The Fed runs out of patience, the UK budget and the genetics of invasion

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Patience is out and the US Federal Reserve is free to raise interest rates. In one of the most hotly anticipated Fed meetings of the past year, the central bank ditched its pledges to be patient before increasing interest rates and is now free to raise them as early as June. (FT)

However it wrongfooted markets with its projected path for interest rate rises amid weakened forecasts for growth and inflation. Add in the strong dollar, which is weighing on exports, and what does this mean the Fed will do? Sam Fleming explains: “The overall message is that the Fed still wants to prime the markets for higher rates, but it is very much taking a softly-softly approach.” (FT)

In the news

The UK budget An end is in sight for austerity. With his pre-election Budget, George Osborne handed a range of cautious tax breaks to middle Britain and said almost a decade of cuts would end a year early in 2019 when £20bn will be pumped into cash-starved public services. Chris Giles explains how the chancellor did his sums. (FT)

Yahoo closes China operations It is laying off 200-300 people and shuttering its Beijing research centre, its only physical presence in mainland China. The lay-offs are part of cost-cutting measures by chief executive Marissa Mayer, under pressure from the likes of activist investor Starboard Value. (SCMP, WSJ)

Sony joins in with online TV The Japanese tech group joined the band of players trying to woo “cord-cutting” customers disillusioned with cable and satellite subscriptions. It will offeronline TV to PlayStation users in the US – a move announced just days after it was revealed that Apple was in talks with US broadcasters about launching an online TV service. (FT)

Bloomberg and Gates fight Big Tobacco Mike Bloomberg and Bill Gates launched an antismoking legal fund to help lower-income countries defend their tobacco-control laws against lawsuits by cigarette companies. Tobacco companies have been using trade agreements as a way to challenge national laws on smoking as regulation has spread from western Europe to fast-growing developing countries, which are seen as a key source of growth. (FT)

Starbucks defends “race together” Chief executive Howard Schultz had to defend a new company initiative aimed at spurring conversations around race in America that has come under heavy criticism. The campaign involves employees writing “Race Together” on coffee cups to stimulate conversation and has been ridiculed on social media with people pointing out that Starbucks’ leadership team is almost entirely white. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Asian relations Japanese and Chinese officials will hold the first security talks in four years in Tokyo. This comes ahead of a meeting in Seoul this weekend between the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea. The trio will attempt to calm tensions in a region that enjoys strong economic ties but frosty relations. (WSJ, FT)

Food for thought

Accommodating Beijing may not be so bad Containment makes perfect sense if President Xi Jinping’s China is like Adolf Hitler’s Germany – an evil regime bent on war . But if it isn’t, China may come to believe that it can only gain influence in the world through conflict, says David Pilling. (FT)

What happened after the Romans left? The genetic data of Europeans have been analysed to see which invading force left its mark on Brits’ DNA and it seems the Anglo-Saxons were the only ones that left an enduring mark. The Danish Vikings didn’t leave much genetically speaking, an indication that their power came from a ruling military elite rather than assimilating settlers. (The Verge)

The Great Wave It is the most recognisable non-western work of art and has inspired homages on everything from leggings to Oreos but Hokusai’s woodblock print might have been sold for the price of a bowl of noodles because nobody in Japan considered it fine art. One theory has it that the artist created it to try and pay off his grandson’s gambling debts. (WSJ)

Policing the world The Guardian looks at the four years that the US Drug Enforcement Administration spent setting up a sting operation in Libera. The DEA has taken its fight against drugs to other parts of the world over the past decade but some see this as American over-reach, especially when it brings cases under US jurisdiction. (The Guardian)

Video of the day

The Fed is no longer “patient” but forecasts for inflation, growth and employment were all lower. FT Alphaville discusses what should we make of this and the ambiguity in Janet Yellen’s language. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: The United States Federal Reserve Board building is shown behind security barriers in Washington. REUTERS/Gary Cameron.