Breakingviews

Corona Capital is a daily column updated throughout the day by Breakingviews columnists around the world with short, sharp pandemic-related insights.

The European Union’s new pledge to cut carbon emissions 55% by 2030 is not a trivial step. Five years ago, the sort of reduction the European Commission has now advocated was seen as radical. Even at the time of the European Parliament elections last year, only two parties (the Greens and Renew) were asking for this level of ambition. And while a 55% cut is indeed doable, no one should underestimate the extent of the transformation and the investment it require

In 1883 German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote of a character he called “the last man”. The opposite of his ideal “Ubermensch”, last men are so enervated and addicted to comfort, they lose their ability to dream and their will to compete. To Japanese conservatives, Nietzsche might have been describing Japan during the lost decades that followed the bursting of its financial bubble in the early 1990s: a pacifist, embarrassed, ageing irrelevance overshadow

Dan Loeb is working some sorcery on Walt Disney. The activist is calling on the Magic Kingdom to permanently axe the dividend and spend more on its fast-growing streaming service. It’s an easy ask that can make an impact.

The widespread covering of mouths and noses to stifle Covid-19 has spawned a mini-manufacturing boom, with some downsides, Sharon Lam tells Rob Cox. Yet the economic benefits of mask mandates are plentiful, Lisa Jucca argues from Milan. Plus, Congress targets Big Tech bigly.

Overzealous parents sometimes inadvertently hold children back. Deutsche Bank, UBS and others similarly risk smothering their asset management units in a too-tight embrace.

Corona Capital is a column updated throughout the day by Breakingviews columnists around the world with short, sharp pandemic-related insights.

Samsung Electronics can have Huawei's cake and eat it too. The South Korean conglomerate expects to deliver a robust third-quarter performance, as U.S. sanctions forced its Chinese customer to stockpile chips. Taking some of its telecommunications equipment and smartphone business will be the real prize.

A panel of Washington lawmakers is not pulling any punches with its critique of Big Tech. Their 450-page report, released on Tuesday, accuses Amazon.com, Apple, Facebook, and Alphabet unit Google of abusing market power. Possible remedies include breaking up businesses and banning new acquisitions. Any actual reforms will surely be heavily diluted, but lobbyists for the technology giants now know where to counterattack.