Economy

Musk, the richest person in the world, has a history of making irreverent tweets, and it was not immediately clear whether he planned to pursue a deal.”I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome,” Musk said in a tweet.Manchester United is one of the world’s best supported football clubs. They have been champions of England a record 20 times and have won the European Cup, the most prestigious club competition in the global game, three times.The team is controlled by the American Glazer family, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The football club had a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, as of Tuesday’s stock market close.Manchester United fans have in recent years protested against the Glazers, who bought the club for 790 million pounds ($955.51 million) in 2005, due to the team’s struggles on the pitch.The anti-Glazer movement gained momentum last year after United were involved in a failed attempt to form a breakaway European Super League.Some fans have urged Musk to buy Manchester United instead of buying Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). Musk is trying to exit a $44 billion agreement to buy the social media company, which has taken him to court.($1=0.8268 pounds) More

The value of trade targeted by China’s sanctions contributes a tiny amount of less than 1% to Taiwan’s gross domestic product, according to economists, taking the sting out of China’s announcements. Beijing could ramp up actions by targeting more food products, wood or minerals. But levies on any big-ticket items that would cause real damage to Taipei — such as semiconductors — are near-unthinkable, given China’s reliance on the island for cutting-edge technology.“The chance remains relatively low” for China to target Taiwanese tech, said Ma Tieying, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. “If you look at Taiwan’s role in global semiconductor supply, it’s very much dominant. It would be very difficult for China to find the alternative supply if it bans the Taiwan-made semiconductors.”Beijing still has a few tools it could deploy to pressure Taipei. China and Hong Kong account for around 40% of Taiwan’s total exports, though Taipei has made efforts to reduce its economic dependence on China in recent years. More restrictions would be an economic headache for Taiwan, which is already grappling with slowing global demand for electronics and high inflation, cooling its growth outlook.Here’s a look at what China has already targeted and how likely more measures against Taiwan are:Trade SanctionsThe trade sanctions Beijing has already inflicted this month are expected to have a marginal impact on Taipei. Food accounts for just 0.4% of cross-strait trade, Goldman Sachs. economists wrote in a research note last week. In all, bilateral trade between the two economies reached $328.3 billion last year.The recent restrictions impacting citrus fruits and some fish exports might have an impact of less than 0.1% on Taiwan’s GDP, the Goldman economists said.There’s also evidence of other tension, including Chinese customs data that show Beijing has blocked other food imports, though it’s not clear when those suspensions happened.If China wants to mitigate the fallout of sanctions on its own economy, it could target Taiwanese wood, minerals, shoes or hats. Taiwan’s trade relies significantly more on delivering those items to China than China does on receiving them from the island, according to a DBS report. China would also have an easier time finding alternative sources for those products, according to DBS. For instance, one-fifth of Taiwanese wood is exported to China, but these comprise only some 0.1% of China’s total wood imports. Other countries where China imports wood from include Russia, the US and Australia.China could also restrict more of its own exports to Taiwan, as it did with natural sand. There’s some historical precedent for doing so, as Beijing previously halted sand exports in 2007 for about a year, citing environmental concerns. Taiwan, though, has reduced its reliance on China in that area since that ban more than a decade ago, according to economists at  JPMorgan, who called the most recent restrictions “mainly symbolic.”Technological PowerIt’s unsurprising that technology is at the heart of trade across the Taiwan Strait, comprising nearly 70% of Taiwan’s total exports to China.Taiwan is known as the world’s leading supplier of semiconductors, thanks to the outsized dominance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which on its own accounts for around half of the global foundry market. It would be very difficult for China to find an alternative supplier if it bars chips imports from Taiwan, particularly for the most advanced 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips.China and other major countries, including the US and Japan, have sought to boost domestic investments in semiconductors and to entice companies like TSMC to build plants in their countries, in part to ease the geopolitical risks of potential disruptions to Taiwan’s supply of chips.Chinese chip-makers such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. have also had to contend with US sanctions and tightening export restrictions as Washington tries to curb Beijing’s chip ambitions. While homegrown firms in China have made strides in producing advanced chips, industry experts say they remain several years behind TSMC’s standards, meaning the Taiwanese firm remains a key resource for China.Investment TiesThere are other ways in which the two economies are intertwined aside from trade across the Taiwan Strait. Many of Taiwan’s major electronic firms have production bases inside of China, including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which is the main iPhone assembler for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company, also called Foxconn, was at one point known as the largest private employer in China, with ambitions to expand to more than a million workers. The company’s plant in Zhengzhou alone employs some 200,000 workers, according to a report earlier this year in the local Henan Daily newspaper. That could make moves by Beijing to crack down on Taiwanese firms like Foxconn difficult to pull off without impacting those companies’ contributions to the local economy. Tourism is another avenue that China could target. The effects might be limited, though, as China had restricted visas for its citizens to travel to Taiwan before the Covid shutdown. Tsai’s government, meanwhile, has policies encouraging tourism and travel from other regions, including Southeast Asia.Taiwan has been looking to diminish its dependence on China in recent years, with Tsai exploring ways to bolster trade and investment with Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand. Taipei last year asked to join Asia-Pacific’s biggest working trade deal, though its application is still pending. Supply ChainsActions against Taiwan by China — such as more military drills — could also impact supply routes in the Taiwan Strait, which is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Almost half of the global container fleet and 88% of the world’s largest ships by tonnage passed through the waterway this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.More aggressive actions in the strait, though, could have more of an impact on trade routes involving Chinese ports than Taiwanese ones. The recent Chinese military exercises have had limited impact on container shipping in the Taiwan Strait, beyond some divergence of vessels away from specified military exclusion zones, said Tan Hua Joo, a consultant at the container analysis firm Linerlytica. While access to Taiwanese ports is not dependent on passage through the strait, he added, entry to ports in Hong Kong and northern China often are. “If there’s full-blown military action, that would be a completely different story,” he said. “But given the experience in the last two weeks, I think its quite clear that China has no intention of blocking the trade routes because its own trade volumes would also be affected if there was any vessel transit restrictions.”Economists also suspect Beijing could take steps to restrict more trade in the second half of 2022, given that President Xi Jinping may want to bolster his power ahead of a Communist Party Congress later this year, when he is expected to secure a historic third term in office. Beijing claims the self-governed island as its own territory, and has made unification a top strategic priority.“China may broaden the trade restriction measures in the coming months or quarters,” Ma from DBS said. “Given the very busy political calendar going forward, I think it’s possible that the tensions between Beijing and Taipei may escalate gradually going forward.”©2022 Bloomberg L.P. More

