emergency price gouging "unless the retailer can prove that their inputs increased in price.""Other states define it very, very broadly and prohibit any unconscionable increase in price or any extreme increase in price. And that's very vague and overbroad," Scheitrum continued. "And the trouble with these price gouging laws is that they're either too specific or so broad that they don't often get litigated and found in favor of detecting price gouging."The pandemic served as a prime opportunity for states to go after price gouging. Scheitrum said that during the initial stay-at-home orders, consumers were changing how they purchased food, and key everyday items saw price swings — particularly eggs.A range of state attorneys general filed lawsuits against various egg producers over price gouging. For example, Minnesota's Keith Ellison reached a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2021/10/25_SparboeFarms.asp">settlement</a> with a Minnesota-based egg producer in 2021 over accusations the producer raised egg prices excessively.The lack of consistency across states when it comes to the treatment of price gouging means it's not being enforced as effectively as it could, and that's one thing a federal ban could help combat, Scheitrum said.Isabella Weber, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, also pointed to Trump's efforts to crack down on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-will-not-tolerate-price-gouging-hoarding-critical-supplies-needed-combat-coronavirus/">price gouging on medical supplies</a> during the pandemic. In March 2020, Trump signed an executive order to prevent hoarding and price gouging of medical resources, showing existing precedent for administrations to address price gouging in emergencies."I think it's feasible because, in the grocery sector, we are talking about extreme levels of corporate concentration. So it's not like you would need to investigate endless numbers of firms, but you would need to investigate a handful of gigantic firms," Weber said. "So the problem is severe, but it's in a way manageable because of the enormous level of concentration that we have in the food industry."<h2 id="a70032b2-a3d3-4b0a-9664-202f56c903ec">The FTC could be the most effective tool in preventing too-high prices</h2>Scheitrum said a problem Harris could encounter with her current proposal is conflating price gouging with unfair prices."If you were to try and cut down grocery prices today, there's no state of emergency. So most price gouging protections wouldn't apply at all. There'd be nothing to detect because there's no relative price to measure against right now," Scheitrum said. "So there's high prices from just inflation and increased prices across the board."But focusing on companies' anti-competitive behavior could have teeth, he said, given that many big players in the food industry have been sued or are suing regarding this issue.The FTC has investigated the cause of high grocery prices over the course of the pandemic. Most recently, the FTC and Justice Department launched an interagency effort to investigate why grocery prices are remaining high."Many large grocery chains are still raking in enormous profits — the FTC is determined to understand why," FTC Chair Lina Khan said during a virtual August meeting.The FTC has filed lawsuits against major companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google over anticompetitive behavior. The legal process is lengthy, but it could have success — the agency has succeeded in blocking major airline and biotech mergers that could stifle competition.<h2 id="953c5bba-944f-4186-82ac-280022cc4b53">A safeguard for a national emergency</h2>Weber said a federal ban on price gouging would allow the US economy to be prepared "for when the next shock hits.""The kind of profit bonanza that we have seen in the food sector, from the grain traders all the way down to the grocery stores, is not going to happen to that extent," she said.Some economists and Democratic lawmakers lauded Harris' announcement for managing price hikes and ensuring the food industry stays competitive. However, some conservative lawmakers and economists criticized the plan and its impact on the economy, with Trump even calling it communism for involving the government in prices.Weber said that implementing a federal ban on price gouging "makes a lot of economic sense" and would allow the government to manage excessive pricing in a national emergency, like what the US experienced during the pandemic."We are really talking about the prices of essentials," Weber said. "We're talking about the prices that really hurt when they go up so that a lot of these ideas of, 'Oh, prices go up and therefore people consume less and therefore prices go down again,' just doesn't apply because people need a place to live. People need to eat."The food industry isn't so sure. The Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/food-industry-pushes-back-against-kamala-harriss-price-gouging-plan-064c3bb1?mod=hp_lead_pos1">reported</a> on Monday that big companies are pushing back on Harris blaming corporate greed for high prices. "The proposal calling for a ban on grocery price gouging is a solution in search of a problem," the National Grocers Association told the Journal.Still, Weber said a federal ban isn't as extreme as some critics have said."So we are really talking about a cost-of-living crisis and the price of essentials to ensure a decent life," Weber added, "and not about price controls for the whole economy or anything like that."

The tricky way the government could lower grocery prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ransomware attacks cost local governments and public colleges the most money, a new study found.</li><li>Lower education and central and federal governments reported an average of $6.6 million in payouts.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/infamous-hacker-gang-pharmacy-prescription-backlogs-2024-2">Ransomware attacks</a> are getting expensive. And it's local governments and public colleges that are handing over the most cash.Sophos, a UK-based software security company, released its annual <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sophos.com/en-us/content/state-of-ransomware">ransomware report</a> this week. It details a steep increase in payouts for ransomware attacks in recent years.Ransomware attacks typically come from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ransomware-attacks-corporations-children-executives-mandiant-google-cyber-security-2024-5">criminals who hack into companies to steal data</a>, which they hold <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/ransomware-payments-increase-500-in-the-last-year-finds-sophos-state-of-ransomware-report-1033305236">until the victim agrees to pay a fee</a>. The attacks leave the victims unable to access the stolen data, which can cripple the institution until the ransom is paid.Almost 60% of respondents told Sophos that ransomware attackers had targeted their organization this year. That's a slight decrease from 66% for the same period in 2023. But the companies that do fall victim to ransomware attacks are paying out more money than ever, the study found.More than 1,000 of the surveyed organizations said they paid the ransom after hackers compromised their data.IT and telecom companies reported the lowest median ransom payment at $300,000, while lower education and government agencies posted the highest with a median of $6.6 million.Professional business and financial services were the most likely to successfully reduce ransom demands through negotiation. Higher education institutions, on the other hand, were the most likely to pay more than the original demand."It may be that these industries are less able to access professional ransom negotiators to help reduce their costs," the study's authors said. "They may also have a greater need to recover the data 'at any cost' due to their public remit."Researchers say advancements in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-phishing-scams-automation-detection-2024-6">AI will likely increase the scale of ransomware attacks</a>. In April, researchers from the Institute for Security and Technology told the House Financial Services subcommittee that they have "tremendous concern" about the role AI could play in future attacks, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4599587-ai-ransomware-easier-committee/">according to The Hill</a>.Typically, ransomware groups target large companies with revenue greater than $5 billion, but smaller organizations are starting to become more likely targets, according to the study. In the last year, organizations with less than $10 million in revenue made up about 47% of those hit by ransomware attacks, Sophos found."While many ransomware attacks are executed by sophisticated, well-funded gangs, the use of crude, cheap ransomware by lower-skilled threat actors is on the rise," Sophos says.

