The Economist (July 21)
“The headquarters of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on the banks of Lake Geneva, once belonged to the League of Nations. That ill-fated body was crippled by American isolationism. The building’s occupant today is also at the mercy of decisions taken in Washington.” But all is not lost. “Free-traders are right to be deeply worried, but not yet right to despair.” The WTO “may yet be saved” and there are some encouraging signs. For example, “China and the EU agreed on July 16th to co-operate on WTO reform.”
Tags: China, Crippled, Despair, EU, Free-traders, League of Nations, Reform, U.S. Isolationism, WTO
Bloomberg (July 20)
“What’s next for commodities after a recent price collapse? It looks like more bad news, if the chart watchers are right. The Bloomberg Commodity Index has tumbled about 10 percent from a high in May amid mounting concerns that a trade war could derail global growth, curbing demand for everything from aluminum to soybeans.”
Tags: Aluminum, Chart watchers, Commodities, Demand, Growth, Price collapse, Soybeans, Trade war, Tumbled
Chicago Tribune (July 19)
“A cubicle-free workplace without private offices is supposed to force employees to collaborate. To have them talk more face-to-face. To get them off instant messenger and spontaneously brainstroming about new ideas.” It’s not happening. A recent study found that after a move “to open-plan offices, workers spent 73 percent less time in face-to-face interactions. Meanwhile, email rose 67 percent and IM use went up 75 percent.”
Tags: Brainstroming, Collaborate, Cubicle, Email, Employees, Face-to-face, Ideas, IM, Open-plan offices, Workplace
Wall Street Journal (July 18)
To “counter U.S. protectionism, the EU and China are drawing closer together.” While the EU remains at odds with China on certain trade issues, Trump’s tariffs have helped to paint China in a better light globally. “China has increasingly used the mounting trade spats to portray itself as a protector of the rules-based international order, while chastising the U.S. for disrupting global commerce…. China’s engagement with the EU is driven by its desire to keep open world markets that its manufacturers need to thrive.”
Tags: China, Commerce, EU, Manufacturers, Markets, Protectionism, Protector, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, U.S.
New Yorker (July 17)
“Trump’s penchant for bald deception and incoherence is not an aberration. It is his daily practice. The vague sense of torpor and gloom that so many Americans have shouldered these past two years derives precisely from the constancy of Trump’s galling statements and actions.” Despite this numbing influence, “what happened in Helsinki on Monday will not be so easily forgotten.” The President’s disgraceful “performances in Europe, and now in Washington,” as he tries to walk things back, “clarified nothing. They only raised dark suspicions and aroused the sickening feeling that we are living in the pages of the most lurid espionage novel ever written.”
Tags: Deception, Disgraceful, Espionage, Forgotten, Galling, Helsinki, Incoherence, Lurid, Numbing, Sickening, Suspicions, Trump
Reuters (July 17)
Following the 1986 Iceland Summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the U.S. ultimately proved the victor. Three decades later, things look different. “Washington had another unparalleled opportunity,” but “the American president was outfoxed by a wily Russian leader playing from a position of unquestioned strength, toying with a deeply damaged counterpart.”
Tags: Damaged, Gorbachev, Iceland, Opportunity, Outfoxed, Putin, Reagan, Strength, Summit, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (July 16)
“In Helsinki, Mr. Trump again insisted ‘there was no collusion’ with Russia.” In the process, however, he “appeared to align himself with the Kremlin against American law enforcement.” By “refusing to acknowledge the plain facts about Russia’s behavior, while trashing his own country’s justice system, Mr. Trump in fact was openly colluding with the criminal leader of a hostile power.”
Tags: Collusion, Criminal, Facts, Helsinki, Hostile power, Justice, Kremlin, Law enforcement, Russia, Trump, U.S.
The Economist (July 14)
“Throughout rural parts of South Asia and Africa…mini-grids are increasingly seen as one of the most promising ways of connecting the 1.1bn people in the world who still lack access to electricity.” According to the World Bank, this will also require “microfinance and vocational training” to help users make the best use of electrification.
Tags: Access, Africa, Electricity, Electrification, Microfinance, Mini-grids, Promising, Rural, South Asia, Vocational training, World Bank
Bloomberg (July 15)
“As the world’s largest exporter, China continues to benefit from robust global demand, but the increase in tensions and trade barriers with the U.S. is weighing on the outlook…. President Xi Jinping may ultimately have to choose between softening his multi-year campaign to control debt levels, or letting growth dip below the target of 6.5 percent.”
Tags: China, Debt levels, Exporter, Global demand, Growth, Outlook, Target, Tensions, Trade barriers, U.S., Xi
LA Times (July 12)
“A visit from The Donald is the last thing England needs right now.” There’s a heat wave, wild fires, Britain’s loss in the World Cup, but most of all, it’s the ongoing turmoil over Britain’s departure from the European Union that will set the backdrop to the Descent of the Donald; an event which, for our embattled prime minister, Theresa May, must seem distinctly hellish.”
Tags: Brexit, England, EU, Heat wave, May, Ongoing turmoil, The Donald, Wild fires, World Cup
