Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to boost human productivity in a thousand ways, transforming everything from transportation to health care to agriculture. Some enthusiastic computer scientists even think we will find a “master algorithm” that will fix our politics and make lives “longer, happier and more productive.” In the grandest of these visions, smart computing machines could automate all of ...

Is it a waste of money to spend the billions of euros that will be needed to rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris? A lot of people seem to consider the whole thing no more than a “vanity project” for the uber-rich. I disagree. One reason is that I’m not so keen on telling other people how to spend their money. Another ...

Kraft Heinz Co.’s problems stem not from a single manager but rather an ethos brought to the company by its private equity owner, 3G Capital, and championed by billionaire Warren Buffett. And so it remains to be seen whether replacing the packaged-food giant’s CEO is enough to right the ship. Kraft Heinz announced on Monday that Bernardo Hees, 49, will ...

Almost 10 years after the Great Recession ended, the growing threat of a new economic slowdown raises a troubling question: When the next recession strikes, what can the world’s central banks do? With interest rates low and their balance sheets still loaded with assets bought to fight the 2008 crisis, do they have the tools to respond? This column is ...

Bloomberg US equities were little changed as investors assessed corporate earnings and economic data. Treasuries joined a global rally in sovereign bonds and the dollar extended its rally to a six-week high. The S&P 500 Index fluctuated between small losses and gains after closing at a record. AT&T Inc and Caterpillar Inc fell after reporting first-quarter results, while Boeing Co ...

Bloomberg India’s benchmark stock index advanced for the first time in four days as earnings optimism outweighed concerns that Asia’s third-biggest economy may be crimped by higher oil prices. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.3 percent to 39,054.68 in Mumbai, its steepest daily gain in more than six weeks. The NSE Nifty 50 Index rose by the same magnitude, its ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank is likely to join counterparts in Russia and China scooping up gold this year, adding to its record holdings and lending support to worldwide bullion demand as top econ-omies diversify their reserves. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) purchases are part of a wider picture across developing economies that are looking at de-dollarising their foreign-exchange reserves, ...

Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co.’s critics stormed its annual meeting in Dallas, vowing to keep pressure on the bank even after the resignation of its chief executive officer. Investors, however, showed they’re ready to move on. Interim Chief Executive Officer C. Allen Parker was interrupted more than a dozen times as he tried to deliver opening remarks at the gathering, ...

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s troubled trading business is finally bringing some much needed to relief to Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam. The global markets unit — a focus of painful cuts and a perennial headache for the CEO — did better than top Wall Street banks in a period that rival UBS Group AG described as one of the ...

Bloomberg The UK formally kick-started its search for Mark Carney’s successor as the governor of the Bank of England (BOE), a role that’s been linked to both senior people within the institution and ex-central bankers around the world. Canadian-born Carney was the first foreigner to run the BOE, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said he’s willing to ...