The price of ransomware attacks is skyrocketing and government agencies are paying the most

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President-elect Donald Trump has tasked Elon Musk with slashing government spending.</li><li>Defense could be a prime target: It's the largest discretionary spending category in the federal budget.</li></ul>President-elect Donald Trump has tapped <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ceo-elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> to help spearhead cuts to government spending, and the defense sector could be a prime target.The Defense Department's budget for the 2024 fiscal year is $841 billion, roughly 12.5% of the total federal budget, and the Pentagon has struggled with cost overruns and waste.Musk plans to review federal spending as part of a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency" — or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-government-efficiency-doge-2024-11">DOGE</a>. It's not an official agency, and Congress controls budgets for federal agencies. DOGE's role may be limited to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-government-efficiency-what-us-spends-2024-11">offering advice to Trump</a>.There are still a lot of unknowns around DOGE as it solicits direction from X, formerly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter">Twitter</a>, including where and how it'll find up to $2 trillion in promised cuts.But Musk's past comments hint at one area he could target: defense contracts.Musk has criticized government contracts with top defense companies that put the government on the hook for overages in the construction of warships, aircraft, and combat vehicles. And his company, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a>, has won some government contracts by bearing higher risks of cost overruns.<h2 id="83ac3479-807f-4415-a020-96d80c7f3594">Musk's way of doing business</h2>Before Musk founded SpaceX in 2001, NASA and the Pentagon often used "cost-plus" contracts, which reimbursed contractors for their expenses and provided a set profit margin.<div type="image" title="President-elect Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last month." height="2365" width="3541" msid="115359364" hostid="261" sizebytes="435768"></div>The contracts allowed for cost overruns and placed much of the risk on the US government, Clayton Swope, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told Business Insider.Musk compared the contracts to "gravy trains" in journalist Walter Isaacson's biography of the billionaire. "You just can't get to Mars with that system," Musk said. "They have an incentive never to finish. If you never finish a cost-plus contract, then you suckle on the tit of the government forever."Musk built SpaceX's business model around fixed-price contracts. This means the government and contractors set a price for the project at the onset, and the company is paid predetermined amounts once it hits certain milestones.SpaceX has had several fixed-price contracts with NASA, including a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/first-contracted-spacex-resupply-mission-launches-with-nasa-cargo-to-space-station/">$1.6 billion contract</a> in 2008 for 12 missions under the agency's Commercial Resupply Services program and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/spacex_nasa_crs-5_presskit-105.pdf">$2.6 billion contract</a> in 2014 that covered six crewed missions to the International Space Station.The US government previously reserved fixed-price contracts for off-the-shelf products that did not need to be specially made for the government, but SpaceX demonstrated that it could fund missions more efficiently, Swope said.Without the processes and tracking required for cost-plus contracts, companies like SpaceX "can be more agile to changes in the market and iterate on their products faster," Swope said. "When it's done right, it can be beneficial to both the government and the company."<div type="image" title="A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in October." height="2969" width="4453" msid="115359363" hostid="261" sizebytes="315044"></div><h2 id="b3b24f6e-1253-4bfb-9623-5ba146b04d68">Overspending and delays</h2>The Pentagon has often been criticized for mismanagement, delays, and ballooning costs on expensive systems. Earlier this year, for instance, a government watchdog found that the F-35 stealth fighter program has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-f-35-stealth-fighters-to-fly-less-costs-soar-2024-4">become more expensive</a>, with expected lifetime costs topping $2 trillion, even with the aircraft flying less often than in the past.The defense industry, like the military, has also been called to account. Major shipbuilding projects, for example, are severely delayed. Coming off problems with the Zumwalt-class destroyers, first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford, and the Littoral Combat Ship, new constructions like the next Ford-class carrier, Constellation-class frigate, and Columbia-class submarine are, in some cases, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-grappling-with-another-ford-class-supercarrier-delay-2024-4">years behind schedule</a>. This is a concern as the US military aims to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-not-ready-china-war-military-economy-2023-5">maintain its edge</a> against its "pacing challenge" China.Separately, DoD has faced criticism over use-it-or-lose-it spending toward the end of the fiscal year, overpayment for common products, and seven consecutive failed audits of the department's $4.1 trillion in assets and $4.3 trillion in liabilities.To tackle the contracting conundrum and save money, Mike Gallagher, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin and the current head of defense at Palantir Technologies, suggested in a Wall Street Journal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/two-years-to-prevent-world-war-iii-trump-sec-def-needs-to-overhaul-bureaucracy-cut-waste-c9a162d8?mod=opinion_lead_pos5">op-ed</a> this week that the incoming Pentagon leadership should enforce fixed-price contracting to put more burden on private contractors rather than the US government."The Defense Department's cost-plus contracting model has destroyed competition and innovation while exploding costs," Gallagher wrote, adding that the defense secretary should be required to sign off on cost-plus contracts.Musk's new initiative could recommend exactly this: a move away from cost-plus contracts toward fixed-price contracts.<div type="image" title="The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in April 2016." height="2475" width="3841" msid="115359367" hostid="261" sizebytes="649290"></div>But fixed-price contracting may have its own set of problems. Bryan McGrath, a retired naval officer and the managing director of The FerryBridge Group LLC, responded to Gallagher's article <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/conswahoo/status/1857138300307624153?s=46">on social media</a>, saying private companies shouldn't have to face all the costs for systems that only the US government wants to buy.Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who focuses on defense strategy and budgeting, said switching from cost-plus to fixed-price contracting doesn't necessarily save the government money. It also doesn't necessarily produce more effective systems designed to withstand combat or decades of use."What it does is, by moving the risk to industry, it creates more stability for government and what they're going to pay for things," he told BI, adding that "it puts better incentives on industry, because if industry has a cost overrun, they pay for it — it's coming out of their profit. If they can deliver below cost that they expected, they can make more money. So it really just changes the incentives."Harrison said that there had already been a shift toward firm-fixed-price contracts, which tends to advantage smaller and newer defense companies — a trend he expects will accelerate during the Trump administration. But there are some areas where cost-plus contracts are sure to continue.Shipbuilding, especially for projects like aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, is often arranged with large, multi-year contracts. This is because there may be only one company that can build the system, with one buyer (the Pentagon), and the product is unique to the US military.<div type="image" title="A digital rendering of the Constellation-class frigate." height="869" width="1876" msid="115359361" hostid="261" sizebytes="144122"></div>"In those areas of the defense-industrial base," Harrison said, "you have to manage it more like a public utility, where the free market does not exist, and free market principles do not work."<h2 id="719bae83-1982-40bc-bd4e-defb6b11920c">More efficient programs</h2>Mid-development changes to weapons systems designs are a major cost driver. To tackle this, the government could fix requirements for these systems early in the design process and enforce stricter rules around changes."One way that we know saves money is if you fix a design and don't add features," Michael Bohnert, a licensed engineer at the RAND Corporation, told BI.Today's F-35, for example, is "almost a different plane" than what was defined in its original requirements. Changes in scope have added costs. "You look at other programs that have been pretty narrowly defined — they've stayed in budget," he said.Archer Macy, a retired Navy admiral and missile defense expert at CSIS, told BI there's a history of abusing contracts where there's too much fluidity with requirements and specifications, making them vulnerable to changes.He said the government needs to find the "right type of contract for the right purpose (where you are in the development and acquisition cycle), stick to and don't abuse requirements and specs, and make people accountable."<div type="image" title="Aerial view of the Pentagon" height="3598" width="5396" msid="115359368" hostid="261" sizebytes="1410730"></div>Musk's new initiative may target other areas of Pentagon spending, as well.He could consider reducing the Pentagon's large civilian workforce and officer corps, for example, or crack down on instances like the US Air Force paying more than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-wildly-overpaid-c-17-bathroom-soap-dispenser-2024-10">80 times the regular commercial value</a> for bathroom soap dispensers for its C-17 aircraft.Overall, experts warned against any changes that could harm US warfighting capabilities or compel companies to cut corners and deliver substandard weapons systems."However well-intentioned, the reach for efficiency could also undercut your military effectiveness, and you got to keep that in balance," John Harvey Jr., a retired Navy admiral, told BI.In fact, some members of Congress think the US should spend even more on defense. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2024/5/senator-wicker-unveils-major-defense-investment-plan">warned earlier this year</a> that the country's defense investment is not sufficient to counter America's adversaries."Our defense industrial base is underfunded and unprepared for the wars of today, tomorrow, and the foreseeable future," his office said in May.

