VIEWPOINTS

“As (French President Emmanuel)Macron discovered when he was a minister, vested interests, trade unions and party activists are stubborn and conservative. He managed to liberalize coach services, shopping hours and the legal profession, but wanted to do much more.”

– Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform

“The Bank of England is stuck between a rock and hard place. It has to base its forecasts on a view of the Brexit deal but, with so little to go on at present, it’s not an easy judgment. So far, the Bank is sticking to its assumption that Brexit will be “smooth” - a deal will be reached and there will be a transition period from 2019. To say that is far from certain is a huge understatement.”

– Aberdeen Asset Management Chief Economist Lucy O’Carroll

“Driverless cars are very rule-based, and they don’t understand social graces.”

– Missy Cummings, director of Duke University’s Humans and Autonomy Lab

“It’s hard to program in human stupidity or someone who really tries to game the technology (behind driverless cars).”

– John Hanson, spokesman for Toyota’s autonomous car unit

“Trump’s decision to fire FBI director Comey continues to reverberate, with markets uncertain whether this could distract the government from its tax reform agenda.” – Mizuho Bank in a daily report

“Car production and sales fell significantly last month. Automotive market demand was weak.”

– China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement