The Guardian (January 10)
“It has been evident for many months that the government is bluffing, and is developing no substantive contingency plans…. The government pretends that Brexit isn’t happening when the facts do not suit it; refuses to confront the realities staring it in the face; and reacts furiously when the EU declines to imitate its constructive ambiguity, failures of communication and outright delusion.”
Tags: Ambiguity, Bluffing, Brexit, Contingency plans, Delusion, EU, Government, UK
Wall Street Journal (January 9)
“The S&P 500 inched higher Monday, extending this year’s run of records. Stocks have begun 2018 on an upbeat note, buoyed by investors’ optimism over the global economy and bets that central banks are unlikely to pressure markets by raising interest rates faster than expected.”
Tags: 2018, Central banks, Economy, Interest rates, Investors, Optimism, Records, S&P 500, Stocks, Upbeat
New York Times (January 8)
“Given the century of medical progress” since 1918, one would assume “that we are far better prepared today to deal with such a worldwide catastrophe. Unfortunately, the opposite is true…. A 1918-type influenza pandemic could cause ruin on the order of what the Black Death did to 14th-century Europe, but on a global scale.” To escape such catastrophe, urgent priority needs to be placed on developing “a universal vaccine that effectively attacks all influenza A strains, with reliable protection lasting for years, like other modern vaccines.”
Tags: 1918, Black Death, Catastrophe, Europe, Influenza, Pandemic, Progress, Protection, Vaccine, Worldwide
Retail TouchPoints (January 4)
Despite a strong holiday sales season, “a real department store turnaround will demand a lot of work.” 2018 will represent “a major ‘prove it’ period for department stores. The sector has taken quarterly sales hits for several years, forcing major players to shutter hundreds of stores, but early holiday numbers indicate these retailers have harnessed some positive momentum.”
Tags: Demand, Department stores, Holiday, Momentum, Retailers, Sales, Sales hits, Turnaround
Business Insider (January 4)
“Of all the risks facing financial markets in 2018, none is perceived to be greater than a hard Brexit from the European Union. That’s the overwhelming view of HSBC’s client base with a whopping 76% nominating this as the greatest risk facing financial markets this year.”
Tags: 2018, EU, Hard Brexit, Risks. Financial markets, UK
Fortune (January 4)
“By the end of the first three working days of the year, the U.K.’s top bosses will each have earned on average as much as a typical worker will take home in all of 2018, according to a report. While the difference in compensation appears stark, it narrowed slightly compared with the previous year.” Studies show “earnings for CEOs in the U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 dropped by a fifth in 2016 to 4.5 million pounds ($5.4 million)” and that the CEO-to-worker pay ratio stood at around 120 to 1, much lower than the 347 to 1 of S&P 500 companies.
Washington Post (January 3)
“At this moment in time, Kim Jong Un is acting like a more mature person than the president of the United States…. It looks more and more dubious that Trump’s national security advisers know how to persuade him not to stumble his way into a conflict with North Korea. And Trump’s inability to coerce North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons will only cause him to make even more outlandish threats.”
Tags: Advisers, Conflict, Kim, Mature, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Outlandish, Stumble, Threats, U.S.
Los Angeles Times (January 3)
“Although Trump is in a class by himself when it comes to incompetence, greed, mendacity, absence of values and unfitness for office, America’s ‘abdication’ of its world leadership role has been a long time coming. We have gone from overreach to inertia to incompetence, and damaged our standing at every step along the way.”
Tags: Abdication, Greed, Incompetence, Inertia, Leadership, Mendacity, Overreach, Trump, Unfitness
Chicago Tribune (January 2)
“Who said: ‘Find out what the other team wants to do. Then take it away from them.’ Could have been Uber’s CEO, but no, it was George Halas, founder of the Bears.” As the Chicago Bears look for a new coach, it’s worth contemplating “heavy industries, or digital startups… business and sports share immutable truths about organizational ability and consequential success. Much of work life is a competition, right? Good bosses, like good coaches, are strategists and motivators who build strong teams. Games like football teach those lessons in fundamental ways that are useful in every field, including non-contact sports like accounting.”
Tags: Accounting, Bears, CEO, Chicago, Coach, Competition, Digital startups, Halas, Heavy industries, Motivators, Sports, Strategists, Uber
Time (January 1)
“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin needs a time machine to take him back to March 2014, so he can stop at Crimea. Look at his poll numbers: the bump topped out when Putin added Crimea to the trophy case. The continuing fight in Ukraine’s eastern provinces has brought him nothing of value. He’ll be re-elected in March, but given the state of Russia’s economy, it won’t be long before he’s pining for a return to simpler times.”