The bill is the latest victory for the president on overhauling the physical economy, but he has found less support for plans to help workers.President Biden signed an expansive health, climate and tax law after more than a year of on-again, off-again negotiations with Congress.Doug Mills/The New York TimesWASHINGTON — President Biden signed into law a landmark tax, health and energy bill on Tuesday that takes significant steps toward fulfilling his goal to modernize the American economy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.The vast legislation will lower prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare, extend federal subsidies for health insurance and reduce the federal deficit. It will also help electric utilities switch to lower-emission sources of energy and encourage Americans to buy electric vehicles through tax credits.What it does not do, however, is provide workers with many of the other sweeping economic changes that Mr. Biden pledged would help Americans earn more and enjoy the comforts of a middle-class life.Mr. Biden signed the bill, which Democrats call the Inflation Reduction Act, in the State Dining Room at the White House. He and his allies cast the success of the legislation as little short of a miracle, given it required more than a year of intense negotiations among congressional Democrats. In his remarks, Mr. Biden proclaimed victory as he signed a compromise bill that he called “the biggest step forward on climate ever” and “a godsend to many families” struggling with prescription drug costs.“The bill I’m about to sign is not just about today; it’s about tomorrow. It’s about delivering progress and prosperity to American families,” Mr. Biden said.Administration officials say Mr. Biden has passed far more of his economic agenda than they could have possibly hoped for, given Republican opposition to much of his agenda on taxes and spending and razor-thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. His wins include a $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan last year designed to get workers and businesses through the pandemic and a pair of bipartisan bills aimed at American competitiveness: a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and $280 billion in spending to spur domestic semiconductor manufacturing and counter China.But there is little dispute that Mr. Biden has been unable to persuade lawmakers to go along with one of his biggest economic goals: investing in workers, families, students and other people.Both parts of the equation — modernizing the physical backbone of the economy and empowering its workers — are crucial for Mr. Biden’s vision for how a more assertive federal government can speed economic growth and ensure its spoils are widely shared.In a warming world with increased economic competition from sometimes adversarial nations, Mr. Biden considers investment in low-emission energy sources and advanced manufacturing critical to American businesses and the nation’s economic health.Mr. Biden also sees human investment as crucial. The American economy remains dominated by service industries like restaurants and medicine. Its recovery from the pandemic recession has been stunted, in part, by breakdowns in support for some of the workers who should be powering those industries’ revival. The cost and availability of child care alone is keeping many potential workers sidelined, leading to an abundance of unfilled job openings and costing business owners money.What’s in the Inflation Reduction ActCard 1 of 8What’s in the Inflation Reduction ActA substantive legislation. More

