Wall Street Journal (September 10)
“South Korea is at a crossroads, but every direction seems to lead to a dead end. Just as the world wakes up from the decadeslong daydream of North Korean denuclearization, the U.S.—South Korea’s longtime defense partner—has grown unreliable.” A poll conducted by the Korean Herald “found 60% of South Koreans don’t trust the U.S. to use its nuclear weapons to protect Seoul from a North Korean attack.” The lack of confidence in its “ally may convince Seoul that there’s no other way to deter Kim Jong Un” than by procuring nuclear weapons of its own.
Tags: Ally, Crossroads, Daydream, Dead end, Defense, Denuclearization, Kim, Korean Herald, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Partner, Protect, Seoul, South Korea, Trust, U.S., Unreliable
Wall Street Journal (May 7)
“Just as other countries need U.S. help against China, the reverse is also true.” President Trump himself, however, stands “in the way” of constructing such a “new trading system…. He simply doesn’t make much distinction between China and allies: They’re all ‘ripping us off.’” The President’s “willingness to hit friendly nations with tariffs, cozy up to Russia and threaten allies like Denmark and Canada has deeply undermined allies’ trust. With the U.S. closing its market, others are more reluctant than ever to push China away.“
Tags: Allies, Canada, China, Denmark, Friendly nations, Market, Reluctant, Tariffs, Threaten, Trading system, Trump, Trust, U.S., Undermined
The Economist (February 10)
“This year investors in Chinese stocks have been on a hair-raising ride. Even as America’s S&P 500 index reached record highs, markets in China and Hong Kong shed $1.5trn in January alone…. The decline signals a fundamental problem. Investors abroad and at home once saw China’s government as a dependable steward of the economy. Now this trust has seeped away, with severe consequences for China’s growth.”
Tags: $1.5trn, China, Consequences, Decline, Dependable, Economy, Government, Growth, Hair raising, Hong Kong, Investors, Markets, S&P 500, Steward, Stocks, Trust
International Banker (December 18)
If Japan’s Financial Services Agency and the nation’s “asset-management industry work together to establish ‘customer-oriented business operations’, they may succeed in gaining the trust of retail investors, and the financial assets of Japanese households may finally show a visible shift from cash and deposits to securities.” Two decades of failed efforts starting with the Big Bang financial reform suggest “it will take much effort to gain the trust of retail investors, some of whom have experienced disappointing returns in the past. Unless the Japanese financial industry works harder than ever for customers’ interests, the goal of ‘savings to investments’ will turn out to be elusive once again.”
Tags: Asset-management industry, Big bang, Customer-oriented, Disappointing, Elusive, Failed, Financial assets, Financial Reform, FSA, Households, Investments, Japan, Retail investors, Securities, Trust
Market Watch (December 16)
“AI brings efficiency, but it lacks the empathy and emotional intelligence inherent to humans. So although AI can be a useful tool for management and leadership, CEOs must ensure that the human touch in customer relations, employee management, company culture and business decision-making remains prominent. If these become overly-automated, they’ll lose the power to create human connection, eroding trust in the process.”
Tags: AI, Business decision-making, Company culture, Customer relations, Efficiency, Emotional intelligence, Empathy, Human touch, Management, Overly-automated, Trust
Newsweek (May 11)
“Business leaders are particularly enthralled by AI’s growing capabilities,” but the general public is unsold. “Two-thirds of American adults—across all income and education levels—don’t trust generative AI and believe it presents a threat to humanity.” The urgent challenge must be addressed. “As was the case at the dawn of the nuclear age, we all have a role to play in demanding governance of this new technology. Scientists, along with society more generally, have made it clear that now is the time.”
Tags: AI, Business leaders, Education, Enthralled, General public, Generative, Governance, Growing capabilities, Humanity, Income, Scientists, Society, Technology, Threat, Trust
WARC (November 28)
Carbon offsets hearken back to the pre-crash CDO market. In 47% of the transactions Bloomberg recently analyzed, there was inadequate “information to link them back to a buyer. It is, effectively, an opaque market…. The trouble is that this confirms many people’s – often correct – perception that they can’t trust what most brands tell them about their carbon footprint.”
Tags: Bloomberg, Brands, Buyer, Carbon footprint, Carbon offsets, CDO market, Inadequate, Link, Opaque market, Perception, Pre-crash, Transactions, Trust
LA Times (June 14)
“The chances of getting COVID-19 will not be zero anytime soon—even for vaccinated people. So, for all of us to comfortably return to in-person work, send our kids to school and abandon our masks, we will have to rely on multiple lines of trust…. Unfortunately, Americans’ willingness to trust one another was already in decline before the pandemic began.”
Tags: COVID-19, Decline, In-person, Kids, Masks, Pandemic, Return, School, Trust, Vaccinated, Willingness, Work
New York Times (June 3)
The movie theater chain AMC “has soared far higher and faster than GameStop and other meme stocks. AMC’s stock nearly doubled yesterday alone; it’s now worth nearly eight times its prepandemic high, a heady valuation for a business that was flirting with bankruptcy not long ago.” The meme stock frenzies may not be “one-off” events and, by eroding trust in the market, they “could have long-term implications beyond what happens with AMC, GameStop or any other stock in the headlines.”
Tags: AMC, Bankruptcy, Chain, GameStop, Heady, Meme stocks, Movie theater, One-off, Prepandemic, Soared, Trust, Valuation
WARC (June 1)
“As lockdowns start to ease and the scale of the economic challenge becomes clear, uneasy businesses are adjusting to a future which is looking decidedly different from the one they had planned for at the start of 2020.” For starters, many are slashing advertising spend as they move “back to basics: service and trust,” while also focusing more on online presence and purchases.
Tags: Adjusting, Advertising spend, Basics, Ease, Economic challenge, Future, Lockdowns, Online, Service, Trust, Uneasy
