Amid the grim march of the retail apocalypse, the industry has derived some hope in recent years from the rise of scores of digital-centric startups. There is cause for optimism, but there’s also reason to be skeptical of the hype surrounding these brands — not just because their business models aren’t proving durable, but also because many of them are ...

The suspense is over. After a seemingly endless carousel of candidates mulled over in the media, the next Bank of England governor will be the longstanding favorite Andrew Bailey. Seen as the ultimate safe pair of hands and respected across government and the City of London, he was always the logical choice — if not necessarily the most exciting. His ...

Economists may be finally closing in on the reason for asset bubbles. How to pop them before they grow too large, however, is a much harder problem. The study of bubbles has steadily gathered urgency during the past four decades as crashes became more spectacular and more damaging. The stock crash of 1987 was a wake-up call for those who ...

In recent years, much of the commentary about climate change has gone from sternly serious to wildly despairing. A new report from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that the effects of climate change are accelerating and that the world has barely more than a decade to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and limit ...

A simple lesson we should have learned from the financial crisis is that complexity begets abuse, and undermines stability. Yet the key measure we use to determine banks’ health is so fiendishly difficult to understand that outsiders have no choice but to accept what we’re told by the lender. That’s the conclusion of a broad UK government review of the ...

Among the biggest surprises of the past decade was the initial public offering of the Palo Alto company that outperformed every automaker from Detroit to Toyota City to Wolfsburg and is now the undisputed champion of total return, sales growth and long-term shareholder value. That would be 10-year-old Tesla and its zero-emission, battery electric Model S, X and 3 vehicles. ...

Bloomberg China’s economic performance improved in December for the first time in eight months, according to a group of earliest-available indicators compiled by Bloomberg. Production in the world’s second-largest economy accelerated as domestic demand stabilised, and market sentiment turned around on the prospect of a near-term trade deal with the US. The reading is the latest sign that Chinese economy ...

Bloomberg Fast Retailing Co Chief Executive Officer Tadashi Yanai is leaving SoftBank Group Corp’s board after more than 18 years as one of the few directors with the heft to challenge Masayoshi Son. Yanai, Japan’s richest man, will step down on December 31, according to a SoftBank statement. He is leaving the post to focus on running his own business, ...

Bloomberg Serbia will spend almost 14 billion euros ($15.7 billion) through 2025 as the government seeks to double the rate of economic growth, bringing it into line with the European Union and raising living standards. The new investments were announced as the Balkan nation heads for general elections in late April or early May, and President Aleksandar Vucic is eager ...

Bloomberg Equity capital markets bankers won’t be sad to close the door on a miserable 2019 in Europe. Though some of the elements that made for a volatile environment for initial public offerings are still in play, there is reason to hope 2020 will bring fairer weather. Trade tensions have eased after a deal between the US and China this ...