Tag: Free exchange
Podcast: A most unusual company
The one-time bookseller Amazon accounts for more than half of every new dollar spent online in the US. But how did it get to be the fifth most valuable company in the world? Also: why it costs the American government more to borrow money on the bonds market than European ones. And the big brands used to account for two-thirds of the tyre market. Now China has massively deflated their share. Simon Long hosts.
Podcast: Microsofter
Microsoft has reinvented itself under its new CEO Satya Nadella with a move to the cloud. Is its friendlier approach to program developers likely to pay off? Also: as the Netherlands goes to the polls, our Europe editor Matt Steinglass examines how each party’s financial manifestos were put to the test. And: many people are fed up with their banks. Now help is at a hand from Europe’s banking regulators. Simon Long hosts.
Admit it: Republicans’ proposed Obamacare overhaul offers relief for some middle earners
WHAT is the best part of House Republicans’ proposed reform of Obamacare? There isn’t one, if you believe much of this week’s commentary. The bill will benefit the young and healthy, by bringing their premiums down, but only at the cost of the old and sickly. But most writers are overlooking the help the bill would offer to one group that has clearly suffered unfairly under Obamacare. So long as Paul Ryan’s reform does not send the market into a death spiral—which is not a sure thing (see article)—this group will get some needed financial assistance under the Republican plan.
I’m talking about people who buy health insurance for themselves, rather than through an employer, and who do not get the subsidies which shield those on low incomes from Obamacare’s high premiums. It is easy to overlook this group, because the vast majority of the 10m people who buy insurance through Obamacare’s websites (or «exchanges») receive subsidies. For example, here is Jared…Continue reading
GM says ‘au revoir’ to Europe
General Motors has sold its Vauxhall and Opel brands to PSA in France. Adam Roberts our European business editor asks how the car industry is reacting to the consolidation. Also: can Snapchat succeed as a public company? And might President Trump’s accusation that China hasn’t been playing by the rules have a point? Simon Long hosts.
Podcast: Money talks
There are a number of growing threats to Europe with Brexit and maybe another Greek disaster looming. But Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem tells Sacha Nauta the EU is actually on the mend. Also: Why Oscar mix-ups symbolise how independent films such as Moonlight are overshadowed by the big studios. Simon Long hosts.
Clean energy’s dirty secret
Could the rise of renewables be putting the traditional electricity market into a crisis? Also: Economist Diane Elson takes governments to task about the gender biases in their economic policies. And how the Brazilian government is tackling one of its biggest financial problems: pensions.
Banks on the move
Are thousands of banking jobs set to migrate from Britain into the eurozone? Patrick Lane discusses potential destinations with host Simon Long. Also: a currency catastrophe in Zimbabwe and the decline of the executive jet
Should America want a strong dollar? It's complicated
IN AN experience we have all had, Donald Trump, unable to sleep, reportedly rang his National Security Advisor at 3:00 in the morning to ask whether America should want a strong dollar or a weak one. Look, there are no stupid questions. This one is actually more interesting than you might think. There are a few ways to answer it.
One way is to ask what it would mean if there were a random rise in the dollar (caused, say, by noise trading). Tyler Cowen takes this approach. Since most Americans have their incomes and wealth in dollars, a rise in the dollar would generally be good for America and bad for non-Americans: with caveats, including the fact that a stronger dollar might cause financial trouble for indebted emerging markets which could feed back into the American economy.
That’s fine and all, but the dollar usually does what it does for a reason, or some set of reasons, and the answer to the question depends on why the dollar is strong or weak. Matt Yglesias
How to make money from digital entertainment
Billions worldwide have access to on demand digital entertainment. But how do you turn a profit in the attention economy? Also on the show: The People’s Bank of China is in the throes of an interest-rate tightening cycle. And who pays a higher salary – big or small companies?
A new boss at the helm of Exxon Mobil
With Exxon Mobil’s former chief executive now Trump’s Secretary of State, what challenges will face the new man in charge of the world’s largest private oil company? India’s annual economic survey includes an idea for a Universal Basic Income (UBI). What could a UBI mean for India’s poor? And a Harvard economist examines the pay gap afflicting women in employment.