The writer is the founder of The Overshoot and the co-author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars.China’s crackdown on property developers and its draconian “Covid Zero” policies are bad news for most of its people, as well as businesses abroad hoping to make money from Chinese customers. But China’s internal troubles have an upside: lower demand for imported metals, energy, food and capital goods is alleviating inflationary pressures in the rest of the world. For the first time in decades, the country’s enormous trade surplus is a boon for workers elsewhere.The downturn in the housing market began last summer in response to government restrictions on mortgage borrowing and developer leverage. Homebuilders sold an average of 156mn sq m a month of residential floor space from April to June 2021. This year in the same period, Chinese developers have sold just 106mn sq m a month.The plunge in demand has flowed through to new building, with the amount of “residential floor space started” in April-June 2022 down by nearly half compared to last year. The pace of homebuilding has not been this slow since 2009.The result is extra supply for the rest of the world. Iron ore, metallurgical coal and copper are essential materials for making construction steel, household appliances and electrical wiring. Before the recent downturn, China consumed about two-thirds of the world’s iron ore and metallurgical coal and about 40 per cent of the copper. Lower demand means lower prices. Compared with the recent peak in July 2021, iron ore futures are down by half, while Chinese metallurgical coal prices are down by about a third. Global copper prices have dropped by a quarter despite the expected tailwind of additional climate-related green investments in the US and Europe.

You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.

This has broader ramifications. Residential real estate is also the only asset class broadly available to Chinese savers outside of bank deposits, dwarfing the value of Chinese stocks and bonds. Until recently, Chinese consumers borrowed from banks to buy new homes — which had yet to be built — as investment properties. Now, developers are failing to finish their projects for lack of cash, some would-be homebuyers are refusing to pay their mortgages, and some local banks are stiffing depositors.On top of that, China’s provincial and local governments had relied on revenues from land sales to cover about a third of their spending. That money is no longer coming in. According to China’s ministry of finance, local government revenues from land sales so far this year were 31 per cent lower than in the first six months of 2021. While local government bond issuance is soaring — the amount raised in May and June 2022 was the largest two-month sum ever — this mostly reflects cash flow shortfalls rather than new investment spending. Desperation is leading some local governments to raise money at around 9 per cent yields from household savers even though the central government issues 10-year bonds at yields under 3 per cent.The impact of China’s housing crash is being compounded by the government’s Covid-related restrictions. Chinese consumer spending in the first half of 2022 was barely higher than in the first half of 2021 after accounting for inflation, and is now running more than 10 per cent below the pre-pandemic trend. Chinese oil refiners have been processing 10 per cent less crude oil since April compared with last spring thanks to the plunge in petrol demand. Electricity consumption, which had been expanding by about 7 per cent a year before the pandemic, is now growing just 2 per cent. China’s weakness has been a potent counterweight to the strain on global energy supplies caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.

