This is part of a series, ‘Economists Exchange’, featuring conversations between top FT commentators and leading economists about the coronavirus economic recovery Sir Partha Dasgupta’s review into the economics of biodiversity, published earlier this year, did not shy away from controversy. “Collectively . . . we have failed to manage our global portfolio of assets sustainably,” he argued. “While…
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Newly-launched hedge fund Politan Capital Management has purchased a $900 million stake in Centene Corp., the St. Louis-based insurer confirmed Wednesday. Politan is headed by activist investor Quentin Koffey, who left Senator Investment Group in August to start his own hedge fund. Koffey is now interested in refreshing Centene’s board and other actions aimed at…
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Three things to start: 1. While Joe Biden and other politicians in Glasgow continue efforts to fight climate change, Opec ministers meet today under pressure from the US to pump more oil, one of the fossil fuels that causes climate change. My FT Big Read on the topic, published this morning, gives some of the…
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Walmart has hired Ochsner Health executive Dr. David Carmouche to lead its omnichannel care organization. Carmouche had been the president of Ochsner Health Network, where he oversaw 2,700 physicians across 34 hospitals, as well as vice president of the New Orleans-based health system’s value-based care and network operations. Carmouche will join Walmart as the retailer…
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The queues are so bad that thousands of people have been left shivering outside in the cold. A US Democratic president has arrived without the landmark climate change legislation he is still struggling to push through Congress. Poor countries say rich ones have failed to live up to past climate promises, and the bleak shadow…
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Facebook is removing faces from its books. Or, at least, ripping out some pages. The company this week said it is deleting 1bn facial recognition templates — made through scans of users’ faces — and shutting down the features that automatically recognise people in photos and videos. “This change will represent one of the largest…
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Andy Slavitt will lead Cityblock Health on an interim basis while the startup’s CEO and co-founder Iyah Romm takes a leave of absence. Romm on LinkedIn posted a message he shared with employees Tuesday, outlining a temporary leadership plan while he goes on leave to focus on his mental health for six months. “Building Cityblock…
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CVS Health and Wall Street share the same view of the drugstore chain’s growth potential as COVID-19’s impact on the company begins to ease. Average analyst expectations for 2022 earnings of $8.20 per share fit within CVS Health’s expected initial forecast for the new year, Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin said Wednesday morning, promising to…
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After spending much of the past two years stuck in group video meetings, are the world’s office workers ready to take a big step further into the digital realm? Microsoft this week outlined plans to introduce the 250m users of its Teams software to the more immersive virtual world known as the metaverse. Its move…
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Last year, the powerful US data company Palantir filed documents for an initial public offering. Included was a remarkable letter to investors from Alex Karp, the CEO, that is worth remembering now. “Our society has effectively outsourced the building of software that makes our world possible to a small group of engineers in an isolated…
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