Features

Alibaba rewrites its e-commerce playbook

20 July 2017

China's online giant is trumpeting "new retail": a push into bricks-and-mortar shopping. That could help sustain high growth. But abandoning the asset-light model which has been Alibaba's unique selling point will weigh on profits.

Guest view: Culture can’t be bank-reform casualty

18 July 2017

Moves to relax U.S., UK and European regulation and supervision necessitate still greater attention on the important issues of institutional conduct, argues William Rhodes, a former Citigroup executive and co-chair of the G30’s steering committee on bank culture and governance.

Review: How justice lost its way on Wall Street

14 July 2017

The financial crisis had millions of victims but, unlike previous ones, no apparent perpetrators. Jesse Eisinger's "The Chickenshit Club" blames political timidity, lobbying and D.C.'s revolving door for the failure to prosecute top dogs. Investors may yet regret the change.

Britain learns how not to think about work

12 July 2017

A review of the UK “gig economy” suggests some jobs have conditions that make them little better than having no job at all. Others appeal much more than pay levels would suggest. Employment data does not capture the difference. Developing countries have known this for decades.

Retail click jobs can brace only so many bricks

5 July 2017

The next decade threatens to doom U.S. workers at the likes of Macy's, Staples and Foot Locker. E-commerce should offset a good portion of the losses. Even assuming a healthy 40 pct increase in such roles, though, a Breakingviews analysis suggests some 600,000 jobs may vanish.

U.S. water doesn’t let Trump dampen the mood

30 June 2017

Industry bigwigs in New Orleans extolled an all-in approach to managing H2O, with one exception. They ignored White House plans to curtail clean-water rules to focus on fixing aging systems. Securing the needed $5 trln is urgent, but limiting federal control could be costly too.

Review: What really creates the value of money

30 June 2017

Christine Desan’s “Making Money” is not only a fine monetary history of England. The 2014 book is relevant today. It shows cash and governments go together, the gold standard was a misnomer and central banking is political. And we should stop outsourcing money-creation to banks.

Hong Kong’s test-bed role is valuable and fragile

28 June 2017

Beijing has gifted the city with schemes linking investors to mainland currency, stock and bond markets. The tightly controlled pilots offer unique access to China. But they could either be swept away by deeper overhauls, or hobbled if the central government retreats on reform.

Time for Hong Kong to steer a new economic course

27 June 2017

The fragrant harbour has long been China’s gateway to the world in trade, finance, and much else. Two decades after the handover, some traditional middleman roles are waning. Reinvigorating the economy means playing to existing strengths - and fixing some glaring problems.

U.S. waterworks wrestle with funding spigot

26 June 2017

The industry needs some $5 trln to patch up pipes, yet is getting little help from Washington. Water leaders convening in New Orleans this week have plenty of ways to woo investors. Fragmentation, cash-strapped customers and struggling utilities present significant risks, though.