China’s domestic weakness is crushing demand for goods from the rest of the world. In dollar terms, spending on imports has been flat since the end of last year. Factor in rising prices, and China’s real import demand is down about 8 per cent since the lockdowns began, according to estimates from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. China’s exports continue to rise, however, providing foreign consumers and businesses with the goods they need.In the past, the massive imbalance between China’s healthy exports and weak imports was a drag on the global economy, depriving workers elsewhere of the incomes they would have earned selling goods and services to Chinese customers. But now that inflation and commodity shortages are bigger concerns than underemployment, China’s troubles may be just what the rest of the world needs. More

Under a trade agreement signed at the end of 2020, Britain negotiated access to a range of science and innovation programmes, including Horizon, a 95.5 billion euro ($97 billion) programme that offers grants and projects to researchers.But Britain says, 18 months on, the EU has yet to finalise access to Horizon, Copernicus, the earth observation programme on climate change, Euratom, the nuclear research programme, and to services such as Space Surveillance and Tracking.Both sides have said cooperation in research would be mutually beneficial but relations have soured over part of the Brexit divorce deal governing trade with the British province of Northern Ireland, prompting the EU to launch legal proceedings.”The EU is in clear breach of our agreement, repeatedly seeking to politicise vital scientific cooperation by refusing to finalise access to these important programmes,” foreign minister Liz Truss said in a statement.”We cannot allow this to continue. That is why the UK has now launched formal consultations and will do everything necessary to protect the scientific community,” said Truss, also the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.Daniel Ferrie, a spokesman for the European Commission, said earlier on Tuesday he had seen reports of the action but had yet to receive formal notification, repeating that Brussels recognised the “mutual benefits in cooperation and science research and innovation, nuclear research and space”.”However, it’s important to recall the political context of this: there are serious difficulties in the implementation of the withdrawal agreement and parts of the Trade and Cooperation agreement,” he said.”The TCA, the trade and cooperation agreement, provides neither for a specific obligation for the EU to associate the UK to union programmes at this point in time, nor for a precise deadline to do so.”The EU launched legal proceedings against Britain in June after London published new legislation to override some post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland, and Brussels has thrown doubt on its role within the Horizon Europe programme.Britain said it had set aside around 15 billion pounds for Horizon Europe.($1 = 0.9851 euros) More

(Reuters) -A Maryland bank agreed to pay about $22.9 million to settle charges by two U.S. regulators that it failed to disclose tens of millions of dollars of loans to family trusts belonging to its former longtime chief executive officer. Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) Inc, of Bethesda, Maryland, will pay $19.5 million in civil fines and more than $3.35 million in disgorgement and interest to settle with the Federal Reserve Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulators said on Tuesday.Ronald Paul, 66, of Potomac, Maryland, an Eagle founder who was CEO from 1997 until he retired in 2019, agreed to pay about $521,000, of which $390,000 represented civil fines. The Fed permanently banned him from working in the banking industry.Neither Eagle nor Paul admitted or denied wrongdoing.Both were pleased to put the matter behind them, according to separate statements from Eagle CEO Susan Riel and Lance Wade, a lawyer for Paul.Wade also said the SEC consent order against Eagle included allegations concerning Paul that were “false, misleading, and unsupported by credible evidence,” and Paul would have disputed them had the SEC included them in its action against him.Regulators accused Eagle of having from 2015 to 2018 extended approximately $90 million of credit to entities that Paul owned or controlled, without disclosing it to investors in periodic reports and proxy statements.The SEC also said that after short seller Aurelius Value in December 2017 questioned the loans to Paul’s trusts, Eagle and Paul falsely assured investors that the loans were proper.”Adequate disclosures of related party transactions are essential to enable investors to evaluate an issuer’s corporate governance,” Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC enforcement division, said in a statement.Eagle has 20 banking offices in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland and Virginia. More

