What disrupting the strait of Hormuz could mean for global cost-of-living pressures

The narrow shipping route on Iran’s southern border carries one-fifth of global seaborne crude oil, one-fifth of LNG shipments and one-third of the most widely used fertiliser

Middle East crisis pushes up oil prices – and could drive inflation rises too

Effects of extended conflict between US and Iran could also lead to higher interest rates and hit economic growth

Most senior council officers in England say building work hit by delays

Funding uncertainty is main concern, despite Labour’s pledge to revitalise construction, survey shows

OBR a backseat driver with out-of-date maps, thinktanks tell Rachel Reeves

Chancellor urged to reform Office for Budget Responsibility to open way to more public investment

Why does admitting you’re ambitious feel so wrong for gen Xers like me?

In the 90s, we internalised an ideal of cool that appeared nonchalant and effortless. Now, young people are unafraid to say they want something and are going to work hard to get it, writes Emma Beddington

Boring or bust: Reeves aims to project calm competence in spring forecast

After 18 months of policy U-turns and political turmoil we are told not to expect any last-minute policy rabbits

Trump’s Iran strikes accelerate the world’s drift from dollar dominance

Aggression feeds a sense that the US is operating outside global norms and helps to fuel a more complex currency outlook

Dissatisfaction with life in UK unchanged since Covid, official data shows

Average life satisfaction still below pre-pandemic peak despite improving economic outlook, reports ONS

Boss of World Economic Forum quits after links to Epstein revealed

Børge Brende admitted dining with the convicted sex offender on three occasions between 2018 and 2019

World Economic Forum CEO quits after Epstein links examined; Ineos Quattro earnings fall – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Tell us: how are your finances looking ahead of the spring forecast?

We want to hear how people across the UK are managing their money as Rachel Reeves prepares to set out the latest economic outlook

Keen bosses, strange mistakes and a looming threat: workers on training AI to do their jobs

Some say the technology is devaluing their work, while others reckon it is not yet – and might never be – good enough to replace them entirely

Wednesday briefing: Is the tide turning against Trump on tariffs?

In today’s newsletter: With the latest supreme court ruling exposing the president’s tariff plans as unlawful, US politicians and the American people have found them to be unworkable. Where does Trump go from here?

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s tariffs: a nostalgia that misreads a changed world

Editorial: The US president fights 1970s battles in a financialised age. America faces not a payments crisis but a slow erosion of industrial and technological power

Young bearing the brunt of UK tax and wage changes, says BoE economist

Huw Pill warns combined effect of national insurance and minimum wage rises have ‘acute’ effect on youth employment