The Economist - USA (2022-01-22)

TheEconomistJanuary22nd 2022 7
The world this week Business

Inwhatisbyfarthebiggest­
evertakeoverinthegaming
industry,Microsoftagreedto
buyActivisionBlizzard, the
companybehindthe“Callof
Duty”seriesand“Warcraft”,for
$69bn.Microsoftishungryfor
newcontentasit seeksto
developa Netflixforgames,
whichcanbestreamedfrom
anydevice,suchasphones,
andnotjustitsXboxconsole.
Gaming“willplaya keyrolein
thedevelopmentofmetaverse
platforms”,statedSatya
Nadella,Microsoft’sboss.

Unileversaidit wouldnot
increaseits£50bn($68bn)
offerforGlaxoSmithKline’s
consumerhealth­carebusi­
ness,whichineffectendsits
pursuitofa deal.Itsambitious
playforthebusiness,which
includessuchfamiliarbrands
asAdvil,Nicorette,Panadol
andSensodyne,andinwhich
Pfizerownsa 32%stake,didn’t
godownwellwithUnilever’s
investors.Theconglomerate’s
stockswoonedwhennewsof
thebidwasmadepublic.

Betterlatethannever
ExxonMobillaid out its strat­
egy to reduce carbon emis­
sions, with an aim to reach
net­zero emissions by 
and a pledge to reduce them by
a fifth by 2030 compared with

2016. But the plan counts only
the company’s own green­
house gases from its produc­
tion of oil and gas, and not the
broader category of “Scope 3”
emissions, which are generat­
ed across a firm’s value chain,
suppliers and customers.

Providing reassurance that
pandemic restrictions really
do apply to everyone, António
Horta-Osórioresigned as
chairman of Credit Suisse after
the bank’s board reportedly
found that he broke quaran­
tine rules, including on a trip
to the Wimbledon tennis final
in July. Mr Horta­Osório had
held the job for less than nine
months.

The global job marketwill
take longer to recover from the
covid­19 crisis than had been
thought, according to the

InternationalLabourOrgani­

sation.Itslatestforecastesti­

matesthattherewillbe52m

fewerjobsin 2022 compared

with2019,andthata fullrecov­

eryin 2023 “remainselusive”.

Anothersurgeincovidand

supply­chain bottlenecks

caused Germany’s economy

to shrink by up to 1% in the

fourth quarter of 2021 com­

pared with the third, according

to an initial official estimate.

For the whole year, German

gdprose by 2.7%, though

output was still 2% lower than

in 2019, before the pandemic. 

The People’s Bank of China cut

one of its main interest rates.

The reduction was small, but a

signal to markets that officials

are prepared to act to stabilise

the economy amid covid and

difficulties in the housing

market. The main lending rate

for mortgages was also cut.

China’sgdpgrew by 4% in the

fourthquarter,yearonyear,

theslowestpacesincethe

depthsofthepandemic.The

economyofficiallygrewby

8.1%forthewholeof2021.

Britain’sannualrateof

inflationroseto5.4%,its

highestlevelin 30 years. Food

pricesareclimbingattheir

fastestpacesince2008.Energy

costsarealsorocketing,and

areexpectedtosoareven

higherwhentheregulator’s

pricecapisliftedinApril.The

numberofhouseholdsunder

“fuelstress”,spendingatleast

10%oftheirincomeonenergy

bills,issettojump.

In some good news for the

British economy, gdprose

above its pre­pandemic level

for the first time in November.

Although that was before

Omicron struck. 

Governments in the euare also

struggling to control the im­

pact of higher energy costs. In

France, edf, an energy provid­

er, saw its market value slump

by a fifth after it said that the

French government’s attempt

to limit rises in electricity bills

would hurt its earnings. 

Meanwhile oil priceshit a

seven­year high, as markets

tried to assess whether de­

mand will outpace supply this

year.Brentcrudetradedwell

above$88a barrel;theprice

hasrisenby13%sincethestart

oftheyear.

TheBankofJapanraisedits

inflationforecastfor 2022 to

1.1%,lowbyinternational

standardsbutuncommonina

countrythathasbattleddefla­

tionfordecades.Higherener­

gyandfoodpricesarefeeding

throughtotheeconomy,but

withinflationstillfarbelow

thecentralbank’s2%targetit

seesnoneedtoincrease

interestrates.

at&tandVerizonagainpost­

ponedtheirroll­outof5g

servicesat some airports amid

warnings that the cellular

towers could interfere with

aircraft navigation systems. 

Asqueezeonhouseholds

The price of orange­juice

futures surged, after this year’s

orange cropin Florida was

forecast to be the smallest

since 1945. The Sunshine

State’s orange groves are

plagued with tree lice. Orange

prices are also sensitive to a

drought in Brazil, which has

hurt citrus production there.

The overall demand for orange

has lost some zest in recent

years, as consumers switch to

low­sugar drinks. 

Germany’s GDP

% change from previous quarter

Source: Federal

Statistics Office *Estimated range

10

5

0

• 
  


• 
  

  2019 20 21

  
  

*