Harvard to investigate Larry Summers’s Epstein ties as he exits OpenAI board

Harvard is set to launch a new investigation into its former university president and Bill Clinton economic adviser Larry Summers about his ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as it also emerged Summers has resigned from the board of OpenAI.The moves comes after Summers said he would be stepping back from public engagements after emails revealed the extent of his relationship with the late sex offender.A Harvard spokesperson confirmed to the Harvard Crimson on Tuesday night that a new investigation into Summers’s connections with the accused child sex trafficker was under way. The inquiry will also look at other university affiliates named in the documents, including Summers’s wife and nearly a dozen others. A Harvard spokesperson, Jonathan Swain, told the student newspaper that “the University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted

The days of 4% pay rises are behind us – wages are now barely growing faster than inflation | Greg Jericho

The latest wage figures show no sign of wages growth powering inflation, as the real value of private-sector wages fell in the September quarter.Other than inflation, the figures the Reserve Bank of Australia most keeps an eye on are the quarterly wages growth figures. These give us a sense of whether there is so much competition for jobs that employers are offering higher wages and workers can demand higher wages without fear of their hours being cut.The RBA likes to think that the current level of unemployment means the job market is still “tight” (a polite way of saying they would like to see more unemployment). They believe there is too much competition for workers, and so wage growth will be strong and drive up prices

UK inflation eases for first time in five months to 3.6% before crunch budget

UK inflation fell to 3.6% in October, easing the path for the Bank of England to cut interest rates after the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s make-or-break budget next week.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual inflation as measured by the consumer prices index cooled for the first time in five months, falling back from a peak of 3.8% over July, August and September.The latest snapshot showed gas and electricity prices rising at a slower pace than a year earlier contributed most to the decline, alongside a fall in hotel prices

Netherlands suspends state seizure of Chinese chipmaker Nexperia

The Netherlands has suspended its seizure of the Chinese-owned chipmaker at the heart of a six-week dispute between the EU and China that threatened to halt car production at sites around the world.The Dutch minister of economic affairs, Vincent Karremans, said in a statement on Wednesday that the government would suspend its decision to take supervisory control of Nexperia as a gesture of “goodwill” to Beijing.“In light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act,” he said.The seizure on 30 September had prompted a furious response from China, which in early October banned exports of Nexperia chips from the country, where most of them are packaged and finished.That threw global carmakers’ supply chains into turmoil, leading to production pauses in Mexico and warnings from EU manufacturers that they were “days away” from stoppages

Fall in UK inflation looks like turning point that heralds interest rate cut

After three months on a high plateau, inflation is beginning to ease again. The drop from 3.8% to 3.6% in the October consumer prices index sets the UK on a downward path that reduces the pressure on shoppers, businesses and the government.Never mind that City economists had expected a fall last month

Ocado’s share price is back where it started. Are its robots just too fancy?

That’s quite a stock market journey: from 180p at listing 15 years ago to the mighty heights of £29 during the locked-down Covid year of 2020 and now – oh dear – all the way back down to 180p. Welcome to Ocado, which looked like the future of grocery retailing once upon a time but now seems to be struggling to convince its most important customer of the virtues of robots and automation.There is no positive gloss to put on news that Kroger, the US supermarket chain, is closing three of its eight warehouses that use Ocado’s technology. Kroger was the client that put a rocket under the UK group’s share price in the first place in 2018 by signing a partnership deal. If Ocado could prove the worth of its kit in the world’s largest consumer market, went the bulls’ argument, valuation doubts would disappear