Elon Musk is looking for trillions in government waste, and defense is a massive potential target

Enviro Infra Engineers, which is involved in the development of turnkey projects of <keyword id="19979438" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sewage-treatment-plants" source="keywords">sewage treatment plants</keyword> and sewerage systems, on Monday fixed a price band of ₹140-148 per share for its ₹650 crore <keyword id="19913114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Initial-Public-Offering" source="keywords">Initial Public Offering</keyword> (IPO). The initial share sale will open for public subscription on November 22 and conclude on November 26. The bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on November 21, the company announced. The city-based company's proposed IPO is a combination of a fresh issue of 3.87 crore equity shares and an Offer For Sale (OFS) component of 52.68 lakh shares by promoters. Currently, promoters hold over 93 per cent stake in Enviro Infra Engineers. At the higher end of the price band, the IPO is valued at ₹650 crore, placing the company's market capitalization at approximately ₹2,600 crore. Proceeds from the fresh issue to the tune of ₹181 crore will be used to meet the working capital requirements, ₹100 crore will be used for payment of debt, ₹30 crore will be infused into the company's subsidiary, EIEL Mathura Infra Engineers, to build 60 million litres per day Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, a portion will be used for general corporate purposes. Half of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 35 per cent for retail investors and the remaining 15 per cent for non-institutional investors. Enviro Infra Engineers is engaged in designing, construction, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment plants and water supply scheme projects for government authorities/bodies. The treatment process installed by the company at most of the STPs is zero liquid discharge-compliant and the treated water can be used for horticulture, washing, refrigeration, and other process industries. Hem Securities is the sole book-running lead manager of the public issue. The equity shares of the company are expected to be listed on the BSE and NSE on November 29. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/ntpc-green-energy-ipo-gmp-risk-factors-and-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/115403791.cms">NTPC Green Energy IPO – GMP, risk factors and all you need to know</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/kawasaki-ninja-zx-4rr-launched-in-india-priced-at-9-42-lakh/slidelist/115332842.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/kawasaki-ninja-zx-4rr-launched-in-india-priced-at-9-42-lakh/slidelist/115332842.cms" target="_blank">Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR launched in India priced at ₹9.42 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/indian-smartphone-shipments-grow-5-6-in-q3-2024-vivo-leads-the-market/articleshow/115329847.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/indian-smartphone-shipments-grow-5-6-in-q3-2024-vivo-leads-the-market/articleshow/115329847.cms" target="_blank">Indian smartphone shipments grow 5.6% in Q3 2024, Vivo leads the market</a>

