Canada's population spread:
Pakistan, Canada, Philippines, Japan, Venezuela, Netherlands
Pakistan, Canada, Philippines, Japan, Venezuela, Netherlands
Marc Ross Daily
March 1, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
Marc Ross Daily = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics
TOP FIVE
✔️ Japan grows nervous about the US
✔️ Russia vows to continue support for Venezuela
✔️ The MBA myth and the cult of the CEO
✔️ This is what peak car looks like
✔️ MA bill would ban tackle football until after seventh grade
GLOBALIZATION
WSJ: Pakistan to release captured Indian pilot, easing tensions
Chinese factories: Factory activity in China has been plummeting thanks to falling export orders. The latest PMI figures suggest activity has now contracted for three straight quarters, and is now at a three-year low.
US readies final China trade deal as hawks urge caution: Bloomberg reports, debate continues in Washington over whether to push Beijing for more concessions.
Reuters: Trump warns he could abandon China trade deal as advisers tout progress
Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou retreats from public eye in Vancouver: FT reports, founder’s daughter is under house arrest awaiting an extradition hearing to the US.
Canada seen approving extradition hearing against Huawei executive: Reuters reports, Canada is likely to announce on Friday that an extradition hearing against a Huawei Technologies Co Ltd executive can proceed, legal experts said, worsening already icy relations with Beijing.
MSCI hands Chinese stocks bigger role in global markets: FT reports, the decision by the index provider could send up to $125bn into the Chinese market.
Reuters: Pompeo says world should have eyes wide open about Chinese tech risks
Pompeo pledges to defend Philippine forces in South China Sea: WSJ reports, the Philippines shelved a planned review of its military alliance with the U.S. in return for a verbal commitment that American forces would defend the country’s vessels in the South China Sea, removing a major irritant between the longstanding partners.
Robert Kaplan: Japan grows nervous about the US: It fears China’s advance, America’s retreat, and South Korea and Taiwan becoming compromised. https://on.wsj.com/2EpHivV
France, Netherlands seek to douse Air France-KLM controversy: DW reports, the French and Dutch finance ministers have met amid tensions over the Netherlands' move to increase its stake in the airline. The share purchase had sparked concerns of a tug of war between the two governments.
Air France-KLM shows Dutch taste for French statism: FT reports, Dutch state stake in airline shows rise of industrial nationalism in EU.
The Times: US aims to include chlorinated chicken in UK trade deal
The United States has indicated that it will push to get food including chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef on to British supermarket shelves under a post-Brexit trade agreement.
AFP: Russia vows to continue support for Venezuela, including with aid
NYT: As Huawei’s influence in Canada grows, some fear spying. Others just want fast internet.
Trudeau’s party is behind him for now after bombshell testimony: Bloomberg reports, the Canadian prime minister plowed ahead Thursday after his former attorney general alleged, in explosive testimony aired on national television, that he interfered in the justice system by pressing to end a criminal case against an iconic Quebec construction firm. Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Trudeau insisted again his government had every right to consider the job losses that could result from a guilty verdict for SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
This Giant Beast That is the Global Economy official trailer: From the director of The Big Short and Vice and executive producer Will Ferrell comes an 8-part globe-spanning exploration of the most compelling topics impacting the global economy. Through the curious mind of host Kal Penn, see firsthand all the surprising ways the economy interconnects and impacts the lives of people all over the planet. Watch here: https://amzn.to/2ElBYcZ
DISRUPTION
Dan Rasmussen + Haonan Li: The MBA myth and the cult of the CEO: Three decades ago, an influential Harvard Business School professor made the argument that CEO pay should be tied to stock performance. Was he horribly wrong? http://bit.ly/2T8iSkG
"What if the “best and brightest” — those executives with the most dazzling CVs and track records — don’t perform any better than less credentialed executives?"
The Times: Polymaths wanted at London Interdisciplinary School, Britain’s first new university in 40 years
LIS is building a new university that prepares students to tackle the most important and complex problems.
For those who want to shape the world, not just fit in.
Dopamine: Beyond the rush of a reward: The neurotransmitter famously provides the thrill we get from a surprise, a phenomenon known as reward prediction error. But growing evidence suggests the chemical also tracks movement, novelty and other neurobiological factors. http://bit.ly/2T79o9i
The NFL is drafting quarterbacks all wrong: No franchise or GM has shown the ability to beat the draft over time, and economists Cade Massey and Richard Thaler have convincingly shown that the league’s lack of consistent draft success is likely due to overconfidence rather than an efficient market. https://53eig.ht/2TbPyKs
Email message I received from Google: "March 1–2 is National Day of Unplugging. So unwind and take a break from the screen. When you return, check out these apps that boost digital wellbeing."
