August, 2020

• 8 August

  History not yet repeated

  

  Seventy-five years ago, three days after the first use of a nuclear weapon, the second occurred. There has not been a third in the subsequent 27,394 days. One of humanity’s remarkable achievements is this absence of something. President Harry S Truman, who ordered the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, did not learn about the existence of the Manhattan Project that ...

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• 8 August

  Bank of England is playing with fire

  

  The Bank of England (BOE) risks being in a category of one. In its quarterly monetary policy report, it presented a surprisingly chipper assessment of how it expects the UK to recover from the pandemic lockdown. Its relative optimism was in jarring contrast to the gloom that’s engulfed Britain’s big lending banks. BOE Governor Andrew Bailey has had a decent crisis ...

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• 8 August

  Truth is first casualty of the pandemic finance

  The true financial cost of Covid-19 is something India would rather not acknowledge, let alone bear — at least not until the pandemic has played out. That explains why the central bank allowed a one-time restructuring of corporate and personal loans that have been under stress ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the country under a severe lockdown in ...

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• 8 August

  How Covid-19 chilled credit card in the US!

  In case it wasn’t obvious by now, the economic downturn in America has been most unusual during the past several months. But just to hammer home the point, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Report on Household Debt and Credit for the second quarter, disclosed that total household debt decreased in the three months through June for the first ...

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• 8 August

  Crashed Air India jet’s black boxes found; death toll 18

  

  Bloomberg The black boxes of an Air India Express jet that crashed, killing at least 18 people, has been recovered after authorities completed the rescue operation. The digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder can help investigators piece together what caused the Boeing Co 737 to skid off the runway and break apart while attempting to land on August ...

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• 8 August

  Airbus plane deliveries increase 36% in July

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE delivered 49 new jets to its customers last month, overcoming travel restrictions and virus-afflicted demand to post its third straight monthly increase. The July tally, achieved solely with narrow-body aircraft, marked a 36% increase from the 36 handovers recorded in June, according to a statement. Airbus registered four new orders during the month and had no cancellations ...

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• 8 August

  UK’s Virgin Atlantic secures US recognition for restructuring

  

  Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd was granted US bankruptcy protection as the carrier controlled by Richard Branson pursues a 1.2 billion-pound ($1.6 billion) rescue plan in the UK. The provisional ruling by US Bankruptcy Judge Michael E Wiles in Manhattan protects the airline’s American assets and ensures that the debt reorganisation will be overseen under the British legal process. After ...

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• 8 August

  Delta bets on clean jets to woo flyers

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc plans to use clean cabins to boost customer satisfaction and attract a larger portion of people who still fly, aiming to reduce the cash it burns daily to zero by year-end. The airline will work for a Net Promoter Score of at least 65 in the second half, 15 points above Delta’s average performance last ...

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• 8 August

  Retail failures open up prime locations for Target, others

  

  Bloomberg As landlords struggle to find tenants for a glut of empty commercial spaces, businesses that have fared relatively well through the pandemic now have the upper hand in America’s real estate landscape. With thousands of stores closing permanently, the dislocation is creating a buyer’s market to the benefit of Shake Shack Inc, Levi Strauss & Co, Target Corp and ...

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• 8 August

  US sanctions HK chief Carrie Lam over China crackdown

  

  Bloomberg The US is placing sanctions on 11 Chinese officials and their allies in Hong Kong, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam, over their roles in curtailing political freedoms in the former UK colony, the Treasury Department said. “The United States stands with the people of Hong Kong and we will use our tools and authorities to target those undermining their ...

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