Don’t worry about the ethics of self-driving cars

Self-driving cars keep killing people. Just in the past few weeks, one crashed into a highway barrier and another ran over a pedestrian. This will inevitably lead to much hand-wringing about the ethics of the algorithms that drive autonomous vehicles. Yet tragic as such accidents might be, I have a hard time caring. I don’t even see the issue as ...

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What government interest is served by disenfranchising felons?

The bumpy path of Desmond Meade’s life meandered to its current interesting point. He is a graduate of Florida International University law school but cannot vote in his home state because his path went through prison: He committed non-violent felonies concerning drugs and other matters during the 10 years when he was essentially homeless. And Florida is one of eleven ...

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Banks see fast pace for Mideast, Africa deals in ‘bumper year’

Bloomberg Asset sales from Saudi power plants and football clubs to African energy firms are set to help deliver a bumper year for deals in the region. Investment banks expect the pace of transactions in the Middle East and Africa to gain momentum after a busy first quarter. Mergers and initial public offerings in the first three months of 2018 ...

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China forex reserves up as dollar weakness continues

BEIJING / Reuters China’s foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March as broad US dollar weakness continued and escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies bolstered expectations of a firmer Chinese currency. Reserves rose $9 billion in March to $3.143 trillion, compared with a drop of $27 billion in February, central bank data showed on Sunday. Economists polled ...

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Fed’s Evans optimistic on inflation, wants rate hikes

CHICAGO / Reuters Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, one of the Fed’s most dovish policymakers, said that he is optimistic inflation will reach the Fed’s 2 percent goal and that slow, gradual rate increases will be appropriate. “Fiscal policy has been much more supportive of further growth and so the need for accommodative monetary policy is less than ...

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Thai central bank governor says accommodative policy needed

Bloomberg Thailand’s monetary policy should remain accommodative to nurture the economic recovery and as inflationary pressure remains weak, central bank Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said. Thailand is still in the “early stage of a recovery of domestic demand,” Veerathai said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore. The most important factor in deciding policy is inflation pressure, followed by the ...

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Second-biggest Pakistan bank targets ‘enormous’ youth market

Bloomberg Pakistan’s second-largest bank by assets aims to double its current-account deposits in five years as it extends its reach into the nation’s rising middle class through new technology and a branch revamp. United Bank Ltd. is seeking to increase its number of customers by about 40 percent to 10 million in three years, with domestic current-account deposits doubling to ...

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Czech central banker Hampl sees faster rise in rates

Reuters The Czech National Bank (CNB) may raise its main interest rate above 1 percent by the end of this year, sooner than its staff forecast predicts, as the economy is overheating, Vice-Governor Mojmir Hampl was quoted as saying. The central bank’s board kept the two-week repo rate at 0.75 percent at its last policy meeting on March 29 after ...

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India seeks $15 billion fighter jets in world’s largest deal

Agencies India asked global companies to submit proposals for 110 fighter jets, the world’s biggest such order currently. The Indian Air Force sought requests for information for the supply of single- and twin-seat jets to be mostly manufactured locally, it said in a statement on its website. The Asian nation had earlier scrapped a deal to buy 126 fighter jets ...

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US retailer Nine West files for bankruptcy

Bloomberg Nine West Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy with a plan to sell some assets and reorganise others, after too much debt felled the shoe and clothing company controlled by Sycamore Partners. The Chapter 11 filing in New York listing debts of more than $1 billion. The company will use the bankruptcy to sell its Nine West and Bandolino brand ...

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