Enviro Infra Engineers IPO to open on Nov 22; eyes ₹650 crore

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mark Cuban has criticized Donald Trump's tariff proposals.</li><li>In a Threads post on Friday, he said companies are already bracing for impact.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-mark-cuban-friends-relationship-history">Mark Cuban</a> is raising the alarm again on President-elect Donald Trump's tariff proposals.In a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.threads.net/@mcuban/post/DCGO8NXxt86">Threads post</a> on Friday, Cuban said companies are already bracing for potential tariffs on Chinese imports by shoring up inventory. Cuban wrote that this will inevitably raise consumer prices due to the cost of storing inventory.While he didn't specifically name Trump, Cuban referred to Trump's proposal to put a 60% tariff on Chinese imports, which some economists say will have an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-higher-inflation-fed-interest-rates-taxes-mortgage-rates-2024-11?r=nordic">inflationary impact</a> on the economy."Right now every company that imports from China is taking all the cash they can muster, and buying up as much as they can and stuffing it in a warehouse, in anticipation of the tariffs creating accelerated demand for imports," he wrote. "That money would have been used for expansion, raises, bonuses, and other operational elements. Because cash is relatively expensive, and it costs money to store inventory, those companies will increase prices as if they had paid the expected higher tariffs."Cuban, who became an unexpected surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign earlier this year, has repeatedly criticized <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-trump-new-tax-cut-tariff-every-city-visit-2024-9">Trump's gratuitous use of tariffs</a> in his economic policies."Trump has a new tax cut or tariff for every city he visits. Even when it violates his own signed policies or the law," he wrote in an X post from September.In an interview with Harris, Cuban called Trump "the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-donald-trump-tariffs-christmas-presents-china-prices-harris-2024-10">Grinch that stole Christmas</a>" because the 60% tariff will raise prices on goods like holiday gifts.Cuban added in the Friday Threads post that the tariffs could also push the Chinese government to tell companies to stop buying from the United States altogether.A Trump spokesperson dismissed Cuban's statements. Cuban declined to comment.Many economists say that Trump's tariffs will ultimately hurt consumers' wallets.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-rate-cuts-uncertainty-trump-presidency-inflation-tariffs-2024-11">Economist Paul Krugman</a> said the tariffs could see an "inflationary shock that is bigger than almost anything else you could do through federal policy."An analysis from the nonpartisan <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.piie.com/sites/default/files/2024-09/wp24-20.pdf">Peterson Institute for International Economics</a> said the 60% tariff on Chinese imports could boost inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2025. The current inflation rate is 2.4%, the lowest rate in three years. A 0.4-percentage point increase would undercut the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/higher-long-term-inflation-outlook-investing-strategy-attractive-bonds-stocks-2024-10">Federal Reserve's goal</a> to bring inflation down to 2%.An analysis from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-plan-tarriffs-benefits-top-earners-study-2024-10">Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy</a>, a left-leaning think tank, said that the tariffs will provide a tax cut for the top 5% of US income earners.Some <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-tariffs-threats-world-ceos-thoughts-trade-2024-11">company executives</a> have been vocal about the impacts of the tariff proposals.AutoZone CEO Philip Daniele said on a pre-election earnings call, "If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer."Columbia Sportswear CEO Timothy Boyle told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/10/30/companies-tariffs-trump-prices/">The Washington Post</a> that the company is "set to raise prices" under new tariffs and that it will be "very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-tariffs-threats-world-ceos-thoughts-trade-2024-11">BMW CEO Oliver Zipse</a> offered a more optimistic view of the tariffs to reporters after the company's Q3 earnings report on Wednesday, saying, "We shouldn't be too nervous about what might happen."He said BMW has an "advantage" over other carmakers because of its large footprint in the United States.

