Washington Post (June 9)
“Kim Jong Un is a weak leader in every respect but one: He pushes ahead relentlessly on a program to build missiles carrying miniaturized nuclear warheads.” It is likely that “the next U.S. president could confront a genuinely dangerous threat from a faraway place: a North Korean missile that could hit U.S. territory with a nuclear warhead.”
Tags: Dangerous, Kim Jong Un, Leader, Missiles, North Korean, Nuclear warheads, Threat, U.S.
WARC (June 8)
“The first efforts of a robot creative director have been unveiled by McCann Japan, in work for Clorets Mints.” The first machine member of the agency’s creative department, AI-CD ß, designed a 30-second spot commercial which is airing “alongside work created by a human director, with the Japanese public being invited to vote for the one they prefer,” with the results to be revealed by September.
Tags: AI-CD ß, Clorets Mints, Commercial, Creative director, Director, Human, Japan, McCann, Robot
Financial Times (June 7)
“Given today’s high level of public sector debt and worsening demographics, it is inevitable that governments will resort to soft forms of default, including inflation, to escape from their fiscal straitjacket. This is a world in which elderly savers will be condemned to subsidise borrowers for a long time.”
Tags: Borrowers, Debt, Default, Demographics, Elderly, Governments, Inevitable, Inflation, Public sector, Savers
Bloomberg (June 6)
Guandong province, “China’s factory to the world,” is now caught in “a race to survive” as rising costs shift production to cheaper countries. Automation is also taking a toll. “With the new robot-staffed factories, and startups that employ hundreds rather than thousands, many of the millions who came to make Guangdong an industrial superpower may have little choice but to return home.”
Tags: Automation, China, Costs, Factories, Guandong, Industry, Production, Robots
Wall Street Journal (June 5)
For North Korea’s “Kim Jong Un and the Chinese banks that sustain his regime, life is suddenly more complicated.” The U.S. designated “the entire country a ‘primary money-laundering concern.’ This is the biggest gun in the arsenal of financial sanctions. If enforced, it will make banks world-wide choose between doing business with North Korea and maintaining access to U.S. dollars.” Welcoming the more stringent designation, the Wall Street Journal writes, “It’s about time.”
Tags: Banks, China, Financial sanctions, Kim Jong Un, Money laundering, North Korea, U.S.
The Economist (June 4)
Swiss voters will go to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to adopt a basic income for all citizens. Smaller experiments are underway in Finland and the Netherlands, but fundamentally “basic income is an answer to a problem that has not yet materialized…. A universal basic income might just make sense in a world of technological upheaval. But before governments begin planning for a world without work, they should strive to make today’s system function better.
Tags: Basic income, Experiments, Finland, Governments, Netherlands, Switzerland, Technological upheaval, Universal, Voters
New York Times (June 3)
“If T.P.P. falls apart, China wins. It’s as simple as that. Nonratification would signal that Beijing gets to dictate policy in the region…. “Like the best trade accords, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is also a strategic boost to liberty and stability in the fastest-growing part of the globe. Congress should resist populist ranting and ratify it.”
Tags: China, Congress, Liberty, Nonratification, Policy, Populists, Ratify, Stability, Strategic, T.P.P., Trade accords
USA Today (June 2)
“Very rarely do people face a stark human vs. animal choice, as Cincinnati zoo keepers faced…. Perhaps this outpouring for Harambe can translate into more everyday compassion for all animals.” Since Harambe was shot after a 3-year old fell into his enclosure, there has been a widespread outpouring of grief for the gorilla.
Tags: Animals, Cincinnati, Compassion, Gorilla, Grief, Harambe, Human, Zoo
Washington Post (June 1)
“British voters, who may be as weary as many Americans are of constantly being told that they cannot ‘turn back the clock’ and that history’s centralizing ratchet has clicked irreversibly too many times, might soon say otherwise.”
Tags: Brexit, Centralizing, History, Irreversibly, U.S., UK, Voters, Weary
Institutional Investor (June 1)
Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, financial institutions still face challenges. However, the “savvy” ones are simplifying their structures and realizing efficiency gains. “For the past nine years, investments have poured into regulatory compliance and reporting initiatives. The rapid development of disruptive technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence is helping firms automate many of those processes and redirect their energy toward growth activities. Big data, analytics and digital technology shed light on what they do best—and most profitably—and enhance the customer experience.”
Tags: AI, Analytics, Big Data, Challenges, Customers, Digital technology, Disruptive technologies, Efficiency, Energy, Financial Crisis, Growth, Investments, Profit, Regulatory compliance, Reporting, Robotics, Savvy
