New York Times (October 20)
“China’s assertive campaign to police discourse about its policies, even outside of its borders, and the acquiescence of American companies eager to make money in China, pose a dangerous and growing threat to one of this nation’s core values: the freedom of expression.” U.S. companies shouldn’t cave. They “have an obligation to defend the freedom of expression, even at the risk of angering China.”
Tags: Assertive, China, Companies, Dangerous, Discourse, Freedom of expression, Obligation, Police, Risk, Threat, U.S.
The Economist (October 19)
“Constitutionally, the emperor is ‘the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people’. But the imperial cocoon in which he is kept risks making him more of a relic. Much like his father, Emperor Naruhito is relatively informal when touring the country, petting dogs and chatting with schoolchildren.” However, “the royal family has scant leeway to make itself more relevant” as it remains bound by “stifling bureaucracy and ritual.”
Tags: Bureaucracy, Constitution, Emperor, Imperial cocoon, Informal, Naruhito, Relic, Risks, Royal family, Stifling, Symbol, Unity
Reuters (October 18)
“The prospect of Aramco selling a piece of itself has had Wall Street on tenterhooks since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first flagged it three years ago.” But it looks like the IPO will again be delayed, possibly until next year, to “bolster investor confidence” by reassuring them of the company’s recovery from recent attacks. The sought-after $2 trillion valuation remains in question as “countries have been accelerating efforts to shift away from fossil fuels to curb global warming.”
Tags: Aramco, Confidence, Fossil fuels, Investors, IPO, MBS, Recovery, Valuation, Wall Street
Washington Examiner (October 17)
“News that the G-7 summit will be held at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami is perhaps the most blatant example of President Trump using his office to boost his personal business interests.” The President “is simply shameless. He is consistently brazenly dishonest and proudly unapologetic about his statements and actions because he is incapable of feeling personal shame.”
Tags: Blatant, Brazen, Dishonest, G-7, Interests, Miami, Shameless, Summit, Trump National Doral resort, Unapologetic
Bloomberg (October 17)
“The IMF estimates that the U.S.-China trade war has shaved 0.8 percentage points off global growth,” but “the costs of tariffs could prove higher than just an economic slowdown.” The largely neglected threat is that the “slowdown, combined with a decade of ultra-loose monetary policy, could cause a wave of defaults among corporations. This double whammy could threaten the world’s financial stability.”
Tags: China, Costs, Defaults Financial stability, Global growth, IMF, Monetary policy, Slowdown, Tariffs, Trade war, U.S.
Time (October 16)
“Fresh insight into the physical and emotional toll of ultra-long haul travel should emerge this weekend when Qantas Airways Ltd. flies direct from New York to Sydney. No airline has ever completed that route without stopping. At nearly 20 hours, it’s set to be the world’s longest flight, leaving the U.S. on Friday and landing in Australia during its Sunday morning.”
Tags: Airline, Australia, Emotional, Flight, Insight, Longest, New York, Physical, Qantas, Route, Sydney, Travel, U.S., Ultra-long haul
Washington Post (October 16)
A no-deal Brexit has “been compared to “downshifting a car at full speed from fifth gear to first.” The U.K. could lose “continuity of trade relations with many of the 71 nations that have forged preferential trade agreements with the EU.” To date, the U.K. has secured continuity agreements with only about a dozen of these countries and it remains to be seen whether sufficient customs infrastructure will be in place. “Large U.K. businesses like engine-maker Rolls Royce Holdings Plc and brewer Heineken NV have outlined plans to hoard supplies in case a tumultuous Brexit chokes just-in-time supply chains and creates backlogs at ports.”
Tags: Brexit, Continuity, EU, Heineken, No-deal, Ports, Rolls Royce, Supply chains, Trade agreements, UK
The Atlantic (October Issue)
“Modern-type depression” is growing more prevalent in Japanese workplaces, but “its reach might extend far beyond Japan.” In the West, depression is often linked to personal sadness, but in Japan, depression “has long been considered a disease of fatigue caused by overwork.” Patients with modern-type depression “have the desire to stand up for their personal rights, but instead of communicating clearly, they become withdrawn and defiant.”
Tags: Defiant, Desire, Fatigue, Japan, Modern-type depression, Overwork, Patients, Personal rights, Prevalent, Sadness, West, Withdrawn, Workplaces
Wall Street Journal (October 12)
“President Trump prides himself on one-on-one diplomacy, but too often it results in rash and damaging decisions like his abrupt order Sunday for U.S. troops to retreat from northern Syria. Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now dictating terms to the American President, and the consequences are likely to be felt far beyond Syria and Turkey.”
Tags: Abrupt, Damaging, Decisions, Diplomacy, Erdogan, Pride, Rash, Retreat, Syria, Troops, Trump, Turkey, U.S.
Financial Times (October 12)
“Two years ago growth was accelerating in 75 per cent of the world, the IMF now expects it to decelerate in nearly 90 per cent of the global economy in 2019.”
Tags: Accelerating, Decelerate, Global economy, Growth, IMF, World
