February, 2019

• 18 February

  Serbia, Kosovo aim to negotiate peace deal

  

  Bloomberg Two decades into Europe’s biggest unresolved dispute, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says it’s time for a deal on Kosovo. After Greece and the ex-Yugoslav region of Macedonia settled a country-name clash, international pressure is shifting to Vucic to work for a deal with Kosovar leader Hashim Thaci. That would allow both sides to join the European Union and, at ...

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• 18 February

  May seeks EU help over Brexit as ministers revolt

  Bloomberg Theresa May will lead a last-ditch diplomatic drive to persuade European Union leaders to save her Brexit agreement, as she faces a rebellion from Cabinet ministers who want to stop the UK leaving without a deal. May’s allies believe she has just nine days left to save her strategy before members of Parliament run out of patience and step ...

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• 18 February

  Most of the Green New Deal is make-believe

  

  The “Green New Deal” is upon us, and the question is what to make of it. The Democratic proposal mandates that, within a decade, virtually all fossil fuels — which represent about four-fifths of the nation’s energy supply — shall be replaced with clean fuels that don’t worsen global warming. Just how is this task to be accomplished? The main ...

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• 18 February

  Can digital brands really save malls?

  

  This is a moment in retail when virtually everything needs a makeover: Supply chains must be sped up, stores need to be more experiential, and marketing has to become more personalised, all to suit an increasingly digital world. So it only makes sense that the old rules of mall leasing need updating, too. One place where that’s happening is at ...

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• 18 February

  GE’s shrinking market share creates conundrum

  General Electric Co. can’t live with a fixation on market share, but it can’t live without it, either. The embattled conglomerate, having long run its business with the goal of being the No. 1 or No. 2 player in each of its industries, saw its lead in the gas turbine market shrink in 2018. GE captured 33 percent of orders ...

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• 18 February

  Donald Trump’s AI plan is a good start

  President Donald Trump may not have much to say about artificial intelligence (AI) on his Twitter feed. But credit where it’s due: His administration has come up with a smart plan to ensure the US keeps up in an increasingly crucial industry. By any measure, AI holds immense promise. It’s likely to boost productivity, stimulate demand, encourage innovation, vastly improve ...

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• 18 February

  North Korea can learn a great deal from Vietnam

  

  Vietnam is more than a convenient neutral site for the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, which is slated for later this month. The Southeast Asian nation is being held up as a model for what Kim’s isolated country could become if he adopts sweeping market reforms. It’s an especially apt comparison, ...

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• 18 February

  India’s sleepwalking to trouble on builder debt

  

  Five months. That’s how long it takes Country Garden Holdings Co. to start selling apartments after acquiring land. A spate of fatal accidents forced the Chinese builder to slow things down a notch last year, but the pace of construction may pick up again when robots start plastering the walls. The pressure to finish comes from the markets: Of the ...

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• 18 February

  Selling gold won’t solve your budget problems

  

  Most of us have a few coins lost down the backs of our sofas. Only the foolish think they can solve their money worries by fishing them out. That’s more or less what politicians in Venezuela and Italy are contemplating at the moment, though. The Latin American government sold more than 40 percent of its gold reserves last year to ...

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• 18 February

  Europe stocks, commodities rise as trade optimism builds

  

  Bloomberg Stocks in Europe edged higher after a rally in Asia drove the region’s shares to their highest level since October amid optimism over China’s economy and trade talks. Commodities from oil to copper jumped. The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up following a choppy morning as gains by telecommunications companies offset declines in carmakers, after President Donald Trump received a ...

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