Features

Review: Serial director’s manual skims the surface

14 May 2021

Dambisa Moyo spent a decade in the boardroom of giant companies including Barclays, Barrick Gold and Chevron. In “How Boards Work” she explains how directors operate and how they must adapt. But given the events she witnessed, her account is lacking in personal reflection.

Guest view: SPAC investors face six key risks

13 May 2021

Inadequate due diligence, material misstatements, and conflicts are among the problems contributing to a blank check bubble. Long-term sustainability of SPACs relies on comprehensive risk management and guidelines with stronger safeguards, says Lisa Silverman of K2 Integrity.

Guest view: Colombia’s struggle against poverty

11 May 2021

President Duque’s shift of tax burdens to the poor and middle class backfired. Despite their withdrawal and the finance minister’s exit, protests will continue until the country starts reversing Latin America’s worst income inequality, Smith College’s Veronica Kessler writes.

Breakdown: Net zero goals demand zero tolerance

10 May 2021

Only a fifth of the world’s top public companies have promised to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Among those that have, promises are tricky to compare and rely on ambitious offset schemes. Breakingviews helps investors find the substance behind the hot air.

Review: A better way of valuing the world

6 May 2021

The pandemic is one of three crises that Mark Carney dissects to show how market prices can fail, to society’s detriment. He suggests solutions in “Value(s)”. Better still, the former central banker is trying to practice what he preaches with his work on climate change.

Africa’s digital payments race becomes a scramble

5 May 2021

The pandemic has brought the region’s mobile-based money networks and their 159 mln users to a crossroads. Airtel and MTN may spin off their payment arms. Banks and card giants like Mastercard are joining in. The victors will hold sway over an increasingly cashless continent.

Review: Planting the seeds of fresh crises

30 April 2021

Niall Ferguson’s “Doom” aspires to a political theory of disaster, epidemiological or otherwise. The historian doesn’t really deliver but hints at a catastrophe to come. Disagreements over whether democracy or authority defeated Covid-19 could ferment a terrible conflict.

Biden places $4 trln bet on outsmarting the rich

29 April 2021

The U.S. president’s education, childcare and infrastructure sprees are supposed to juice economic growth, while being paid for by taxing the wealthy and companies. How well that works depends on whether plutocrats behave as planned. They have a big incentive to act differently.

Guest view: A qualified opinion on UK audit reform

28 April 2021

Corporate collapses like Carillion and Thomas Cook highlight flaws in accounting for capital and dividends, argues Natasha Landell-Mills of Sarasin & Partners. Proposals to restore trust in accounts fall dangerously short. The government should focus on enforcing existing laws.

Australia’s border strength morphs into weakness

28 April 2021

Strictly banning outsiders has been a big factor in stopping the spread of Covid-19. Fiscal stimulus and low rates have helped compensate, but can’t replace the annual 1% growth delivered by immigrants. Absent bold policy changes, the age of economic miracles may be past.