Society

Lessons from the original Industrial Revolution

9 Jun 2023

There’s much excitement that automation will unleash a new era of innovation. Yet in Britain, which led the first transformation of the industrial era, growth has stalled. Policymakers should study the conditions which sparked previous economic success, writes Edward Chancellor.

Pampered pets unleash booming market

6 Jun 2023

The pet craze brought on by the pandemic has become a boon for companies that sell products to dog-loving owners. FidoCure founder Christina Lopes explains to The Exchange podcast how this might be able to help humans, too.

Stingy European savers will help the ECB, not LVMH

6 Jun 2023

Euro zone citizens have 1 trln euros in pandemic-era savings. Unlike their US peers, they are unlikely to splash the cash in malls and restaurants. That’s bad news for retailers and service providers, but it will help Frankfurt’s rate-setters slow the economy and cool inflation.

Pricey services are weary ratesetters’ last battle

1 Jun 2023

The rising costs of flights, restaurants and concerts are hampering central bank efforts to drag consumer price inflation back down to 2%. In the US the post-pandemic consumption boom is fading. In Europe and the UK, though, higher wages are prolonging the fight.

Summer vote can dissipate Spain’s economic clouds

31 May 2023

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is gambling on a snap general election after a rout in local polls. Frictions within his ruling coalition irked voters. Strong popular backing would give him the mandate to tackle the country’s fiscal woes, pension costs and high unemployment.

‘Greedflation’ loosens its grip on food retailers

24 May 2023

Suppliers like Unilever and Kraft Heinz are easing inflation-busting price rises that hit grocers hard. That will benefit profit margins at the likes of Kroger and Carrefour. Their next challenge will be convincing cash-strapped consumers to pay, and buy, more in supermarkets.

AI boom could expose investors’ natural stupidity

19 May 2023

Corporate leaders and money managers are jumping on the artificial intelligence bandwagon. The study of behavioural economics suggests people are easily carried away by hype. Some of the limits of human reason may also apply to supposedly smart machines, writes Felix Martin.

Why the jobs market could brush off AI threat

16 May 2023

Hiring seems to be waning in the US and Europe. Yet in this Exchange podcast, recruitment boss Sander van ’t Noordende strikes a hopeful note. The Randstad CEO explains why artificial intelligence and a possible economic slump are doing nothing to dampen demand for talent.

AI offers leisure, if not happiness

12 May 2023

Technology has outpaced economic growth for 50 years, while workers have long traded higher productivity for more leisure. These trends will continue as artificial intelligence automates more jobs. The salient question is how to distribute the gains – and the free time.

Pharma’s obesity gold rush will have limits

11 May 2023

Drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are vying for a large slab of the weight loss medications market, which analysts reckon could be worth $100 bln by 2031. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how investor optimism in a booming market is unwarranted.

Airbnb swerves tech rout with constant change

2 May 2023

The $77 bln travel company weathered the pandemic and is now navigating a tech valuation bloodbath. Its co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk told The Exchange podcast that lessons learned during Covid-19 about disruption and never sitting still are key to its future.

Ending the retailers’ crisis has a high price tag

2 May 2023

Luring inflation-wary shoppers back to the high street won’t be cheap, executives at last week’s World Retail Congress said. Heavyweights like Zara owner Inditex, which has room to plough money into stores, stand to win big. H&M and others cutting to survive face a slow decline.

Oil AGMs presage awkward investor decoupling

28 Apr 2023

BP sailed through its annual shareholder meeting without much blowback on how it had backtracked on climate goals. That will embolden competitors to dismiss pro-green investors’ concerns, and give more to the opposite camp. It is becoming harder to please both sides.

Apple’s store push marks its big Indian wedding

18 Apr 2023

Dhol drums – a high-decibel feature of marriage celebrations – played in Mumbai as Tim Cook opened the company’s first store. A retail presence is mostly a symbolic gesture given India’s lower-middle income status. Yet selling more iPhones isn’t the only thing Cook has to gain.

European pay anger is more costly than inflation

3 Apr 2023

Workers are striking and demanding salary hikes to make up for higher living costs. Governments and central banks are warning about the risks of a consumer price spiral, but after three years of real wage stagnation, further restraint will inflict political and economic pain.

Capital Calls: Illumina’s odd bedfellows

3 Apr 2023

Concise views on global finance: The FTC’s order that Illumina unwind its Grail acquisition puts head commissioner Lina Khan on the same side as Carl Icahn. Khan opposes the deal because Illumina can raise prices, while the activist thinks the deal doesn't make sense.

UK growth demands better-directed fiscal fireworks

13 Mar 2023

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt’s March 15 budget may feature 30 bln pounds of headroom to ease headaches like workers’ pay. But Britain’s real malaise is a lack of long-term business investment. To keep pace with foreign largesse, Hunt needs to deploy significant tax breaks.

Female entrepreneurs’ glass ceiling is intact

8 Mar 2023

Two decades after boardroom quotas were first introduced, women have advanced at listed firms. Yet despite making up 40% of US business founders, female entrepreneurs capture just 2% of venture capital cash. Governments and asset managers can help raise that proportion.

Pocketbook confusion puts economy on wrong path

1 Mar 2023

Americans are feeling worse about the job market but better about their finances. Those sentiments should be flipped. The U.S. job market still features low unemployment and larger-than-usual raises. Households’ steady spending, meanwhile, threatens to keep inflation high.

European gas savings success hides darker reality

27 Jan 2023

Spurred by soaring prices, the continent used 12% less of the fossil fuel in 2022. Despite a push to conserve energy, much of the drop was due to companies switching to other pollutants or shutting plants. Gas-hungry sectors like chemicals and steel face a protracted struggle.