The weekly roundup examined rising government intervention in business, including a boardroom battle at Tata Sons, Swiss rules affecting UBS and other examples of industrial policy. It also highlighted that US debt surpassed $40 trillion and yields were near two-decade highs.
The roundup argued that supply shocks from tariffs, Covid and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have strengthened the view that industrial policy is unavoidable. Governments are steering industries, while companies are offering advice on how to do it.
At Tata Sons, India’s central bank ruled that the private holding company should list on the stock market, while a member of the founding family opposed the move, triggering a showdown with chairman N. Chandrasekaran. State regulators have also barred trustees of one of Tata Sons’ main shareholders from holding meetings, leaving the $260 billion group in a stalemate. Swiss lawmakers endorsed regulations on UBS that may lead the bank to move its head office elsewhere; the roundup also cited Italian action against domestic banks and China’s use of competition rules in negotiations with merging miners.
The roundup said companies may prioritize control of supply chains over expansion into distant markets, while warning that industrial policy can bring clashes and political reversals. It also noted pressure on pharmaceutical companies over acquisition returns and research spending, and discussed US debt above $40 trillion and bond yields near two-decade highs.
