Labour

Rishi Sunak pays if BoE inflation bet goes awry

22 Sep 2021

Surging prices mean the UK finance minister has to pay more interest on outstanding debt. Blame Britain’s love of bonds tied to inflation. The bill will be even bigger if price pressures are more stubborn than the Bank of England expects, forcing hasty monetary policy tightening.

Capital Calls: Microsoft’s buyback, Railway M&A

15 Sep 2021

Concise views on global finance: the software giant’s $60 bln stock repurchase plan is smaller than it sounds; meanwhile, a tangled takeover battle for train operator Kansas City Southern takes a messy new track.

Job market mismatches are a long-term headache

8 Sep 2021

There are more U.S. vacancies than unemployed people. The post-pandemic reopening is causing temporary staff shortages despite joblessness elsewhere. But it’s also a long-term trend that will pose a tricky problem for central bankers as unemployment and rising wages coincide.

Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, $7 bln tax settlement

3 Sep 2021

Concise views on global finance: Slow U.S. job growth signals caution for the Fed; meanwhile, a giant deal between hedge fund executives and the IRS gives legs to President Biden's tax plans.

Gig-work startup is bad fit with today’s SPACs

25 Aug 2021

ShiftPixy, a temporary-employment app whose shares, floated in 2017, have lost 99% of their value since, has cut the funding target for four blank-check vehicles it is sponsoring. It looks like a last-ditch effort to score in an indiscriminate SPAC market that no longer exists.

Capital Calls: Pfizer M&A, Uber driver status

23 Aug 2021

The drugmaker has agreed to acquire Trillium Therapeutics for $2.3 billion, looking to its broader post-coronavirus strategy; a California judge has struck down a law exempting tech companies from treating drivers as full employees, complicating their push to keep costs down.

Companies offering child care get grown-up payback

20 Aug 2021

The pandemic has deterred women from working. U.S. employers are short of workers and long on office space. Patagonia, for one, says providing for employees' kids is worth it over time, and government aid can extend the perk to lower-income staff. It’s a teachable moment.

Temping giant pays rich price for staying power

28 Jul 2021

Switzerland’s Adecco will buy Belgium’s Akka for $2.3 bln. The deal accelerates its shift towards technology consulting and away from low-growth businesses like short-term office workers. But the returns seem thin and rely partly on revenue boosters, which look challenging.

Chancellor: Paying the piper for pandemic recovery

2 Jul 2021

The war on Covid-19 proved remarkably expensive. The U.S. federal deficit ran to $3.4 trillion last year. As the crisis eases, policymakers are thinking about how to foot the bill. Past wars have brought forth new taxes. Consider some fresh sources for raising government revenue.

Capital Calls: Infrastructure, Doximity, Deliveroo

24 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: President Biden’s $1 trln bipartisan plan for U.S. infrastructure is a feat of political engineering. Meanwhile, medical-themed social network Doximity finds riches in niches, and UK delivery outfit Deliveroo serves up a favorable court ruling.

Morgan Stanley vaccine edict is leverage at work

23 Jun 2021

CEO James Gorman’s decree that only the inoculated can enter his firm’s New York offices reflects reality – most employees are already vaccinated – but also clout. Wall Street is pretty well placed to dictate terms to staff. The return to work may be a rude awakening for some.

American Airlines pulls a Wall Street stupidity

21 Jun 2021

As U.S. air travel booms again, the carrier is cutting flights party due to labor shortages, something taxpayer bailouts were meant to prevent. As Merrill Lynch and other investment banks learned during previous crises, pulling the trigger too quickly on firing is a bad move.

Capital Calls: JPMorgan, French SPAC, Jessica Alba

17 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: Jamie Dimon bulks up his nascent UK digital banking offer by buying Nutmeg; France boosts its lowly SPAC league-table position with two blank-cheque vehicles; the Hollywood star’s consumer packaged goods company Honest encounters growing pains.

Amazon’s living-wage trade-off is worth it

9 Jun 2021

The $1.6 trln firm’s pay of $15 an hour, double the U.S. minimum, has bolstered hiring in a competitive job market. That could hurt some small businesses. But it puts the company in an important position to pressure America’s largest employers – the government and Walmart.

Wall Streeters outpace Europeans back to office

7 Jun 2021

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wants staff in by summer, and Goldman’s David Solomon called home-working an “aberration”. Deutsche, HSBC and Barclays are taking a laxer approach. Sidewalk-pounding bankers at U.S. firms might win more client facetime, and an even greater share of deals.

Confusing U.S. labor signs augur uneven recovery

4 Jun 2021

The Dallas Fed thinks the jobs market is hot; the San Francisco branch says the opposite. Both are right. While the unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, it’s less rosy for women and people of color. The central bank needs to focus on the weakest link to fulfill economic goals.

Markets are too tranquil for their own good

2 Jun 2021

Measures of expected asset-price volatility have fallen as the U.S. economy roars ahead, Fed boss Jay Powell keeps his foot on the accelerator, and firms and consumers regain some confidence. The recovery is now so fully priced in that even small setbacks could rattle investors.

Capital Calls: Retail sales’ wild ride

19 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: Some U.S. retailers are reporting better growth than others, but there’s still much to play for.

Viewsroom: China’s baby bust, European SPAC boom

13 May 2021

China’s census data showed the population grew just 0.53% every year in the decade to 2020, with fertility rates dropping to Japanese levels. That’s bad news for growth. And European rainmakers like Claudio Costamagna and Ian Osborne offer market-friendlier blank-check deals.

Capital Calls: Apple, UK SPACs

30 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: Apple’s European antitrust problem may start a global trend; UK regulators scramble to join SPAC party.