The global energy crisis deepened on Tuesday as a further surge in natural gas prices in Europe and the US threatened to push some of the world’s largest economies into recession. Gas markets in Europe jumped by as much as 10 per cent to as high as €251 a megawatt hour, equivalent in energy terms to more than $400 a barrel of oil, as traders raced to secure supplies ahead of the winter. Prices have more than doubled from already extremely elevated levels in June, although they eased marginally later on Tuesday. The moves have followed Russia’s restriction on supplies in retaliation for western powers backing Ukraine after Moscow’s invasion. Traders are fearful of competition for seaborne liquefied natural gas cargoes with Asian utilities before the winter heating season. European politicians have accused Moscow of weaponising supplies. With gas prices at more than 10 times their normal level, the possibility of a deep recession has grown, with investors now more downbeat on Germany’s economy than at any time since the eurozone debt crisis a decade ago. European gas prices are expected to remain near record levels or head even higher as winter approaches, with Berlin discussing the possibility of rationing gas use and governments from London to Madrid preparing to subsidise punishing utility bills. Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Here is the rest of the day’s news — AmandaFive more stories in the news1. Russia blames ‘sabotage’ for explosions in northern Crimea Moscow blamed “sabotage” for explosions in Crimea and claimed that Ukraine was behind covert attacks in mainland Russia. The rare acknowledgment provides possible evidence of Kyiv’s increased ability to strike deep behind enemy lines. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack but warned that Crimea would not be exempt from their attempts to repel Russian forces. 2. Walmart and Home Depot ease recessionary fears despite persistent inflation Two of the US’s largest retailers reported resilient consumer spending, helping ease recessionary fears amid rampant inflation. Walmart beat earnings expectations and forecast a smaller decline in full-year earnings than it had previously warned. Home Depot reported its highest quarterly sales and earnings on record. 3. Odinga rejects Ruto victory in Kenya’s presidential election Kenyan presidential contender Raila Odinga is taking legal steps to challenge William Ruto’s narrow election victory amid concerns of post-election violence. Odinga has until Monday to file a challenge for judgment. Despite some scuffles at the national polling centre, streets have remained mostly peaceful. 4. Liz Cheney braced for primary defeat after leading Republican charge against Trump Liz Cheney will probably lose the Wyoming Republican primary to a Trump-backed candidate. The daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney was vice-chair of the congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. The primary contest is one of the last ahead of November’s midterm elections and serves as a new test of Trump’s grip on Republican voters after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. 5. Harvard will offer free MBA tuition to lowest-income students Harvard Business School, one of the world’s most prestigious providers of business education, will waive annual fees of $76,000 for lower-income students. The announcement follows moves from other rich US universities to improve financial terms as tuition costs soar and students suffer under the burden of debt. The day aheadNato holds crisis talks with Kosovo and Serbia Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg will meet Kosovo’s prime minister Albin Kurti and Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vučić in Brussels today amid growing speculation of war between the two countries. Kurti and Vučić will hold talks with the EU’s diplomatic arm tomorrow. Corporate earnings A number of companies will report their earnings today as we near the end of the current reporting season. Notably, Cisco Systems, Target and Tencent will release business figures today. Economic data The UK will release July inflation data today. The country is currently grappling with a cost of living crisis as real wages fall at record rates. Indonesian independence Indonesia celebrates Independence Day, marking 77 years since the country launched its revolution against Dutch rule.What else we’re readingHow a banker fighting Hong Kong ban broke a Wall Street record AMTD Group’s Calvin Choi is riding high after a meteoric price rise within weeks of his company’s initial public offering in the US. The rise comes as Washington cracks down on Chinese companies listed in the US and as Choi faces a two-year ban by Hong Kong’s financial watchdog.

AMTD Digital founder Calvin Choi, centre, rings a ceremonial bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during an earlier IPO of a group company © Richard Drew/AP

