Economist Corner

More strikes incoming:  The biggest rail union started a national strike over below-inflation salaries, and the rising cost of leading train unions began a nationwide strike in protests of below-inflation pay resulting in ongoing rising living and energy costs. Researchers revealed that the strikes might cost the UK economy  £1.2 billion  over Christmas.  The largest rail union, the RMT, has called a two-day nationwide strike by thousands of rail workers in protest of the government’s lack of intent to take action. These announced strikes of four 48-hour walkouts between December 13 and January 7 are thus causing many commuters to rethink their holiday plans—truly a nightmare for Christmas. People are finding it difficult to pay the bills due to the country’s double-digit inflation rate, the rising cost of living and skyrocketing energy prices brought on by the conflict in Ukraine. As a result, an unprecedented number of strikes have been called due to the economic crisis.  Despite th

Activision Blizzard: US seeks to block Microsoft's $69bn acquisition The US has filed a lawsuit over Xbox maker Microsoft to prevent it from acquiring the company that makes popular video game franchises, most notably Call of Duty. Regulators raised competition concerns, claiming that they were concerned that if the acquisition went through, Activision Blizzard's games would no longer be available on gaming consoles made by other companies apart from Microsoft. The Activision acquisition was projected to be Microsoft's largest ever. The business vowed to push to get the $69 billion (£56 billion) deal completed. According to Microsoft President Brad Smith, the corporation has "complete confidence in our argument" and welcomed the chance to argue its stance in court. One of the most well-known court battles resulting from US President Joe Biden's promise to take a hard-line approach against monopolies is the complaint against Microsoft. Other nations, notably