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At Genoa’s waterfront on the Ligurian Sea, the sun is shining following a brief but powerful autumn shower. Moving among the luxury boats bobbing on the water in front of a Jean Nouvel-designed pavilion, barefoot deckhands are towelling down wood finishing and removing waterproof covers from tables and seats, readying them to accommodate potential buyers. After the lethargy of summer, it’s back to business in Italy. Liguria’s Genoa International Boat Show, which takes place annually in September, is the country’s most important boating event. It is sandwiched between a bustling nautical schedule that features a Cannes event before it and a Monaco one immediately afterwards.

Historically, Genoa was the world’s most important global boating event. In recent years, however, it has lost out to its Francophone Mediterranean rivals – but there are signs of buoyancy. “At Cannes, everyone comes to us; lots of Italians and even Australians,” says Rosario Alcaro, the general manager of Cantieri Aschenez, showing off the company’s 17-metre Invictus TT550. “But there are a lot of people at Genoa.” The visitor numbers make for positive reading too, up 2.8 per cent on 2024.

The chatter around the sun-dappled docks and inside the pavilion is focused on recyclable materials and lightening the load (though the latter is often more about gaining speed and less about sustainability). The TT550, for example, has recyclable thermoplastic resin instead of wood. But bigger still seems to be better, with Aschenez planning to produce a large boat in its TT series. “People want a bigger boat; it’s like houses,” says Alcaro.

Indeed, a standout at this year’s show is San Lorenzo’s 33-metre SL110A, with its huge flybridge. Like many boats on display here, it had its premiere at Cannes – that’s just the way the dates fall, perhaps, but it is something that Genoa might like to redress given Italy’s gargantuan contribution to the sector. Last year, the Italian boating industry had a turnover of €8.6bn, the highest figure on record, while the Global Order Book – an annual report by Boat International that ranks the world’s top superyacht builders – has Italy as a clear frontrunner. Surely, then, Italy deserves to have the leading event?

Gigi Servidati, the president of Pardo, Grand Soleil and VanDutch, says that both Cannes and Genoa have been good for sales. While there are more than 1,000 boats and exhibitors from 45 countries here, Servidati is convinced that the show could be more international. “The potential is there but the infrastructure needs to be improved,” he says. Indeed, while Cannes has the corniche and a plethora of luxury hotels, plus the know-how gained from hosting everything from its film festival to property fair Mipim, Genoa is paddling hard to catch up. Still, the future looks bright given the number of cranes around the waterfront – all part of an urban mega-project from the studio of Renzo Piano and OBR Architects that includes new residential, office and retail space. In September, meanwhile, Accor announced that it would open a waterfront Sofitel in 2027. All of which is helping put the wind back in Genoa’s sails.

It might be the peak, or perhaps the mini-summit for the current bump in inflation.

Economists across the city suggest its downhill from here, after the inflation rate for September remained static at 3.8%, failing to breach the expected 4% mark.

In absolute terms inflation remains too high, higher than other similar countries, and too visible in the everyday items seen in the shops. Just under double the official target of 2% set for the Bank of England.

But the direction of travel matters significantly.

Even if it should stay around this level for the rest of the year, some significant falls are on the way in the spring, as various regulated price rises last year drop out of the calculation.

It would be a much happier place if it were 2.5% in April.

However, it is worth remembering that even as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pointed to the highest inflation in the G7 this year and next, it also said inflation would fall back to the 2% target by the end of next year.

Crucially retail industry experts now assert food price inflation has also peaked, though prices remain at painful levels for many.

This lowers – though does not eliminate – the chances of self-fulfilling expectations of inflation in the way wages and prices are set. This is the critical factor for the setting of interest rates.

My immediate thought was the “Santa” rate cut from Andrew Bailey may be back on the table for December. But then I looked again at the information underlying some of last week’s numbers from the IMF.

Buried in the forecast is the suggestion of four rate cuts over the next year to take interest rates down to 3%. The only reason a cut is not expected next month, according to the IMF, is because it is too close to the Budget.

A more benign inflation outlook suddenly makes that look less fanciful. The US Federal Reserve rate cuts are also in the background.

The markets seem to be reassessing their view here and around the world.

The effective interest rates on UK government debt fell sharply, regardless of whether those loans were for two or for 30 years. Ten-year rates fell to the lowest level this year, while two-year rates dropped to the lowest since last August.

This could save a few billion from the gap in the Budget calculations, at just the right time for the chancellor.

Even more important, it shows the UK is not being treated as an outlier by the markets.

The chancellor went to some effort in her off-the-cuff UK sales pitch to worldwide investors in the US last week.

Britain was, she said, the best place to invest and trade globally, that she was going to sort out Brexit-related economic problems and the UK had the fastest declining deficit in the G20.

The Budget is going to be a challenge, but catastrophic suggestions about British bankruptcy and bailouts seem quite spectacularly off the mark, assuming that is, that the government does have nearly 400 MPs for its agenda.

No one wants to be caught on the wrong side of the very real chance of a tech market crash, or unpredictable spike in the US-China trade war, or perhaps any unexpected innovations in the appointment of the new chair of the Federal Reserve in the US.

The inflation number and gilt rate falls offer the chance of some respite, for a break in the circle of doom.

The question is whether the tax measures Reeves needs to close even a smaller Budget gap, risk bringing it back through another door.

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – A group representing nearly all major automakers on Wednesday urged the administration of President Donald Trump not to impose tariffs on factory robots and machinery.

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“Increasing the cost of equipment at existing facilities will raise overall production costs for automotive manufacturers, could cause production delays, and may result in vehicle shortages and higher vehicle prices on American consumers at a time when new vehicle prices are already at historic highs,” the group wrote in comments made public Wednesday.

The auto group cited a study showing that about 40% of all robotics and industrial machinery installations in the U.S. in 2024 were in automotive production facilities. Automakers said if the administration imposes tariffs, it should exempt robots used in U.S. production.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several foreign governments including China, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the European Union filed comments opposing the tariffs.

In addition, tariffs and shortages will drive up costs and consumer prices, warned the National Retail Federation, which added that its members are increasingly using robotics in stores, warehouses and distribution centers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said some critical machinery is only produced abroad, including equipment for extreme ultraviolet lithography used for semiconductor manufacturing. Tariffs could “undermine the very domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity the administration seeks to build,” the business group said.

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