North Korea, NAFTA, WeWork, Jimmy Fallon, Matt Lauer, Clemson

Caracal Business Insider | Daily
November 28, 2017
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Caracal Business Insider: Politics + Policy + Profits

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

ROSS RANT

The Three Es and what your organization can learn from WeWork's acquisition of Meetup

As you think about your 2018 marketing efforts, take a page from the WeWork merger of Meetup playbook.

Yesterday it was announced WeWork intends to buy Meetup for the sole purpose of getting more people to interact with WeWork via education, experience, and entertainment (The Three Es) - all in an effort to see the WeWork brand as a clubhouse for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts.

The big idea going forward = every retail, service, and consumer goods company with an office, conference room, store or open warehouse should learn from this - getting people to interact with your brand involves The Three Es coupled with off-hour engagement and maximizing your assets.

GEOECONOMICS

WSJ: North Korea missile launch shows ability to reach DC

NYT: North Korea tests a ballistic missile, in defiance of Trump

Nikkei: North Korea says new ICBM puts the entire US instriking distance

The first missile test in more than two months reaches the highest altitude yet.

The dangers of de-globalization: Watch G-Zero World with Ian Bremmer and global economist and author Dambisa Moyo. https://goo.gl/EnV95X

The pendulum of power swings back towards the state: Three reasons to expect a shift in the balance between governments and markets.
Economist - Zanny Minton Beddoes

Bitcoin crossed the $10,000 mark for the first time in its nine-year history.

Outrage in Beijing: Bloomberg reports, a pair of controversies in the Chinese capital — the mass eviction of migrant workers and allegations of widespread abuse at local kindergartens — have exposed the challenges facing President Xi Jinping as he works to improve the country’s quality of life while strengthening one-party rule. 

Trump opens new front in trade battle with China: FT reports, US initiates first anti-dumping probe against major partner since 1985.

Trump gives Xi first taste of trade acrimony ahead: Pete Sweeney of Reuters writes, unimpressed with progress on North Korea and market opening, the White House has moved aggressively to target aluminium dumping. This is just an opening salvo in what looks set to be an acrimonious renegotiation of the world’s most important trade relationship.

China has a plan to rule the world
WP - David Ignatius

"China’s rise has been so rapid yet gentle in tone that it’s easy to miss how fast Beijing has expanded its ability to project power. The mesmerizing go-slow style of the pre-Xi years, summarized in the Chinese slogan “hide and bide,” has been replaced by what U.S. analysts now see as an open power play."

Belt and Road now leads to every Central, Eastern European nation: Caixin reports, China signs agreements with Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, and pledges billions in loans.

AFP: China warns of retaliation after fresh US trade probe

Five things to know about China’s new-energy vehicle policies: Caixin reports, subsidies are out, quotas are in as market becomes increasingly competitive. https://goo.gl/m6wtwi

Beijing evicts migrants onto cold streets, sparking outcry: AFP reports, dozen police swept through the pitch-black frigid hallways of tenement buildings in a ramshackle neighborhood of northern Beijing, posting eviction notices on every door with heavy thumps of their fists.

UK bows to EU demands on Brexit bill: FT reports, Britain agrees to total liabilities worth €100bn but will aim to pay less than half.

Britain to pay EU bills for decades: The Times reports, the UK government bowed to demands from Brussels to meet its long-term financial liabilities to the bloc.

It now costs the average Londoner 14.5 times their annual salary to purchase a home. 

AMERICAN POLITICS

NYT: Tax bill clears Senate panel as support widens among GOP

Trump's erratic deal-making style leaves both parties' lawmakers distrustful: LAT reports, Trump, the self-professed deal-maker, once again has dealt a setback to a bipartisan legislative deal — this time with potentially significant consequences: the threat of a government shutdown.

Inside the White House, Michael Flynn pushed a proposal from a company he said he had advised: WP reports, the then-national security adviser asked his staff to turn a memo from a former business associate into a proposal for the president. Flynn’s advocacy for the project surprised some administration officials and raised concerns that he had a conflict of interest.

Detroit likes NAFTA: Executives from GM, Fiat Chrysler, and Ford urged VP Pence on Monday to tap the brakes on proposed changes to NAFTA that they say could add thousands of dollars to car costs in the United States.

WP: CNN disinvites itself from annual White House holiday party for press

ENTERPRISE

ESPN's big bet on fantasy: Axios reports, ESPN Fantasy sports app is driving a massive chunk of the network's digital traffic, and Disney executives are looking to replicate that success for other networks.

Nikkei: Lenovo sells off more real estate as core business struggles

iHeartRadio launches podcast network targeting Middle America: Axios reports, iHeartRadio's top country music radio host Bobby Bones is launching the Nashville Podcast Network, a podcast network built to lure Middle Americans into podcasts.

NYT: WeWork to buy Meetup, the service for bringing hobbyists together

@cnntech: @Airbnb users will be able to split the cost of a listing with up to 16 people.

SpaceX raised $100 million in new venture capital funding.

Wells Fargo faces fresh wrath over auto, mortgage operations: WSJ reports, a federal regulator has advised Wells Fargo’s board that it is weighing a formal enforcement action against the bank over improprieties in its auto insurance and mortgage operations.

Goldman Sachs warns that the highest valuations since 1900 mean pain is ahead https://goo.gl/rRPnUG 

Daimler AG has turned down an offer from China's Geely to take a stake of up to 5 percent via a discounted share placement.

Reuters: Uber's third-quarter net loss widens to $1.46 billion

TRENDS

Double-clicking on the Chinese consumer: A McKinsey reports suggests rising post-90s generation is emerging as a strong engine of consumption, in one of four important new trends in the Chinese consumer landscape. https://goo.gl/jbJXuB

The Instagram beauty shop: L2 reports, with the holidays around the corner, J.Crew is taking extra measures to ensure shoppers have an Instagrammable season. https://goo.gl/8xCML9

The city of Chicago is suing Uber for failing to disclose the 2016 data breach.

So long, new sedan: New research from KPMG suggests that shared autonomous vehicles could more than half the number of car purchases made in America by 2030. https://goo.gl/omASaS

Robots and employment: McKinsey Global Institute says as many as 375 million workers around the world will need to find new occupations or lose their livelihood to automation by 2030.

CULTURE

@TODAYshow: Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment.

Rolling Stone: 50 best albums of 2017 https://goo.gl/NH1dbL

Grammy Nominations 2018: Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar lead the way https://goo.gl/qvGvNi

Jay-Z received eight nominations for his album “4:44”

Standford Politics: How Peter Thiel and the Stanford Review built a Silicon Valley empire https://goo.gl/NZkc1E

A sharp decline for Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’: NYT reports, the latest ratings show that viewers are tuning out NBC’s fun-and-games approach and flocking to the politically engaged Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.

SPORT

NFL ratings: After 11 weeks, the National Football League's 2017-18 season's average TV ratings are down 6 percent, to 14.7 million viewers, when compared to the same time last year. 

@AP_Top25: New college football playoff rankings:
1. Clemson
2. Auburn
3. Oklahoma
4. Wisconsin

Ex-Ohio State great widens lawsuit over commercial image use: AP reports, a former Ohio State and NFL star is asking a judge to let him expand a class-action lawsuit over allegations that marketing campaigns for dozens of big-time colleges and universities improperly used the images of thousands of current and former football players. Those athletes should be compensated, according to the proposed update of a lawsuit by ex-linebacker turned broadcaster Chris Spielman.