October, 2019

• 14 October

  WeWork shows IPO process is broken

  

  Big pieces of economic legislation tend to unleash the full power of unintended consequences. Consider Sarbanes-Oxley, the bipartisan law passed in 2002 in the wake of the accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. It did what it was intended to do, which was ensure companies gave accurate accounts of their finances. But it has also led to debacles ...

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• 14 October

  Australia’s rate cut is a global economic pointer for the Fed

  Australia is still a continent, but it’s no longer an island. The country that was once immune to business cycles is being sucked deeper into the vortex of global monetary easing. That’s a measure of how pronounced and far-reaching the world economy’s downdraft has become. The Reserve Bank of Australia used to follow the US Federal Reserve in its monetary ...

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• 14 October

  A step towards smart taxes on MNC’s profits

  For years governments have been discussing how to bring century-old international tax rules into line with modern business practices. A new proposal developed at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a think tank backed by industrial-country governments, is a big step forward. Under existing rules, multinationals have great leeway to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, with little regard ...

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• 14 October

  Germany’s stake on solar power may get lost in wind

  

  As Germany prepares to pass its climate protection plan through 2030, the government is trying to decide whether to prioritise solar or wind energy. The latest version of the plan leans towards solar, and that makes economic sense, but it also represents something of an unwelcome turnabout for the existing renewables industry, which is mostly wind-focused. In the most recent ...

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• 14 October

  Hedge funds and bad tactics kill $4.4b deal

  

  The heated auction between buyout firm Bain Capital and Austria’s AMS AG for the German LED-maker Osram Licht AG has ended in no deal. The prospect of a transaction being rekindled in the near term looks bleak — though not impossible over the longer run. It beggars belief that a tense round of bidding can culminate in no more than ...

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• 14 October

  Amazon, Walmart will help really save India’s banks

  

  A common refrain you hear in India is, “There’s no credit in the market.” The despondence cuts across industries as diverse as real estate, autos and road construction. An 88% slump in the flow of funds to the commercial sector between April and September shows that the producers’ unease is justified. However, one credit tap is starting to gurgle, giving ...

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• 14 October

  Stocks decline as investors weigh prospects of trade

  

  Bloomberg US equity futures dropped alongside stocks in Europe after China appeared to pour cold water on a partial trade deal touted by Donald Trump, saying it wanted to iron out details before signing it. European bonds gained. Contracts on the three main equity indexes signalled US stocks may run out of steam after the S&P 500 rose to within ...

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• 14 October

  Pound drops from 3-month high on Brexit reality check

  

  Bloomberg The pound pulled back from a three-month high and UK government bonds rallied as traders reassessed the prospect of the UK securing a Brexit deal this week. Sterling dropped as much as 0.9% against the dollar after surging 3.8% during the previous two days amid optimism the two sides would reach an agreement to avoid a no-deal. The European ...

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• 14 October

  Singapore central bank hints more easing amid growth risks

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s central bank signaled it’s ready to adjust monetary policy further after easing on Monday for the first time since 2016 as risks to the economic growth outlook persist. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool, reduced “slightly the rate of appreciation” of the currency band and said it’s prepared ...

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• 14 October

  Low rates may risk more severe downturns:BOE

  

  Bloomberg A prolonged period of low interest rates risks making economic downturns more severe, according to Bank of England (BOE) deputy governor Jon Cunliffe. Speaking in London, Cunliffe said the drop in long-term market rates in developed economies partly reflected an over-pessimism about long-term prospects, and was also part of a structural trend. One “challenge of low for longer for ...

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