Spain, Creativity, New NAFTA, Spotify, Avengers: Endgame

Caracal Global Daily
April 29, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross

Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia 

Caracal Global Daily  = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics

TOP FIVE

✔️ Spain’s Socialists seek to govern alone after poll win

✔️ Creativity peaks in your 20s and 50s

✔️ Trump’s new NAFTA faces mounting trouble in House

✔️ Spotify now has 100 million paying users

✔️ Avengers: Endgame smashes box-office records in $1.2 billion debut

MR IN THE NEWS

Bloomberg Radio - Sound On: Trade Talks, North Korea + 2020 Campaigns 

I was on Bloomberg Radio Friday night. 

I joined Bloomberg Chief Washington Correspondent Kevin Cirilli and Ben Chang, former White House National Security Council director of communications in a wide-ranging discussion covering current global and domestic political issues such as:

- CIA on Instagram
- Zlatan Ibrahimović
- UN Arms Trade Treaty
- Ford Motor Company + USCMA 
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi + Impeachment
- White House Correspondents Dinner + Prince
- Globalization + Politics + US agricultural exports
- Prime Minister Shinzō Abe weekend at the White House
- Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un meeting with President Vladimir Putin

You can listen to the nearly 50-minute episode - here.

GLOBALIZATION

Reuters: Two US Navy warships sail through strategic Taiwan Strait

A move that angered China just days after it marked the 70th anniversary of its navy. 

Mnuchin says trade negotiations with China are in ‘the final laps’: NYT reports, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin travels to Beijing this week as trade talks with China reach a critical point.

US-China talks to resume with significant issues unresolved: Bloomberg reports, the possibility remains that Donald Trump would walk away from the negotiating table.

Talks will resume in Beijing this week with the aim of a deal sometime next month.

Both of these stories are correct.

Pro-tip: Trade negotiations with China will never end.

US-China trade ties hinge on enforcement mechanism: Reuters reports, US negotiators head to China to try to hammer out details to end the two countries' trade war, including the shape of an enforcement mechanism, the success or failure of which could set the trajectory of ties for years to come.

Edward Luce: China, the US and trade in a dog-eat-dog world: An agreement between the world’s two biggest economies would sideline the WTO.

Britain's FM urges caution over Huawei role in 5G network: AFP reports, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged caution over the role of China's Huawei in the UK, saying the government should think carefully before opening its doors to the technology giant to develop next-generation 5G mobile networks. His comments come after Prime Minister Theresa May conditionally allowed China's Huawei to build the UK 5G network, according to media reports last week.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond vs. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt 

Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau look to rule of law in resolving dispute over Huawei: TJT reports, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agrees with his Canadian counterpart to seek the rule of law in resolving international issues, including China’s arrest of two Canadian citizens.

With China in mind, Japan eyes new infrastructure investment rules for G20: TJT reports, the Abe government is considering proposing a set of rules for infrastructure investment in developing countries when Japan hosts the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June, after China has been criticized for engaging in “debt-trap” diplomacy with its aggressive project financing, according to sources.

Incoming Imperial monarchs offer Japan something new: TJT reports, Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako, represent a lot of firsts for the nation's next Imperial monarchs: university-educated, multilingual and with years of experience living overseas, during which the monarch-to-be even did his own laundry. 

Reiwa Era to open in wake of decades of tumultuous economic change in Japan: TJT reports the Heisei Era began three decades ago with Emperor Akihito ascending the throne near the zenith of one of the biggest stock market bubbles in history. It's been punctuated by the triple hit of an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown.

Bill Shorten wins first election debate against Scott Morrison: SMH reports, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has won the popular vote in the first leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign after using his closing remarks to tell Australians the economy was not working for them. Shorten emphasized the cost of services ranging from childcare to private health insurance in a challenge to Prime Minister Scott Morrison over economic management during the live debate in Perth.

Pedro Sanchez's Socialists win election but miss majority: DW reports, in a vote that saw one of the highest turnouts in recent years, Spain's ruling Socialists have won the most seats but fell well short of a majority. The far-right Vox party will enter parliament for the first time.

Spain’s Socialists seek to govern alone after poll win: FT reports, PM Pedro Sánchez also has coalition options after defeating the fragmented conservative challenge.

The Times: Socialists ready to run Spain alone

Spain’s Socialist Party has signaled that it could try to govern as a minority administration instead of working in a formal coalition.

Ferdinando Giugliano: Spain's election is a radical opportunity: A coalition between the Socialists and the centrists looks a long shot, but the benefits for the country’s economy would be considerable.

Bernd Riegert: Spain loses its innocence: The Socialists may have won the general election, but the real story is the rise of the far-right nationalist Vox party as it enters the Spanish parliament.

How Brexit might help the Scottish independence quest: Reuters reports, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to lead her nation to independence from the United Kingdom have been muddled by Brexit, but the whirlwind at the center of British politics may yet advance her cause.

DISRUPTION

Creativity peaks in your 20s and 50s: BBC reports, New research from Ohio State University found that our mid-20s is when our brains first become fertile ground for innovation. The study looked at previous winners of the Nobel Prize in economics. It found that those who did their most groundbreaking work in their 20s tended to be "conceptual" innovators. So basically they had a light bulb moment and acted upon it. But don't panic if you've gone past your mid-20s without a flicker of an idea - some of us won't hit our inspirational stride until our mid-50s.

The study is from THE Ohio State University so who knows?!?

The anatomy of a great decision: Making better decisions is one of the best skills we can develop. Good decisions save time, money, and stress. Here, Shane Parrish breaks down what makes a good decision and what we can do to improve our decision-making processes. http://bit.ly/2L8vMf7

POLITICS

Barr’s Feud with House escalates with threat of subpoena: NYT reports, the House Judiciary Committee was planning to question Attorney General William P. Barr on Thursday. But he objected to the panel’s proposed format. “The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period,” the committee chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler said.

Trump did ‘nothing wrong’ to warrant impeachment, Sen. Lindsey Graham says: LAT reports, ‘What President Trump did here was completely cooperate in an investigation,’ Graham argued on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’

Sen. Lindsey Graham challenges Jared Kushner’s bid to downplay Russian interference in 2016 election: WP reports, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Russia’s interference was “not just a few Facebook ads,” as the White House senior adviser asserted last week. 

Rising tide of white nationalism is at forefront of 2020 presidential race: WP reports, the California synagogue shooting and President Trump’s latest defense of his Charlottesville comments have prompted some Republicans to acknowledge that the president is taking a political risk by continuing to stand by his words.

Trump’s new NAFTA faces mounting trouble in House: WSJ reports, Trump’s push to revamp North America’s trade rules is hitting a roadblock in Washington as Democrats and labor groups demand changes, dimming its chances of passage before next year’s election. 

Joe Biden won the endorsement of the nation’s largest firefighters union Monday.

RIP: Richard Lugar, a leading Republican voice on arms control in his 36 years as a senator representing Indiana, died Sunday in a Virginia hospital. He was 87.

COMMERCE

Spotify now has 100 million paying users.

FT: Anadarko prepares to endorse $55bn bid from Occidental

Sale of Texas-based oil and gas company to Chevron in jeopardy.

Decentralized browser Brave has launched Brave Ads: An option that enables its users to earn rewards for watching advertising. The development was announced on Brave’s website on April 24. The announcement reads that users of Brave — which is an open-source blockchain-powered browser that blocks ads and website trackers — can now receive 70% of the ad revenue share as a reward for their attention in the form of the browser’s native cryptocurrency, basic attention tokens (BAT). 

CULTURE

Avengers: Endgame smashes box-office records in $1.2 billion debut.