A Latvian bank proves the ECB needs new powers

Without a doubt, the European Central Bank is the euro zone’s most powerful policy-making institution: It sets monetary policy for 19 member states and supervises the bloc’s most important lenders. Even so, the failure of a Latvian bank shows that the ECB doesn’t have all the powers it needs. Gaps remain, and they put Europe’s financial system at risk. At ...

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China’s ‘free traders’ find an unlikely friend in Trump

Presume not that China is the thing it was. That’s certainly the message Premier Li Keqiang intends to convey with his promise to cut levies on imports. Almost simultaneously, Bloomberg News reported that the Trump administration will impose tariffs on as much as $60 billion of Chinese products as soon as this week. Have the world’s great protectionist and its ...

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US economy is in a boom, but wages aren’t rising much faster

It’s now safe to say that the US economy is in a boom. Small business leaders are saying it. Measures of business optimism, tracked by the National Federation of Independent Business, are at all-time highs. These heady survey measures haven’t yet been matched by hard data, but the hard numbers are looking good too. Business investment as a percent of ...

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A yen above 100? Bet your bottom dollar

Imagine a world in which the Japanese currency strengthens past the psychologically important level of 100 yen per dollar. It wouldn’t be so bad. With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval rating edging toward July’s low, traders are doing a U-turn on their yen bets. Hedge funds are now in favour of a stronger Japanese currency for the first time since ...

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Walmart shows online groceries are having their moment

Take note of this moment. This is a tipping point for online grocery shopping in the US. Food and beverage retail is one of the largest categories of consumer spending, accounting for yearly sales of $800 billion or more in the US. And it has been stubbornly immune to e-commerce. Last year, Kantar Worldpanel estimated online shopping for groceries and ...

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Supermarket casualties begin to pile up in Amazon-fuelled battle

Bloomberg This is how the grocery industry lives now. Regional chains are filing for bankruptcy. European-born discounters are expanding, forcing competitors to keep their own prices low. And Kroger Co. and Walmart Inc., the two largest grocers in the US, are investing in technology and expanding delivery as they try to fend off an incursion by Amazon.com Inc. It’s a ...

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Pratt to ship spare engines for grounded IndiGo jets

Bloomberg Pratt & Whitney will provide spare engines within 40 days to get all grounded Airbus SE A320neo aircraft at India’s IndiGo flying again, with the first delivery scheduled for Wednesday, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The engine maker communicated its plan on Tuesday to the jet’s biggest customer, the people said, asking not to be identified ...

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Jewellery chain Claire’s files for bankruptcy

Bloomberg Claire’s Stores, known for tween jewellery and ear piercing, has become the latest victim of the retail apocalypse. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 19 and said it reached an agreement with creditors including its private-equity backer, Apollo Global Management LLC, to restructure around $1.9 billion in debt. Its plan to survive rests on its reputation for trendy ...

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Airbus, Heathrow mark 10th anniv of first A380 flight to London

Emirates Business Airbus and Heathrow airport are celebrating the 10th anniversary of A380 operations at the airport. They began on March 18, 2008 with the arrival of the first A380, a Singapore Airlines flight SQ308 from Singapore Changi airport making Heathrow one of the first to welcome Airbus’ iconic double decker. Heathrow is now the world’s busiest A380 airport by ...

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World’s largest single-site solar energy park to come up in Dubai

DUBAI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, broke ground on the 700MW fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the biggest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project in the world. The start of the new project advances the UAE’s global leadership ...

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