November, 2017

• 18 November

  Russia’s economy is growing on borrowed money

  

  The Russian economy is once again relying on consumers, who are borrowing more to buy real estate and imported products. The growth is real, but it’s also meager. And it will be hard to sustain without bigger changes. On November 13, Rosstat, Russia’s official statistics agency, announced that the country’s gross domestic product increased 1.8 percent year-over-year in the quarter ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  How much is the Great Barrier Reef worth? Economists have an answer

  

  As mankind puts the world’s largest living structure at risk, economists have come up with a new solution: put a price tag on it. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is bigger than Japan, visible from space and one of the most complex ecosystems on earth. But it’s also under siege from climate change, agricultural runoff, coastal development and illegal fishing. Debate ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  Don’t leave Uber to the courts

  

  A London tribunal’s ruling last week that Uber drivers aren’t self-employed was hailed as a victory by the company’s critics. The court upheld an earlier finding that Uber resorted to “fictions” and “twisted language” in denying its obligations as an employer, and that its claim to be a service linking 30,000 small businesses to their customers was “faintly ridiculous.” Clear ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  Germany is burning too much coal

  Germany is widely seen as a world leader in the fight against climate change. Thanks to its investments in renewable power, wind and solar energy provide a third of its electricity, more than double the US share. Germany’s goal to lower carbon-dioxide emissions 40 percent by 2020 is significantly more ambitious than that of Europe as a whole or the ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  As India endures blanket of smog, China’s battle offers lessons

  

  As New Delhi suffers through a surge in the most harmful type of smog—a toxic stew that makes India’s capital one of the most polluted in the world—Beijing offers lessons in how another troubled city made progress clearing the air. China, which for more than a decade has been the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, has made its capital ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  Narendra Modi’s early Christmas gift

  

  If he doesn’t already, Narendra Modi should start believing in Santa Claus. For the Prime Minister, whose party faces an important poll in Modi’s home state next month, the one-notch rating bump to Baa2 by Moody’s Investors Service is an early Christmas present. More importantly, the rationale for the upgrade cites two of his most destabilizing measures of the past ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  China doesn’t want your junk anymore but Japan does

  For 30 years China has recycled more cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and old computers than any other nation. By doing so, it’s saved millions of tons of resources and indirectly funded thousands of recycling programs and companies globally. But now it wants to stop. In July, China notified the World Trade Organisation that it will soon prohibit the import of ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  Tesla unveils all new electric Semi truck

  

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk is showing the world a big rig-worth of reason to take seriously his master plan to electrify all the major forms of “terrestrial transport.” The electric-car maker offered scant detail ahead of his remarks, saving information such as range, price and production plans for Musk to announce. The company did say the truck will offer ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  Volkswagen earmarks $40 billion for self-driving, electric-vehicle push

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG will spend more than 34 billion euros ($40 billion) over the next five years to develop automotive technology for an era of electric robo-taxis. With the unprecedented investment through 2022, Volkswagen is accelerating its push into battery-powered vehicles, autonomous-driving features and ride-hailing systems, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said in a statement. Volkswagen is seeking to defend its ...

  Read More »
• 18 November

  AT&T deploys ‘Flying COW’ in Puerto Rico

  

  Bloomberg AT&T Inc. has deployed a drone to act as a “cell tower in the sky” to help provide communication services in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, the first time the technology has been used to reconnect residents after a disaster, the company said. The Federal Aviation Administration announced its approval for the use of the vehicle, which resembles a small helicopter. ...

  Read More »