It certainly took everyone in India by surprise. But then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a flair for the dramatic. In an unexpected primetime address on Tuesday, he announced that in a few hours, millions of high-denomination currency notes would no longer be legal tender. It was the only way, he insisted, to deal with “the disease†of unaccounted-for ...
Read More »Tech has not shaken basic economics
A funny thing happened on the path to disruption. This decade, most of Silicon Valley’s big societal claims have turned out to be wrong. These claims arguably began around the time this cycle’s real expansion began, in late 2011. Two scholars’ 2011 text, “Race Against the Machine,†looked at some of the problems plaguing the U.S. economy — stagnant ...
Read More »Giving libertarianism an update for the 21st century
Noah Smith A little while ago, I wrote that libertarianism — the small-government philosophy codified by Robert Nozick and others in the mid-20th century — is looking a little shopworn. As efforts to slash government yield diminishing returns, and empirical evidence piles up that many government interventions are very beneficial, the minimalist state envisioned by Nozick et al. doesn’t ...
Read More »Airbus A320neo customers gird for delays due to Pratt issues
Bloomberg Buyers of Airbus Group SE’s troubled re-engined A320 narrow-body jet are preparing for delays to the aircraft extending into next year as they scale back fleet plans and seek compensation. IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, will operate fewer of the A320neo jets in the current financial year than previously estimated, while AerCap Holdings NV, which has more than 220 ...
Read More »GoPro recalls 2,500 Karma drones
San Francisco / AFP GoPro announced the recall of all Karma drones sold since sales launched last month. The company said it is recalling all of the approximately 2,500 Karma drones it has sold due to instances when power cut out during flight. “Safety is our top priority,” GoPro founder and chief executive Nicholas Woodman said in a release ...
Read More »Luxury coatmaker to line up banks for IPO
Bloomberg Canada Goose Inc., the retailer of high-end winter parka coats that can sell for more than $1,000 apiece, has chosen bankers to lead its planned initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. Credit Suisse Group AG, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will lead the Toronto-based retailer’s offering, the people said, ...
Read More »BP buys jet fuel made from garbage to curb airline pollution
Bloomberg BP Plc will invest $30 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc., which makes biofuel from garbage, in a new partnership designed to curb airplane pollution. The London-based oil-producer also signed a 10-year deal to buy 500 million gallons (1.9 billion liters) of biofuel from Fulcrum’s North American plants, according to a statement by BP. BP will distribute the aviation ...
Read More »Alphabet taps brakes on drone project
Bloomberg The latest Google drones have just started taking flight in the real world. But the team behind the technology is slowing down, trimming headcount and shelving initiatives as the experimental unit becomes the latest target of tightening budgets across parent company Alphabet Inc. Project Wing, a unit of Alphabet’s X research lab, nixed a partnership with coffee giant ...
Read More »Banks in Britain paid $42bn in tax last year
Bloomberg Banks in the UK paid 34.2 billion pounds ($42 billion) in tax in the latest fiscal year, 9 percent more than a year earlier, reflecting an increase in the levy on balance sheets and changes to corporation tax, a report from the British Bankers’ Association showed. Receipts were evenly split between domestic and international lenders, with the former ...
Read More »Trump win ‘not a good day for world economy’
Frankfurt / AFP Donald Trump’s shock election win in the United States “is not a good day for the world economy” and could force the European Central Bank “to intervene”, governing council member Ewald Nowotny said on Wednesday. Nowotny told reporters in Vienna the ECB was “prepared to intervene” as he warned of “massive insecurities” after the vote outcome ...
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