David Welch + Keith Naughton: This is what peak car looks like: The automobile—once both a badge of success and the most convenient conveyance between points A and B—is falling out of favor in cities around the world as ride-hailing and other new transportation options proliferate and concerns over gridlock and pollution spark a reevaluation of privately owned wheels. Auto sales in the U.S., after four record or near-record years, are declining this year, and analysts say they may never again reach those heights. Worldwide, residents are migrating to megacities—expected to be home to two-thirds of the global population by midcentury—where an automobile can be an expensive inconvenience.
POLITICS
Garrett Graff: 5 key takeaways from Michael Cohen's prepared testimony to Congress http://bit.ly/2T5m9kJ
"The Trump Organization was a small family business—and the campaign was run like one. There were few serious executives or players either not named Trump or, in Jared Kushner’s case, married to one—and in terms of the Trump Organization, perhaps the only two meaningful staffers not named Trump, Cohen, and CFO Allen Weisselberg are both cooperating with investigators. It’s never seemed all that believable that Paul Manafort, Don Jr., and Jared Kushner—three central figures who were with him every day, people who were in constant contact with him and in constant competition for his affection and gratitude—would have hosted a meeting a meeting in Trump Tower, the building where the candidate lived and worked, with Russians promising gifts and not mention it either before, during, or after."
Peggy Noonan: Michael Cohen makes history: There’s no precedent for such an attack on the essential nature of an American president. https://on.wsj.com/2EpHnQf
NYT: Trump ordered officials to give Jared Kushner a security clearance
Trump overruled concerns from intelligence officials and the top White House lawyer about giving his son-in-law access to sensitive information, four people briefed on the matter said.
Democrats vow to investigate White House security clearances: FT reports, top lawmakers show concern over report of Trump intervention for son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Holman Jenkins: The media will re-elect Trump: They would rather believe tall tales about Russia than hear what voters said in 2016. https://on.wsj.com/2ElznzQ
LAT: Democrats, facing a big candidate field, ask: Who is most electable over Trump?
Election 2020: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee enters 2020 presidential race
Jay Inslee is a fourth tier candidate.
Election 2020: Crystal Ball Electoral College ratings:
-- Crystal Ball's initial Electoral College ratings reflect a 2020 presidential election that starts as a Toss-up.
-- Crystal Ball starts with 248 electoral votes at least leaning Republican, 244 at least leaning Democratic, and 46 votes in the Toss-up category.
-- The omissions from the initial Toss-up category that readers may find most surprising are Florida and Michigan.
-- Much of the electoral map is easy to allocate far in advance: About 70% of the total electoral votes come from states and districts that have voted for the same party in at least the last five presidential elections.
OTD: In 1872 Yellowstone, America’s first national park, was established to protect 2.2 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
COMMERCE
Walt Disney Co. is in active discussions with AT&T Inc. to acquire the 10 percent stake in Hulu that is currently controlled by WarnerMedia.
AMC Theatres' Stubs A-List program, the subscription service that allows customers to see three movies a week for $19.95 a month, has hit 700,000 subscribers.
Luckin Coffee, which has ambitions to overtake Starbucks in China this year, has tapped three banks including Credit Suisse to work on a US IPO, Reuters reports. The Beijing-based startup, which is targeting a valuation of about $3B, opened over 2,000 cafes last year and aims to launch 2,500 new outlets in 2019. Luckin is said to have chosen New York for the listing, as Hong Kong generally requires IPO applicants to have a track record of three financial years.
Gap said it plans to split itself into two independent publicly traded companies, one unnamed company consisting of the iconic Gap brand and Old Navy.
Tesla said it would begin shutting stores and move to selling vehicles only over the internet.
Tesla cuts price on Model 3 again to $35,000.
Royole displays flexible approach to foldable phones: NIkkei reports, startup takes on Samsung, Huawei with home-grown technology.
HBO Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Plepler is stepping down in the wake of new owner AT&T seeking to put its own stamp on the premium cable channel.
Come back to Queens: Open letter to Bezos from:
- Ajay Banga
- Ken Chenault
- James Gorman
- Robin Hayes
- Joey Levin
- Bill McDermott
- Robert Rubin
- Fred Wilson
(and many more)
To reverse the decision to pull New York campus. This full-page letter to run today in the NYT.
See it here: https://buff.ly/2Vre1I3
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who was staggered by Amazon’s decision to pull out of its plans to come to New York City, is working intensely behind the scenes to lure the company back, even connecting with Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, to make a personal pitch.
CULTURE
Back to the water: After "Aquaman" smashed the box office last year with over $1 billion worldwide, a sequel was inevitable. On Wednesday, the studio Warner Bros. set its release date for December 16, 2022.
