The first results of Finland’s two-year experiment with a universal basic income (UBI) are in, and if they’re confirmed by further research, they will probably hurt the unconditional income cause. The trial run showed that “money for nothing” makes people happier but doesn’t inspire them to find work anymore than traditional unemployment benefits would. The Finnish experiment, conducted in 2017 ...

A US hedge fund is taking on the British government and major banks in protest at the pain inflicted on ordinary shareholders in the latest rescue of a troubled UK construction company. It is picking a tough battle, but its plan is far from doomed. The company in question, Interserve Plc, revealed outline details of a restructuring package designed to ...

Just a year ago, India’s third-largest mortgage lender was bragging about how it had shrunk its financing costs by replacing bank loans with market borrowings. Now, Dewan Housing Finance Corp. is confronting the fallout of that seemingly clever strategy, one that many of its peers face as well: a dangerously high exposure to India’s struggling developers. At the end of ...

Bloomberg As stock rebounds go, this one has been big, sudden, and decidedly broad, with signs megacap titans are relaxing the stranglehold in which they’ve held the S&P 500 for two years. While the rally took a breather last week, it remains the best annual start for US equities in almost three decades, with $1.7 trillion added to share values. ...

Bloomberg Treasuries traders may get a feeling of deja vu next week — they’ll be contending with some familiar geopolitical risks as they also absorb key economic data that could help solidify expectations for Federal Reserve policy. Brexit negotiations, trade talks and the specter of another US government shutdown loom against the backdrop of growing concern over the global economy. ...

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA is shrinking its markets business and cutting an additional 500 million euros ($567 million) of costs to combat the market rout that sent trading revenue tumbling. The Paris-based bank is replacing global markets head Frank Drouet and cutting about 8 billion euros ($9.1 billion) of risk-weighted assets. SocGen will review less profitable fixed-income and currencies activities ...

Bloomberg Romania left borrowing costs unchanged as the central bank complains that surprise tax measures to shore up the budget are restricting its ability to function. The benchmark was kept at 2.5 percent for a sixth straight meeting, matching the predictions of all but one economist surveyed by Bloomberg. The fiscal package, which triggered the country’s biggest market crash since ...

Bloomberg The secret behind Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s surprise U-turn on monetary policy can possibly be found in comments he made in New York a year and a half ago. Asked how he’d respond to what was then a hypothetical scenario of below target price rises and low unemployment, Powell replied: “My own view would be that we have ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is considering options for its Islamic banking unit in Malaysia, including a potential sale, people with knowledge of the matter said. The London-based lender has been gauging interest from potential buyers for the business, known as Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd, according to the people. It is weighing an exit from Malaysia’s Islamic banking market as fierce ...

Bloomberg The Philippines central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second straight policy meeting, while cutting inflation forecasts for this year and next. The overnight reverse repurchase rate was held at 4.75 percent, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement in Manila. The decision was in line with the forecasts of all 22 economists surveyed by ...