INTERNET
SurveyMonkey chief dies
SurveyMonkey chief executive officer Dave Goldberg, the husband of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, died unexpectedly on Friday night, his brother said on Facebook on Saturday. Goldberg was known for his low-key demeanor and the grace and good humor with which he handled being married to one of the nation’s most recognizable executives. In her book Lean In, Sandberg attributed much of her own success to her marriage to Goldberg, who she said supported her career decisions and shared equally in the work of raising their young children. Goldberg, 47, joined SurveyMonkey, which helps organizations conduct surveys, in 2009.
VENEZUELA
Maduro makes food pledge
President Nicolas Maduro has promised to nationalize food distribution in the South American nation beset with record shortages of basic goods, runaway inflation and an escalating economic crisis. During a rally on Friday, on International Workers’ Day, the socialist leader allowed a union activist to ask for the nationalization of food and essential-item distribution. Citing new decree-making powers recently granted by the National Assembly, Maduro said he would carry out such a measure “in the coming days and weeks.” Maduro had pledged earlier in the week to announce economic reforms. Various estimates suggest the government already controls about half of the nation’s food distribution, but that has not stopped record shortages in shops and markets. Venezuela is struggling with a recession, 68.5 percent annual inflation and severe shortages of the basic goods that it relies on oil money to import.
AUTOMAKERS
US dismisses Toyota claim
US safety regulators have rejected a Rhode Island man’s request for an investigation into low-speed unintended acceleration problems with Toyota Corolla compact cars. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in documents posted on its Web site on Saturday, said it put more than 3,200km on a 2010 Corolla owned by Bob Ruginis, of Bristol, Rhode Island. However, the agency’s Ohio test lab could not find any problems with the throttle or transmission systems. The lab also found that the brakes could keep the car stationary even at full throttle. The decision is a victory for Toyota, which has been dogged by complaints of unwanted acceleration since 2009. The complaints brought investigations and recalls totaling 10 million vehicles, as well as multiple lawsuits and a US$1.2 billion penalty for hiding information from the NHTSA.
MACROECONOMICS
US Fed heads see rate rise
The US Federal Reserve could well raise interest rates as soon as next month, two top US central bankers said on Friday, as long as economic data strengthens as expected from a dismal first quarter. That view — from the hawkish-leaning Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester, and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams — is at odds with the view of many traders, whose bets in the interest-rate futures markets suggest they have all but discounted a rate hike next month and now expect the Fed to wait until December before raising rates for the first time since 2006. The key, both Mester and Williams said, is that by a quirk of the calendar there will be two more months of data for many of the key gauges the Fed follows, including the US jobless rate, jobs gains, retail sales and others.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure