December, 2018

• 30 December

  Brexit may not happen, warns trade secretary Fox

  

  Bloomberg The chances of the UK leaving the European Union are “50-50’’ if Parliament rejects Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement in January, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in a Sunday Times interview. “If we were not to vote for that, I’m not sure I would give it much more than 50-50,” the veteran campaigner for Brexit told the ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Our unhappy new year

  

  As we enter 2019, the question that looms over America is simple: Can we govern? The answer is no. Unless this changes — truly a long shot — the New Year may be as disappointing as the old. Our society seems handcuffed by unsolvable problems: large and persistent budget deficits; global warming; uncontrolled immigration; an aging population; an underfunded military; ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Inside Xi’s plan to dominate world

  

  Who is the most important and disruptive leader in the world today? Most Americans would probably answer, Donald Trump — with Russia’s Vladimir Putin running a close second. But my choice for the must-read book of 2018, Elizabeth C. Economy’s “The Third Revolution,” makes a strong case that China’s Xi Jinping may deserve the title. Under Xi’s leadership since 2012, ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Will the real leader of Huawei stand up

  In March, Huawei Technologies Co. announced a series of management changes that went almost unnoticed. Four executives were promoted to deputy chair while one, Liang Hua, was elected chairman of the board. Three of those deputy chairs were also given the position of rotating chairman. Founder Ren Zhengfei remained CEO and a board member, the Shenzhen-based company said in its ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Illegal fishing a serious global security threat

  As China, Russia and the US ramp up their naval deployments, there’s no shortage of conflicts waiting to happen in the world’s oceans. Yet the most immediate cause for concern is something more mundane than great-power rivalries. Pay closer attention to fish. Seafood is the main source of protein for 3 billion people worldwide, and the industry employs more than ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Why economics is facing trouble with big problems

  

  Physics is a very powerful and exact science. Physicists can predict how electricity will flow through the microscopic circuits in your computer, they can land a spaceship on the moon, they can even pick up a single atom. But when it comes to the origin of the universe, even the smartest physicists can’t give us definite answers. How did its ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Finally, a GMO to tempt crowd at Whole Foods

  

  These days everything from cookies to orange juice carry labels boasting that they’re GMO free – a marketing ploy that assumes consumers still hate, fear or at least disapprove of genetically modified organisms (GMO) despite reassurances from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. While science journalists have bemoaned this as irrational fear, people might be making a reasonable ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Big tech’s European nemesis can take one last swipe

  

  When Margrethe Vestager’s five-year term as European competition commissioner ends, the world’s biggest tech companies will breathe a sigh of relief. The Danish politician has been a thorn in the side of the Silicon Valley giants, imposing back taxes on Apple and Amazon.com and fines on Facebook and Google parent Alphabet Inc. “I suspect that, assuming as we all do ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  Monetary policy remains prudent, say PBOC officials

  

  Bloomberg Senior People’s Bank of China (PBOC) officials pushed back against interpretations of its recent moves as signalling significantly looser policy, emphas- ising that monetary policy remains prudent — though it will be more targeted and flexible. “The stance on prudent monetary policy hasn’t changed,” Sun Guofeng, director of the monetary policy department, told reporters in Beijing. “But it’ll be ...

  Read More »
• 30 December

  China targets smaller lenders in shadow banking crackdown

  

  Bloomberg China announced plans to rein in the expansion of lending by the nation’s regional banks to areas beyond their home bases, the latest step policy makers have taken to defend against financial risk in the world’s second-biggest economy. Those lenders, which include rural cooperatives, must have the proper licenses to provide financing beyond the region where they’re based, or ...

  Read More »