The EconomistAugust 31st 2019 9
The world this week Business
A judge in Oklahoma ruled that
Johnson & Johnsonhad
broken the state’s “public
nuisance” law with its aggres-
sive marketing of opioids and
ordered it to pay $572m. It was
the first time a drugmaker had
stood trial for its part in creat-
ing America’s opioid-addiction
crisis; others have so far elect-
ed to settle rather than face a
courtroom. Oklahoma had
sought $17bn in damages.j&j
said it would nevertheless
appeal against the judgment,
arguing it followed the rules.Following the judge’s ruling it
was reported thatPurdue
Pharma, the maker of
OxyContin, was in talks to
settle its exposure to 2,
outstanding opioid lawsuits.
The negotiations involve the
Sackler family, which owns
Purdue and has seen some of
its donations to museums
returned over the opioid issue.Tone it down, or else
Googlelaid out new staff
guidelines in an effort to curb
the disruptive internal politi-
cal debates that have come to
characterise its workforce. Its
employees often take strident
positions on social issues and
have pressed management to
cancel contracts, most notably
with the Pentagon for an im-
age-recognition system. This
has left Google open to the
charge that it has a leftish bias
and stifles conservative views.
Its latest rules ask staff “to do
the work we’ve each been hired
to do, not to spend working
time on debates about
non-work topics”.The latest escalation of the
trade warsaw China announc-
ing new tariffs on $75bn-worth
of American goods from Sep-
tember 1st. Donald Trump
responded by announcing a
five-percentage-point increase
on existing and planned tariffs
on Chinese exports.In a Twitter outburst, Mr
Trump described Jerome
Powell, the chairman of the
Federal Reserve, as an “enemy”,
after he dodged mentioning
any further cuts to interestrates in his speech to central
bankers at Jackson Hole.More concerns were raised
about the independence of
India’s central bank, after it
transferred its entire annual
net income and excess reserves
to the government. The $25bn
windfall, along with a set of
stimulus measures, will help
kick-start a slowing economy.
The Reserve Bank of India has
come under political pressure
to do more for the economy; its
previous governor, Urjit Patel,
resigned amid a row with the
government last year.The Greek government said it
would remove any remaining
restrictions on the movement
of capital from September 1st.
Capital controlswere in-
troduced to avoid a run on the
banks in 2015, when Greece
failed to reach an agreement
on extending its bail-out terms
and was frozen out of interna-tional credit markets. The
European Commission said
ending capital controls was an
“important milestone” for
Greece, which now enjoys
historically low borrowing
costs in bond markets.Argentinawill delay payments
on short-term debt held by
institutional investors. It will
also seek to replace another
$50bn of securities with later-
dated paper and reschedule
$44bn owed to the imf. That
will leave it more money to
defend the peso, which has
fallen steeply on fears the
government will lose the elec-
tion in October to a Peronist
opposition that may be even
tougher on creditors.With Germany’s economyin
the doldrums, a poll of German
executives found that business
confidence had dropped to
levels last seen in 2009, during
the financial crisis. In a gloomy
prognosis, the ifosurvey said
“Not a single ray of light was to
be seen in any of Germany’s
key industries.”bpdecided to dispose of its
business in Alaska, bringing an
end to the company’s 60-year
association with the state. In a
$5.6bn deal, bpis selling its
assets, which include holdings
in Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’sArctic coast, to Hilcorp. Alaska
was once a powerhouse in the
oil industry, but it is now just
America’s sixth-largest oil-
producing state.Boeing faced its first lawsuit
from a customer over the
grounding of its 737 maxfleet
following two fatal crashes.
Avia, a Russian firm that leases
aircraft, wants to cancel its
order for the 737 max, arguing
that Boeing misrepresented
the safety design of the plane.Philip Morris International
confirmed it was holding
merger talks with Altria,
which, if successful, would
create a behemoth in the
tobacco industry.The carmakers’ carmaker
Tributes were paid to
Ferdinand Piëch, who died
aged 82. Mr Piëch ran Volks-
wagen during its transfor-
mation into one of the world’s
biggest car companies, head-
ing the supervisory board until
his departure in 2015 amid the
dieselgate scandal. Mr Piëch
was a brilliant engineer. His
achievements included the
Porsche 917, the most influ-
ential racing car of its time, and
the Quattro, a four-wheel-drive
sports car that turned Audi into
a rival to bmwand Mercedes.GreeceSource: Datastream from RefinitivTen-year government-bond yield, %2012 13 14 15 16 17 18 1901020304050