10 The EconomistDecember 7th 2019
The world this week Business
In an unexpected move, Sergey
Brin and Larry Page stepped
down from their respective
roles as president and chief
executive of Alphabet,
Google’sparent company. The
pair founded the internet giant
in a garage while at Stanford in- They will retain their
combined voting majority in
the company and continue to
sit on the board. Sundar Pichai
becomes Alphabet’s chief
executive in addition to his job
running Google, expanding his
brief to oversee “moonshot”
projects, such as driverless cars
and electricity-generating
kites. Messrs Brin and Page
assured Mr Pichai they would
still be around to offer “advice
and love, but not daily
nagging.”
Playing a game
Stockmarkets had an unsettled
week amid uncertainty about
America and China reaching a
trade dealbefore December
15th, when tariffs are due to
rise on a raft of Chinese goods.
Donald Trump’s ruminations
about being prepared to wait
until after November’s presi-
dential election to reach an
agreement spooked investors
at first, but was then dismissed
as a negotiating tactic.Mr Trump said he wanted to
raise tariffs on metal imports
from Braziland Argentina,
accusing both countries of
manipulating their currencies.
Finding himself on a roll, the
president also threatened to
impose 100% tariffs on $2.4bn-
worth of French goods, in-
cluding champagne, after the
United States Trade Repre-
sentative found that France’s
digital tax discriminates
against American companies
such as Amazon, Facebook and
Google, and is “inconsistent
with prevailing tax principles”.The World Trade Organisation
rejected the European Union’s
claim that it no longer provides
illegal state aid to Airbus, a
second victory in recent
months for Boeingin the pair’s
15-year dispute. In response the
ustrsaid it would look to
increase the retaliatory tariffsit imposed in October on a
range of European goods fol-
lowing the wto’s first ruling.In contrast with souring trade
relations elsewhere, Japan’s
Diet approved a trade deal with
America that slashes tariffs on
American beef and pork im-
ports in return for lower levies
on Japanese industrial goods.
The limited agreement is a
substitute for a Pacific-wide
trade pact that Mr Trump with-
drew America from. Separately,
Japan’s government unveiled a
larger-than-expected ¥13trn
($120bn) spending planto
stimulate the economy.Brazil’sgdpwas 1.2% higher in
the third quarter than in the
same three months last year.
The pace of its economic ex-
pansion is quickening follow-
ing a severe recession in
2015-16. Consumer spending
and business investment rose
in the quarter, helped by falling
interest rates.Also pulling out of the dol-
drums, Turkey’s economy
expanded by 0.9% in the third
quarter, following nine
months of contraction. Growth
was spurred by agriculture and
industry. Construction, which
has been championed by the
government, continued to
struggle, shrinking by 7.8%.UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank,
said it would cut 10% of its
workforce, close 500 branches
and take other measures to cut
costs, as it seeks approval for a
€2bn ($2.2bn) share buy-back
programme. After years of
paltry profits, it is rare for a
European bank to return cash
to investors; UniCredit must
convince the European Central
Bank that it can do so without
weakening its capital buffers.America exported more crude
oil and refined petroleum
products in September than it
imported, the first time it has
been a net exporter of oilfor a
whole month since records
began in the 1940s. Boosted by
production from lighter shale
oil, America’s net exports
averaged 89,000 barrels a day
in September, the difference
between the 8.7m it imported
and the 8.8m it exported.
American refineries still rely
on heavier foreign crude oil.In the wake of lvmh’s offer to
take over Tiffany, more con-
solidation beckoned in the
luxury-goods industry as
Kering, a French group that
includes the Gucci and Saint
Laurent brands in its stable,
was said to be interested in
buying Moncler, an Italian
skiwear-maker.Mike Pompeo, America’s secre-
tary of state, strongly urged
European countries to shut out
Huaweifrom building 5g
networks, because of fears over
data security. The euis to
discuss the matter at a forth-
coming meeting. Huawei
responded angrily, describing
Mr Pompeo’s allegations as
“defamatory and false”.In the hot seat
The unannounced that Mark
Carney will become its envoy
on financing climate action
when he steps down as go-
vernor of the Bank of England
next year. The job may present
more headaches for Mr Carney
than Brexit ever did. This
week’s climate-change summit
in Madrid declared the past
decade to be the hottest on
record. New research suggest-
ed that emissions may have
declined in America and the eu
this year, but risen in China,
India and the rest of the world.Crude oil net* importsSource: EIA *Includes petroleum productsUnited States, barrels per day, m1973 80 90 2000 10 1903691215