May, 2019

• 8 May

  Trump spoils for ‘impeachment row’ to fuel 2020 bid

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s advisers are pushing him to defy congressional investigations in hopes of luring Democrats into escalating a fight that they say will turn voters against the party in the 2020 elections. The advisers are counting on news coverage of the battle with Congress — including Democrats’ raising the possibility of impeachment — distracting attention from candidates vying ...

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• 8 May

  Finland edges closer to coalition government

  

  Bloomberg Finland is edging closer to having a broad coalition government after Social Democrat Leader Antti Rinne invited the Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila to the negotiations. Rinne, who has been mandated to lead the talks after his party emerged on top in the election, also asked the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s Party ...

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• 8 May

  Pressure mounts on May as ‘Labour deal’ still elusive

  

  Bloomberg British PM Theresa May was expected to face lawmakers in parliament after another day of inconclusive talks with the opposition Labour Party further dented her hopes of reaching a Brexit deal. Already under pressure after a disastrous set of results for her Conservative Party in local elections, the beleaguered premier’s cabinet concluded that cross-party talks are stalling and unlikely ...

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• 8 May

  May-Corbyn Brexit talks just point to fatigue

  

  When you hear that UK Prime Minister Theresa May and her Labour Party rival Jeremy Corbyn are in talks, you can safely assume that May has exhausted every other option in her efforts to get a Brexit deal through Parliament. But it’s a measure of the political damage wrought by Hurricane Brexit on Britain’s political landscape that even if there ...

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• 8 May

  Coal’s future is in people’s hands

  

  Climate change is at the top of many American voters’ minds, as evidenced by a CNN poll found “96% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say it’s very or somewhat important for a presidential candidate to promise aggressive action” on the issue. At the same time on the other side of the globe, “Promises to fight the world’s most toxic air ...

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• 8 May

  Two hedge fund backseat drivers make life a misery

  To pick up Elliot Management Corp as an activist investor is unfortunate. Having another hedge fund agitator in the form of Knight Vinke must be misery, especially when it’s making rival demands. Add in a bidder with a blocking stake and German utility Uniper SE is a company where the CEO can scarcely think of themselves as the boss. Andreas ...

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• 8 May

  Germany is in need of a global role to suit its size

  When US Vice President Mike Pence declared in a speech marking Nato’s 70th anniversary that “too many” alliance members have failed to increase spending on their militaries, he singled out one by name. “Germany must do more,” he said, adding that “it is simply unacceptable for Europe’s largest economy to … neglect its own self-defense and our common defense at ...

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• 8 May

  For US, getting back to the moon is easy part

  

  In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy set a goal of placing Americans on the moon by the end of the decade. Eight years later, on July 20, 1969, his ambition was fulfilled. For the next three years, American astronauts made regular, albeit brief, visits to the lunar surface. The journeys ended in December 1972, when Apollo 17 departed a ...

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• 8 May

  Deutsche Bank is still a worry for the ECB

  

  When Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG pulled their merger talks at the end of last month, there was an audible sigh of relief at the European Central Bank (ECB). The deal was bound to raise eyebrows among the supervisors, as it would have concentrated the risk of a mega-bank in a single country, while offering few credible efficiency gains ...

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• 8 May

  Here’s the way to tax Google and Facebook

  

  It’s only a matter of time before European countries start taxing tech multinationals, first individually and then in a coordinated way. The question really is how digital taxes will work, and so far, the Czech Republic appears to have the best idea. It became clear in March that France’s push for a Europe-wide tax on Big Tech’s local revenues would ...

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