Now that COVID-19 infection rates and deaths are at relatively low levels in the US, attention is turning to the significant proportion of the population who continue to report symptoms long after initial infection. This column describes how 14% of the 460,000 Americans in a US Census Bureau household survey reported suffering long COVID at […]
Japan will from Wednesday ease its COVID restrictions on travellers from China, dropping a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival, its top government spokesperson said. Instead of blanket testing of travellers from mainland China, Japan will only test selected samples, although travellers will still need to show a negative test […]
Plastic use in G20 countries is on course to nearly double by the middle of the century unless a comprehensive and legally binding global treaty to curb consumption is drawn up, according to research published on Monday. Existing programmes to boost recycling or cut single-use plastic consumption only “scratched the surface” and a more comprehensive […]
In recent months, wage growth has showed signs of slowing despite an extraordinarily tight labour market, which has presented a puzzle for standard models of labour market slack. This column shows that contrary to what many have claimed, wage growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 was actually in line with what a standard Phillips […]
The transition to net zero will require policies that promote switching to carbon-free technologies on a large scale. Furthermore, the transition will often involve complementarities and peer effects in demand. This column argues that in the presence of such complementarities, transformative policies are needed to move society to a green, low-emissions equilibrium. Policies could include […]
In February 2023, a series of violent earthquakes struck southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria. This column provides early estimates of the likely economic impact of the earthquakes in Türkiye, drawing on the country’s experience with the 1999 earthquake as well as evidence from over 40 major earthquakes in 25 countries. Overall, […]
Intel Corp on Wednesday cut its dividend payout to its lowest in 16 years and decided to scale back big investments to save cash amid slowing demand for its chips used in personal computers and data centers. Once a leading chipmaker, Intel is now racing to catch up with rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company […]
Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights in the United States on Wednesday as a strong winter storm makes its way through the western and central states. A total of 1,035 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled by 0915 am ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, which showed 932 flights were […]
Microsoft Corp has struck a 10-year deal to bring “Call of Duty” and other Activision games to Nvidia Corp’s gaming platform if the Xbox maker is allowed to complete its much-contested $69 billion acquisition of Activision. Regulators and competitors like Sony have come out hard against the proposed Microsoft-Activision tie-up. The move may allay concerns by ensuring more […]
India does not want G20 nations to discuss additional sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, government sources said on Wednesday, as it hosts a meeting of the bloc’s finance chiefs at which the United States and allies were set to push for further action. India has kept a neutral stance on the war, […]
