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New York Times (October 30)

2015/ 10/ 31 by jd in Global News

The rising populism in Germany and around the globe “is not the anger of a classic loony fringe, but rather mainstream people striking out at elites who they believe have lost touch with reality and common sense. To many here, the refugee crisis, the euro crisis, the Ukraine crisis and the threats seen in an unleashed global capitalism have converged in a fundamental question: Do the mighty still know what they are doing?”

 

Wall Street Journal (October 29)

2015/ 10/ 30 by jd in Global News

“The Chinese Communist Party’s decision Thursday to end its one-child policy is a landmark that ends one of the worst government intrusions on human freedom in world history.” It may also belatedly help address China’s “looming demographic crisis from a rapidly aging population.”

 

Institutional Investor (October 29)

2015/ 10/ 29 by jd in Global News

“Just as information from barometers and thermometers can help us prepare for tomorrow’s weather, so corporate information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can help investors make better decisions and prepare for the future” by providing such information “as whether supply chain management takes account of climate risk, whether fixed assets are based in areas prone to flooding and cyclones and whether the scale of a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is contributing to more extreme weather events over the long term.” But the problem is “too few companies report on such ESG factors. And when they do, it is often voluntarily reported, which tends to mean different methodologies and measures too inconsistent for investors to compare efficiently.” There is an obvious solution. Global stock exchanges should “coordinate the reporting of sustainability metrics just as they do with financial metrics.”

 

Washington Post (October 28)

2015/ 10/ 28 by jd in Global News

Ten Republican candidates (Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Rand Paul) faced off in the latest debate. They seemed “to be testing a strategy of winning by whining. Certainly, voters are discontented and even angry. But do they want a leader who campaigns by kvetching?”

 

Bloomberg (October 26)

2015/ 10/ 27 by jd in Global News

“Reality keeps beating BOJ’s inflation forecasts.” According to Bloomberg, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) ranks last or next to last in the accuracy of its forecasts for inflation and GDP when compared to other major central banks. The Bank of Japan has had to lower its inflation estimates for all four years from 2014 and now looks poised to follow suit on Friday with its release of updated inflation forecasts.

 

CFO.com (October Issue)

2015/ 10/ 26 by jd in Global News

“After years of treating Big Data almost exclusively as a way to aid marketers and drive revenue, companies are starting to explore its risk management capabilities. Increasingly, they’re looking for patterns in their internal emails and audio files and on social media to spot and avert a plethora of potential risks.”

 

The Economist (October 24)

2015/ 10/ 25 by jd in Global News

The approach insurgent companies are taking will survive long after some of them have failed. They are providing a striking addition to the capitalist toolbox. Airbnb and Uber and the rest…. are pioneering a new sort of company that can do a better job of turning dreams into businesses.”

 

Wall Street Journal (October 22)

2015/ 10/ 24 by jd in Global News

“Much has changed since Beijing sparked a rare-earths panic in 2010. China was home to 95% of the world’s production, so when it tightened export quotas by 40% and then cut off shipments to Japan over a territorial dispute, buyers world-wide feared scarcity and prices rose tenfold.” Ironically, this spurred innovation, the use of substitutes and the reopening of mines in other countries. “By 2012 the world faced a glut of rare earths. Prices collapsed as much as 80%.” The rare-earths rollercoaster demonstrates “the ability of markets and human ingenuity to adapt to ill-advised attempts to hold natural resources hostage. When they’re allowed to work, markets always defeat mercantilism—a useful lesson for Beijing’s economic reformers.”

 

New York Times (October 21)

2015/ 10/ 23 by jd in Global News

“The sweeping victory of Justin Trudeau in Canada’s elections on Monday shows how ready Canadians were to emerge from a decade under the Conservative government of the secretive and combative Stephen Harper,” who proved to be “at odds with” Canada’s identity, which features “core values, like a generous safety net, active participation in international organizations like the United Nations, a humanitarian foreign policy and an inclusive concept of nationhood.”

 

Washington Post (October 19)

2015/ 10/ 22 by jd in Global News

“Of all the sad statistics associated with U.S. gun violence, none is more pitiful than the single digits that represent the ages of little children who unintentionally shoot themselves or others after getting hold of a gun.” On average a child shoots someone (or himself) unintentionally once a week. “No count can capture the lasting emotional damage of these shootings, to those who shoot as well as, if they survive, those who are shot.”

 

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