Society

New York hybrid working woe, Toshiba’s options

9 Jun 2022

The work from home revolution looks here to stay with nearly 80% of surveyed employers accepting it as the new norm. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how this will be painful for office landlords. Plus, the $22 bln Japanese company’s mysterious future.

Chinese movie industry screens business tragedy

8 Jun 2022

Box office takings touched a 10-year low during the recent holiday weekend. While China overtook the U.S. market during the pandemic, in absolute terms it’s contracting, a trend reflected in share prices for companies like IMAX China. The damage could be permanent.

Biden tries a new tool for handling China: realism

24 May 2022

At first glance a pact with India, Japan and Vietnam looks short on substance and skips sensitive issues. The U.S. also looks likely to drop many tariffs against China. But where his predecessors’ bids to woo or contain Beijing failed, Biden’s are at least likely to prove durable.

Fortescue energy transition loses sight of another

18 May 2022

The $42 bln miner and wannabe green hydrogen champ is hiring older white men as part of a management shakeup that repositions two women. Chair Twiggy Forrest and former GE, AGL and RBA bosses may bring useful experience, but it’s important to keep making progress in all phases.

Hong Kong co-living boom bets on more lonely years

17 May 2022

Warburg Pincus is among those buying hotels in the Asian hub to convert into upscale shared digs for millennials. Given a 99% drop in visitors in the past three years and a belief that won’t reverse soon as officials stick with China’s zero-Covid policy, more deals look likely.

Super chemo will be Big Pharma’s next tussle

16 May 2022

AstraZeneca and Sanofi are among peers developing drugs that attack tumours more efficiently than traditional chemotherapy. The treatments, dubbed ADCs, may fight diseases from breast to blood cancer and make $60 bln of annual sales. Laggards, like Novartis, may need to catch up.

India heatwave throws food security for loop

12 May 2022

Crops are wilting after weeks of climate change-induced scorching temperatures. On top of domestic pain, it casts doubt on India’s new role exporting grain to replace supplies lost to Russia’s war in Ukraine. That’ll create more dilemmas for political leaders near and far.

Marcos clan’s return to Manila is awkwardly timed

11 May 2022

The Philippines’ president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the late strongman, inherits an economy that grew 7.7% last quarter, but faces mounting headwinds. He will have to find drivers beyond the infrastructure spending that made his predecessor – and father - so popular.

Anti-Americanism is blinding Chinese policy

5 May 2022

President Xi Jinping’s obsession with surpassing his country’s top trading partner is distorting his approach to growth and the pandemic. Bad debts, crackdowns and Covid-zero could slow China’s push to double output by 2035 and become the world’s largest economy.

NFTs are more opportunity than threat for Spotify

28 Apr 2022

Music streamers have cause to fear so-called non-fungible-token platforms, which enable artists to nab bigger royalties. Yet Spotify and its peers are where the fans are. If digital collectibles take off, streamers may be able to take a piece of the pie rather than being eaten.

ECB forecasting snafus may turn into trust problem

28 Apr 2022

Christine Lagarde’s central bank underestimated how high inflation would soar and deferred rate hikes. Its own research says rising inequality hurts faith in public institutions. Soaring prices risk undermining such confidence, which is critical in a still-young currency union.

Asia wealth slump renders bank hype a little rich

26 Apr 2022

UBS’s pre-tax profit from private banking in the region slumped 38% in the first quarter. Lockdown pains should ease eventually, but China’s “common prosperity” agenda may undermine the highly touted opportunity. Hiring blitzes by Citi, HSBC and others could be hard to justify.

Elon Musk buys Tesla a pounding Chinese headache

26 Apr 2022

The world’s wealthiest man is buying Twitter for $44 bln in the name of free speech. Beijing will lean on him to un-ban its troll army, then push him to comply with its extra-territorial sedition law. The profitable carmaker’s key Shanghai outfit risks being a pawn in the fight.

Capital Calls: Gap falls through the inflation gap

22 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares in the clothing retailer fell over 19% after the company warned of a sharper drop in sales and announced the departure of Nancy Green, the boss of its Old Navy unit.

Twitter’s scarce suitors, Didi’s New York exit

21 Apr 2022

As Elon Musk dangles a $41 billion offer, Breakingviews columnists discuss whether anybody will end up buying the social network in this Viewsroom podcast. Plus, the Chinese ride-hailing firm cancels its U.S. listing less than a year after arriving, leaving shareholders stranded.

Shanghai deflates the Chinese Dream

19 Apr 2022

Brutal lockdowns in the financial centre are testing the elites' confidence in the Communist Party. The tacit contract in which citizens traded political rights for rising living standards is fraying. Revolt is unlikely, but China can ill-afford a sulking intelligentsia.

China’s “bulletproof” coffee IPO is full of holes

12 Apr 2022

Star Plus Legend banks on the founder's pop-star son, Jay Chou, hawking butter-infused, or bulletproof, java and other diet fads. Beijing's crackdown on celebrity influence, however, threatens $57 mln of revenue. Using consumers as a sales force raises another red flag.

Next Hong Kong chief gives China chance to reset

8 Apr 2022

Carrie Lam’s handling of protests and Covid-19 weakened the city’s stature and deepened economic imbalances. John Lee, the frontrunner to succeed her, looks thinly qualified to fix such issues. A more pragmatic approach from Beijing, though, might shore up investor confidence.

Sri Lanka crisis sends inflation warning worldwide

4 Apr 2022

The island is in turmoil after the war in Ukraine sent prices surging, leading to crippling shortages. Its foreign debt is now heading for a harder restructuring. Years of mismanagement make Sri Lanka an extreme case, but it’s a warning on the risks even for sturdier economies.

Shanghai crisis lays frost over economic spring

4 Apr 2022

The city’s 26 mln residents have been thrown into a strict lockdown. It suggests politicians pushing hardline Covid measures have the upper hand and more anti-Omicron shock-and-awe may follow. With big stimulus looking unlikely, the economy’s green shoots would quickly wilt.