Columns

Holding: As AT&T case ends, trustbuster woes begin

13 June 2018

Donald Trump’s Justice Department lost its bid to stop the telco’s $85 bln Time Warner merger, battering DOJ’s Obama-era image as tough but savvy. Weak legal claims baffled experts and stalled other deals. The watchdog can expect fresh charges of putting politics over the law.

Hadas: This should be an anti-dollar moment

13 June 2018

Discontent with the world’s dominant currency is not new, but the Trump effect is something new. A trade circuit free from the U.S. president’s idiosyncratic America-first policies is urgently needed. The euro and renminbi can provide a base, but the politics are unpromising.

Cox: The big Italy short was hiding in plain sight

12 June 2018

James Bond-style plots by hedge fund managers betting against Italy make for titillating reading. But the right-wing League has never made a secret of its dislike of the single currency. For as long as Matteo Salvini’s party remains in government, Italy will pay up for capital.

India Insight: IPL bats for global sports crown

11 June 2018

More people may have tuned in for the final of the 11th season of the Indian cricket league than the NFL’s Super Bowl. Salaries are starting to rival English soccer’s Premier League, and advertising dollars are rising fast too. It’s a stunning Indian growth story with room to run.

Hadas: Financial freedom is not what Italy needs

6 June 2018

Leaving the euro would give the country two poisoned gifts: a sinking currency to reduce pressure for durable reforms and fiscal deficits generating inflation and waste. Extra government spending can help create jobs, but only under certain conditions. These don’t apply to Italy.

Hadas: Market complacency curses debtor countries

31 May 2018

President Erdogan is wrong to claim a sinister “interest rate lobby” has aggravated Turkey’s structural weaknesses. Foolish foreigners have, however, financed unsustainable consumption binges in this and other economies. Remedies range from regulatory nudges to capital controls.

Cox: Peter Thiel’s next target should be Infowars

30 May 2018

The tech billionaire financed a lawsuit that bankrupted Gawker and said he’d help others challenging similar sites flouting First Amendment freedoms. A complaint by Sandy Hook families against conspiracy king Alex Jones provides a test for Thiel’s democratic bona fides.

Holding: $1,745-an-hour lawyers due for disruption

25 May 2018

Kirkland & Ellis billed that lofty fee in the Toys R Us bankruptcy, and on Monday scored a Supreme Court win against workers’ right to save money by suing en masse. Even cheaper firms exceed most Americans’ means. Ending attorneys’ monopoly on law could bring affordable justice.

Hadas: Vatican asks the right financial questions

21 May 2018

A new document approved by Pope Francis criticises speculative trading in derivatives and provides helpful guidelines for reform. It’s not just Catholics who see that finance needs to serve the common good. A moral commitment to restrain financial excess could help curb populism.

Hadas: WeWork blather is call to rework accounting

16 May 2018

The office-rental outfit’s “community-adjusted EBITDA” is ridiculous, but it gets at a real problem: valuing fast-growing firms. Standard measures would benefit investors more than company-defined ones. Accountants can help – once they learn to deal with the post-factory economy.