January, 2018

• 9 January

  Britain’s unavoidable healthcare dilemma

  Can a relatively low-tax country run a high-quality, taxpayer-funded health service that’s free to all? Britain’s National Health Service suggests the answer is no. The NHS is good at some things but bad, bordering on disastrous, at others. Its great virtue is truly universal coverage, no questions asked — and by international standards, the system is also cheap to run. ...

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• 9 January

  What governments can do to move people to jobs

  

  The opening scene of “The Karate Kid” left a big impression on me. A struggling, working-class single mom in New Jersey packs her family and all of her worldly possessions into a green station wagon and heads west to California in search of a better life. As a child who had only ever known one town, I was astonished by ...

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• 9 January

  Spotify set to blaze IPO trail and make bankers shudder

  

  Spotify AB will soon shine a bright light on just how big the holes are in our capital markets. Far more than just bankers should take note. Sometime, reportedly by the end of March, shares of the streaming music service will start trading for the first time. The deal, a direct listing, has received attention for some time because it’s ...

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• 9 January

  No, Iceland hasn’t solved the gender pay gap

  

  Senator Bernie Sanders says it’s worth following the example of ‘our brothers and sisters in Iceland’ who last year passed the world’s most demanding law on equal pay for men and women. But the legislation, which took effect on January 1, could end up hurting women without some added measures. Even ultra-egalitarian Iceland isn’t ready to take them. No other ...

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• 9 January

  China’s central bank changes way it manages Yuan after gains

  

  Bloomberg China’s central bank has made a change to the regime used to manage the yuan, effectively removing a component used by banks to calculate their submissions to the currency’s daily reference rate, according to people familiar with the matter. The People’s Bank of China recently told some lenders that contribute to the rate — known as the fixing — ...

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• 9 January

  Spanish investment bank plans London HQ despite Brexit

  Bloomberg Spain’s Alantra Partners SA is considering moving its headquarters from Madrid to London in a bet the UK capital will remain the center of European business and finance even after Brexit, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The investment bank and money manager, which oversees 3.7 billion euros ($4.4 billion) of assets and employs about 350 ...

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• 9 January

  Atlanta Fed’s Bostic joins voices urging ‘slow tightening’ of interest rates

  

  SYDNEY/ Reuters The US central bank should be patient as it raises interest rates this year, said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic, adding his voice to other dovish comments from officials concerned by low inflation and the risk of an inverted yield curve. “I am comfortable continuing with a slow removal of policy accommodation,’’ Bostic, who votes ...

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• 9 January

  Andorra bank plans to expand footprints in Mexico, Brazil

  

  Bloomberg Andorran private bank Andbank is working to add Argentina to its Latin American roster and looking to expand in Mexico and Brazil as tax amnesty programs unlock wealth in the region. The micro-state’s largest bank, with 25 billion euros ($30 billion) under management, is trying to obtain a license to operate as a global investment adviser in Argentina under ...

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• 9 January

  SNB eyes record $55bn profit on weaker currency

  

  Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) expects to have racked up a record 54 billion-franc ($55 billion) profit in 2017, in large part because of the drop in the franc against the euro. Earnings at the central bank led by Thomas Jordan got a boost from holdings of foreign currency, which contributed 49 billion francs. The overall result dwarfs even ...

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• 9 January

  Afreximbank taps Islamic finance to support Africa trade

  SYDNEY/ Reuters The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has raised around $260 million via three sharia-compliant facilities to support small- and medium-sized businesses in the region, as African markets gradually open to Islamic finance. Cairo-based Afreximbank, which was founded by African governments and other investors in 1993 and focuses on trade finance, obtained a $100 million financing from the Islamic Corp ...

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