Mark Cuban says Trump's tariff proposals will ramp up prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Pandemic-fueled inflation seems to be spurring voters to kick out leaders.</li><li>Incumbent governments have been punished in Britain, France, India, Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere.</li></ul>From London to Tokyo, Seoul to Cape Town, 2024 has been a year of sharp election swings. Now you can add Washington D.C. to the list.Donald Trump soundly beat Democrat VP Kamala Harris in the US election, faring better than in 2020 in virtually every part of the country and with nearly all demographic groups. The near-universal shift away from Democrats echoes voters' <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/voters-world-elections-against-ruling-parties-analysis-2024-7">rejection of incumbent political parties</a> across the world this year.The US vice president's late substitution for Biden as the Democratic candidate, and her decision to embrace his policies instead of distancing herself from them, meant she <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-lost-biden-unpopularity-trump-election-2024-11">effectively ran as an incumbent</a>.In contrast, Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election race enabled him to run as a "change candidate" this cycle and promise to disrupt the status quo.<h2 id="4f519aa6-7d08-4663-8d7f-8e62f03fcb58">Voter backlash</h2>Analysts have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-election-win-analysis-harris-immigration-abortion-economy-musk-2024-11">proposed many theories</a> as to why Harris lost, ranging from her gender and race, to her failure to reach out to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-musk-cuban-trump-meme-stocks-gamestop-dogecoin-crypto-markets-2024-11">young men</a>, to her support of Israel's war with Gaza, to her campaign focusing too much on reproductive rights and preserving democracy and too little on immigration and the economy.But from a global perspective, it's little surprise she lost given how many incumbent governments on both the right and the left have received a drubbing this year. Here are just a few of them:<ul><li>Britain's Labour Party <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-labour-party-back-in-power-rishi-sunak-concede-defeat-2024-7">ousted</a> the Conservative Party, or Tories, this summer.</li><li>France's National Rally party <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/france-elections-far-right-macron-le-pen-bardella-2024-6">secured</a> more seats in the country's assembly than in 2022.</li><li>Japan's Liberal Democratic Party <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-prime-minister-shigeru-ishiba-shake-up-us-military-pact-2024-9">ceded</a> its parliamentary majority this fall.</li><li>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indian-election-results-shocking-blow-narendra-modi-2024-6">lost</a> his majority against expectations, forcing him to form a coalition government.</li><li>South Korea's Democrat Party snagged a majority in the country's legislature.</li><li>South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) party lost its majority.</li></ul>Moreover, the incumbent US party has now lost three consecutive presidential elections for the first time in more than a century, Jim Reid, a research strategist at Deutsche Bank, said in a note this week.<h2 id="0e2b6ba9-92e6-4498-aadc-0fbc022d984f">Paying the price</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/what-is-inflation">Inflation</a> has been a key driver of the voter backlash. Prices of food, fuel, housing, and other essentials took off during the pandemic as governments spent heavily and lockdowns snarled global supply chains. In the US, inflation hit a 40-year high of more than 9% in early 2022 and was still above the Federal Reserve's 2% target this September."Trump's victory is the most powerful example this year of a political and economic environment that has been brutal for incumbents around the world and brought home the fact that inflation is political kryptonite," Tina Fordham, an independent strategist and advisor, said in a LinkedIn post this week.A key consequence of inflation has been central banks raising <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/banking/what-is-interest">interest rates</a> to curb spending, hiring, and investing, cooling price growth. The Fed raised its benchmark rate from nearly zero to north of 5% in under 18 months, raising many people's monthly payments on their credit cards, car loans, and mortgages.The central bank made its first cut this September and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserve-cuts-interest-rates-quarter-point-powell-inflation-election-2024-11">trimmed</a> a second time this week, broadly in line with peers such as the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.Surging prices and steeper interest rates has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/big-short-michael-burry-jpmorgan-consumer-inflation-rates-banking-crisis-2023-4">squeezed households</a> in the US and many other countries. Voters appear to be fed up with onerous living costs and eager to kick out the leaders they blame for their struggles.Other issues, such as illegal immigration and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, have also spurred votes for change.<h2 id="508f4884-4bdf-4651-b7a6-4bb22f9f0fde">Demanding change</h2>In the US, those concerns are so powerful that they've trumped the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-outlook-pandemic-stock-market-crash-inflation-recession-rates-ai-2024-2">economic reality</a> of resilient growth, historically low unemployment, declining inflation, falling rates, and a record stock market. In a CNN exit poll, 72% of Americans said they were dissatisfied with the country's direction.Louis Perron, a political consultant author of "Beat the Incumbent: Proven Strategies and Tactics to Win Elections," said in a note this week that elections featuring an incumbent are "foremost a referendum on the incumbent."In Harris' case, he said "it would have probably taken a miracle to overcome the circumstances with respect to inflation and the border."People "can't pay for groceries with Democracy or reproductive rights," he added. "If the mood of the electorate is so sour, people just want to stop the bleeding."Similarly, Deutsche Bank's Reid wrote that voters are disappointed by how slowly their lives are improving amid cooler economic growth.He said they don't buy that incumbents can tackle immigration, some incumbent governments have had scandals, and voters have become "much more willing to change their vote from election to election."

Voters worldwide are angry about higher prices and keep punishing those in power

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new law proposed by Germany will limit which solar producers are reimbursed when energy prices fall.</li><li>A renewable supply glut has caused prices to often fall into negative territory.</li></ul>An overload of solar power in Germany has piled up costs on the government, prompting a new draft law that would limit subsidies for the country's industry players, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-28/germany-to-cut-some-solar-farms-off-subsidies-amid-oversupply">Bloomberg</a> reported.The outlet cited fresh plans to restrict which producers will receive subsidies when energy falls below a fixed price. Given how often wholesale power prices have dropped into negative territory, this has been an issue for the state.The government has previously estimated that German renewable subsidies would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-29/germany-s-climate-transition-costs-to-spiral-as-subsidies-double">reach $21.6 billion this year</a>.That's as the country's solar buildout has brought so much renewable energy online that wholesale power prices have frequently fallen below zero. This trend is especially evident during the <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/solar-panel-supply-german-electricity-prices-negative-renewable-demand-green-2024-5">sunny summer months</a> and has been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-29/germany-s-climate-transition-costs-to-spiral-as-subsidies-double">ongoing throughout Europe</a>.However, since German producers are guaranteed to receive a minimum strike price, the government is responsible for covering the difference in prices. This so-called "feed-in tariff" reimburses renewable companies for contributing to the public grid.The new draft law seeks to limit which solar producers are required to sell their output to electric exchanges and, by extent, who is eligible for feed-in tariffs. Currently, plants with 100 kilowatts of capacity are required to participate. By the start of 2027, this will drop to 75 kilowatts.Also implemented is an earlier law that allows the government to withhold payments for mid-sized and large solar projects, anytime wholesale market prices turn negative, Bloomberg said.This could trigger uncertainty in a market that has ballooned since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an event that caused Europe to search for alternatives to Moscow's energy supply.Meanwhile, analysts have noted this year that supplementary investments in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/solar-panel-supply-german-electricity-prices-negative-renewable-demand-green-2024-5">battery technology and the electric grid</a> are needed if renewable energy is to escape negative pricing.

