March, 2019

• 13 March

  Apple faces Spotify antitrust complaint to EU over app store

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. should be probed by the European Union’s antitrust agency over how it allegedly squeezes rival music streaming services, Spotify Technology SA said, escalating a row over how Apple takes a cut of all sales on its app store. The iPhone maker has created an “untenable” situation by imposing ever-changing rules and a 30 percent tax for apps ...

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• 13 March

  UK unveils tariffs for a no-deal Brexit ahead of key vote

  

  Bloomberg The UK will avoid imposing tariffs on most imported goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit, though officials said prices of key Eu-ropean Union products including beef, cheese and cars will rise. The government said on Wednesday its “balanced approach” aims to offset a spike in prices that consumers would experience in a no-deal departure as a result ...

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• 13 March

  VW brand to shrink workforce further in bigger savings push

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s main car brand plans to deepen cost cuts and ax more jobs as profits slip in the industry’s shift to electric and self- driving cars. The German carmaker said on Wednesday it will eliminate as many as 7,000 positions — with measures including early retirement and not filling vacant positions — for an annual profit gain of ...

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• 13 March

  EU trying to go green, avoid trade war with palm oil giants

  

  Bloomberg The European Union set new criteria for the use of palm oil in biofuels in a balancing act to avert a trade war with producers in Asia while appeasing climate protagonists at home. The measure approved by the European Commission on Wednesday spells out the type of biofuels from palm oil that may be counted towards the EU’s renewable-energy ...

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• 13 March

  Making allies pay more for troops will cost US dearly

  

  Good presidents learn while they are in office. Donald Trump, however, is doubling down on many of the same bad ideas he campaigned on. A recent example is an initiative his administration is reportedly developing to force US allies to pay far more for hosting American troops and bases. The initiative flows naturally from the president’s desire to get even ...

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• 13 March

  Hong Kong futures won’t shake S’pore

  

  Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., has his plan at the ready. An agreement with MSCI Inc. is in the bag. Once regulators bless the idea, he will give futures contracts on China’s A-share index in the city a go. One place where Li’s announcement was received with some trepidation was the rival financial center ...

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• 13 March

  General Electric’s return to credibility advances a step

  When it comes to General Electric Co. and its mammoth turnaround, I’ve long felt that a recovery in its bedrock business and financials won’t mean as much without a corresponding correction to the misguided priorities and cultural arrogance that led to its difficulties in the first place. So it’s good to see the company making some progress in that area. ...

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• 13 March

  Trump’s auto tariff plan is as bad as it gets

  Evidently, President Donald Trump is still toying with the idea of imposing steep tariffs on cars and automotive parts. In a White House brimming with bad economic ideas, this would be the worst one yet. Last month, the Commerce Department completed a confidential report on the national-security implications of auto imports. If the probe uncovered a threat of some kind, ...

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• 13 March

  Deficit hubris looks like next economics mistake

  

  The 2008 financial crisis and the deep recession that followed taught the world to be more skeptical of macroeconomic theories. In the years leading up to that crisis, many leading macroeconomists displayed a startling amount of complacency, bordering on hubris. The defining quote came in a 2003 essay, when Nobel-winning macroeconomist Robert Lucas made a startling declaration: Macroeconomics in [its] ...

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• 13 March

  How can India Inc. get over its financing hump?

  

  India’s corporate funding market is what Winston Churchill might have described as a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The riddle, according to India Ratings and Research Pvt., a unit of Fitch Ratings Inc., is that borrowers’ credit metrics aren’t likely to worsen from here. And yet in the financial year starting April 1, their borrowing costs may ...

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