Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition March 13, 2023

● March 11 marked the third anniversary of the WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic. There have been about 677 million cases and 6.9m deaths. The true mortality figure is likely much higher: A December study by the WHO estimated there had been almost 15 million “excess deaths” during the outbreak. The economic impact continues to be felt. In the first quarter of 2020, at the outset of the Covid-induced recession, global GDP contracted 3.4% according to the OECD, as economies went into hibernation. China, the last major nation to come out of lockdown, has seen thousands die in the past few months. ▷ 42 With the global death rate declining, In Brief will no longer provide a weekly Covid update, though Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg News will continue to cover this…

When Afghanistan’s universities began reopening in March, they were half-empty. The same goes for its aid offices, roads, parks, gyms and bathhouses. A little more than 18 months after the Taliban regained power in Kabul, they have effectively erased Afghan women and girls from public life—again. This appalling reality should weigh heavily on US President Joe Biden’s administration, whose botched withdrawal allowed the Taliban to sweep into the capital in August 2021. The US and other donor nations have limited ability to change Taliban behavior, but having long championed the cause of Afghan women, they have an obligation to keep trying. That includes avoiding policies that could make a terrible situation worse. Any hope that Taliban leaders might have learned moderation during their years out of power has proved illusory. Last March…

▶ The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the US inflation rate for February on March 14. Analysts expect the annual rate to decline only slightly from January’s 6.4%. ▶ In the UK, the Office for National Statistics releases its unemployment figures on March 14. The jobless rate, lodged at 3.7% for months, isn’t likely to budge. ▶ Bank Indonesia makes its interest rate decision on March 16. With inflation easing in the country and growth prospects high, analysts believe the bank will leave rates unchanged. ▶ BioLife, BuzzFeed and GitLab report quarterly earnings on March 13; Adobe, Lennar and Williams-Sonoma on March 15; Dollar General, FedEx and GameStop on March 16. ▶ March Madness is here. The NCAA tournaments begin on March 14. Last year’s winners—Kansas for the men, South Carolina for the women—are…

Wall Street titans pride themselves on knowing when to take risks, especially in moments of uncertainty. But as borrowing costs soar and the work-from-home trend leaves downtown offices half empty, even the biggest players are quickly realizing they miscalculated. Take Pacific Investment Management Co. In 2021, even after offices emptied during the pandemic, funds managed by the $1.7 trillion asset manager paid $3.9 billion for Columbia Property Trust, which owned at least 15 office buildings in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, DC. “High-quality office buildings in major US cities offer long-term value for our clients,” Pimco’s global head of private commercial real estate, John Murray, said at the time. Or not. Last month, Columbia Property Trust defaulted on about $1.7 billion worth of mortgages on seven of its trophy buildings,…

When Lanny Smith founded Actively Black Inc. in 2020, he hired factories in China to produce the brand’s athletic wear. But last year, concerned about production delays caused by China’s Covid lockdowns, Smith explored buying elsewhere. He shipped samples to a supply chain agent who’d assured him there were alternatives in Latin America. “He hit me back the next day and said, ‘You’re not going to find anybody who can do this in the Western Hemisphere,’ ” says Smith, 38, a former basketball star at the University of Houston. For American companies like Actively Black, buying from China has become more challenging in recent years because of increased tariffs, snarled supply chains, factory shutdowns under Beijing’s Covid Zero policy and rising geopolitical tensions that have forced America Inc. to contemplate the…

Runway shows for the Balenciaga fashion house are typically lurid extravaganzas featuring theatrics such as mud-splattered catwalks, artificial snowstorms and thrumming techno beats. This year’s event on March 5 at a venue below the Louvre pyramid in Paris, by contrast, was a study in restraint, with scant decoration and a quiet, calming soundtrack. The shift underscores the challenges facing Kering SA, the holding company that owns Balenciaga and more than a half-dozen other luxury labels. Balenciaga has been in crisis mode since November, when it unveiled an ad campaign showing young children with teddy bears that were wearing what appeared to be bondage gear. And Kering’s flagship brand, Gucci, has seen tepid sales even as rivals Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Prada prosper. By some measures, Kering is doing OK. It had comparable…