Five events from the previous year hold clues to what lies ahead for energy, technology and finance. Electric buses just keep on going: The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has amassed a total of 16,359 electric buses, making its fleet bigger than the six largest North American combustion-bus fleets. Cities keep a close eye on their vehicle fleets: The Lion ...
Read More »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. ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 — ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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 ...
Read More »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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