Pavlov would be lovin’ it. The man who used metronomes, buzzers and harmoniums to explore involuntary reflex actions would be in his element observing the beeps, chirps, plinks, pulses, tings and swooshes that command us — to say nothing of our faux-friendly commands to Alexa, Bixby, Cortana and Siri. (Hey!) The latest front in branding’s battle for our attention is ...

What exactly do the likes of BlackRock Inc and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board see in the unprofitable Indian payments startup heading for the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering? A simple answer: the raw power of data. Paytm, formally known as One97 Communications Ltd, has signed up BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and CPPIB together with the sovereign wealth ...

As President Joe Biden won another legislative victory — namely, the $550 billion infrastructure bill — it’s worth asking what its success says about American politics. Mostly it’s good news, whether or not you agree with the policies of the Biden administration. The most enduring truth is that the median voter theorem, as social scientists refer to it, continues to ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing growing criticism over his party’s conduct, as a former Conservative prime minister and opposition members speak out against him following a lobbying scandal. Johnson is “trashing the reputation of our democracy,” opposition leader Keir Starmer said in a BBC interview, after the prime minister outlined plans to overhaul rules on politicians’ behavior ...

Bloomberg North Korea conducted an artillery fire drill that could target its rival Korea’s heavily populated capital, after Washington and Seoul kicked off joint military aerial exercises despite Pyongyang’s rebuke. North Korea’s mechanised troops held an “artillery fire competition” to boost the country’s “mobile artillery combat capabilities,” state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Sunday. The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, ...

Bloomberg PM Jacinda Ardern said there is a “maturity” in New Zealand’s relationship with China, its biggest trading partner, which her government believes enables it to raise issues of concern, amid simmering tensions between Beijing and the West. “New Zealand has always been very consistent in saying regardless of that economic relationship, we do still believe that we have the ...

Bloomberg Thousands of opposition protesters in Georgia rallied outside the prison holding former president Mikheil Saakashvili, on a hunger strike for more than a month. They demanded he be moved to a hospital. The activists set up tents and makeshift huts outside the prison, vowing to continue rallies until their demand for his move, within 24 hours, was met. Saakashvili, ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) struck an upbeat note on the economy, while maintaining that faster wages growth and inflation will take some time and the first interest-rate increase is unlikely before 2024. The economy will expand 3% this year, despite a likely sharp contraction in the third quarter due to virus lockdowns, and then accelerate to 5.5% ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc asked all of its Hong Kong staff to get vaccinated against the Covid virus after city authorities issued a new circular to push for higher inoculation rates. Colleagues who have not received a first dose should either get inoculated by November 30 or submit to a Covid-19 test every 14 days, the London-based bank, which counts ...

Bloomberg China’s fiscal policy will provide the main support to economic growth next year while significant monetary easing is unlikely, according to a former adviser to China’s central bank. “The economy overall really is still okay and we will see average growth this year at around 8%,” Huang Yiping, a former member of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy ...