June, 2019

• 19 June

  Facebook crypto plans draw lawmakers’ flak

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc.’s plans to create a new cryptocurrency that can be used for everything from commerce to money transfers is facing pushback from angry US lawmakers. House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters urged the company to halt development of the token until Congress and regulators can examine it. Other lawmakers demanded hearings and questioned whether the coin, called ...

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• 19 June

  New York passes its own version of Green New Deal with aggressive goals

  

  Bloomberg New York’s Senate has passed the state’s own version of the Green New Deal — a climate bill that will set the most aggressive clean energy target in the country, more than triple the state’s solar capacity and unleash wind power off the coast. The legislation, which was approved 41-21 and is expected to clear the Democratic-led Assembly, would ...

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• 19 June

  Shanahan’s exit comes at a moment of ‘military risk’

  

  President Trump has a credibility problem at a time when his confrontation with Iran is moving towards a dangerous test. “There is no capital in the bank” in terms of trust with major European and Asian allies, said one former senior defense official. “We’ve managed to isolate ourselves, rather than Iran. This is a strategy-free zone.” Adding to the sense ...

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• 19 June

  Draghi spotted the real problem

  

  Mario Draghi has spent much of his time as president of the European Central Bank (ECB) fighting crises. So he hasn’t had much time to consider his legacy, even now that he’s less than five months away from retirement. Yet in his last appearance as president at the ECB’s yearly shindig in Portugal, Draghi was in reflective mood about what’s ...

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• 19 June

  Huawei’s doomsday outlook may galvanise home support

  Huawei Technologies Co. is braced for a fall. China’s premier telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker is preparing for a drop of 40% to 60% in overseas handset sales, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the situation. That’s quite a blow to the business, considering that consumer devices (mostly smartphones) accounted for 45% of the company’s revenue last year. But ...

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• 19 June

  Donald Trump’s next big trade war will be data

  President Donald Trump called CNBC to offer grudging praise to the European Union (EU) – not something that happens every day. He suggested the US should follow the example of Brussels’s “fantastic” bureaucrats in hitting the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. with antitrust investigations and fines. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t the details of competition law that were uppermost ...

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• 19 June

  Robots might turn out to be great co-workers

  

  The idea that automation will drive up unemployment or drive down wages — in other words, that robots will take people’s jobs — has become almost an article of faith for many Americans. Everyone can point to instances of automation reducing demand for certain workers. And with so-called artificial intelligence technology improving rapidly, there’s widespread worry that many humans will ...

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• 19 June

  Deutsche Bank’s quiet man needs to turn up the volume

  

  Ever since Deutsche Bank AG abandoned talks to merge with Commerzbank AG in April, a drip-feed of information on what Germany’s biggest lender plans next has leaked out. For Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing, the danger is that he finds most of his cards have been played well before he can unveil his overhaul at the end of next month. ...

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• 19 June

  Facebook’s answer to bitcoin poses a double threat

  

  Regulators will be watching closely when Facebook Inc. unveils its cryptocurrency project. Their vigilance is warranted. Mark Zuckerberg, the social network’s founder, isn’t going to gamble with what remains of his public image by replicating the worst excesses of the Bitcoin craze. He’s not trying to create a speculative currency; a potential wave of mom-and-pop investment losses is the last ...

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• 19 June

  Draghi’s new stimulus plan may include rate cuts, asset buying

  

  Bloomberg Mario Draghi is set on pushing the limits of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) firepower right up until he leaves office. With little more than four months to go in his job, the ECB president has all but pledged new stimulus for Europe’s flagging economy that may include both interest-rate cuts and asset purchases. Adding potency to that statement ...

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