Bloomberg The writing was on the wall when Britain finalized its break from the European Union: The UK sorely lacked the battery manufacturing capability that would be absolutely critical to the auto industry’s future, leaving the country’s already declining car sector in a make-or-break bind. The failure of Britishvolt Ltd. to get past the stage of developing prototypes for …

  Bloomberg Public borrowings in the US and elsewhere have swelled because of overspending partly fueled by fractured politics, said former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Raghuram Rajan. “The size of the debt has gone up tremendously,” he told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Part of the problem that’s going on is clearly there is a …

  Bloomberg EY Chief Executive Officer Carmine Di Sibio said “it’s business as usual” when it comes to hiring, with a tight jobs market even as several big firms begin to cut staff. “We’re not struggling to source talent, but it’s not like we’re seeing a rash of talent that’s all of a sudden available,” Di Sibio said in an …

  Bloomberg The European Union will need to ask member states to make fresh contributions to the bloc’s budget to fund a growing list of priorities, including support for its industries and addressing fallout from the war in Ukraine, the EU executive arm’s top economy official said. “We need in a sense to replenish the EU budget, because many of …

Bloomberg Ericsson AB Chief Executive Officer Borje Ekholm welcomed one of his company’s staunchest critics, activist investor Cevian Capital AB, which is seeking a seat on the 10-person board. Cevian, which first invested in the Swedish telecommunications networks maker in 2017 and now has a stake of about 5%, is looking to name a director to the board at an …

  Bloomberg The cost-of-living crisis is driving demand for Britain’s student halls, as undergraduates hunt for tenancy agreements that lock in the price of their bills. Some £6.9 billion was invested in purpose-built student accommodation in 2022, a 62% year-on-year rise, according to broker Knight Frank. What’s more, £3.8 billion was spent in the final quarter, boosted by the £3.3 …

  Bloomberg The top US and China economic officials held their first face-to-face meeting Wednesday, pledging to improve communication as a way to avoid more serious confrontation during a period of heightened tensions. “We share a responsibility to show that China and the United States can manage our differences and prevent competition from becoming anything ever near conflict,” US Treasury …

  Bloomberg Ukraine’s interior minister and at least 17 others were killed when a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and a multistory apartment building just east of Kyiv, according to police. The emergency services aircraft went down in the town of Brovary, an eastern suburb of the capital, Ihor Klymenko, the national police chief, said on Facebook Wednesday. The fatalities …

  Bloomberg Poland is working to convince European allies to send as many as 100 battle tanks to support Ukraine’s defense efforts against the Russian invasion, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that he’s in talks with allies over potentially supplying German-made heavy Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but cautioned that any announcements would have to …

Bloomberg Serbia, traditionally one of Russia’s closest allies in Europe, is trying to put some distance between itself and Moscow as the war in Ukraine strains ties between the two countries and their leaders. In an interview in Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed territorial claims in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin and predicted the “worst is yet to come” for the …