Germany's government is making life more difficult for solar farms that it often has to subsidize

India is celebrating <keyword id="23288581" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dhanteras" source="keywords">Dhanteras</keyword> today, even as the public remains cautious about adding gold's glitter to their portfolios, given the metal's sky-high prices. <keyword id="19910265" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gold-prices" source="keywords">Gold prices</keyword> went past the Rs 81,000 mark today in Delhi. Per IBJA (<keyword id="20397944" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Bullion-and-Jewellers-Association" source="keywords">India Bullion and Jewellers Association</keyword> Ltd.), the cost of 24K gold stood at Rs 7,885/gram today, while 22K gold was priced at Rs 7,695/gram. While jewelers anticipate some increase in customer footfall today, between afternoon and late evening, the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council expects sales volumes to remain steady at around 20 tons. However, per their estimates, sales this year might be down by 5% compared to last year. The <keyword id="19921618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Confederation-of-All-India-Traders" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Confederation of All India Traders" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Confederation of All India Traders">Confederation of All India Traders</keyword> (CAIT) projects nationwide retail trade worth Rs 50,000 crore during this Dhanteras. Even quick-commerce companies are cashing in on the Dhanteras sentiment. While Blinkit has partnered with Joyalukkas and Malabar Gold and Diamonds to deliver gold and silver coins in 10 minutes, Zepto has teamed with Augmont and Malabar for the same. Per media reports, Swiggy Instamart has partnered with Muthoot Exim and Malabar, while BigBasket has tied up with Tanishq. Legend has it that it was on this day that Lord Dhanvantari, the deity of health, appeared today, making brass utensils particularly auspicious for purchase. People also seek blessings from Lord Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi, and Lord Kuber, and it is considered auspicious to buy gold and silver jewelry, utensils, kitchenware, vehicles, garments, and electronics on this day. <h2>The appreciation of gold</h2> Gold has had a great run this year, having a YTD (yield-to-date) of 24%. Despite high prices, the demand for gold this festive and wedding season is expected to remain buoyant in India. The yellow metal's demand as a haven has jumped up significantly in recent times, owing to <keyword id="19955176" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="geopolitical-tensions" source="keywords">geopolitical tensions</keyword> like the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Moreover, with governments across the world trying to tame inflation and boost spending by way of rate cuts, gold is increasingly being seen as an effective hedge against inflation. Experts suggest that the demand is set to remain elevated for the times to come. "The immediate outlook for gold remains robust, supported by the recent import duty reduction from 15% to 6%, which has already stirred significant market activity with imports doubling year-over-year. Despite price changes, the traditional festive and wedding seasons continue driving strong demand, with consumers adapting their purchasing patterns," says Vikas Singh, Managing Director &amp; CEO of MMTC-PAMP. "Looking ahead, multiple structural factors paint a positive long-term picture. There is an overall trend of increasing gold holdings providing sustained price support. While physical gold remains paramount, there's increasing interest in gold investments, particularly among urban consumers," he continues. <h2>How to check if your gold is pure </h2>First, always make sure to buy only hallmarked physical gold. "Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in the precious metal article. Hallmarking provides consumers with third-party assurance and satisfaction that they get the right purity of gold (or silver), the government noted in a press release yesterday, urging customers to buy only <keyword id="23040621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hallmarked-gold" source="keywords">hallmarked gold</keyword> and silver. Hallmarked gold is characterized by a few specific marks, like the logo of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), the jeweler's mark, and that of the hallmarking center. During the process of hallmarking, each piece of gold or silver is assigned a 6-digit alphanumeric code or HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification). Download the BIS Care app on your phone and enter this code using the verify HUID icon on the app. This will help you test the veracity of your purchased gold.

