Letter: How the UK can become a global fintech hub
From Jacob Wittman, General Counsel, Plasma Labs UK, London W1, UK
Letter: Starmer’s great sin is he’s not flashy
From Emeritus Professor Albion M Urdank, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, US
Letter: A vision of US-China ties that’s better than zero-sum
From Jake Werner, Director, East Asia Program, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Washington, DC, US
Letter: Economists’ ready-made toolkit to revive the arts
From Ira Sohn, Emeritus professor of economics and finance, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, US
Letter: The Maxwell case: an early example of forum shopping
From Duncan Aldred, London EC2, UK
Letter: Scottish Mortgage director explains why he quit
From Professor Amar Bhidé, Cambridge, MA, US
Letter: Election of so many rookie councillors may end in tears
From Jane Phillips, MSc Occupational Psychology, Cambridge, UK
Correction: Burberry bag price
Berenberg estimates that only about 3 per cent of Burberry handbags are priced above £2,000 today, not 3 per cent of all its stock as wrongly stated in an article note on May 15
Vox becomes kingmaker as Sánchez suffers defeat in Spanish regional election
Rightwing populists emerge as prospective coalition partner for conservative People’s Party in Andalusia
Asia is headed towards an industrial supercycle
It’s not just AI — energy, defence and industrial capex will fuel growth
FT Crossword: Number 18,375
FirstFT: Global energy crisis enters a new phase
Also in today’s newsletter: Bain Capital closes largest Asia fund, and the US-China ‘board of trade’
School geography class: The twilight of Opec
Energy security
IB Geography class
Read a selection of FT articles and classroom questions
School IB Geography class: Oil majors return to Alaska as US state becomes ‘world’s hottest play’
Extreme environments
School IB economics: Argentina taps foreign banks for $3bn loan ahead of debt repayment
Foreign debt
School economics class: The Iran war and the future of cheap flights
Market structures
White House says Trump and Xi agreed on ‘board of trade’ at summit
US and China signed off on measures to promote ‘stability’ in the midst of their economic stand-off
Business investment growth in UK is less than half pace of US
There has been a widening divergence between the two economies since 2019
Publicis to buy US data company in $2.2bn deal as it deepens AI marketing push
French advertising group to purchase LiveRamp and enhance its focus on disruptive technology
Labour leadership battle threatens to reopen Brexit wounds
Intervention by Wes Streeting fuels debate over whether a pro-EU campaign would help unite progressives in Britain
Nvidia in the spotlight
Plus, former Google boss takes over at the BBC, primary elections in several US states and the Chelsea Flower Show
The looming energy crunch
Supply squeeze due to the Iran war will get worse before it gets better
Iran energy crisis enters new phase as peak summer season approaches
Emergency measures spread as oil stockpiles run low