5G, Trade, India, Britain, Alessia Cara, Ingvar Kamprad, Uniqlo

Caracal Insider Daily
January 29, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia

Caracal Insider = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits

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TOP FIVE

✔️ USG weighs building national 5G network to counter China

✔️ On trade, world wonders whose rules US plays by

✔️ India expects economy to grow 7-7.5% in 2018/2019

✔️ 'I'm very popular in Britain. I get a lot of fan mail'

✔️ Alessia Cara wins Best New Artist Grammy

GEOECONOMICS

US government weighs building national 5G network to counter China: WSJ reports, some White House officials view next-generation 5G wireless service as a “key area of competition,” and they say that the threat from China justifies a government effort like the construction of the interstate highway system, an internal memo shows.

NYT: Oil boom gives the US a new edge in energy and diplomacy

Why Canada is the next frontier for shale oil: Reuters reports, Canadian producers and global oil majors are increasingly exploring the Duvernay and Montney formations, which they say could rival the most prolific US shale fields.

WP: NAFTA talks that were supposed to end last year might continue into 2019

Canada, Mexico reject reworking NAFTA corporate arbitration system: WSJ reports, Mexico and Canada have rejected a proposal by the Trump administration to remake a corporate arbitration system that is a key part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to people involved in talks to update the pact.

US farmers have much to lose if NAFTA deal collapses: Reuters reports, a collapse of NAFTA, which U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap, could create the most profound disruption for US farmers who produce grains, meats and dairy products sold to Canada and Mexico. 

On trade, world wonders whose rules US plays by: Trump’s message at Davos aimed to soothe anxieties of business and political elites, but it left the world unsettled: Whose rules does the U.S. intend to abide by? And why does it punish so many countries when only one, China, is systematically breaking the rules?
WSJ - Greg Ip

America rejects the world it made: The consequences to turning against the global rules-based order are unpredictable.
FT - Gideon Rachman

China should ‘be ready for a trade war’ after Donald Trump’s Davos speech: SCMP reports, analysts say US president was pointing the finger at Beijing when he said US would not tolerate unfair trade practices, and it should prepare to respond.

Trump’s hard-line “America First” trade agenda was retrofitted at Davos into a more reasonable “America First, but not America alone.”

At Davos, the real star may have been China, not Trump: NYT reports, one of the best-attended speeches at the forum was that of Liu He, a member of China’s ruling Politburo, who promoted the Belt and Road initiative, also known as One Belt, One Road. Participants here said the Chinese initiative was already rivaling more established, traditionally American-led, international institutions.

Command and control: China’s Communist Party extends reach into foreign companies: WP reports, American and European companies involved in joint ventures with state-owned Chinese firms have been asked in recent months to give internal Communist Party cells an explicit role in decision-making, executives and business groups say. The party’s demand would give its cells a formal role in approving management decisions, such as investment plans or personnel changes. And that is ringing alarm bells. https://goo.gl/AFLjdd

New task for old ally of China's President Xi suggests bigger role ahead: CNA reports, China implied on Monday a new job could be in the offing for Wang Qishan, the powerful former top graft-buster and a close ally of President Xi Jinping, with an announcement that he had been chosen as a delegate to the annual meeting of parliament.

Bloomberg: Singapore overtakes China as largest Asian investor in US property

Nikkei: India expects economy to grow 7-7.5% in 2018/2019

Welcome to the club: Xi takes anti-corruption hunt to all Chinese: Nikkei reports, new commission has power to go after doctors, nurses and teachers. https://goo.gl/RSpd7W

Bloomberg: Australia aims to break into top 10 of global defense exporters

Italian election campaign thrives on trash talk: AP reports, In Italy’s general election campaign, Rome’s uncollected garbage has become fodder for politicians — and at least one pig. The capital’s dirty streets, lined with brimming-over, nasty-smelling garbage bins, are providing a handy way to trash the performance of Mayor Virginia Raggi, arguably the most high-profile office-holder of the 5-Star Movement. Ex-premier Matteo Renzi, whose own Democratic Party has taken quite a drubbing in recent opinion polls, evoked the she-wolf, associated with the legend of ancient Rome’s founding. He quipped that “before, there was the wolf, now there’s the pig as Rome’s symbol to the world.”

