Around the region: the country winners

Consumers already use the world’s largest real-time payments system for groceries and essentials, but AI agents could soon assume the heavy lifting for routine transactions on India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). According to Reuters, India is ​developing the Unified Agent Protocol to facilitate agentic commerce on UPI. The framework could incorporate existing elements like UPI…

A fast-growing maker of nutrient-dense macaroni-and-cheese could soon be elbowing for more shelf space in grocery stores thanks to its acquisition by a pasta powerhouse. The iconic Italian pasta maker Barilla Group announced Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Goodles, a relative newcomer to the pasta aisle, for an undisclosed amount. The deal will…

You already price-checked flights or scanned a gift list and felt the sticker shock. That is not your imagination. Forty-four percent of Americans expect to carry holiday debt into 2027. Average holiday spending should reach $950 per person this year. A holiday budget built now, before Black Friday, can change that number. Why Holiday Debt…

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Growth and ownership aren’t the same thing, and trying to personally run everything your business touches can bankrupt the parts that actually matter, one distraction at a time. The instinct to build and operate everything in-house often masks a business that’s spreading its best people…

Michael Davenport, senior economist at Oxford Economics, described the July decline as “not all that surprising” in comments to BNN Bloomberg.  “Overall, I think the number that stands out is the flash estimate for August, which shows that retail sales likely rebounded quite strongly,” Davenport said.  Sébastien Mc Mahon, chief economist at iA Financial Group,…

– Almost  nineteen years into early retirement now, I’ve come to realize that the complete freedom of this lifestyle can be a double-edged sword. You’ve already heard me raving plenty about the upside: having the freedom to raise a son from the day he was born to beyond his eighteenth birthday with no compromises. And…