January, 2020

• 1 January

  Macron stands by pension reform despite resistance

  

  Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron doubled down on his contested plan to transform the country’s pension system, saying in his New Year’s address that it’s a project for “justice and social progress.” The French leader’s intransigence clashes with defiant labour unions that staged a 27th straight day of strikes to protests his plans, despite calls for a truce at Christmas ...

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• 1 January

  The 235 days that rattled China and shook the world

  

  They were 235 days that shook the world, rattled China’s regime and refuted the most pernicious wishful thinking since the appeasement of dictators collapsed eight decades ago. Nothing more momentous happened in 2019 than Hong Kong’s heroic insurrection. It began with the April 3 introduction by Beijing’s Hong Kong satraps of an extradition bill that would have facilitated the sweeping ...

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• 1 January

  Inequality is up a lot in the US

  

  Inequality in the US has risen a lot during the past few decades. This has sparked outrage among segments of the public, raised concern among economists and other social scientists, and revitalised America’s socialist movement. Much of the debate has been driven by the work of three French economists — Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. The trio has ...

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• 1 January

  Big tobacco is living on a vape and a prayer

  The next big thing for big tobacco has turned into a bit of a nightmare. Vaping took off as a potentially healthier alternative to smoking for adults looking to kick the habit. But then it caught on with a whole new generation, sparking a teen epidemic in the US and fears that they could graduate to smoking traditional cigarettes. Matters ...

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• 1 January

  The next China? Vietnam looks good only on paper

  A young labour force, a real estate boom, a politically stable Communist-led country that can reap riches through exports and a friendly relationship with the US — many have compared Vietnam to what China was more than two decades ago. Add one more trait to this mix as we enter the 2020s: profitless prosperity. With Vietnam quickly moving up the ...

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• 1 January

  The lopsided nature of American prosperity

  

  It was the year of inequality. The economic debate took a dramatic turn in 2019. To be sure, much attention was paid to the familiar standbys: jobs, interest rates, inflation and trade. But superseding these well-worn subjects was a growing fixation on the lopsided nature of American prosperity. It’s become fashionable to denounce billionaires. Bernie Sanders thinks they should be ...

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• 1 January

  Will Standard Life be a winner or a zombie?

  

  It’s showtime for Keith Skeoch. Almost three years since he and Martin Gilbert agreed to create Standard Life Aberdeen Plc, he’s now flying solo as chief executive officer of the UK’s biggest standalone asset manager. For the fund behemoth to be valued by investors and analysts at more than the sum of its parts, it needs to either consistently outperform ...

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• 1 January

  Shale’s amazing, world-changing, lousy decade

  

  In between dealing with margin calls, Aubrey McClendon spent some of 2009 liquidating his famously well-stocked cellar in the non-fun way. In vino veritas, as it turns out: McClendon’s vintage version of the financial crisis, after his meteoric rise at the helm of fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy Corp., embodied the wild successes, excesses and lasting hangover of the shale boom. ...

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• 1 January

  Lexus confronts midlife crisis

  

  Big red bows and the “December to Remember” tagline of year-end Lexus ads have become as much a part of the holiday season as lawn ornaments and tacky sweaters. But the upscale brand has less to celebrate this year in the US, with sales flat and few new vehicles to showcase. Thirty years after its debut shocked established German automakers, ...

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• 1 January

  Netflix’s top draws: ‘Murder Mystery,’ ‘Stranger Things’

  

  Bloomberg Netflix Inc, touting the success of its original programming, said the most popular releases on its streaming service this year were things it produced: the comedy movie “Murder Mystery” and the third season of its 1980s sci-fi show “Stranger Things.” The company disclosed lists of its top 10 programmes in 33 countries, offering the most expansive report to date ...

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