Reuters (March 26)
“Thanks to advances in AI, chips and hardware, the United States and China are now racing to develop humanoid robots that can be deployed in factories, restaurants, hospitals and even households. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently declared that in less than five years, humanoid robots will be widely used in manufacturing.” At the moment, “China has shaky upper hand in battle of the robots” and tremendous motivation to succeed. The country faces a tremendous “labour crunch: in 2021 officials forecasted a shortage of nearly 30 million manufacturing workers by 2025” and this is projected to grow worse as China’s workforce continues to contract.
Tags: AI, Battle, China, Chips, Crunch, Factories, Hardware, Hospitals, Households, Huang, Humanoid, Labour, Manufacturing, Nvidia, Restaurants, Robots, Shortage, U.S.
The Economist (July 5)
“The coalition that Boris Johnson built in 2019, on a promise to ‘get Brexit done,’ has exploded. Labour cut deep into Conservative territory” in “one of the most successful corporate turnarounds in British political history,” reducing the Conservative Party to just 126 seats. “Labour’s landslide victory will turn politics on its head. But even with a majority this big, running bad-tempered Britain will not be easy.”
Tags: 2019, Bad-tempered, Brexit, Conservative Party, Exploded, Johnson, Labour, Landslide victory, Political history, Successful, Turnaround, UK
Investment Week (March 3)
“If China fails to get ‘back to work’ and is unable to cushion the impact of the coronavirus by April the ‘global ramifications will be enormous.’” At a recent Investment Week Conference, Karen Ward, chief market strategist for EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, also urged investors to “keep an eye on figures tracking Chinese coal consumption and labour migration as key indicators of the growing impact on the country’s economy.”
Tags: China, Coal, Consumption, Coronavirus, EMEA, Global ramifications, Impact, Indicators, Investors, J.P. Morgan, Labour, Migration
The Economist (December 7)
British voters are facing a “nightmare before Christmas.” They “keep being called to the polls—and each time the options before them are worse…. Next week voters face their starkest choice yet, between Boris Johnson, whose Tories promise a hard Brexit, and Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour Party plans to “rewrite the rules of the economy” along radical socialist lines.” Both leaders are unpopular and on Friday, December 13th, “unlucky Britons will wake to find one of these horrors in charge.”
Tags: Brexit, Christmas, Corbyn, Johnson, Labour, Nightmare, Options, Polls, Radical, Starkest, Tories, UK, Unlucky, Unpopular, Voters, Worse
The Guardian (November 3)
To top off Brexit uncertainties, there’s also the chance that a 25-year old could unseat Boris Johnson in the upcoming election. Labour’s Ali Milani “may not have Johnson’s recognition factor,” but “he is well known” and well-equipped to mobilise the crucial student vote. Johnson only won by 5,034 votes in 2017, “the smallest of any prime minister since 1924.” That means “Milani requires a swing of just over 5%” to win and displace the current Prime Minister.
Tags: Brexit, Election, Johnson, Labour, Milani, Mobilize, Recognition, Student vote, Uncertainties
Guardian (May 4)
“Thursday’s results mean there’s only one way forward: ask the people…. Both Labour and the Tories saw votes that have previously been cast for them move elsewhere, above all to the parties that want us to stay in the EU. Parties that have advocated some form of deal that involves leaving the EU–the Tories and Labour–were punished across the country. They lost seats and they lost votes.”
The Times (January 15)
“Tonight the House of Commons will finally get the opportunity to pass judgment on Theresa May’s Brexit plan…. But with Brexiteer MPs implacably opposed and Labour also intent on voting down the plan, it looks certain to be heavily defeated. The critical question is what happens then.”
Financial Times (February 19)
“The best news on Japan’s economy is coming from the jobs market, where there are signs of labour shortages, and organic pressure for higher wages.” The real test of “whether Abenomics is working” will come from the annual “shunto” labour talks. “If wage growth is not higher than last year it will be a worrying sign.”
Euromoney (January Issue)
“US claims that Germany’s external surpluses are hindering global recovery are inaccurate and unjustified…. The complex reality is that Germany’s relative export success is not built on beggar-thy-neighbour policies or on the imposition of unnecessary austerity on its neighbours. It is founded domestically on higher productivity, better investment and substantial labour market reforms.”
Tags: Austerity, Beggar-thy-neighbour, Exports, Germany, Investment, Labour, Market reforms, Productivity, Recovery, Surpluses, US
