Your Evening Briefing
Your Evening Briefing
(Bloomberg) --
Traditionally, U.S. downturns are homegrown and household-led, triggered by spikes in interest rates and fueled by the unwinding of Wall Street wrongdoing or simple, unregulated excess. None of that’s arguably the case this time. Instead, what’s making investors nervous is a global, geopolitical shock to business sentiment driven by President Donald Trump’s trade war on China and Britain’s potential pullout from the European Union. That’s why companies are cutting spending. Get ready, because this won’t be your father’s recession.
Here are today’s top stories
China signaled it would retaliate after the Trump administration placed eight of the country’s technology giants on a blacklist. U.S. stocks sunk.
The U.K. stepped up preparations for a no-deal Brexit in three weeks’ time as negotiations with the EU headed toward a breakdown
Elizabeth Pierce dazzled investors with plans to run high-speed fiber optic cable under the Arctic, boosting web speeds for much of the planet. It turned out to be a $1 billion scam.
Apple last year announced new technology to allow software developers to transition iPad apps into Mac versions, essentially letting coders write an app once and deploy it across millions of devices. So far, the reality has fallen short, and consumers are paying the price.
Every decade or so, GM undergoes a transformation to ensure the company’s long-term survival. Invariably, these makeovers turn some communities into winners and others into losers.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski turned the death of his twin brother (and Poland’s president) into a movement that made him the nation’s most powerful man. His party gained sway over courts, civil liberties were curtailed and public television was turned into a mouthpiece. The next phase of his plan is to permanently cement his power.
What’s Lorcan Roche Kelly thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset editor says there’s a lot to be worried about in the global economy. Markets are starting to take some of the myriad risks—trade, economic growth, Brexit—more seriously, and preparing for the worst.
What you’ll need to know tomorrow
- Elon Musk’s advisers urged him to stop tweeting. He didn’t.
- The NBA is on a collision course with China.
- The UN, in a cash crunch, warns it may default on salaries.
- Ecuador’s government fled the capital, warning of a coup.
- Senate Republicans, led by a Trump ally, want to probe Ukraine, too.
- Russian interference in U.S. elections never stopped.
- A foot of snow is forecast to devastate U.S. corn and wheat crops.
What you’ll want to read in Businessweek
Peter Robison moved to London from Seattle a year ago. The smell of exhaust from diesel powered vehicles crowding the city’s streets could be overpowering, he found. He assumed stringent-seeming European Union regulations were gradually cleaning the air, but they aren’t. Whatever happens with Brexit, this much is certain: For decades to come, Europe will be united by filthy air and a slowly unfolding public-health crisis.
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