published May 23rd 2017, 5:52 am, by Victoria Bateman (Bloomberg View) —When we think about productivity, we often have a bias towards physical goods — things we can touch and feel, like iPhones or suits. But over the past century, as the economic historian Stephen Broadberry has shown, services, not manufacturing,

published Jun 22nd 2017, 11:54 am, by Suzanne Woolley (Bloomberg) —One of the hardest expenses to plan for in retirement could be the biggest: health care. It will pay to err on the high side. U.S. retiree health-care costs are likely to increase at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent over

published Jun 22nd 2017, 4:49 pm, by Gillian Tan (Bloomberg Gadfly) —Investors in the biggest U.S. lenders can stress less and start banking on payouts. Results from the first phase of the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests are in, and all 34 of the banks subject to this quantitative portion

published Jun 20th 2017, 4:45 am, by Suzanne Woolley (Bloomberg) —After almost a decade, Americans may finally be turning the corner on saving money. More than 30 percent of them say they have enough tucked away to cover six months’ worth of expenses—a seven-year high for this measure of financial calamity preparedness,

published Jun 21st 2017, 3:27 pm, by Jeremy Herron (Bloomberg) —Most U.S. stocks fell as oil’s worsening slump weighed on energy and industrial shares, overshadowing fresh rallies in high flying technology and biotech companies. Brent crude slid beneath $45 a barrel to join West Texas Intermediate in a bear market

published Jun 21st 2017, 7:13 pm, by Alan Bjerga (Bloomberg) —President Donald Trump said that expanded access to broadband internet service in rural areas will be part of the infrastructure plan he will submit to Congress, helping to bridge a digital divide that leaves small towns behind. “I will be including

published Jun 20th 2017, 7:19 pm, by Pavel Alpeyev (Bloomberg) — Hi, this is Pavel, a technology reporter in Tokyo. Earlier this month, Sony unveiled an unusual new product —a robotic toy. At first glance, Toio, which stands for “toy” and “I/O,” looks like an old-fashioned video game console, complete

published Jun 20th 2017, 8:04 pm, by Garfield Reynolds (Bloomberg) —Asian shares retreated as crude oil tumbled into a bear market on concern a global supply glut will persist. Futures on China’s equities pointed higher after MSCI Inc. added the nation’s domestic stocks to its emerging-markets index. Australian equities led losses

published Jun 20th 2017, 2:36 pm, by Jonathan Ferziger (Bloomberg) —Jared Kushner’s return to Israel this week bolsters White House efforts to broker a peace deal, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu examines what he needs to give Palestinians to bring ties with the broader Arab world out of the shadows,

published Jun 19th 2017, 4:08 pm, by Laurel Brubaker Calkins (Bloomberg) —The White House has ordered the U.S. Justice Department to jump into Texas’s battle to force its cities and elected local officials to comply with the state’s tough sanctuary-city ban, which makes it a crime to shelter some undocumented