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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Wednesday, April 22nd, and this is your FT News Briefing. The U.S.-Iran ceasefire lives to see another day, and American senators grilled the man who could be the next Federal Reserve Chair. Plus, what are some lessons that we can learn from the history of finance? A new podcast from the FT explores the ideas that shape today's institutions.
I'm Mark Filippino, and here's the news you need to start your day. U.S. President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran. It otherwise would have expired tonight.
Chapter 2: What recent developments occurred in the U.S.-Iran ceasefire?
He said on social media yesterday that the truce will remain in place until negotiations between the two countries conclude. Now, this is a bit of a change of pace. Trump said repeatedly that he did not want to extend the ceasefire. But prospects of a second round of negotiations look bleak.
Iranian officials said yesterday they won't attend talks in Pakistan, and they think further talks would be, quote, a waste of time. That's according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency. Iran's foreign minister blames the stalled talks on, quote, unacceptable actions from the U.S. He called the American naval blockade of all Iranian ports a, quote, act of war and a ceasefire violation.
Trump said the U.S. will continue its blockade while the ceasefire is in place.
This is as consequential a moment for the U.S. economy and frankly for the institution as any point since the late 1970s.
That's Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve. He appeared for his confirmation hearing yesterday. And senators grilled the former Fed governor on topics ranging from his independence from Trump to his personal wealth. Here to discuss how that hearing went is the FT's U.S. economics editor, Claire Jones. Hi, Claire.
Hello, Mark.
So what were the top lines from this confirmation hearing?
Well, as one would expect, given the current environment and all of Donald Trump's calls for the Fed to cut rates and threats to fire current Fed Chair Jay Powell and his colleagues, the hearing was very much focused on whether or not Kevin Walsh can ensure the US Federal Reserve, the most important central bank in the world, can remain independent from the White House.
Walsh was pretty adamant that it could and also claimed that the president had never asked him to cut interest rates.
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Chapter 3: How does Kevin Warsh plan to maintain Fed independence?
The relevance today is to do with stable coins and crypto. They're also things that people have kind of made up out of air and that we kind of think has money or some sort of value. And it's a collective illusion because it's useful or profitable. But at some point, sometimes the music stops.
Robin, what's the one thing that you hope listeners are going to get out of the show?
but really that financial history is really cool and interesting. And look, I have a hard time convincing my kids of this, but it's genuinely true. I mean, I love this stuff. It is so riveting and interesting and fun, even if it wasn't relevant for today. But it is like that quote you said, to understand where we're going, you have to understand where we came from.
There's so many things today in the world that, look, I'm not going to say are great, but at least makes more sense if you understand where they came from. And that's true for financial history as well.
Maybe your kids will be more inspired to learn about it now that you host this podcast.
I hope so. I hope so.
That's the FT's Robin Wigglesworth. He hosts the new podcast, The Story of Money with our colleague, Jillian Tett. The first episode is out today and you can hear new episodes every Wednesday. We'll put a link to subscribe in the show notes and we'll have a trailer that you can listen to after this episode of The Briefing. Thanks, Robin. Thanks for having me on.
Before we go, more and more Americans want to call Ireland home. The number of people in the U.S. seeking Irish citizenship through Ancestry jumped 63% last year. These are applicants to Ireland's foreign birth register. Lawyers said the Trump administration's harsh stance on immigration and transgender rights is pushing people to consider having a backup plan.
Around 32 million Americans claim some sort of Irish heritage, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but it's not clear how many of those actually qualify for citizenship. You can read more on all these stories for free when you click the links in our show notes. This has been your daily FT News briefing. Check back tomorrow for the latest business news.
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