Wall Street Journal (December 10)
Carlos Ghosn’s reported plan to fire CEO Hiroto Saikawa “adds a new twist to the drama inside Nissan…. While that internal investigation was going on, Mr. Ghosn was growing increasingly dissatisfied with Mr. Saikawa’s handling of business problems at Nissan including a slowdown in U.S. sales and repeated quality issues in Japan, say people familiar with the matter.”
Tags: CEO, Dissatisfied, Drama, Fire, Ghosn, Investigation, Nissan, Quality issues, Saikawa, Slowdown, Twist, U.S.
The Times (December 9)
“This week, parliament’s Brexit drama reaches its climax, resulting perhaps in a nation set on a course that no one seems to think is in the national interest, or the collapse of a government, or the fall of a prime minister. Barring a last-minute miracle, Theresa May has lost her final battle. Her big push has failed.”
Tags: Brexit, Climax, Collapse, Failed, Government, May, National interest, Parliament, Prime minister
The Economist (December 8)
“Already at risk of unraveling,” the unsteady truce between China and the U.S. has just become more precarious. “Even before news of Ms Meng’s arrest, global stocks see-sawed as investors wondered if hostilities might resume.” For China, at least her arrest “looks like a political salvo. Huawei is a pillar of the Chinese economy—and Ms Meng is the founder’s daughter. The fate of the trade talks could hinge on her encounter with the law.”
Tags: Arrest, China, Hostilities, Huawei, Investors, Meng, Risk, Stocks, Trade, Truce, U.S., Unraveling, Unsteady
New York Times (December 6)
“If Emmanuel Macron survives this crisis, something good may come out of it. He, along with French and European elites, could draw the lesson from the revolt of the Yellow Vests and find a way to govern with the people, not against them. That is, after all, what democracy is about.”
Tags: Crisis, Democracy, Elites, Europe, France, Govern, Macron, People, Revolt, Survives, Yellow Vests
Fortune (December 5)
“The chances of the U.K. canceling Brexit have just shot up.” JP Morgan economist Malcolm Barr told clients, “the chances of no Brexit had doubled from 20% to 40%, the chances of the U.K. leaving the EU without a deal had halved from 20% to 10%, and the chances of an ‘orderly negotiated Brexit’ were down from 60% to 50%.”
Reuters (December 4)
The “broadly positive headlines” from the G20 meeting “are only half the picture. For all the efforts to keep it on track, the meeting in Buenos Aires also served to showcase an alarming rise in the number of international differences.” To make matters worse, “a growing number of leaders appeared openly hostile or dismissive of each other. The primary diplomatic breakthrough of the summit—a joint declaration to reform the World Trade Organization—may simply be a precursor to more arguments.”
Tags: Breakthrough, Buenos Aires, Differences, Diplomatic, Dismissive, G20, Hostile, Joint declaration, Leaders, Positive, WTO Arguments
Wall Street Journal (December 4)
“A carbon tax is in theory a more efficient way than regulation to reduce carbon emissions. But after decades of global conferences, forests of reports, dire television documentaries, celebrity appeals, school-curriculum overhauls and media bludgeoning, voters don’t believe that climate change justifies policies that would raise their cost of living and hurt the economy.”
Tags: Carbon tax, Climate change, Conferences, Cost of living, Economy, Efficient, Emissions, Regulation, Reports, Voters
Washington Post (December 3)
President George H.W. Bush’s remarkable legacy includes putting together “one of the finest, scandal-free Cabinets in U.S. history.” In contrast, the “current crew” is populated with “liars, braggarts and bullies” who posterity will judge harshly. “None of them will be heralded for leaving American democracy stronger than when they entered office. Neither in their personal dealings nor in their policy choices will they be seen as kind or considerate. They’ve torn up international agreements, frayed relationships (here and abroad) and deformed institutions.”
Tags: Agreements, Braggarts, Bullies, Bush, Cabinets, Democracy, Institutions, Legacy, Liars, Policy, President, Relationships, Scandal-free, U.S.
Bloomberg (December 3)
Trump and Xi gave “markets the most they could have expected,” which wasn’t that much. Still, they avoided the “risk of a serious downside (an angry confrontation and a meeting ending with recriminations and no agreement).” While some may see justification for “risk on” investing, it’s worth noting that this truce is only temporary, “in the longer term, all the risks remain in place.”
Tags: Confrontation, Downside, Markets, Recriminations, Risk, Temporary, Truce, Trump, Xi
The Guardian (December 2)
The debate that begins Tuesday in the House of Commons “will be the most consequential parliamentary event for a generation…. The voting at the end of this five-day debate on 11 December will decide whether, and if so on what terms, Britain departs from the European Union or whether, perhaps, the issue will be returned to the voters for another referendum and for a possible democratic reversal of Brexit.” Ultimately, the best “choice will depend, in part, on how the domestic Brexit endgame evolves over the next week.”
Tags: Brexit, Consequential, Debate, EU, House of Commons, Referendum, Terms, UK, Voting
