May, 2021

• 24 May

  Asia’s Covid-19 surges should worry us all

  

  Complacency, populism and poor infrastructure fueled a devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India, a disaster that has infected millions and wrought havoc well beyond its borders thanks to a new, more contagious variant. But none of those failings are unique to the country. So why are we not paying more attention to surges elsewhere in the neighborhood, in places ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Bitcoin is a lot like the art market

  

  Many people knew this was coming. Cryptocurrencies had one of the worst days in their short history last week. Bitcoin’s price careened, plunging 31% before recovering to a loss of about 10%. Ethereum, Dogecoin and Binance Coin all fell about 20%. The reasons why are still being sorted; crypto is a relatively new market and we don’t have much data ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Recycling isn’t dead at all. It’s booming in US

  Recycling is “dead,” say the obituaries. And if it’s not dead it’s “broken,” “not working,” “in the bin,” “failing,” a “charade,” “a lie,” and of course “too good to be true.” This gloomy narrative has gained momentum over the past three years as cities struggled to find places to send the stuff that people toss in their blue bins. Some ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Lifting corporate taxes may end up cutting them

  Governments wanting to stop big businesses from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions have a carrot and a stick at their disposal. The stick involves regulating practices such as corporate inversion, aggressive transfer pricing and license royalties so that tax avoidance is effectively outlawed. The carrot involves lowering your own tax rates so that the advantages of moving profits offshore disappear. ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Garuda plans restructuring, operating fleet may get halved

  

  Bloomberg PT Garuda Indonesia needs to completely restructure its business, potentially reducing the number of planes it operates to less than half its main fleet as it seeks to survive the crisis wrought by the pandemic, its president told staff this week. “We have to go through a comprehensive restructuring, a total one,” President Director Irfan Setiaputra said in an ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Italy close to deal with EU on new Alitalia

  

  Bloomberg Italy is nearing a deal with the European Union to set up a new national carrier from failed airline Alitalia SpA and may get an informal go-ahead by next week, newspaper Il Messaggero reported. Talks with the European Commission to green-light Alitalia’s planned restart have been mired in a standstill after several rounds of meetings. EU officials are demanding ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Top Airbus A320neo customer hands GE major engine order

  

  Bloomberg The biggest customer for Airbus SE’s top-selling A320 narrow-body has chosen General Electric Co engines for a massive order, after pitting the conglomerate against its dominant US supplier, Pratt & Whitney. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has selected CFM International Inc, a venture between GE and France’s Safran SA, to supply LEAP-1A engines for its fleet of 310 new Airbus ...

  Read More »
• 23 May

  UK families are ignoring travel ban: Ryanair CEO

  Bloomberg Britons are ignoring government advice to avoid traveling to countries on the UK’s Covid-19 “amber” list, the Mail cited Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair Holdings Plc, as saying. Families are booking flights to restricted destinations in anticipation of a relaxation of the guidance once they come to take their vacations, O’Leary said in an interview, according to ...

  Read More »
• 23 May

  Zara stores to close in Venezuela as Inditex brands exit

  

  Bloomberg The franchise operator of Zara and two other popular apparel chains will close all of its stores in Venezuela in the next few weeks. Zara, along with Pull&Bear and Bershka, are owned by Spain’s Inditex SA and have been operating as franchises in Venezuela since 2007. The franchise is managed by Panamanian-based company Phoenix World Trade, run by Camilo ...

  Read More »
• 23 May

  Instacart expands deal with 7-Eleven

  Bloomberg Instacart Inc is expanding its delivery partnership with 7-Eleven Inc in a bid to capture share of a fast-growing convenience store market dominated by DoorDash. The San Francisco-based company is adding 4,000 7-Eleven locations, bringing the total to 6,000 stores in 33 states and Washington, and pledges to get deliveries to customers in as little as 30 minutes. Instacart ...

  Read More »