One of the most striking facts of today’s world is that young people do not seem to worry very much about nuclear war. Climate change is by far the larger concern, while nuclear war is seen as a threat of the past. As Chapin Boyer, who is in his late 20s, wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists a ...
Read More »Admin
Foreign cars make America great again
Prospects that the trade war could rip apart the global auto industry are scary, perhaps even for President Donald Trump. Good thing it could just turn out to be bluster. Toning down his rhetoric, Trump is expected to give the European Union (EU) and Japan 180 days to agree to a deal that restricts the US’s imports of autos and ...
Read More »The ECB weighs a profound shift in policy
Think about extravagant campaign promises, and the words “policy review†don’t exactly leap to mind. And yet, in the steady-as-she-goes world of central bankers, Olli Rehn’s call for a comprehensive rethink of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) objectives has galvanised the race to succeed Mario Draghi. The ECB president steps down at the end of October and Rehn, governor of ...
Read More »Tesla fires sound alarms about safety of EV batteries
Bloomberg Electric vehicles may be less prone to catch fire than gas guzzlers, but recent blazes involving Tesla Inc and NIO Inc cars in Greater China are prompting the industry to take steps to alleviate concerns from potential customers in the sector’s biggest market. Worries heightened after reports emerged of a fire involving a Tesla in a Hong Kong parking ...
Read More »Jet-powered flying taxi unveiled after first flight
Bloomberg The world’s first all-electric vertical takeoff and landing passenger jet has been unveiled after completing its first flight. German startup Lilium aims to have a fleet of the five-seat aircraft — which can operate with a pilot or in drone mode — flying in cities worldwide by 2025, providing a pay-per-ride service that will be emission-free, five times faster ...
Read More »Robots take wheel as autonomous farm machines hit the field
Bloomberg Robots are taking over farms faster than anyone saw coming. The first fully autonomous farm equipment is becoming commercially available, which means machines will be able to completely take over a multitude of tasks. Tractors will drive with no farmer in the cab, and specialised equipment will be able to spray, plant, plow and weed cropland. And it’s all ...
Read More »Citigroup hit hardest as EU fines banks $1.2bn over forex trading
Bloomberg Citigroup Inc., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among five banks that agreed to pay European Union fines totalling 1.07 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for colluding on foreign-exchange trading strategies. Citigroup was hit hardest with a 310.8 million-euro penalty, followed by fines of 249.2 million euros and 228.8 million euros for RBS and ...
Read More »Negative rates are peanuts among bank woes: Coeure
Bloomberg Negative interest rates are not the main culprit for European banks’ feeble profitability, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said, signalling the institution is in no rush to bring relief. Sub-zero rates are costing euro zone banks roughly 8 billion euros ($9 billion) annually, which is “really peanuts†in this landscape, Coeure told lawmakers at a French ...
Read More »Biggest Swedish lender pulling out of Baltic business over high costs
Bloomberg Sweden’s biggest lender, Svenska Handelsbanken AB, is pulling out of the Baltic region arguing that the cost of staying is simply too big. Handelsbanken’s Baltic operations are far smaller than those of its Swedish peers, Swedbank AB and SEB AB. But the decision comes at a sensitive time. Estonia is at the center of a $230 billion money laundering ...
Read More »Philippines central bank mulls reserve ratio cuts
Bloomberg The Philippine central bank will consider reducing the reserve requirement ratio for lenders further if banks don’t misbehave and speculate against the peso, Governor Benjamin Diokno said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will “closely look at how banks will use funds freed up by RRR cut,†Diokno told a forum in Ma-nila, a day after announcing a 2 percentage-point reduction ...
Read More »