Booking Holdings Inc. is the latest online travel giant to eliminate thousands of jobs after the coronavirus pandemic hammered the industry. As much as 25 percent of employees at Booking.com, the company’s biggest business, will be cut, the company said in a statement Tuesday. That’s about 4,000 workers.  The reductions will be implemented globally. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Fogel discussed the move during a video call with workers, saying the past five months represe

Industry Aug. 4, 2020

Rising COVID-19 case counts across the US have made a second lockdown seem almost inevitable. It is likely to be months before a vaccine could end the coronavirus pandemic, and the US is also months away from using the testing-and-tracing strategy that other countries have used to keep new outbreaks from expanding. But Americans can’t be expected to stay in their homes for months on end. The rational, fair, humane way forward is for society to balance pandemic safety against other vital n

Viewpoints Aug. 4, 2020

Hong Kong’s decision to bar a dozen pro-democracy candidates from contesting legislative elections and then to postpone the vote by a year won’t leave its economic prospects unscathed. It’s a striking reminder of how threatening elections can be for authoritarian governments -- even those where the system is stacked in their favor. The authorities’ actions further narrow the scope for public dissent in the former British colony, after Beijing passed a national security l

Viewpoints Aug. 4, 2020

Senate Republicans are in conspicuous disarray following last week’s failed effort to unify behind a package of economic recovery measures. In part, that’s because Republican senators are too deferential to a chaotic White House. Many GOP lawmakers also question whether the economy needs a fourth round of relief legislation to address the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and whether additional spending would be effective. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

Viewpoints July 29, 2020

The United Nations currently predicts that by 2027, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country. Estimates suggest India and Nigeria will together add 470 million people in the next three decades -- almost a quarter of the world’s population increase to 2050. According to a new study from the University of Washington, however, several developing nations may find their so-called demographic dividend much less of a boon than anticipated. Published in the Lancet, t

Viewpoints July 28, 2020

Thailand has been playing by the rules and getting little benefit from obeying economic orthodoxy. A reshuffle among top policymakers after a string of departures, just as the nation emerges from coronavirus hibernation, is an opportunity to be bolder. The conservative nature of military-backed rule suggests tinkering is the more likely outcome than an embrace of bigger change. Stagnating even before the pandemic hit, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy will shrink 8.1 percent this

Viewpoints July 27, 2020

The public gives President Donald Trump very low marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and race relations. But as recently as the end of June, the public was still giving him slightly positive marks for his handling of the economy. That edge may now be eroding, but Trump’s numbers on economic policy are still much better than on other important issues. It’s obvious why Trump gets decent ratings on the economy -- before the coronavirus outbreak in March, he had presided

Viewpoints July 23, 2020

Moscow researchers say one of the country’s potential coronavirus vaccines has been proven safe in small-scale human trials and is ready for wider tests. It should be a modest win for a country that has sought for years to restore its Soviet-era reputation for cutting-edge science, and for President Vladimir Putin. Yet on Thursday, Britain, the US and Canada accused Russia of hacking international research centers that are trying to develop a vaccine. The Kremlin denies any involvement,

Viewpoints July 21, 2020

Two decades ago, Poles could only look on in bewilderment. Americans were so divided over who should be president that the 2000 election hung on a dimpled chad and had to be decided by the Supreme Court. George W. Bush became the first winner to lose the national popular vote since 1888. American democracy had been tested but emerged whole. As ballots for Poland’s presidential election were being counted Sunday, the results looked tight enough to go to the courts too. It was the country&r

Viewpoints July 16, 2020

China is building tens of thousands of 5G base stations every week. Whether it wins technological dominance or not, domestic supply chains may be revived and allow the country to maintain -- and advance -- its position as the factory floor of the world, even as COVID-19 forces a rethink in how globalization is done. By the end of this year, China will have more than half a million of these towers on its way to a goal of 5 million, a fast climb from around 200,000 already in use, enabling faste

Viewpoints July 15, 2020

The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner’s famous line comes from a harrowing tale about two women in Mississippi. One is a Black nursemaid, Nancy, who is to be hanged for the murder of a baby girl. The other is her white employer, Temple, the child’s mother, who ekes out the semblance of respectable married life. Neither can escape the vengeful reappearance of deeds done many years earlier. Since the killing of George Floyd, a black American man, under th

Viewpoints July 14, 2020

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is buying the software of Hooq Digital, the South-east Asian video streaming service owned by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), Sony and Warner Bros that's filed for liquidation, according to people familiar with the deal. Coupang has already struck a deal to acquire the assets, the people said, asking not to be named because the information hasn't been announced. The deal ushers SoftBank-backed Coupang into a competitive over-the-top video streamin

Consumer July 10, 2020

With the US Congress set to tackle the next phase of economic relief this month, Thursday’s jobs report provided more evidence of how much permanent damage is being done to the labor market by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of workers being permanently laid off continues to grow even as millions of Americans who were furloughed have gone back to work. Expectations for how long it will take to get the labor market back to where it was at the beginning of the year are fluid, but some,

Viewpoints July 10, 2020

Plenty of people will tell you that the unrest spreading through the US is rooted in inequality -- in the dissatisfaction of the 99 percent. But what if it’s not that simple? What if there’s also an important battle going on within the 1 percent? For the sake of the nation’s survival, it’s worth considering. No doubt, people are angry. According to a recent Pew survey, 87 percent of Americans say they’re dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Pa

Viewpoints July 9, 2020

After the Great Recession, the American economy rebounded faster and stronger than the eurozone, raising doubts over the effectiveness of the “European social model.” As Europe emerges from the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in better shape than the US, its combination of welfare states and strong public health systems suddenly seems appealing again. The US is still struggling to contain outbreaks in several states from Texas to Florida, whose health care systems are being push

Viewpoints July 9, 2020