Features

Guest view: Finance can put out rainforest fires

17 September 2019

The burning Amazon has sparked international concern, tension between Brazil and Europe, but no solutions. One remedy, argue execs at the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, is for big firms to pay landowners to keep the forests and use the investment to offset their own pollution.

Review: Blackstone’s unapologetic buyout baron

17 September 2019

Steve Schwarzman’s memoir is a rollicking tale of banking’s glory days, and how he built an investing colossus. It’s also a love letter to elitism from a man who talks with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Capitalism is under attack, but Schwarzman leaves no doubt which side he’s on.

Some startups truly make the world a better place

16 September 2019

Silicon Valley likes the idea of doing good, but it’s undermined by the power and missteps of firms like Facebook. New ventures aim to help people directly, connecting students at non-elite colleges to job leads or helping teachers buy homes. The trick will be making money, too.

Review: The first global corporation was the worst

6 September 2019

The East India Company was a 17th century London startup that conquered a subcontinent. William Dalrymple’s “The Anarchy” tracks its expansion, diversification, bailout and dissolution. The gruesome tale is relevant for business, and for nations with brash trading ambitions.

Woke capitalism is a winner in the 2020 campaign

4 September 2019

Democratic White House hopefuls blame the U.S. economic system for growing inequality. Their plans target private equity, banks, corporations and the rich. A wealth tax may not be as effective as it looks. But some ideas may start to cut the gap between the haves and have nots.

Review: The strange lure of free market economics

30 August 2019

Milton Friedman proclaimed that governments were always bad economic actors. Eventually, far too many people believed him. “The Economists’ Hour” tells how reality trounced ideology for decades. Though the fanatics are in retreat, economists are still far too fond of markets.

Breakdown: The global fight over Big Tech’s taxes

22 August 2019

OECD countries are trying to agree a new set of rules for the likes of Google. States in Europe and elsewhere want more income from digital behemoths but could well face U.S. intransigence. That makes a messy patchwork of local levies and American countermeasures likely.

Beijing’s Hong Kong hard line threatens everyone

22 August 2019

President Xi Jinping has peaceful options to calm protests. Instead state media are talking treason and terrorism; the army is on standby. That China would even consider sacrificing its prize financial centre for nationalism shows economic pragmatism is being overruled by anger.

Repatriated cash revs up Taiwan’s economic engine

14 August 2019

President Tsai Ing-wen wants companies that left for mainland China and beyond to return, bringing with them some of the $350 bln already invested overseas. Fallout from a U.S.-China trade war means that is achievable; labour, land and other reforms can make the impact last.

Breakdown: Italian snap poll promises spicy autumn

12 August 2019

League leader Matteo Salvini has spoiled Italians’ summer by ditching support for his hapless coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement. He seeks an election to maximise popular support and rule solo. Italy’s complex parliamentary system means he will need to vault a few hurdles.