Microsoft Corp gained EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision on Monday, in a significant boost that could prompt Chinese and Korean regulators to follow suit despite a British veto of the deal. The U.S. software giant still faces a battle to clinch a deal. It has until May 24 to appeal a decision […]
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets by Amanda Cooper. Time is running out to break the impasse on the U.S. government borrowing limit. President Joe Biden is meeting Congressional leaders on Tuesday to try to hash out a compromise to raise the debt limit and avoid a catastrophic default. Short-term government borrowing […]
Tesla Inc’s new vehicle-assembly system, which created instant buzz when it was unveiled in March, ignited a debate among auto manufacturing experts on whether CEO Elon Musk’s so-called unboxed process is radical, revisionist or derivative – or all of the above. Musk believes the company needs to radically rethink conventional manufacturing methods in order to build […]
Lao Telecommunication Public Company is the Lao PDR’s leading telecommunications provider withnationwide network coverage. The Company’s main services include 2G, 3G, 4G and 4.5G mobilephone connectivity, fixed line and fixed wireless telephone services, fibre to the home internet,international calling, and mobile data services. As the largest telecom operator in the Lao PDR – Lao Telecom’s […]
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 […]
