Driverless vehicles may not be all that they’re cracked up to be. Indeed, they may be harmful to our collective security and well-being. Unless you’ve been vacationing on Saturn, you know that driverless vehicles are the next Big Thing. Almost every major car company (General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes) has a program, often in cooperation with tech firms. A few ...
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Is timing right for India’s digital push?
India’s digital push has got its timing all wrong. Yes Bank Ltd., one of the nation’s fastest-growing lenders, has cut 12 percent of its workforce, mostly salespeople. When Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, starts a new bank soon, it won’t have any branches. According to BloombergQuint, shop attendants that sell its phones will double as bankers. It ...
Read More »Investors reward Argentina for taming inflation
Where in the world can you get more than 11 percent from bonds since June and 41 percent from bank stocks this year, with inflation evaporating as the gross domestic product and currency strengthen? That would be Argentina, a financial integrity scofflaw for most of the past century, now bringing a bonanza to global investors. Since he was elected president ...
Read More »How Portugal can make its economic comeback last
If there’s a symbol of the breadth of the euro zone’s recovery, it’s Portugal. In 2011, it had to accept an international bailout on punishing terms. Today, three years after graduating from that program, growth and confidence have returned. As if to mark the achievement, S&P Global Ratings just raised Portugal’s sovereign rating to investment grade. This success is real—but ...
Read More »China could seize a chunk of the skies for itself
Last week, the Commercial Aviation Corp. of China Ltd. (Comac) announced that the C919, China’s first homemade large passenger jet, had chalked up its 730th pre-order. Those numbers won’t necessarily make the Boeing Co. or Airbus SE quake; Boeing estimates Chinese airlines alone will require 5,420 new single-aisle planes by 2036. Ultimately, though, they could herald the end of global ...
Read More »Republicans’ toxic fight for states’ rights
As Congress factors in Senator John McCain’s refusal to back, for now, the latest scrupulously unvetted legislation to scramble the American health-care system, the gamey smell of states’ rights still lingers in the air. “Instead of a Washington-knows-best approach like Obamacare, our legislation empowers those closest to the health-care needs of their communities to provide solutions,†said Republican Senator Lindsey ...
Read More »Merkel’s lacklustre win is good for Germany
The sour faces of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s allies after the first exit poll results for the federal election were announced on Sunday night will prompt much talk of a Pyrrhic victory for Merkel. But the outcome of Sunday’s election could be good both for her and for German democracy: It has clarified the options for the next governing coalition, ...
Read More »Oil slips after entering bull market on Kurdish export row
Bloomberg Oil prices slipped after entering a bull market amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while Trafigura Group and Citigroup Inc. both warned of a looming supply squeeze. Crude in New York fell 0.7 percent as traders cashed in after yesterday’s 3.1 percent surge. The oil market is nearing the end of the “lower-for-longer†era, with a shortage ...
Read More »US stocks higher as tech shares reverse decline
Bloomberg US stocks were higher on Tuesday with technology shares shaking off Monday’s slide. The euro extended its decline in the wake of the German election, lending support to a dollar rally as investors digest a raft of catalysts from North Korea to central-bank policy. The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed at the open, taking back some of Monday’s 1.1 percent ...
Read More »World’s biggest wealth fund faces tighter reins at $1 trillion
Bloomberg After hitting the $1 trillion milestone this month, the Norwegian wealth fund can expect even more scrutiny going forward. The government is currently looking at a proposal from a committee led by a former central bank governor to separate out the fund from Norges Bank. This idea is now being seized on as a means to tighten oversight, with ...
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