Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition December 12, 2022

● Globally, 647 million people have been infected with the coronavirus, and 6.6m have died. With protests continuing in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities, China announced on Dec. 7 that it is easing some of its stringent Covid Zero restrictions and accelerating vaccination among the elderly. ▷ 10 ● War in Ukraine ▶ The Kremlin blamed Ukraine for a series of drone attacks that hit airfields in Saratov, Ryazan and Kursk on Dec. 5 and 6, the deepest strikes into Russia since it invaded its neighbor in February. Ukraine hasn’t claimed responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told troops on Dec. 6 that “the combat zone has become larger.” ▶ In response to the price cap the G-7 nations set on Russian oil on Dec. 3, Moscow could set a price floor. According…

French President Emmanuel Macron, during his recent visit to Washington, warned that US trade policy could “fragment the West.” That might sound alarmist, but he was right. President Joe Biden’s programs to subsidize clean-energy investment and high-tech manufacturing have much to recommend them—but, executed incautiously, they do pose a threat to international economic cooperation. The White House should heed Macron’s message and guard against this risk. A big expansion of investment in clean energy is crucial. But the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in August, channels much of its $369 billion outlay to US producers. (For instance, electric cars made in the US can get up to $7,500 in tax breaks; those made in Europe can’t.) Wherever possible, the IRA’s programs prioritize “Buy American” and US union labor.…

▶ The Jan. 6 committee on the storming of the US Capitol will publish its final report in the week of Dec. 12. Chairman Bennie Thompson says the House panel will also issue criminal referrals. ▶ The House Financial Services Committee has set a hearing for Dec. 13 as it probes the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and searches for any lessons that can be drawn. ▷ 29 ▶ French President Emmanuel Macron hosts a conference on Dec. 13 in Paris to discuss global assistance to Ukraine, focused on restoring the country’s devastated infrastructure. ▶ Inditex, parent of Spanish clothing chain Zara, reports quarterly earnings on Dec. 14. The numbers will indicate if shoppers are willing to keep spending despite the rising cost of living. ▶ On Dec. 16 ground staff at Heathrow airport…

The broad view for next year is that inflation around the world will slow as interest rates rise, recession looms and consumers spend less. Cooling commodity, food and energy prices, magnified by the favorable comparison with last year’s steep gains, will combine to slow the broad rate of inflation. But China’s reopening could rattle those expectations. The scenario goes like this: At some point in 2023, China opens its borders for the first time since the early days of the pandemic. The implications for the rest of the world would be seismic. China’s domestic economy would come back to life. Students would go overseas again, tourists would start to travel, and business executives would get back on planes. This would be happening at the same time China’s housing market starts to…

Designing a new commercial aircraft requires huge financial outlays and years of engineering wizardry, and success isn’t assured, as the short-lived Airbus A380 jumbo can attest. Such missteps—the double-decker jet never recouped its $20 billion in development costs before being dropped in 2019—explain why the aerospace industry’s preferred route these days is to tweak, stretch and reconfigure existing models at a fraction of the cost, rather than take the plunge with an all-new jetliner. That lower-risk approach turned the Airbus A320neo family, with its new fuel-efficient engines, into the industry’s fastest-selling aircraft, and the stretched A321 model has become a hit with customers seeking a slightly bigger jet without the fuel burn of a widebody behemoth. Now, Airbus SE looks set to apply the strategy to its smaller A220, a model…

Deep inside a vast room filled with pipes, tubes and hoses, shiny silver vats and a conveyor belt brimming with ice cream bars, Andy Sztehlo points toward a glass-topped freezer and urges visitors to grab a Cornetto, Magnum or Twister. “The biggest dissatisfaction with ice cream is not finding the one you want,” says Sztehlo, head of ice cream research and development for Unilever Plc, the world’s biggest producer of the frozen treat. The freezer in question is designed to ensure that overheated, sugar-craving consumers can get their hands on exactly the icecold indulgence they desire. The idea was developed at Unilever’s primary research center, a leafy campus in the English town of Colworth, an hour north of London by train, where the company has come up with innovations ranging from…