February, 2017

• 2 February

  USA probes Panasonic’s unit for alleged bribery violations

    Bloomberg A Panasonic Corp. inflight entertainment and communications systems subsidiary is under investigation by US authorities for allegedly breaking bribery and securities laws. Panasonic Avionics Corp. is being probed by the US Department of Justice and Securities and Securities Exchange Commission for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Osaka-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Panasonic said ...

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• 2 February

  A modest proposal to solve inequality

  

    Tight labour markets shrink income inequality by causing employers to bid up the price of scarce labor, so policymakers fretting about income inequality could give an epidemic disease a try. This might be a bit extreme but if increased equality is the goal, Stanford’s Walter Scheidel should be heard. His scholarship encompasses many things (classics, history, human biology) and ...

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• 2 February

  Wal-Mart should go all-in on free two-day shipping

  

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s newly-anointed e-commerce czar is absolutely right: Offering two-day shipping is mere table stakes. So why hasn’t the retailer upped the ante? Walmart smartly dropped its Amazon copycat membership program on Tuesday and said all customers would now get free, two-day shipping, which was the main feature of the failed $49-a-year ShippingPass program. The only catch is ...

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• 2 February

  What’s good about Keystone

    Keystone XL is back — along with the usual misconceptions about its virtues and dangers. There should be no doubt, however, that President Donald Trump’s executive order advancing the project is a good thing. The reason is simple: By carrying heavy crude from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the US Gulf Coast and beyond, Keystone ...

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• 2 February

  Trump-Turnbull worst phone call

    US President Donald trump did it again. He seems to be intent on going against every deal that Obama administration struck with nations around the world. Trump blasted a refugee resettlement deal with Australia reached last year with the Obama administration. The resettlement deal was heralded as the solution, and held up by the Turnbull government as an example ...

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• 2 February

  How Trump’s trade agenda will affect the dollar

  

    Foreign-exchange markets are trying to determine what an era of tariffs and border taxes would mean for the value of the dollar. In textbook models, a border-adjustment tax could trigger an increase in the value of the real effective exchange rate (a measure of a country’s competitiveness once the nominal exchange rate — the currency traded on the spot ...

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• 2 February

  What could go right for Europe?

  

    2017 is set to be one of the most volatile years for politics in decades. Elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands threaten to bring populists to power at the core of the euro zone. The European Union isn’t functioning, says George Soros. But not all political risk is bad. There’s the opportunity for positive change — especially in ...

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• 2 February

  Market liquidity is great, until it isn’t

  

    In his confirmation hearing the other day, Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin used the word “liquidity” when talking about several financial regulatory policies. He echoed banks’ concern that the Volcker Rule — which prohibits banks from engaging in many kinds of trading — would reduce asset market liquidity. He also expressed support for the continued existence of Fannie Mae ...

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• 2 February

  Etihad says no plans to expand services in USA

  

    Bloomberg Etihad Airways PJSC sought to head off the prospect of further clashes over its US expansion now that Donald Trump is president, saying it has no plans to add destinations beyond those already served. “We are not flying into any further points in the USA,” Etihad Aviation Group Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said in an interview with ...

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• 2 February

  Reckitt Benckiser in talks to buy Mead Johnson for $16.7bn

  

    Bloomberg Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc emerged as a surprise suitor for perennial bid candidate Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., starting talks on a $16.7 billion purchase of the baby food maker to build its faster growing consumer-health business and bolster its presence in Asia. The companies are discussing an offer of $90 a share in cash, Reckitt Benckiser said. That ...

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