Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-04-20)

5

◼AGENDA

● TheInternational

MonetaryFundpredicted

globalGDPwillshrink

3%

thisyear,markingtheworst

economiccontraction

sincetheGreatDepression

almosta centuryago.

● Chinais considering

mergingitstwobiggest

brokeragefirmsto

createa moreformidable

counterweighttoglobal

investmentbanksas

thecountryopensup

itsfinancialmarkets,

accordingtopeoplefamiliar

withthematter.A merger

betweenCiticandCSC

Financialwouldcreatean

investmentbankvaluedat

$67billion.Thatcompares

withJPMorgan’smarket

valueofabout$290billion.

Thesportsnetworkhassuffereda

steepdropin prime-timeviewers

aslivesportshaveshutdown.One

ofitsbiggeststars,StephenA.

Smith,reportedlyearns$8millionto

$10milliona year.

●SouthKoreanPresident

MoonJae-inwonin

parliamentaryelections.

Hisgovernmenthas

earnedpraiseforits

proactiveresponsetothe

coronaviruspandemic,

whichallowedforinfection

ratestofalltotheirlowest

sinceFebruary.

▶Thefourth

GlobalSolutions

Summitwill

beheldonline

onApril20-21,

withkeynote

speakers

includingGerman

FinanceMinister

OlafScholz.

▶Boeingreports

earningson

April24.TheU.S.

planemaker’s

fortunessince

thegrounding

ofthe 737 Max

haveworsened

considerably

withtheglobal

groundingof

airlinefleets.

▶Brexittalks

betweentheU.K.

andBrusselsare

settoresumeon

April20,though

onlyvirtually.

Britainis keen

toavoidfacing

anotherdelay

toleavingthe

EuropeanUnion.

ThomasGottstein,namedCEOin Februaryafterhis

predecessorwasousted,presidesoverhisfirstsetof

quarterlyearningsonApril24.Investorfocuswillbeon

possibleprovisionstosurvivetheeconomicslowdown.

▶A ToughStartatCreditSuisse

◼ IN BRIEF Bloomberg Businessweek April 20, 2020

● ESPNhas

askeditshighest-

earningon-air

personalitiesto

agreetoa 15%

paycut.

● Germanshavelonglovedtosavemoney.Withthe

pandemicdemandinghugegovernmentoutlays,that

frugalethosis payingdividends.

● Legendary Formula 1 race driver

Stirling Moss died on April 12 at the

age of 90. Dubbed “the king who was

never crowned,” he was one of the

most successful drivers from 1951 to

1961, winning 16 Grands Prix, though

he never brought home the actual

World Championship.

● LOT Polish Airlines

abandoned a planned

takeover of Condor in the

midst of the coronavirus

crisis. The German holiday

carrier was put up for

sale last year following

the collapse of its former

parent, travel company

Thomas Cook.

Q3 2009 Q3 2019

140%

100

60

Governmentdebtasa shareofGDP

Euro zone Italy France Germany

ILLUSTRATION BY CAROLYN FIGEL. POPE FRANCIS: VATICAN POOL/GETTY IMAGES. TULIPS: GETTY IMAGES. BIDEN: MANDEL NGAN/GETTY IMAGES MOSS: BERNARD CAHIER/GETTY IMAGES. DATA: EUROSTAT