Ford is making a historic investment in electric vehicle manufacturing with an $11.4 billion plan to build a new EV assembly plant and at least three battery factories, employing nearly 11,000 people.
Why it matters: The plan is an all-in bet on the biggest transformation of the auto industry since the dawn of the horseless carriage more than a century ago.
Two former employees at a New York bank branch conspired with an accountant to fraudulently apply for over $3 million in COVID relief loans, prosecutors said in a case unsealed Friday.
Why it matters: It's believed to be the first COVID-related fraud case brought against bank employees who attempted to exploit federal pandemic loan programs, according to Reuters.
Why it matters: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan have been embroiled in controversy since it was disclosed that the two owned assets sensitive to the monetary policy they were helping shape in 2020.
The cruise line industry is in the midst of a PR campaign of a lifetime: “It’s safe to come aboard, we promise.” A sign it’s working: Carnival, a mega-operator, said bookings for this time next year already top pre-pandemic levels.
Why it matters: The industry was an early epicenter for COVID-19 outbreaks. Its comeback hinges on how comfortable people feel aboard the ships.
Wells Fargo agreed to pay $37 million on Monday to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit that accused the bank of overcharging hundreds of its commercial customers using its foreign currency exchange service, according to Bloomberg.
Why it matters: It's the bank's latest financial scandal, coming after a years-long public rehabilitation campaign to recoup the bank's image since it became known in 2016 that it created millions of fake accounts and opened them without account holders' permission.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) said Monday it is acquiring ICM Partners in a deal that marks the biggest combination of talent firms since William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency merged in 2009 to create what is now referred to as WME.
Why it matters: The deal will create a talent juggernaut at a time when Hollywood studios are vying to represent more people across a greater number of platforms.
Polestar, a Swedish maker of electric and hybrid cars that was spun out of Volvo in 2017, agreed to go public at an implied $20 billion valuation via a SPAC formed by Gores Group and Guggenheim Partners.
Why it matters: Polestar has delivered thousands of vehicles, unlike so many other EV SPAC targets (including some with higher valuations). It currently offers a hybrid high-performance car and an all-electric liftback, with an electric SUV coming next.
Carbon-cutting pledges of many of the world's largest companies would together take a big bite out of global greenhouse gas output, a new tally shows.
Driving the news: BloombergNEF analyzed the pledges of 111 companies with net-zero targets on the "focus" list of companies held by Climate Action 100+, an investor network that pushes corporations on climate.
Business economists have tempered their 2021 growth expectations, cutting nearly a point off their annual GDP forecast since earlier this year, according to the NABE outlook survey released Monday.
Why it matters: This reflects increased concerns over the pandemic's impact on the economy, particularly due to the spread of Delta and other variants. Panelists said that a faster vaccine rollout could improve their outlooks.
The Delta variant is keeping more companies cautious about how to invest the mountains of cash they have at their disposal. That hesitancy has led, in part, to corporate spending on stock buybacks outpacing capital expenditures this year.
Why it matters: Companies hoarded cash and raised prices over the past year — leaving them with a lot of money and decisions about what to do with it.
The redeveloped Commodore Perry Estate, tucked in Hyde Park off of Red River Street, is worth the wait if you're lucky enough to snag a reservation.
Driving the news: The historic mansion, designed in 1928 for cotton businessman Edgar "Commodore" Perry, was transformed into a boutique hotel and membership club last year.
Civis Analytics, a startup that could be key to next fall's Democratic Party campaigns, has raised $30.7 million in new funding, Axios has learned.
Behind the scenes: The Chicago-based startup was founded by Dan Wagner, who led analytics for the Obama 2012 campaign, and was used by the Biden 2020 campaign to test audience messaging and to determine where to deploy advertising. Its first outside investor was former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
China's latest move to ban cryptocurrency shows how tough it will be for the technology to deliver on its backers' vision of disruptive, decentralized change.
The big picture: Control of the currency is a foundation of sovereignty, and governments don't plan on losing that control even as money inevitably turns digital.
The funding proposals in the big infrastructure legislation being hashed out in Congress have the potential to transform the way people and goods move about the country — while also reducing their carbon footprint and addressing inequities in transportation.
The big picture: More people would be driving electric cars, for example, and lower-income people would have better access to public transit to get to affordable housing, work and school.
High-speed trains could well become the preferred way to travel between certain metro areas, rather than flying, which is harmful to the environment.
Cleaner hydrogen trucks could also get a boost from more R&D funding.
Between the lines: People who’ve been on the fence about purchasing an electric vehicle could be persuaded to buy one for two reasons:
Bigger tax credits — up to $12,500 per vehicle — would be more widely available, making EVs more affordable.
Range anxiety — the fear of being stranded with a dead battery — would be less of a worry because $13.5 billion would be spent on EV infrastructure, including more public charging stations.
The intrigue: Not everyone can afford a car — or a home — so House Democrats are proposing an innovative program that would link public transit and affordable housing.
A joint program between the Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide $10 billion in grants to support struggling communities.
If approved, lower-income people would have better access to jobs, health care and education.
Their neighborhoods could be enhanced, with $4 billion proposed to remove highways that divided communities.
What we're watching: More people could be riding the train too, if Congress goes ahead with a big increase in government funding for rail, which is seen as a more efficient and sustainable mode of transportation.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $66 billion for Amtrak and other rail projects.
Through budget reconciliation, House Democrats want to add $10 billion more for high-speed rail that would connect to local and regional transportation networks.
The nation's mayors are emphatic that this week's hotly debated infrastructure legislation— even if ultimately watered down — represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make cities more livable, modern and socially equitable.
Why it matters: While the money wouldn't go directly to city coffers, it would fund everything from bridge and road repairs to the development of light rail and broadband — bringing massive numbers of jobs and daily-living improvements along the way.
Business economists have tempered their 2021 growth expectations, cutting nearly a point off their annual GDP forecast since earlier this year, according to the NABE outlook survey released today.
Why it matters: This reflects increased concerns over the pandemic's impact on the economy, particularly due to the spread of Delta and other variants. Panelists said that a faster vaccine rollout could improve their outlooks.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived on Sunday evening at the site of an Amtrak train derailment near Joplin, Montana, which authorities said killed three people and wounded some 50 others.
The big picture: 141 passengers and 16 crew members were on the Empire Builder train, traveling from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, Oregon, when eight of the 10 cars derailed about 4p.m. Saturday, per an Amtrak statement.