Gold continues to shine bright on Dhanteras, but should you participate in the glitter?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Putin has been pledging that his country can focus on both "guns and butter" as it fights in Ukraine.</li><li>Yet it's precisely butter that's been a headache for Russia, with a 25.7% price increase this year.</li></ul>A year into his war on Ukraine, Russian leader Vladimir Putin told his country that its new focus on weapons production wouldn't tank its economy."There is a well-known phrase: guns instead of butter," Putin said <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rbc.ru/economics/21/02/2023/63f496049a79475942fefc7d">last February.</a>"The country's defense is, of course, the most important priority, but, in solving strategic tasks in this area, we must not repeat the mistakes of the past, we must not destroy our own economy," he said, citing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/100-million-tons-russian-wheat-piling-up-food-crisis-2022-9">burgeoning wheat production</a> at the time.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/20806247">In May, Putin once again ordered his government</a> to continue aiming for that goal, telling officials to focus on both "guns and butter" — rejecting the adage that countries have to choose between military and civilian spending.Yet as the war grinds on, the last few months have been especially rough on Russian consumers. Inflation rates in August and September climbed to their highest since early 2023, when Putin first made his speech propping up the civilian economy.By the end of October, the price of butter in Russia was up 25.7% compared to December 2023, per <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/170_30-10-2024.html">government statistics.</a>Not all grocery or dairy prices are running up at such a rate. The next-largest increase involved lamb, which rose 21.48%, while milk rose 12.75% in the same period.<h2 id="e989b31e-8dfe-4e0e-810d-655ddb2dfddd">'Armageddon with butter'</h2>Still, the overall trend has raised fears of a return in Russia to 2022's surging inflation rates or the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-outlook-stagflation-recession-inflation-gdp-growth-ukraine-war-2024-9">possibility of a recession.</a>"What is especially frightening is the fact that the acceleration is associated with a unanimous increase in prices across the entire basket. Of the 107 items included in the weekly basket, 84 went up in price," wrote economists on the MMI Telegram channel, a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://t.me/russianmacro/20015">Russian group that provides analysis on inflation.</a>As government statistics showed butter rising by up to 1.9% weekly in late October, the same channel warned of an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://t.me/russianmacro/19984">"armageddon with butter"</a> and said Russia could see a repeat of its 40% <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vladimir-putin-russia-economy-egg-price-crisis-soviet-union-ukraine-2024-1">egg price surge from November 2023.</a>The soaring prices made national headlines earlier this month when Russian media reported a series of butter-related supermarket thefts.The <a target="_blank" href="https://egpetqycqyosvurg.1tw.live/news/2024/10/29/v-moskve-soversheno-razboynoe-napadenie-na-pyaterochku-pohischeny-25-pachek-slivochnogo-masla">independent outlet Meduza</a> reported that one robbery in Moscow involved 25 packs of butter stolen by two men.Even state media has addressed the issue, with the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://rg.ru/2024/10/27/zhirnyj-minus.html">government-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta</a> writing that some stores were putting butter in protective boxes.Federal officials have since met with dairy producers in a bid to curb the cost hikes, though the local union's statement in late October promised only that it would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.souzmoloko.ru/news/news_6936.html">monitor prices weekly</a><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.souzmoloko.ru/news/news_6936.html">.</a><h2 id="28f27be9-d8d6-4027-9a56-9a381850752d">Why butter prices are on the rise</h2>A week before that meeting, the same union <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.souzmoloko.ru/news/news_6924.html">said</a> the country wasn't experiencing a butter shortage, but added that about 25% of local butter consumption comes from foreign suppliers.Much of those imports previously came from countries in Latin America, which dropped their butter shipments from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/107343/">25,000 tons to 2,800 tons</a> yearly amid Western sanctions on Moscow.Another major dairy supplier complying with wartime sanctions, New Zealand, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-General/Trade-Market-reports/Potential-impacts-of-a-Russia-Ukraine-conflict-on-the-New-Zealand-economy.pdf">sold $88.8 million</a> worth of butter to Russia yearly before the invasion began.To fill the butter void, Moscow has since been turning to friendlier nations such as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://tass.ru/ekonomika/22273391">Turkey</a> and the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russia-turns-uae-turkey-butter-contain-soaring-prices-2024-11-02/">United Arab Emirates</a>, which previously only supplied about 90 tons yearly to Russia.The price turmoil continues to play out as Russia leans its economy further into weapons manufacturing to maintain the invasion of Ukraine, which has now increasingly turned into a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-needs-to-stop-fighting-the-war-russia-wants-2024-6">grinding war of attrition</a> in manpower and equipment.Russia is expected to spend <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-defense-sector-on-overdrive-but-firms-warn-of-collapse-2024-11">$140 billion on its defense industry in 2024</a>, up to $145 billion in 2025, or 6.3% of its GDP.That could spell even more bad news for Russian consumers, with economists expecting <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-tax-hikes-putin-high-earners-corporations-ukraine-war-2024-3">further tax hikes</a> beyond the announced reforms for 2025 to keep up with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-moscow-businesses-taxes-discount-asset-sales-ukraine-war-2024-10">military spending.</a>

Putin said Russia wouldn't have to choose between guns or butter. The price of butter is soaring.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fresh signs of deflation in China are stoking demand for national stimulus to revive the economy.</li><li>Consumer prices rose by 0.4% in September, while producer prices fell by 2.8%.</li></ul>Chinese officials are under mounting pressure to stimulate the economy after official price data released Sunday stoked fresh deflation fears.The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% year-on-year in September, as bad weather pushed up food prices ahead of the Golden Week holiday. That was below the consensus estimate of 0.6%, which would have matched the rate of price growth in August.The producer price index (PPI) fell 2.8% compared to September last year — the sharpest drop in six months and up from 1.8% in August.Prices have stagnated due to a slew of economic headwinds that are weighing on domestic demand:<ul><li>Slowing economic growth threatens to stall wage growth and spark layoffs, when youth unemployment is already at a historic high and a regulatory crackdown on Big Tech has narrowed an attractive career avenue.</li><li>Exporters are worried about countries like the US imposing even higher tariffs on their goods and cutting off manufacturers' access to critical technologies such as advanced microchips.</li><li>People are concerned about their home values as China's massive property bubble has burst, sending shockwaves through the economy that have squeezed local government budgets and affected industries such as construction.</li></ul>Even with those drags, Goldman Sachs has raised its GDP growth forecast for China from 4.7% to 4.9% this year — just shy of the government's 5% target — and from 4.3% to 4.7% next year, Bloomberg reported. The investment bank's analysts cited the government's planned stimulus package, which has somewhat revitalized Chinese stock markets despite officials offering limited details.China's leader, Xi Jinping, may be wary of overstimulating the economy as aggressive government support was a key contributor to the property bubble."China didn't pull out the fiscal bazooka" at a press conference on Saturday, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a morning note."Xi doesn't like market euphoria and investors don't like the fact that the ample monetary stimulus may not be channeled toward the right places in the absence of an efficient and comprehensive fiscal package. But both agree that China needs stimulus to overcome the deepening property crisis and fight deflation."

