When it comes to robots displacing humans from the job market, government bureaucrats are generally not what springs to mind. The recent McKinsey report on the future of jobs estimates the automation potential of administrative jobs at just 39 percent, far less than the 73 percent potential for accommodation and food services. And yet the public sector is one ...

  So it turns out nothing really is something in the bond market. Big Wall Street firms may lament the persistence of zero interest-rate policies in the US, but they look downright ostentatious when pitted against Europe’s vortex of negative-rate policies. In the past week alone, the volume of negative-yielding euro-zone debt surged 30 percent, to a record 2.6 trillion ...

  The unfunded liabilities of public pensions are out of control across the country. My state, Illinois, is the most severe case, with only 40 percent of those liabilities funded. Given the magnitude of the problem, and the political and legal obstacles to fixing it, it remains tempting to underplay the importance of straightforward financial changes that could put the ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump called the US air-traffic system ‘obsolete’ in comments that were cheered by proponents of taking the job of monitoring the skies away from government. Trump, speaking at a meeting of airline executives and other aviation industry officials, made the strongest comments to date from the White House on problems with the air-traffic system. He echoed ...

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. disclosed Iranian business ties that may have violated U.S. sanctions, warning that it may be penalized after a regulatory review of the activities. The company said in a regulatory filing that from 2012 to 2016 it “processed and delivered orders of consumer products for certain individuals and entities located outside Iran covered by the Iran Threat ...

  Emirates Business Micromax Informatics Ltd, India’s leading handset manufacturer and the 10th largest smartphone player in the world, on Sunday announced its foray into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with the entry into the UAE smartphone market. Micromax has entered a strategic agreement with Tchannl, one of the leading players in telecom, IT and consumer electronics ...

  BERLIN / AP German firefighters on Sunday evacuated hundreds of passengers at Hamburg Airport after about 50 people were injured by an unknown hazardous material that likely spread through the airport’s air conditioning system. All flights were halted for several hours due to the evacuation, but air traffic started running again around 2 p.m., airport spokeswoman Karen Stein said. ...

  Bloomberg The Oneworld alliance, which includes British Airways and American Airlines, is reviewing the case for seeking members from the ranks of discount carriers while exploring measures to fill gaps in emerging markets. Rob Gurney, who took over as Oneworld’s chief executive officer in October, said he’s considering the group’s approach to low-cost operators that account for an ever-increasing ...

  ANKARA / Reuters Turkey’s central bank will stick with unorthodox measures to keep borrowing costs at five-year highs at least until inflation peaks this year, according to people familiar with its thinking, despite sharp criticism from investors. The bank has long puzzled markets with a complex system of setting policy through multiple interest rates but it ratcheted up the ...

  Bloomberg The man running Svenska Handelsbanken AB, one of Sweden’s biggest banks, sees no reason to let Brexit upend his expansion plans in the UK. Anders Bouvin, chief executive officer of the Swedish bank known for its commitment to branches in a digital age, says his strategy is proving especially effective in attracting small UK businesses looking for funding. ...