5 tips to starting a daily creative practicehttps://buff.ly/2sOfxaT
SPORT
The truth according to Zlatan: ‘I’m not an act,’ the Los Angeles Galaxy’s star striker declares as he begins his second season in Major League Soccer. ‘I am the real deal.’ https://nyti.ms/2EqelQs
He was absolutely not joking when, upon signing with the Galaxy last March, he bought a full-page advertisement in The Los Angeles Times.
“Dear Los Angeles,” it read. “You’re welcome.”
How FC Barcelona are preparing for the future of football: FT reports, science and sport intersect in the Catalan giant’s new ‘innovation hub.’ https://on.ft.com/2Enbyrf
Bryce Harper signs $330 million deal with Phillies.
Ross Rant Flashback: The Nats don't play in baseball town:
"the city is waking up to another Nats season cut short and not matching expectations. In a town full of type A personalities and high school class presidents, victory and success are deemed a birthright."
https://buff.ly/2H6dWpn
Massachusetts bill would ban tackle football until after seventh grade: NYT reports, the bill, which moved to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health this week, follows attempts by legislators in five other states who have tried — but failed — to pass similar measures to protect growing brains from traumatic injury. The bipartisan bill, known as No Hits, would impose financial penalties for any school league or other entity that does not comply.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Canada, Venezuela, Germany, World Bank, Citi, Hollywood, South China Sea
Canada, Venezuela, Germany, World Bank, Citi, Hollywood, South China Sea
Marc Ross Daily
February 19, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
Marc Ross Daily = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics
TOP FIVE
✔️ Canada PM's chief secretary resigns amid SNC controversy
✔️ Trump urges Venezuelan military to desert 'Cuban puppet' Maduro
✔️ Cuban cigars hit record sales thanks to increasing Chinese demand
✔️ 13 states file lawsuit over Trump’s ‘national emergency’
✔️ Tiny South Africa beach restaurant crowned best in world
ROSS RANT
Uber isn't remarkable, it's better
Few ideas are new. Uber is executing the 17th century idea of taxis and the 19th century idea of telephones.
What is new are the tactics Uber is employing to execute these old ideas.
Having a service or product that allows you to be global from day one.
Having a service or product that allows you to reduce end-users burdens.
Having a service or product that allows you to reduce end-users uncertainties.
Read full post here: http://bit.ly/2SHOKMW
GLOBALIZATION
Senior Aide to Canada’s Trudeau resigns amid political storm: WSJ reports, Gerald Butts stepped down from his role as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s principal secretary as the fallout from a political storm focused on SNC-Lavalin continued to reverberate in the Canadian capital.
Reuters: Canada PM's chief secretary resigns amid SNC controversy
Conrad Black: The SNC-Lavalin affair is overblown, but the Liberals still bungled it: By accepting her change of positions, Wilson-Raybould has largely disqualified herself from complaining now about the motives for her so-called demotion
NYT: Venezuela’s border showdown could shift crisis
The government and the opposition face a decisive moment on Saturday, when President Nicolás Maduro’s foes have promised to bring in US aid.
Trump was expected to ask Venezuela’s military to break ranks with Mr. Maduro and to call for the immediate delivery of the shipments.
Reuters: Trump warns Venezuela military they are risking their lives and future
Guardian: Trump urges Venezuelan military to desert 'Cuban puppet' Maduro
AFP: Cuban cigars hit record sales thanks to increasing Chinese demand
Boosted by growing demand from China, sales of Cuban cigars reached a record $537 million in 2018, a seven percent increase over the previous year despite global laws against tobacco, the partially state-owned Habanos said Monday.
"China has surpassed France as the second biggest market for Habanos" behind Spain, said the cigar company's vice president Jose Maria Lopez Inchaurbe.
Minxin Pei: Why a US-China trade deal is not enough: If the US and China fail to reach a comprehensive trade agreement, bilateral trade will plummet, and the unraveling of the US-China economic relationship would accelerate. But even if an agreement is reached, that unraveling will continue, because, at its core, the trade war has always been about security.
Trump will decide if auto imports are a national security threat, as EU retaliation looms: LAT reports, companies and governments from Europe to Asia have warned Trump that tariffs on car imports would hurt the US economy and disrupt the global auto industry, which is already mired in a slump.
FT: EU threatens retaliation if US imposes punitive car tariffs
European Commission to ‘react in a swift and adequate manner’ to any levies.
US insists Europe is following Trump’s lead. Cue awkward silence: Bloomberg reports, a former German ambassador to the U.S. offered a bleak conclusion: “We have a real problem.’’
Germany's Angela Merkel makes arms export pact with France: DW reports, Germany is prepared to compromise its arms export guidelines to facilitate joint defense projects with France, according to an internal government document. France wants to continue selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.
