Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding, but there is still little evidence on its short- and medium-term microeconomic impact. This column explores the effects of flood events on European firms. Water damages have a significant and persistent adverse effect on firm performance and may even lead to firm exit. However, frequent […]
Firms seem to have responded to rising carbon costs by adapting rather than relocating their business operations. This column uses a comprehensive measure of carbon costs and data on over 3 million firms from 32 countries from 2000 to 2019 to show that carbon costs hardly depressed the performance of an average industrial firm. While […]
Climate risk has become a major concern for financial institutions and financial markets. Yet, climate policy is still in its infancy and contributes to increased uncertainty. For example, the lack of a sufficiently high carbon price and the variety of definitions for green activities lower the value of existing and new capital, and complicate risk […]
While artificial intelligence technologies are entering the mainstream, adoption in healthcare has lagged. This column explores potential cost savings of AI use in healthcare and reasons for the slow adoption. Widespread AI adoption in the next five years using currently available technology could result in savings of 5–10% of healthcare spending, or $200 to $360 […]
A Russian court fined Alphabet’s Google 3 million roubles ($38,600) on Thursday for failing to delete YouTube videos it said promoted “LGBT propaganda” and “false information” about Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported. Over the last year Moscow has levied dozens of fines against Western tech companies as part of a drive […]
Private U.S. nuclear fusion company Helion Energy will provide Microsoft with electricity in about five years, the companies said on Wednesday, in the first such deal for the power source that fuels the sun but has been elusive on Earth. Government labs and more than 30 companies are racing to generate power from fusion, which […]
U.S. regulators on Thursday slapped units of Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings with civil penalties for widespread recordkeeping violations through employees’ use of personal devices and apps for work communications. HSBC Securities Inc and Scotia Capital, registered brokers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), have agreed to pay $15 million and $7.5 million, […]
Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp on Thursday posted a sharply narrower annual loss after a capital raise using its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd helped cushion investment loss at its Vision Fund investing arm. SoftBank reported a net loss of 970 billion yen ($7.18 billion) for the year ended March 31, compared with a 1.7 trillion yen […]
Federal prosecutors in Washington are looking into short seller activity around the recent volatility in U.S. bank shares sparked by the failure of three regional lenders since March, a source familiar with the matter said. Short sellers, traders that profit by betting shares will fall, have come under scrutiny over the past week as government […]
Lucid’s electric vehicles are often displayed prominently at public events and financial conferences in Saudi Arabia to symbolise its crown prince’s multi-billion dollar “Vision 2030”. The electric car maker is among the biggest U.S. investments by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which has been tasked with driving the kingdom’s ambitious plan to cut its […]
