(Bloomberg) -- Two decades since the euro began, one of the principal worries of its founders is materializing as the coronavirus rages through the region’s third-largest economy.The longstanding suspicion that Italy’s profligate borrowing could ultimately become the whole of Europe’s problem was the recurring nightmare of German finance officials throughout the 1990s.Now, as the crisis forces Giuseppe Conte’s government to jettison a decade of tightly capped Italian budget deficits, the country’s strategy for the future is once again built on piling up debt, sending its public borrowings swelling toward or even beyond 150% of gross domestic product.The increasing death toll from the virus and the economic fallout from the lockdown leave the government with no option but to spend more to help its people. But it’s having to deal with the unprecedented situation carrying an already huge debt load.The upshot is that Italy’s finances now depend wholly on the European Central...
(Bloomberg) -- Crew members of a Holland America Line cruise ship that’s carrying two people infected with the deadly coronavirus and still in search of a port say they aren’t being tested for the pathogen or adequately quarantined if they get sick.A shortage of staff on the Zaandam has meant workers with fever and other coronavirus symptoms are not being isolated for the 14 days many experts recommend, according to family members and social media messages from crew seen by Bloomberg News. The developments come as the cruise line now faces opposition to its plans to dock in Florida with 2,500 guests and crew on two boats, after being turned away by Chile and other countries.The relatives and employees asked not to be identified because they said Holland America has prohibited crew from speaking to the media. The passengers on the Zaandam were confirmed to be infected with Covid-19, and four...
(Bloomberg) -- Chris Smalls, an Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center employee, said the company fired him after he led a strike at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, over coronavirus safety conditions.“Taking action cost me my job,” Smalls said Monday in a Bloomberg TV interview. “Because I tried to stand up for something that’s right, the company decided to retaliate against me.”A group of workers at the Staten Island fulfillment center walked off the job Monday to demand Amazon close the facility for extended cleaning, the latest in a wave of virus-related protests. They say a number of their colleagues there were diagnosed with Covid-19. Organizers say more than 60 workers participated in the protest.In a statement Monday night, New York State Attorney General Letitia James called Smalls’ firing “immoral and inhumane.” James urged the National Labor Relations Board to investigate the incident and said her office “is considering all legal...
Boeing is contractually obligated to remedy the deficiency at no additional cost to the government, the Air Force said in a statement. "The Service's KC-46 Program Office first identified excessive fuel leaks in July of 2019 after an air refueling test," the Air Force said, adding it is working with Boeing to determine the root cause of the issue and take corrective action. It is the latest problem for Boeing, which has been struggling to get its 737 MAX aircraft flying again following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019....
(Bloomberg) -- As the coronavirus prompts talk of an earnings recession for most Asian emerging stocks, there’s an industry that’s holding up: chipmaking.The worldwide lockdowns due to the virus and the ensuing contractions in output have sparked indiscriminate selling across industries, and dismal earnings forecasts for this quarter and beyond -- except for the tech industry.Micron Technology Inc. last week reported adjusted earnings that beat Street estimates by 24% and predicted stronger-than-expected revenue, fueling optimism about other chipmakers’ prospects. With most of the population in major economies worldwide working or learning remotely, online and ecommerce services are booming, stoking demand for cloud storage and a recovery in memory-chip prices.“Definitely, demand for server chips is on the rise as people increasingly go on a shopping spree online and are working remotely with laptops,” said Lee Seung-Hoon, head of equity at DB Asset Management. “For the tech industry, demand for handsets and home...
Oil prices firmed on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to talks aimed at stabilising energy markets, with benchmarks climbing off 18-year lows hit as the coronavirus outbreak cut fuel demand worldwide. Brent crude was up by 61 cents, or 2.7%, at $23.37 a barrel by 0833 GMT, after closing on Monday at $22.76, its lowest finish since November 2002. Oil markets have faced a double whammy from the coronavirus outbreak and a race to win market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia after OPEC and other producers failed to agree on deeper cuts to support oil prices in early March....
