May, 2020

• 14 May

  Italy learns hard lesson on face masks

  

  It takes economics students a couple of classes to understand why price caps are generally a bad idea. The Italian government has nonetheless chosen to set one for face masks — and it’s learning the lesson the hard way. The problem with picking a price that’s artificially low is that it will cause shortages. Consumers will want to buy too ...

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• 14 May

  India needs to fire more bullets now, aim later!

  How big is India’s anti-viral package, and how effective will it be? The flashy $265 billion figure Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his televised address wasn’t all new spending. It included the $22.5 billion of fiscal support — mainly cash payments for the poor — announced in March as the country was entering total lockdown. The central bank’s funding-for-lending ...

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• 14 May

  And, Trump unmasks Obama’s unmaskers

  Ever since Michael Flynn resigned as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser three years ago, the president and his allies have taken a keen interest in the practice of “unmasking.” Now his administration has revealed the names of the Obama officials who learned Flynn’s name in intelligence reports — but the information is hardly a smoking gun. Unmasking is a ...

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• 14 May

  Airbus, labour unions to start talks on permanent job cuts

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is preparing for permanent job cuts after warning unions that it needs to rein in production amid a collapse in demand, people with knowledge of the situation said. Discussions have begun with labour groups in Germany, France and Spain, the people said, with the formal process expected to start next week. The number of positions to be ...

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• 14 May

  Korean Air plans to raise about $817m

  

  Bloomberg Korean Air Lines Co plans to sell new shares to raise about 1 trillion won ($817 million) after the coronavirus outbreak wiped out 90% of its flights. The Seoul-based carrier aims to sell about 79.4 million new shares to existing holders in July, it said in a regulatory filing. The price is initially estimated at 12,600 won a share, ...

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• 14 May

  Airlines must keep low carbon footprint: Johnson

  

  Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the global aviation industry needs to limit carbon-dioxide emissions once air travel resumes following the coronavirus crisis. “Inadvertently this year the planet will greatly reduce its CO2 emissions,” Johnson said. “We need to entrench those gains. I don’t want to see us going back to an era of the same kind of emissions ...

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• 14 May

  Brookfield, Indian tycoon mull Virgin Australia bids

  

  Bloomberg Brookfield Asset Management Inc and Indian aviation tycoon Rahul Bhatia are considering bids for Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, joining a score of suitors seeking to capitalise on Asia’s first airline casualty from the coronavirus pandemic, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Canadian investment firm, which manages more than $540 billion, is planning to make its own indicative ...

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• 14 May

  Trump says he doesn’t want to talk to Xi as China tensions rise

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he doesn’t want to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping right now and mused about eliminating the largest trading relationship in the world, with tensions high over the coronavirus outbreak. Asked in a Fox Business Network interview whether he had spoken to Xi recently, Trump said that they have “a very good relationship” but “right ...

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• 14 May

  Chinese hackers are targeting Covid-19 research, says US 

  

  Bloomberg Hackers working for the Chinese government are trying to steal valuable research on coronavirus vaccines and treatments from US healthcare, pharmaceutical and research organisations, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned. “China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation’s response to Covid-19,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security ...

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• 14 May

  Russians struggling to survive add pressure to end lockdown

  

  Bloomberg Grigory Sverdlin has been doling out free meals from a night bus in Russia’s second-biggest city for the best part of the past two decades. Rarely has he seen so much demand as in the past few weeks. “In St. Petersburg we usually feed around 80 people a night at each of the four stops. Now there are 120-140 ...

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