This week’s featured stories 28 September – 4 October 2026…
We know how to measure carbon… don’t we?
In the latest episode of ICC Trading Thoughts, Amy Brachio and Karthik Ramanna, Co-Chairs of the Technical Expert Panel on Carbon Accounting, explore what it would take to build a carbon accounting system the world can trust
Tax policy considerations for the circular economy
The EU Circular Economy Act is being prepared by the European Commission. Roel Dom, Heather Grabbe and Costanza Greppi Maturana examine how EU tax policy can support the transition to a circular economy by correcting market failures and incentivising sustainable resource use
BRICS 3.0: can the grouping diversify without creating new dependencies?
BRICS’s next test will be whether it can build an interoperable economic architecture that widens choices for developing countries without concentrating dependence around a single economy, Nilanjan Ghosh argues
Who gets to define what ‘winning’ means in the AI race?
Often cast as a US–China contest, the AI race offers Southeast Asia greater agency through supplier diversification, domestic capacity and regional cooperation, argue Adrian Ang U-Jin and Jia Chaozhishan
Three takeaways from Trump’s ‘Super Intelligence’ summit
US President Donald Trump hosted a meeting of top technology bosses. Here are three key takeaways from Trump’s tech summit at the White House
White House accord on super intelligence
Under the agreement the companies are responsible for ensuring the safety of their own technology, and the firms also agreed to implement safeguards to keep models operating as intended and quickly detect and fix any issues
Estimates of AI’s employment impact vary widely. Benjamin Verschuere and Angus Cameron argue this reflects AI’s simultaneous creation and elimination of jobs. They suggest adjustment occurs mainly through hiring changes rather than redundancies, affecting young people most
UN General Assembly: UNCTAD calls for global action on AI, investment and green industry
A coordinated global response is key to putting development at the centre, from the rules governing frontier technologies to the flow of investment and the transition to green industry
Khor Hoe Ee outlines a strategic roadmap for ASEAN to maintain economic resilience amid intensifying great power rivalry and rapid technological disruptions
Payments in the age of AI agents
The payments industry has long been at the forefront of using AI. Christopher Waller focuses on the state of artificial intelligence in payments and raises questions about how this technology could change the way payment systems operate
Tech Trends 2026 – commute and connectivity frontiers
In this year’s McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook, Michael Chui, Roger Roberts and Tanguy Catlin examine 14 technology trends that matter most for business leaders, plus the forces influencing their development and adoption
Is trade ready for an AI-driven future? The Sibos edition
AI and digitalisation as perhaps the biggest shift happening in the industry today. Trade Finance Global review
Democratized superintelligence is coming: the world needs to get ready
What happens when AI agents can reason through problems well enough to complete real work on their own? The McKinsey Podcast offers answers to that question and more
New horizons: the legal and commercial frontier of digital assets
Sasha Mills outlines five ways the BoE will support responsible innovation: focus on outcomes, enable testing and growth, clarify processes, convene firms and collaborate with overseas authorities—fostering innovation while protecting financial stability
Who pays when digital money cannot earn interest?
Ulrich Bindseil argues that the EU should stop defending non-remuneration as a matter of principle and instead adopt a pro-competition approach, working towards lifting the ban on remunerating e-money, setting out what this means for the digital euro and the ongoing MiCA review
Modernizing financial regulation: initial observations from eSLR
Michelle Bowman focuses on how the enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (eSLR)—a leverage-based capital requirement for US global systemically important banks (GSIBs)—has influenced Treasury market functioning
Quantitative tightening: the next chapter
Dave Ramsden describes the MPC’s September 2026 decision on Quantitative Tightening, which he says marks the beginning of the next chapter in the approach to unwinding the assets built up through Quantitative Easing
BRICS and the Middle East: the possibilities and limits of Global South diplomacy
Nazhath Faheeman argues that the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi highlighted questions about the bloc’s Middle East role. BRICS offers differently aligned Global South states another forum for engagement, but regional geopolitics, competing alignments and existing security arrangements limit its potential
Closing the gender employment gap: Europe’s untapped growth opportunity
How can Europe help more women enter, stay and progress in the labour market? Closing the gender employment gap would advance equality, ease skills shortages and boost competitiveness. BusinessEurope’s position on the Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030
It’s time for some tough decisions on EU enlargement policy
The EU is entering a critical phase in the debate over how to prepare for its next enlargement. Michael Emerson and Tinatin Akhvlediani examine the main ideas currently under discussion and their various implications
