A bruising battle for supremacy between two of the world’s richest men is hogging the limelight, but the silent changes in India’s retail landscape deserve equal attention. The ongoing digital transformation of the corner kirana stores, tens of millions of shops catering to 1.3 billion consumers, will matter for everyone from Unilever NV and Procter & Gamble to State Bank ...

Why can’t China step in to fill the chip shortage? The vaunted factory floor of the world has flooded the global economy with goods, and has often had to deal with domestic oversupplies itself. Why then has it been largely on the sidelines of the debate over solving the worldwide semiconductor shortage? The stark reality is that, when it comes ...

If populism on the political right corrupts democracies, populism on the left ruins economies. For the latest evidence take a closer look at the housing market of the German capital, Berlin. A year ago, a rent cap took effect in the city that was unprecedented in Germany. For all apartments built before 2014, rents were frozen at whatever they were ...

The volatility in government bond yields last week compelled several market participants to call on the Federal Reserve to say, or better, do something about it, though such calls have lacked specifics. At the same time, a handful of foreign central bank officials expressed concern that the financial conditions in their own countries are experiencing, to use the words of ...

Bloomberg For US politicians, China’s potential to dominate sensitive cutting-edge technologies poses one of the biggest geopolitical threats of the next few decades. President Xi Jinping is similarly worried the US will block China’s rise, and this week will unveil plans for greater self-sufficiency. At an annual session of China’s legislature, top Communist Party leaders will approve a five-year policy ...

Bloomberg Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s second-largest wireless carrier by subscribers, will spend $2.6 billion acquiring new airwaves in an ongoing spectrum auction in India. The carrier, led by billionaire Sunil Mittal, acquired airwaves worth 186.99 billion rupees ($2.55 billion), according to a statement from the company on Tuesday. It added 355.45 megahertz to its spectrum portfolio and can now reach ...

Bloomberg Factories in Taiwan faced the longest delays on record in securing raw materials and components in February as they worked overtime to keep up with surging demand from clients overseas. Manufacturers cited low stock levels at suppliers, a shortage of freight containers and delayed shipping schedules as main reasons for the biggest delays since records began nearly 17 years ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong is exploring allowing listing of special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), jumping into a market that has sparked a frenzy of US dealmaking. The government has asked the Hong Kong exchange and the city’s financial regulator to look into having SPACs list, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan. The aim is to allow the new fundraising arrangements, while ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a decade in February, even as the Lunar New Holiday across Asia cut demand and spurred a slowdown in China. A report from IHS Markit showed a purchasing managers’ index for Korean manufacturing jumped to 55.3 last month, rising further above the 50-threshold that separates expansion and contraction to ...

Bloomberg India is set to miss its goal for sugar exports this year because of a late start to shipments and logistical challenges, potentially providing further fuel to the sweetener’s blistering rally. The world’s second-biggest producer, grappling with massive stockpiles, will ship almost 20% less than the government’s target and a forecast from a top industry group, according to the ...