EU digs for more lithium, cobalt and graphite in green energy push Europe wants to boost its supply of raw materials for clean energy as it seeks ways to end reliance on Russian oil and gas. The European Commission plans to lower regulatory barriers to mining and production of critical materials such as lithium, cobalt and graphite needed for wind farms, solar panels and electric vehicles. Brazil’s other deforestation Deep within the country’s interior, the conversion of swaths of the once-inhospitable Cerrado region into pasture over the past few decades has helped transform Brazil into an agrarian powerhouse. But the extent of the encroachment is alarming ecologists concerned about threats to the region’s role as a carbon dioxide “sink”.It is not always the perpetrator who pays In the wake of the #MeToo movement, economists are using real-world data to study incidents of everyday sexual harassment in ordinary workplaces. As with the rich and famous, they are finding that it is not always the perpetrators who pay a high price, with women more likely to switch jobs, writes Sarah O’Connor. Anshu Jain, banker, 1963-2022 The first non-white, non-German to lead Deutsche Bank, Anshu Jain was known for his hard-charging style. He spearheaded the bank’s attempt to conquer Wall Street and faced cancer like he did professional challenges: by analysing the problem, trying to fix it, and then moving forward, Olaf Storbeck writes. Jain died on Friday.Work and leisureAugust is the traditional time for making yourself scarce at the office. So why are so many still working this month, asks Pilita Clark:At first I thought I was the only one with an unexpectedly active office. But others in the city have the same problem. One friend who had his hopes of a quietly productive August dashed by office busyness blames the rise of hybrid working More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Buoyed by a string of legislative victories, Democrats and their allies are throwing money at key congressional races hoping to overcome President Joe Biden’s poor approval ratings, high inflation and historical precedent in the November midterm elections.In the coming days, millions of dollars will flow into congressional races from groups outside the Democratic Party to tout Biden’s $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill called the “Inflation Reduction Act,” aides and allies to Biden tell Reuters.Climate, health and pro-Biden groups will target voters in swing districts with television, radio and internet ads, rallies, and bus tours. Some will even knock on doors.Midterms are difficult for the party holding power even in normal years, but through history inflation has been especially damaging for incumbents. It hit 40-year highs under Biden and voters say the economy is their top concern. Still, Biden advisers are increasingly optimistic voters will punish Republicans for opposing the inflation bill, which Biden signed on Tuesday, and for their party’s attacks on abortion rights.”This law that we’re about to sign delivers on a promise that Washington’s made for decades to the American people,” Biden said.Now that message is going to voters. The Democratic Party has already spent $535 million in ads for the general election, while Republicans have spent $423 million, AdImpact research showed last month. While funding for outside groups is opaque, top party contributors include several billionaires, such as hedge fund creator David Shaw, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist John Doerr, federal filings show.Outside campaigns will be bolstered by Democratic Party spending and 35 trips to 23 states by Biden and his Cabinet through the end of August to tout the bill.”This is as strong an August environment for an incumbent president and his party as you can imagine in terms of getting things done and the momentum shifting,” said senior Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti.Polling and forecasts are not on their side. Six in ten voters either have never heard of the latest bill or know next to nothing about it, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/americans-support-inflation-reduction-act-measures conducted earlier this month. Only 40% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed last Tuesday.All 435 House seats and a third of the 100-member Senate are up for grabs in November. Both chambers are narrowly controlled by Democrats, and traditionally midterms favor the party not in the White House. Most forecasters give Republicans a strong chance of taking the House and see the Senate as up for grabs. INFLATION BILL IS NOT OBAMACARERepublicans say the Democrats’ strategy is delusional given Biden’s poll numbers and predictions that the inflation bill will have only modest short-term impact on prices.But Democrats say they’re not seeing blistering voter opposition to the inflation bill, compared to Obamacare in 2010, which ushered in a Republican landslide.”Every single Democrat who’s running for Congress is going to run ads on this and talk about this,” said Anne Shoup, a spokesperson for Protect Our Care, a healthcare advocacy group targeting Republicans who oppose the inflation bill. ‘PRO-POLLUTER’ ADSBuilding Back Together, a non-profit run by former Biden campaign advisers, has a television, digital and radio ads plan as does the Democratic National Committee, which is focusing on Black, Latino and Asian voters.The League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy, launched a $2.2 million advertising campaign to thank Democratic supporters of the inflation bill; Climate Action Campaign plans digital ads thanking 24 lawmakers who voted for the bill.League-affiliated organizers will also spend $13 million on a door-to-door campaign about the bill and how candidates voted in seven political battleground states. Ads in the coming weeks cast Republicans who opposed the bill as pro-polluter, said spokesperson Emily Samsel.Unrig Our Economy, an outside group focused on populist economic messaging, is targeting four Republicans who opposed the bill: Representative David Valadao of California, Ashley Hinson of Iowa, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Nicole Malliotakis of New York.Forecaster Cook Political Report earlier this month downgraded the chances of victory for Bacon and Malliotakis but the targeted campaigns expressed no concern.”The only thing that will give Iowa families relief from Democrat induced runaway inflation, tax increases and back breaking increases on gas and groceries is a Republican Majority in Congress,” said Sophie Crowell, Hinson’s campaign manager. More