Classic Layout

Central banks should look abroad for talent

Britain has long stood accused of being run by a small clique of privately educated aristocrats. At least in one sphere the accusation is unfair: Few countries are so open-minded when it comes to appointing the men and women who take some of the most crucial decisions for the future of the economy. The Bank of England’s rate-setting monetary policy ...

Read More »

Europe’s unserious plan for Greece

The deal struck last week between Greece and its euro-zone creditors is business as usual — and that’s not a good thing. This protracted game of “extend and pretend” serves nobody’s long-term interests: not those of the Greek government, the International Monetary Fund or, most of all, the people of Greece. Euro-zone finance ministers have unlocked a payment of 8.5 ...

Read More »

That bewildering laptop ban

When the US government announced a ban on carry-on laptops and other gadgets for certain flight routes in March, the policy made little sense. In the months since, it has only grown more bewildering. At the moment, the ban applies to large electronic devices on flights originating at 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. It may be ...

Read More »

Let us plunge towards our fast-unfolding future

In 1859, when Manhattan still had many farms, near the Battery on the island’s southern tip The Great American Tea Company was launched. It grew, and outgrew its name, becoming in 1870 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, (A&P) which in 1912 begat the first A&P Economy Store, a semi-modern grocery store. By 1920, there were 4,500 such stores; ...

Read More »

Jaguar will have to work hard for that second look

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is scouting for a new address with a little more space for valuations. It’s good to shop around, even though luxury carmakers don’t get the admiration on stock exchanges that their products attract on the streets. What’s questionable, though, is the timing. Being parked inside the Mumbai garage of Tata Motors Ltd, its owner for the ...

Read More »

MSCI forgets its doubts about China

In the culmination of a long-running saga, MSCI Inc. recently announced that it would include some Chinese stocks in its widely used benchmark indexes, starting next year. China has taken this as recognition of its growing economic and financial might. But the decision seemed to have almost nothing to do with the reality of China’s financial markets. For one thing, ...

Read More »

Amazon robots may enter Whole Foods warehouses

Bloomberg When Amazon.com Inc.’s $13.7 billion bid to buy Whole Foods was announced, John Mackey, the grocer’s chief executive officer, addressed employees, gushing about Amazon’s technological innovation. “We will be joining a company that’s visionary,” Mackey said, according to a transcript of meeting. “I think we’re gonna get a lot of those innovations in our stores. I think we’re gonna ...

Read More »

Panasonic joins push to put photovoltaics on more car roofs

Bloomberg Panasonic Corp. sees the future of solar on car rooftops. The Osaka-based electronics maker has started producing a 180-watt array of solar cells that can be fixed to the roof of an automobile. In February, Panasonic announced that its photovoltaic module would be used on the roof of Toyota Motor Corp.’s latest Prius plug-in hybrid. Cars represent a potentially ...

Read More »

Toshiba chip-unit bidders push back final agreement

Bloomberg Toshiba Corp.’s announcement of a final agreement to sell its memory chip business may be delayed beyond the electronics maker’s self-imposed deadline this week, as Bain Capital and Japanese investors work out the structure of the deal, people with knowledge of the matter said. When announcing the preferred bidders last week, Toshiba said it planned to reach an agreement ...

Read More »

SoftBank’s Vision Fund eyes investment in quantum computing

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is scouting for possible investments in quantum computing, an experimental science being researched by companies such as Google and IBM to succeed current computer processor technology. Shu Nyatta, who helps invest money for the fund, said the group wanted to find and back the company whose quantum computing hardware or software that runs atop ...

Read More »
Send this to a friend