Early birds grab the goods

American consumers are shopping earlier for the holidays this year. While some consumers are looking to do “something fun right now,” the majority of consumers are worried about availability, shipping delays, and unexpected challenges from COVID-19.

To read the article, see “US holiday shopping 2021: Strong demand meets big challenges,” November 2, 2021.

Murphy’s Law: Pharma edition

In time, whatever can go wrong, will. That’s the surprising finding of our research on shocks to the pharmaceutical business system. Companies can expect mild disruptions every couple of years, and major breaks twice a decade.

To read the article, see “Four ways pharma companies can make their supply chains more resilient,” September 23, 2021.

Who crashed banking’s party?

In financial services, outperformers have gained $1.3 trillion in market cap since March 2020. But 70 percent of that has gone to nonbanks. A group of 32 institutions, dominated by payments firms, exchanges, and securities houses, has captured the fancy of investors.

To read the article, see “Capital markets’ message to financial institutions: Differentiate or perish,” September 28, 2021.

License to bill

Digital banks are popping up everywhere. But in this heavily regulated industry, the essential first step is for regulators to develop a licensing plan. From there, it takes about two years for the first digital banks to start accepting deposits, making loans, and processing payments.

To read the article, see “Lessons from the rapidly evolving regulation of digital banking,” October 1, 2021.

Big challenges in the Big Apple

As one of the first epicenters of the global COVID-19 pandemic, New York City was hit early and hard. Now, more than a year after it went into lockdown, the United States’ most populated metropolis and one of its greatest engines for economic growth still has problems: many New Yorkers are struggling to meet basic needs such as food, healthcare, transit, and internet access.