British demand to vet laws threatens Brexit talks: FT reports, Brussels to insist UK abide by EU laws ‘as a member state’ during 20-month period.

Guardian: Theresa May told to clarify Brexit stance or face no-confidence vote

"Prime minister ‘as vulnerable as she’s ever been’ as pressure from both sides of Tory party grows"

Challenged on all fronts, Britain's May faces pressure over Brexit law: Reuters reports, British Prime Minister Theresa May came under further pressure over her Brexit blueprint on Monday, with members of the upper house of parliament saying there were "fundamental flaws" in a law crucial to the departure.

Speech ‘canceled’: Bloomberg reports, May has scrapped plans to give a third landmark Brexit speech because of the risk of cabinet infighting spilling out in to the open

Guardian: Trump interview: 'I'm very popular in Britain. I get a lot of fan mail'

French poaching: Bloomberg reports, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Japanese business leaders France would welcome companies that need to relocate from the U.K. because of Brexit. “First of all, the presence of the U.K. in the EU is finished,” he said in Tokyo. “Japanese companies must become aware of the consequences.”

LAT: River Seine rises, causing widespread flooding in France; bottom floor of Louvre at risk

AMERICAN POLITICS

Bloomberg: All signs point to big Democratic wins in 2018

"Trump’s approval rating at this stage of his presidency, 36 percent, is lower than any of his predecessors going back to Harry Truman."

"Since the end of World War II, the party in control of the White House has, on average, had a net loss of 26 House seats in midterm elections."

Tomorrow: Trump delivers the SOTU at 9:00 pm ET

Teleprompter Trump vs. Twitter Trump

The plot against America: Decades before he ran the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort’s pursuit of foreign cash and shady deals laid the groundwork for the corruption of Washington. https://goo.gl/xeu5J3

ENTERPRISE

Coincheck, a big cryptocurrency exchange, said it had been robbed of more than $530m by hackers. The Tokyo-based bourse has promised to return about $425m of the digital money, held in NEM coins, to the 260,000 investors affected by the alleged heist.

WSJ: Alibaba, Foxconn invest in Chinese electric-vehicle maker

Mr. Uniqlo's 5 tips for management success: Tadashi Yanai on lessons he has learned from building the fashion empire. https://goo.gl/8ZybQs

Breaking: Dr Pepper Snapple and Keurig Green Mountain to merge

Google has made its first ride-hailing investment in Asia by pumping money into Go-Jek.

FT Global MBA Ranking 2018:

1. Stanford Graduate School of Business    
2. Insead
3. University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
4. London Business School
5. Harvard Business School    
6. University of Chicago: Booth
7. Columbia Business School
8. Ceibs
9. MIT: Sloan    
10. University of California at Berkeley: Haas
37. Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
37. University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler

Full list here: https://goo.gl/dLNQzX

TRENDS

The follower factory: Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media’s black market.
NYT

Somehow this is news that peeps pays for social media followers, engagement, and amplification.

CULTURE

LAT: Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar the big winners at Grammy Awards

AFP: Alessia Cara wins Best New Artist Grammy

Bruno Mars won Album, Record and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. I myself have no idea the name the album, the record, or the song, sorry.

RIP: Ingvar Kamprad, a Swedish entrepreneur, became one of the world’s richest men by turning simply-designed, low-cost furniture into the Ikea empire.

SPORT

Australian Open: Caroline Wozniacki won her first major singles title and Roger Federer his 20th.

LAT: Rumors of Zlatan Ibrahimovic linked to the Galaxy are back

Super Bowl: Philadelphia vs. New England (-4.5)