January, 2022

• 17 January

  The Made in China plan is back, and it’s better

  

    As the world is grappling with the latest virus variant, China unveiled a sharpened version of the Made in China 2025 industrial policy blueprint. Previous iterations may have had nations like the US on edge, but this is the one to keep an eye on. State planners released a five-year smart manufacturing development plan in late December that aims ...

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• 17 January

  UK retail giants shouldn’t get too cozy

  

  Two British retailers emerged as winners this Christmas: Tesco Plc and Marks & Spencer Group Plc. While that’s a far cry from disappointing results of holidays past, both face considerable challenges ahead with concerns about inflation eating into consumer spending power and a slowdown in demand. Tesco’s UK same-store sales in its fiscal third quarter rose 0.2%, slightly below analysts’ ...

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• 17 January

  US’s hunger pandemic is still getting worse

    Early in the pandemic, Americans lined up for hours outside of food banks, awaiting their chance to collect groceries. Many of them had experienced food insecurity before Covid-19. Tens of millions of others were new to such assistance. Only thanks to emergency federal intervention was a serious hunger crisis averted in 2020. As Covid drags on, their mission is ...

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• 17 January

  Tech firms are big. They are not conglomerates

  A chorus of business commentators has declared the “end” of the conglomerate in 2021, pointing to decisions by corporate behemoths such as General Electric and Toshiba to split into smaller, more focused companies. No, that’s not the case. In reality, the real conglomerates — the ones that gave rise to the term in the postwar US — perished many years ...

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• 17 January

  Weak retail sales, sentiment show US economy lost traction

  

    Bloomberg US retail sales stumbled at the end of 2021, factory output weakened and consumer sentiment deteriorated at the start of the new year, illustrating a loss of traction for the economy that many analysts view as temporary. Friday’s data deluge showed how lingering shipping challenges, supply and labor constraints, the fastest inflation in decades and the Omicron variant ...

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• 17 January

  Walmart chief customer officer exits, head merchant retires

  

    Bloomberg Walmart Inc is losing two key executives in its US operation as the retail giant ramps up its online offerings and attempts to reverse last year’s disappointing stock-market performance. Chief Merchandising Officer Scott McCall will retire after almost three decades with the company, according to a memo to employees from John Furner, who heads Walmart’s US business. McCall ...

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• 17 January

  Spain to weigh Air Europa stake in revised deal with IAG

  

    Bloomberg Spain is considering taking a direct stake in Air Europa as part of a revised plan to rescue the troubled airline after the collapse of its proposed sale to IAG SA, according to people familiar with the matter. Under a new structure under discussion, state-backed coronavirus bailout loans could be converted into a government holding of about 40% ...

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• 17 January

  Mali threatens to revoke airlines’ landing slots

    Bloomberg Airlines flying to Mali, which has been placed under sanctions by West Africa’s regional economic bloc, must confirm whether they will continue to operate within 72 hours, or risk losing their landing slots. “After this deadline, their time slots will be handed to other airlines, in order to assure continued services,” Mali’s Transport Minister Madina Sissoko Dembele said ...

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• 17 January

  First aircraft-specific limit for 5G signals issued by FAA 

    Bloomberg US aviation regulators published the first aircraft-specific restriction related to new 5G service expected to begin next week, ordering operators of Boeing Co. 787 jets to update landing requirements. Equipment on the planes that could be subject to interference from 5G radio waves affects how the jet stops after touching down, the Federal Aviation Administration said in an ...

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• 17 January

  Starbucks staff to vote on union at 3 more stores

    Bloomberg Starbucks Corp. employees at three more restaurants in New York state will vote on unionization, a US labor official ruled, offering organizers a chance to expand a new labor foothold that’s already inspiring copycat efforts around the country. In her ruling, Nancy Wilson, an acting regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, rejected the company’s arguments against ...

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