Harris Announces Walz as Running Mate

Kamala Harris has announced Tim Walz as her running mate in the race for the White House. The former school teacher who also served in the United States Army was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007 where he served until 2019, before becoming the governor of Minnesota.

Speaking on X, Harris said that “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team”.

Walz – who is relatively unknown on the national scene – is considered by many to be a relatively safe choice for the Democratic party and may benefit from some broad-based support given that he was often seen as being collaborative with the Republican party during his time in Congress. For example, he supported bills providing additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while later seeking to block Obama’s bailout of banks following the 2008 GFC. That said, he has been a strong advocate of the Affordable Care Act, reducing carbon emissions and has often sponsored progressive labour bills.

As governor of Minnesota, Walz has also been at the forefront of polices to pay for college tuition for low-income students, introducing free school meals and expanded workers’ protections. Walz has been a key defender of abortion rights and has also introduced a law for Minnesota to transition to carbon-free electricity by 2040.

Yesterday evening, Harris and Walz held their first joint rally in Philadelphia – the largest city of the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

After a tumultuous week across capital markets, the Bank of Japan’s Deputy governor Shinichi Uchida tried to restore some element of calm. Uchida telegraphed to market participants that “it is necessary [for the BoJ] to maintain current levels of monetary easing for the time being”.

Such comments assuaged fears that the central bank may raise rates again from their current 0.25% level, with many now playing down the prospect of another hike this calendar year. These comments of course come in the wake of the BoJ surprise rate hike last week, which prompted many in the markets to unwind USDJPY carry trade positions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed around 1.2% higher following the announcement, with equity markets across the globe generally buoyed on the signalling. The Nikkei 225 nonetheless remains 10% lower since last Thursday.

Attention now turns to the European and North American sessions.

Research from the EU’s climate service has shown that June 2024 was the warmest June on record.

Here, the Copernicus Climate Change Service identified that June was 0.67°C above the 1991-2020 average, 0.14°C above the previous June record in 2020 and was 1.5°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average.

This was the thirteenth consecutive month in a row which saw global temperatures breach new average records.

When looking at the last year through to June, the global-average temperature was 0.76°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.64°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

This comes against the target laid out during the Paris COP21 conference in 2015 which saw leaders around the world pledge to keep global warming within a 1.5C threshold of preindustrial levels.

Earlier this year, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization predicted that there was an 80% chance that such a threshold would be breached within the next five years.

The survey also identified that the global average sea surface temperature came in at a record high for the month of June at 20.85°C.

This was also the fifteenth consecutive month in a row which saw global temperatures surpass existing average records.

When looking at sea ice extent, Arctic Sea ice was 3% below average while Antarctic Sea ice extent was 12% below average.