Money‚ Politics

Market forces knock ominously on US realtors’ door

12 Apr 2024

Home buyers will soon find it easier to negotiate fees they pay to 1.5 mln agents – a move that might have happened earlier in a less distorted market. Some brokers will earn more. But the reforms are likely to shrink the fee pool, which is tricky for ancillary firms like Zillow.

Japanese investors becoming the life of the party

21 Mar 2024

ValueAct, Elliott and Berkshire Hathaway have deployed some $16 bln to uncover value in Tokyo-listed stocks. They’re receiving warmer welcomes than raider T. Boone Pickens did in 1989. Even better, the US trio’s success is helping inspire local funds to sustain the momentum.

US Steel tug-of-war threatens to pull it apart

19 Mar 2024

Cleveland-Cliffs has put its rival in a bind, rallying political and labor opposition to a $14 bln agreed sale to Japan’s Nippon while pushing its own questionable takeover bid. No deal at all would be bad news for the target’s union workers. A carve-up might be inevitable.

Joe Biden out-MAGAs Donald Trump

14 Mar 2024

The US president is siding with union workers who oppose a US Steel takeover by Japan’s Nippon. He also said he would sign a bill forcing TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the popular app or see it banned. The ad hoc approach to national security concerns sets a dangerous precedent.

White House race puts lots of fine print at stake

5 Mar 2024

Super Tuesday contests may solidify former President Trump’s shot at a 2020 rematch. November’s ballot will decide not just big-picture issues, but a host of smaller tweaks – like financial or climate rules – where a victorious Trump could roll back President Joe Biden’s legacy.

Revamp of the world order will have to wait

29 Jan 2024

Developing countries last week called for a rethink of global governance. While it’s possible to imagine an order more conducive to peace, justice and prosperity, the chances of creating it are slim. Better to shore up the existing multilateral system and wait for better times.

Harvard ouster is a win for activists, not activism

5 Jan 2024

Corporate cage rattler Bill Ackman won his bid to oust President Claudine Gay from the elite US university. The process was different from activism at companies, where boards rather than CEOs are the natural target. Corporate change is laborious; investors should be glad of it.

The United States will go from MAGA to MAWA

21 Dec 2023

‘Make America Worse Again’ won’t be a campaign slogan, but it’s a vibe. Joe Biden’s policies brought jobs onshore, helped the energy transition, and delayed a downturn. But 2024 will bring infighting that worsens the nation’s financial standing and an electoral test of democracy.

Big College is ripe for the full Bill Ackman

8 Dec 2023

Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents were hauled before Congress over campus antisemitism, after the hedge fund boss helped bring attention to the cause. The lack of accountability displayed suggests Ivory Towers would benefit from being stormed the same way as corporate boardrooms.

With Saudi, India can push new cricket boundaries

20 Nov 2023

India is on course to dominate the sport despite its defeat in the cricket World Cup final at the weekend. The kingdom has discussed a deal valuing the Indian Premier League at $30 bln, per Bloomberg. It’s a wise departure from Riyadh’s heavy-handed approach to sports investing.

American CEOs serve China’s Xi a too-rich dessert

16 Nov 2023

Tim Cook and Steve Schwarzman were among attendees at a dinner where the Chinese president got a standing ovation. For business leaders to curry favor with Xi’s regime is not new. Doing it so performatively, and on home turf, suggests there’s such a thing as too much harmony.

Measuring the US and China’s conscious decoupling

16 Nov 2023

President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping don’t agree on the terminology, but the Sino-American relationship is fracturing. A close look at trade, finance, investment, people and geopolitical noise shows the world’s two largest economies are pulling apart.

Social Security collides with idle golden years

9 Nov 2023

Republican presidential candidates pitched a handful of ideas for saving the US benefit, like a higher retirement age. But potential solutions can’t dent the real issues: an aging population and massive, broad overspending.

Biden AI plan is one step in avoiding crypto trap

30 Oct 2023

The president’s new executive order aims to set regulatory guardrails for artificial intelligence. It still leaves a big hole for Congress to fill. Failing to set coherent rules risks the kind of piecemeal enforcement that hobbled crypto, but for a technology with higher stakes.

Influencer model infects US political fundraising

27 Oct 2023

The US House elected a speaker after four people gave it a try. The chaos partly reflects how politicians now receive support. Social media enables them to reach voters without the backing of their party. The new way to create star power will disrupt politics as it has Hollywood.

US deficit problem screams for revenue solution

23 Oct 2023

Rising interest costs threaten to widen a $1.7 trln budget gap already stretched beyond 7% of GDP. Lawmakers are haggling about spending, but the math only works with higher taxes. It means closing an inheritance loophole, charging the rich more and resetting the corporate rate.

Wall Street cues a lesson in Ivory Tower finance

20 Oct 2023

Billionaires Marc Rowan and Bill Ackman are angry about Middle East positions taken by their alma maters, UPenn and Harvard. The backlash inadvertently spotlights the power big donors wield on campus. It’s a chance to revisit the business model and make college a freer market.

Green turn will extend China’s Belt and Road trek

20 Oct 2023

Ten years on, Beijing’s $1 trln infrastructure plan has gone global. While the West has largely shunned the scheme fearing debt bondage and political meddling, developing countries have rushed to join. Their lack of cash to fund the clean transition will keep the project alive.

Putin and Xi’s strengthening bond has a weakness

17 Oct 2023

The Russian president’s expected meeting with his Chinese peer re-ups their “no-limits” friendship. Beijing is gorging on cheap crude and sending goods to its sanctions-hit neighbour. However, the thriving $190 bln bilateral trade is eroding Moscow’s economic sovereignty.

Australia’s China détente is a tough one to copy

12 Oct 2023

Beijing freed an Aussie journalist and has lifted import bans on goods like coal and hay. High commodity prices propped up Canberra’s coffers, while a less bellicose administration and a scant manufacturing base helped reconciliation. The US and the EU can’t use such a blueprint.