LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - British inflation leapt to 3.2% in August from 2% the previous month, the sharpest increase in the annual rate on record, data showed on Wednesday. As in the United States, pandemic-related distortions are muddying the waters. The UK government subsidised eating out a year ago and the hospitality sector got a temporary reduction in value-added tax. The question for the Bank of England, as for the Federal Reserve , is whether high inflation persists.

Supply chain disruptions have boosted prices of goods on both sides of the Atlantic. And some sectors are struggling to recruit staff , pushing up wages. Brexit is accentuating these problems. Yet inflation may prove less of a problem for the UK central bank. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is raising taxes on workers next year to pay for health and social care read more , which will leave households with less disposable income. The corollary of reduced price pressures may unfortunately...

Despite its relatively small size, the Rainbow Nation’s economy is a big CO2 emitter. Yet Pretoria can ill afford a switch from coal due to soaring public debt. A $10 bln aid plan could be the answer, if lenders can close their eyes to the financial and political risks.

Despite its relatively small size, the Rainbow Nation’s economy is a big CO2 emitter. Yet Pretoria can ill afford a switch from coal due to soaring public debt. A $10 bln aid plan could be the answer, if lenders can close their eyes to the financial and political risks.

HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Yum China (9987.HK) has bad news for China’s economy. The $26 billion operator of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell in the People’s Republic warned read more that the rapid spread of the Delta variant would cause its adjusted operating profit to drop by about 50-60% year-on-year in the third quarter. The recent outbreak, which has impacted 16 provinces, per Yum, has officials in China locking back down, even though Reuters Covid Tracker shows the country is reporting an average of 39 new cases per day, 1% of the peak, with no deaths reported since April. Nevertheless Yum either closed or halted dine-in service at more than 500 stores in August.

Chinese retail sales rose by a meagre 2.5% in August from a year ago, much slower than expected, and surveys showed the services sector – of which restaurants are a part – went into monthly contraction. This puts Yum’s expansion schedule into question. It is sticking with plans to open...

Authorities want more influence over casinos and their dividends. That may reduce investor rewards but is hardly a surprise: Beijing tolerates betting because it can control the enclave. A 25% hit to Wynn Macau’s and Sands China’s value suggest shareholders miscalculate the odds.

Authorities want more influence over casinos and their dividends. That may reduce investor rewards but is hardly a surprise: Beijing tolerates betting because it can control the enclave. A 25% hit to Wynn Macau’s and Sands China’s value suggest shareholders miscalculate the odds.

The Australian design-software firm more than doubled its valuation to $40 bln in five months after a fresh $200 mln investment. Its avant-garde approach includes co-founders intending to use most of their 30% stake to “do good”. Things get abstract, though, at 40 times revenue.

MELBOURNE, Sept 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The architect of a big fossil-fuel deal will have to persuade a court that he’s not just blowing smoke. Just as Santos boss Kevin Gallagher was finalising terms on the A$8 billion ($6 billion) acquisition of rival Oil Search (OSH.AX), the accuracy of his net-zero pledges were called into question. This new legal challenge presents a threat to his strategy and possibly the world’s carbon polluters.

The Australian fossil-gas giant seems in no hurry to slash emissions. Gallagher’s blueprint involves increasing fuel production by up to 45% between 2020 and 2026. The $9 billion company’s direct emissions – as opposed to those created by customers burning gas supplied by Santos (STO.AX) – are set to almost double by 2030 if left unchecked. They’ll increase even more if last week’s Oil Search merger is consummated. The extra cash flow would help “navigate the transition to a lower carbon future”, Gallagher said.

His plan is to...

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The U.S. online retailer’s wage hike could complicate the Fed’s job. The company is boosting average starting pay to more than $18 an hour. Meantime, consumer prices rose 5.3% in August. Gina Chon explains why that may be a sign that higher inflation is here to stay.

NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Intuit (INTU.O), the $154 billion maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, wants a lot more small bananas. It’s paying about $12 billion for Mailchimp, the digital marketing and automation firm, in an effort to better crack the massive market for small business services. Mailchimp’s record suggests that it has a shot. But Intuit is also busy integrating personal finance site Credit Karma, which it bought last year for $7 billion. The key to success will be avoiding indigestion.

Mailchimp is private, and details of the deal are sparse as a result. What is known is that it made $800 million of revenue last year, about 20% higher than the previous year and nearly all of which is recurring. A price tag of about 15 times 2020 revenue may appear high compared to, say, small business-focused web firm GoDaddy (GDDY.N), which is valued at about one-third as much. But Mailchimp is growing nearly twice as fast and probably has higher operating...

Former PayPal COO David Sacks is among Silicon Valley elites who want Governor Gavin Newsom removed. High taxes and Covid-19 policies might change if a ballot leads to his being replaced by radio host Larry Elder. But then tech gurus lose the right to put on social justice airs.

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The U.S. online retailer’s wage hike could complicate the Fed’s job. The company is boosting average starting pay to more than $18 an hour. Meantime, consumer prices rose 5.3% in August. Gina Chon explains why that may be a sign that higher inflation is here to stay.

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O)wage hike may be an early warning signal for the Federal Reserve. Bumping up average starting wages to more than $18 an hour, $3 an hour higher than base pay, would be great news for warehouse and transportation workers. But these are just the sort of developments that could make higher inflation more entrenched than is currently anticipated.

A shortage of workers during the pandemic has already forced the e-commerce giant to up its pay game . It was offering twice the U.S. minimum wage, which helped the company almost double its staff over the last year. On Tuesday, it said it would hire an additional 125,000 employees and offer $3,000 bonuses in some locations read more . Earlier this month, Walmart (WMT.N), the largest private U.S. employer, said it would raise pay by at least $1 an hour.

Given there currently are more vacancies than unemployed people , workers have every incentive to try to...

NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Intuit (INTU.O), the $154 billion maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, wants a lot more small bananas. It’s paying about $12 billion for Mailchimp, the digital marketing and automation firm, in an effort to better crack the massive market for small business services. Mailchimp’s record suggests that it has a shot. But Intuit is also busy integrating personal finance site Credit Karma, which it bought last year for $7 billion. The key to success will be avoiding indigestion.

Mailchimp is private, and details of the deal are sparse as a result. What is known is that it made $800 million of revenue last year, about 20% higher than the previous year and nearly all of which is recurring. A price tag of about 15 times 2020 revenue may appear high compared to, say, small business-focused web firm GoDaddy (GDDY.N), which is valued at about one-third as much. But Mailchimp is growing nearly twice as fast and probably has higher operating...

Former PayPal COO David Sacks is among Silicon Valley elites who want Governor Gavin Newsom removed. High taxes and Covid-19 policies might change if a ballot leads to his being replaced by radio host Larry Elder. But then tech gurus lose the right to put on social justice airs.