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Business Matters: US consumer confidence highest since pandemic

US consumer confidence highest since pandemic

28/04/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Business Matters, US consumer confidence highest since pandemic

Americans are becoming increasingly optimistic about the future

Consumer confidence is up, according to The Conference Board, an independent research group; Kathy Bostjancic from Oxford Economics tells us why. Alphabet the company that owns Google and Youtube has released its latest quarterly results which show advertising revenue rising at an unexpectedly sharp pace; Mike Issac from the New York Times tells us why.  Also in the programme, the world's transition towards an electric car future is fuelling a rush for lithium, which is a primary component of the batteries. Chile is one of the world's largest sources of the metal, but as the BBC's Jane Chambers reports from the salt flats of the Atacama Desert, there are concerns big mining companies aren't doing enough to help indigenous communities living nearby. Plus, the French winemaker Bollinger has bought Ponzi Wines in Oregon in the United States; Etienne Bizot is chief executive of the Bollinger group of companies, and tells us what was behind the acquisition. And we're joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world; in Washington Dante Disparte is the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy for Circle, a leading digital financial services firm and in Hong Kong, Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. (Picture of shoppers via Getty Images).

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