Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition November 15, 2021

● Worldwide coronavirus cases have surpassed 251 million, almost 5.1m people have died, and more than 7.3 billion vaccine doses have been given. Governments are racing to give people booster shots as infections surge again in Germany and other countries. ● GE will split into three separate companies focused on power, aviation, and health care. It’s a watershed moment for the once-mighty U.S. conglomerate. Investors cheered the move, sending its stock up as much as 7% on Nov. 9. ▷ 21 ● Polish troops used tear gas to prevent migrants from storming into the country from Belarus on Nov. 8. Poland estimates that as many as 4,000 people, many from Syria, have gathered along its border. ● U.S. consumer prices in October rose 6.2% from a year ago, marking the fastest monthly increase since…

The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, has made real progress—with governments announcing new and unexpected net-zero pledges, a commitment to reduce methane emissions, and moves to squeeze fossil fuel funding and end deforestation. But in other ways it’s been disappointing. One failure in particular stands out. Rich nations came to the conference knowing they’d broken a crucial promise they made more than a decade ago. As it went into its final days, the summit has yet to set this right. The world’s wealthiest nations said that by 2020 they’d mobilize $100 billion a year in public and private finance to help emerging economies fight climate change. They haven’t delivered. Recent estimates from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development say assistance amounted to less than $80 billion in 2019, and the…

▶ On Nov. 15, China releases significant economic data, including numbers on industrial production, fixed-asset investment, retail sales, and monthly liquidity operations. ▶ Alibaba reports second-quarter earnings on Nov. 18. With China squeezing its tech industry, the e-commerce giant has already fallen short of previous targets. ▶ Turkey’s central bank discloses its lending policy on Nov. 18. Having already made cuts this year, it’s signaled that it has limited room to make further reductions in rates in 2021. ▶ Leaders in finance, including HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker and Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, meet on Nov. 19 for the Frankfurt European Banking Congress. ▶ Car sales figures being reported on Nov. 18 will probably point to a continued steep drop across Europe. A lack of parts, including chips, has hampered output. ▶ The Nitto ATP…

The promise of new Covid-19 pills from Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. gives rise to the hopeful question: Is this how the pandemic ends? The best answer anyone can muster is “maybe.” No matter how effective the antiviral pills are, it will be months before we can say we’re near the end. The pills have been shown in studies to substantially reduce the chances that a high-risk, unvaccinated person with Covid will need hospitalization. The results rightly raised hopes. Pfizer’s drug was 89% effective, and Merck’s succeeded in about 50% of patients—potentially powerful scientific breakthroughs. Yet right around this time last year, we were celebrating another astounding scientific achievement: Pfizer and Moderna Inc. announced vaccine results that were even more remarkable, both in how well the shots worked and how quickly…

Not that long ago, the prospect of General Electric Co. fading from view would have been almost laughable. As recently as 2000 the company co-founded by Thomas Edison was the world’s most-highly valued corporation, with its stock worth about $600 billion, and for decades it boasted a AAA credit rating—the same as that of the U.S. government. But the financial crisis of 2008 laid bare a sobering fact: The conglomerate’s transformation into one of the nation’s largest financial services companies had loaded it with unnoticed risks that brought it to the brink of financial collapse. That led to two chief executive officers—both alums of GE’s vaunted management talent factory—trying to shore up the house that Jack (Welch) built by selling off disparate business lines and attempting to winnow its massive debt.…

When the world’s air carriers, aerospace manufacturers, and leasing companies gather for the Dubai Airshow in the fall, much of the attention in recent years has been given to the seemingly endless appetite for new planes by homegrown carrier Emirates Airlines and its Gulf competitors. But when this year’s show opens on Nov. 14, the spotlight will be on air freighters. Because of the dramatic growth of e-commerce, the pickup in demand for both consumer and industrial goods as the pandemic eases, and supply chain turmoil that’s shown the downside of total dependence on ocean shipping, cargo carriers and logistics companies are turning to air freighters. These behemoths can quickly transport huge amounts of freight while bypassing port tieups, shortages of ocean containers or rail cars, and the current dearth of…