Columns

Hadas: Markets’ risky fling is far from over

24 September 2020

Fears of returning Covid-19 and revelations like Nikola’s non-driving trucks have restrained investors a bit. But the financial world’s careening exuberance will keep going long after the economy stops benefitting from massive support. Higher asset prices mean bigger risks.

India Insight: Chai-onomics brews more inequality

21 September 2020

Raju has resumed selling tea at his Mumbai roadside stall, but his post-lockdown business is diminished. Covid-19 has accelerated a shift to a more efficient, formal Indian economy. One consequence is that, from street to stock market, the strong are displacing the weak.

Cox: When ’shrooms go public, markets are peaking

17 September 2020

Compass Pathways, which treats depression with a psilocybin-based compound, is raising $107 mln. It has no revenue. Its risk factors are like a bad trip. But as investors throw cash at blank-cheque firms promising visions of the future, taking a punt doesn’t seem so risky.

Cox: Bernard Arnault is acting like a spoiled brat

15 September 2020

Europe’s richest man had to have Tiffany when times were good and agreed to pay too much for the American jeweller. When Covid-19 hit the fan, LVMH’s boss got buyer’s remorse. Now he's throwing all the toys out of his cashmere-lined crib to get his way. Which he probably will.

Hadas: Policymakers fly blind on economic health

10 September 2020

Governments and central banks try to respond to reality, as measured by growth, employment, inflation and financial markets. The indicators are hopelessly messed up by fear and the pandemic, so errors are hard to avoid. Still, policies that further favour the rich can be avoided.

Cox: Republicans mostly rant about fake socialism

28 August 2020

The GOP wrapped up a four-day confab-cum-reality TV show combining glowing testimonials about Trump’s achievements with venom against his opponents. Yet the greatest enemy was a phantom economic threat. America’s rich-world allies see socialism as normal, not a disaster.

India Insight: Ambani, a maverick Rockefeller

25 August 2020

Data is the new oil for the tycoon who wants his $185 bln Reliance to serve all the needs of Indian consumers. He’s backed by America’s tech monopolists. Just as the Standard Oil energy cartel birthed U.S. antitrust law, Mukesh Ambani will amass power until told to stop.

Cox: Reverting to mean is weak economic message

21 August 2020

Joe Biden and the Democrats pitched a return to the good old ways at their quadrennial convention. Even Obama’s unconventional attack on his successor looked back as much as forward. For a party that usually favours change, it’s a risky bet on the depths of Trump fatigue.

Cox: History’s most plagued city can lead the way

28 July 2020

Venice has benefitted more than any other place over the centuries from global trade and the movement of people. “La Serenissima” has also withstood pandemics, devoting churches as testaments to each calamity. A plan to remake its business model has merits beyond the lagoon.

Hadas: Globalisation is down but not out

23 July 2020

Covid-19 has infected world trade and rising nationalism threatens cross-border harmony. Still, the five-century-old trend towards one world economy has survived worse. Migration, the shared thirst for knowledge and the profit motive will likely bring a resurgence in a few years.