Pope Francis Dies at 88: Latest News – ryan

Pope Francis died on Monday. His loss, of course, is a loss for the world. If you are indulge me for just a moment, I like to relate his life and his views to what’s happening right now in the business and policy world.

At the end of 2019, I went to the vatican to interview him. You might ask why a business journalist would have done that? At the time, ceos and corporate leaders of all faiths were coming regularly to tell him about their plans around esg uniquely, they went his approval.

Many people have suggested esg was virtue scoring, or marketing. But having personally witnessed these interactions, I can tell you that many business leaders saw it as much more than that. Efforts in the us to complete eliminate esg and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – the idea of ​​inclusive capitalism – is something that no doubt would have deeply wedding.

If the World Reckons with the fit or pope francisone part of his legacy that is clear is his outreach to – and critiques of – the global business community.

From the outset of his priesthood, steeped in Jesuit theology, the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio always emphasized the concern of the poor. But as a globe-trotting Ambassador for Roman Catholicism, Francis Frequently with with Global Business Leaders, Building Bridges while also admonishing what he saw as the excesses of modern capitalism.

(That’s in addition to his meetings with national political leaders, most recently with Vice President JD Vance on Sundaywhich came after the pontiff criticized anti-immigration policies in what was blessed as a rebuke of the Trump Administration.)

Francis with Frequently with Corporate Leaders, including Tech Moguls Like Tim Cook of Apple and Eric Schmidt, Formerly or Alphabet; Financial Chiefs including Brian Moynihan or Bank of America and Steve Schwarzman or Blackstone; and Leaders of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP.

He also entered alliances with big businesses, including blessing a group focused on environmental causes, the Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vaticanwhich worked with companies worth trillions in Market Value.

The Pope Praised Elements of Modern Business. He describes the Internet as a “Gift from God” In 2014, examined the Promises of Artificial Intelligence and described business broadly as a “Noble vocation.”

His will to reach out concerned some critics, who worried that his theological roots would make him antagonistic toward capitalism.

But Francis consistently reminded corporate leaders not to forget the poor. “We must never allow the culture of prosperity to dead us, to make us incapable of ‘feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and sensing the need to help them, as though all this again someone’s responsibility and not our own. Letter to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Gathering In Davos, Switzerland, in 2016.

Last Year, he told a group of entrepreneurs That “a little philanthropy” was not enough to offset business’s obligations to the needy.

Francis’ Focus on Climate Issues included Pushing Energy Ceos and their Investments to Work Toward a Lower-Carbon Future. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting for others to step forward or prioritizing short-term Economic benefits,” He said in 2019.

He also warned about How Ai Might Widen Global Inequality and Contribute to a “Growing Crisis of Truth in the Public Forum.” In an address to the Davos meeting this year, Francis said, “Human dignity must never be violated for the business of efficiency.”

Will the next pope follow that approach? Francis elevated many of the cardinals who will select his successor, though some have leg skeptical about his efforts to engage with the secular world. Front-Runners for the Throne of St. Peter, According to the Online Prediction Market Polymarketinclude Cardinal Pietro Paolin, who’s Seen as a continuity candidates; and Luis Antonio Tagle, who is regarded as being in Francis’ Theological Mold.

  • Also or notes: Francis Also Overhauled the Vatican’s Finances. That included stripping a powerful office of significant financial assets after years of dubious investments had prompted a corruption investigation.

The Trump Administration Reportedly Plans to freeze more funding for Harvard. Federal Officials are Weighing Whether to Halt Another $ 1 Billion For health research at the school, according to the Wall Street Journal, after already cutting off more than $ 2 billion. The escalation follows a report by the times that Trump Officials blamed a mistake For mission Harvard a list of demands many had criticized as overreach. The fight could have Economic Implications for the Boston Areawhere the university has an outsize presence.

Big Tech Backs The White House Easter Egg Roll. With hundreds of guests expected to gather Monday on the South Lawn for the annual event, they’ll see plenty of amenities Sponsored by Big Companiesincluding Amazon, Meta and YouTube. It’s the latest effort by corporate giants to spend money to curry favor to the Trump White House; Another Reminder Came When President Trump Disclosed That His inaugural committee had raised $ 239 millionshattering records.