Prices in China are stagnating, putting more pressure on Beijing to jump-start the economy

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Astronomic inflation in Argentina has caused the government to higher denominations of the country's peso. </li><li>The central bank next month will issue a 10,000 peso note, worth about $11 based on Thursday's exchange rate. </li></ul>Inflation is so bad in Argentina that the central bank will issue 10,000 peso notes to relieve people from the burden of having to haul bags of cash around for day-to-day needs. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/argentina-bank-note-economy-milei-libertarian-inflation-crisis-central-bank-53f03d3ec65497726eeeb83c0a7022a1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a> reported on Wednesday that the South American country's central bank will roll out the large denomination currency next month, aiming to"facilitate transactions between users."The note, worth about $11 based on Thursday exchange rates, tops the 2,000 peso note as the country's biggest bill. Meanwhile, the central bank also announced that it will launch a larger bill — a 20,000-peso note — later this year. During the country's economic downturn, vendors have leaned heavily towards cash payments for big purchases. They usually offer discounted deals to consumers for using cash instead of electronic transfers, resulting in many people carrying huge amounts of paper bills on them. Inflation skyrocketed 287% in March, marking one of the highest inflation rates worldwide.President Javier Milei, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-dollar-dominance-currencies-javier-milei-argentina-economic-shock-recession-2023-12?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;_gl=1*18r2kxr*_ga*MTYxMjM2MDEyMC4xNzE0NTA0MzM4*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTcxNTI1OTcwOS42Ny4xLjE3MTUyNjg5NTIuNDkuMC4w">who took office last December</a>, has vowed to curb inflation and stabilize the currency by upending the policies of previous administrations. To a degree, his policies have shown some results. Despite still-soaring inflation, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/argentina-peso-us-dollar-dollarization-recession-inflation-milei-foreign-currency-2024-4">the peso was the best-performing currency</a> against the dollar in the country's blue-chip swap market, one of its key foreign exchange markets. Still, the AP notes that austerity measures have made life difficult for many in the country, with a national strike planned for Thursday the latest in string of protests.

Prices have surged so much in Argentina that the government will print 10,000 peso notes

<ul><li><keyword id="19894961" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Apple" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Apple" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Apple">Apple</keyword> has announced a <keyword id="20125622" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="price-cut" source="keywords">price cut</keyword> for its iPhones in India, with the Pro variants getting the highest price cut.</li><li>The price cut has been announced following the reduction in customs duty on smartphones.</li><li>Here are the new prices of iPhones in India after the price cut from Apple.</li></ul> As expected, the recently announced<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2024-customs-duty-on-mobile-phones-chargers-and-more-reduced/articleshow/111962490.cms"> reduction</a> in basic customs duty (BCD) on smartphones in the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2024-25-changes-to-tax-slabs-increased-standard-deduction-and-other-changes-to-direct-taxation/articleshow/111951205.cms"> Budget 2024-25</a> has resulted in a decrease in the prices of certain smartphones. Cupertino tech giant Apple has announced a price cut for several iPhones, reducing the prices of the smartphones by up to ₹5,900. The price cut on premium smartphones is on the higher side, while some devices have received a minor price cut. The government has reduced the BCD on mobile phones, mobile phone chargers and mobile PCBA to 15% from 20%. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112045172" title="Apple to manufacture iPhone 16 Pro models in India soon after launch" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Here’s the new pricing for iPhones in India: <h2>Price cut for iPhones</h2>In a first, Apple has announced a price cut for its Pro models in India. This has been done to pass on the benefit of reduced customs duty to customers. This will also help the company to boost the sales of iPhones in India, ahead of the launch of the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-to-manufacture-iphone-16-pro-models-in-india-soon-after-launch/articleshow/112045172.cms"> iPhone 16</a> series. <h2>New iPhone prices in India</h2><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">New price </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Old price </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Price cut </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 15 Pro Max </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,54,000 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,59,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹5,900 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 15 Pro </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,29,800 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,34,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹5,100 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 15 Plus </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹89,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹89,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 14 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹79,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹79,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 14 Plus </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹79,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹79,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 14 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹69,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹69,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone 13 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹59,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹59,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">iPhone SE </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹47,600 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹49,900 </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5008695000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5pt 0pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2,300 </td></tr></tbody></table> The iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro have received the highest price cut, at ₹5,900 and ₹5,100 respectively. The company’s most affordable offering in the country, the iPhone SE has also received a significant price cut at ₹2,300. At present, most of the smartphones sold in India are manufactured locally, barring high-end devices like the Pro models from the iPhone lineup. This is set to change with the upcoming iPhone 16 series, with the company planning on producing the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-to-manufacture-iphone-16-pro-models-in-india-soon-after-launch/articleshow/112045172.cms"> iPhone 16 Pro</a> models in India soon after the launch. It will be interesting to see if Apple reduces the prices on the iPhone 16 Pro models as they will not be subject to BCD once local production begins. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/upcoming-ipos-this-week-ola-electric-akums-drugs-and-more/slidelist/112097714.cms">Upcoming IPOs this week – Ola Electric, Akums Drugs and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/government-extends-ev-subsidy-scheme-till-september-30-increases-outlay/articleshow/112062360.cms">Government extends EV subsidy scheme till September 30, increases outlay</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/pixel-9-series-design-and-specs-revealed-ahead-of-launch-next-month/articleshow/112039063.cms">Pixel 9 series design and specs revealed ahead of launch next month</a>

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