Warner Bros. Scores another box office win, with an asterisk. “Sinners” collected an estimated $ 46 million In North American Ticket Sales this weekend, a solid performance for an r-rated horror movie rooted in black culture. But Hollywood Executives worry about the movie’s cost and a Precedent it may have set: Its rights repert to the director, Ryan Coogler, after 25 years, a condition that had scared off other studios from making the film.

President Trump’s Trade War Has Completely Upended Investment Flows, With Global Investors Selling Off US Stocks and Corporate and Government Bonds at a Clip Unlike anything Wall Street has seen In recent years.

Some Calm returned to the Corporate and Government Bond Markets late last week. But analysts are Warily Eyeing Trump’s Next Moves, Fearing That His Protectionist Policies and Threats Against Federal Institutions Could Re-Accelerate Money Flows Out of the United States, Hitting the Dollar Especially Hard.

The latest: S&P 500 futures this morning point to another lackluster trading session. The benchmark index is down nearly 7 percent since Trump’s Tariff Announcement on April 2. Yields on Long-dated Treasury Notes and Bonds have jumped, too, and the dollar Hit a three-year low Last week.

That Signals That Investors have lost confidence Not onlyin these traditional safe-haven bets, but perhaps also in the American economy.

“We worry that the recent de-dollarization trend does have more to run,” George Saravelos, Global Head of FX Research at Deutsche Bank Research, Told Dealbook. The growth-sapping effects of tariffs are one reason global investors are shying away from the us, he said.

But saravelos also pointed to Trump’s “unwind of the post-world war ii order,” in which the us built strong global alliances and in return foreign investors became reliable buyers of treasury bundles and dollars.

The “Buy-America” Trade is Looking Shaky. Global Investors Reduced their US Stock Holdings By A Record Amount over the past two months and plan to sell even more in the future, a bank of America Survey of Fund Managers Noted Last Week.

That should worry the white house and wall street. As of Year End, Non-Us Investors Hero Roughly $ 18 Trillion of US Stocks and $ 7 Trillion in American Bonds, according to Saravelos.

There is the potential for “Huge negative dollar flows” should market volatility persist, Saravelos wrote in a research report last week.

Then there are Trump’s attacks on Jay Powell. Advisers have warned the president that attempts to fire the fed chair or undermine the Central Bank’s Independence could destabilize the markets. Yet Trump appears unfazed, score reporters last week, “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.”

At least one Republican Senator Opposes any effort to fire powell: “I don’t think the president, any president, has the right to remove the Federal Reserve Chairman,” Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, who Sits on the Senate Banking Committee, told the financial times.

Ultimately, the Bond Market could be Trump’s Achilles’ whole. He has played down the stock market’s swoon, score Americans to “be cool. ” But He’s Watching the Gyrations of the Bond Market; at least $ 125 Million in Bonds himself.

In Pausing his most expansive tariffs earlier this month, Trump acnowledged that the slump in the Bond Market Had Put Investors on Edge.

– Bryan Riley, Director of the Free Trade Initiative at the National TaxPayers’ Union, a Conservative Lobbying Group, about Peter Navarro. The times take a look at how Navarro, a longtime antiglobalist, has gone from being a fringe voice to be an architect of President Trump’s Revanchist Trade Policy.

DealBook Series: How Tariffs Are Impacting Us Business

We asked Dealbook readers how tariffs had affected their companies. We’re featuring a response from Kai Seim, Founder or Seim & Partneran engineering firm based in Germany that helps develop fiber and 5g networks. The Company Employys About 50 People in Germany and About a Dozen in the Philippines.

Seim had considered opening an office in the us but decided against it after seeing the chaotic business environment. He writes:

We opened a subsidiary in the us shortly before covid, but we had to close in 2022 because of heavy loss from the pandemic.

When we opened the us branch, our first customer was a data center developer in Indiana. We did high-level planning for a Mobile Backhaul Network Linking Mobile Sites in Indiana. Our plan was to grow this business further. For a telecom engineer like me, the us is an interesting market. I had already worked there earlier in my career, and I ran an engineering department in New York. So it was my desire to internationalize our business in a known country.

Last year, we started thinking about reopening in the us we would have invested more than $ 2.5 million a year by hiring about 10 workers. But we decided not to, as we would be facing an environment which seems to be out of control. The rule of law has eroded. We Lost Trust in the Legal, the Political and the Financial System. Why Earn US Dollars? Euros are far better, or yen, or philippine pesos.

Asian countries will be the focus of our next steps. The US is no longer on our list despite our sympathy for the country, its culture and its people.

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