@britainelects: Westminster voting intention:
CON: 39%
LAB: 34%
"A new centrist party opposed to Brexit": 8%
LDEM: 6%
UKIP: 5%
GRN: 2%
No need for Shinzo Abe: Trump already nominated for Nobel Peace Prize: Reuters reports, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not saying whether or not he nominated Trump for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, but the question may be moot: the US president has been put forward by others for the prestigious award.
WP: Japan’s Abe won’t confirm Trump Nobel Prize nomination, but media reports say he made it
Kaushik Basu: Ending America’s World Bank monopoly: David Malpass, Trump's nominee to lead the flagship development bank, appears distinctly unsuited to the job. To protect the World Bank 's work– and the interests of the world's poor – it may be time to end the tradition whereby the American candidate always wins.
DISRUPTION
A real tube carrying dreams of 600-MPH transit: NYT reports, Virgin Hyperloop One is testing a system that would put passengers in pods hurtling through vacuum tubes. Other companies are moving ahead with similar plans.
High street ‘not dead’ and could be industry hub, says report: FT reports, Britain’s high street “is not dead” and struggling town and city centres could be transformed by becoming industry hubs instead of places to shop, according to new research refuting claims that a crisis in bricks-and-mortar retail is killing then off. The Centre for Cities, an independent think-tank, said on Tuesday that local councils should shift town centre economies away from an “overreliance on retail” towards high-skilled industry, and said the belief that high streets were “dying” was misplaced.
The shrinking middle class: By the numbers: Fortune reports, the American middle-class ideal was forged in the decades after World War II, when economic growth and wage increases climbed in lockstep for nearly 30 years. That pairing dissolved abruptly in the 1970s. Between 1973 and 2017, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the productivity of the economy grew 77%—but average compensation rose only 12.4%, adjusted for inflation. This divergence coincided with a shift in economic gravity, away from manufacturing and toward services and “knowledge industries.” That shift weakened the labor unions that had helped rank-and-file workers in many professions claim a bigger share of the bounty. Just as important were tax reforms that favored investment and real estate earnings over wage income. The upshot: an economic order in which the capital-owning class enjoys great advantages—and the costs of admission to and the exclusion from that class grow ever higher.
eSports revenue: Global revenue from eSports is expected to reach a record $1.1B this year, topping $1B for the first time, up 27% from 2018 driven by advertising, sponsorship and media rights, according to a just-released report from industry research and consulting firm NewZoo.
POLITICS
White House defends Trump’s emergency declaration amid mounting challenges: WP reports, critics have seized on recent comments by President Trump as proof that he did not need to declare an emergency at the southern border. “I could do the wall over a longer period of time,” he said last week.
13 states file lawsuit over Trump’s ‘national emergency’
America's UN Ambassador? Trump is considering four people to be his next UN ambassador: Goldman Sachs partner Dina Powell, the current ambassadors to Canada and Germany, Kelly Craft and Richard Grenell, and John James, a former Republican US Senate candidate from Michigan, according to people familiar with the matter.
@thehill: Obamas expected not to endorse anyone in 2020 Dem primary: report
Auto industry lines up against possible US tariffs: Reuters reports, the US auto industry urged President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday not to saddle imported cars and auto parts with steep tariffs, after the US Commerce Department sent a confidential report to the White House late on Sunday with its recommendations for how to proceed.
"Aluminum tariffs are costing breweries nearly $350 million a year and putting around 20,000 beer-related jobs at risk."
THOUGHT LEADER TACTIC OF THE DAY
Get interviewed on a podcast - do this five times this year.
COMMERCE
Amazon in NYC: Despite scratching plans for an HQ2 in Queens, the company has more than 800 open positions in New York City.
Apple is shaking up leadership and reordering priorities across its services, artificial intelligence, hardware and retail divisions as it works to reduce the company’s reliance on iPhone sales.
Facebook joins Amazon and Google in AI chip race: Company needs faster hardware for smart digital assistant and real-time video moderation.
Facebook targeted in scathing report by British parliament: NYT reports, after 18 months investigating Facebook and online misinformation, a British parliamentary committee issued a scathing report on Monday, accusing the company of breaking data privacy and competition laws and calling for new regulations to rein in the technology industry. Repeated scandals involving Facebook and other tech companies demand more government oversight, the committee concluded, including laws making internet companies legally liable for content shared on their websites.
“The era of self-regulation for tech companies should come to an end,” said Damian Collins, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which published the report.
Hollywood faces uncertainty in China as the film business slows: LAT reports, many film executives and producers are increasingly frustrated by the restrictions and unpredictability of the world’s second largest film market.
Citi CEO says machines may cut thousands of call center jobs: US bank can use tech to serve customers better and more cheaply, says Mike Corbat.
Call centers......
Honda set to close Swindon plant in blow to UK manufacturing: Move would place 3,500 jobs at risk just weeks before Brexit.
CULTURE
Tiny South Africa beach restaurant crowned best in world: AFP reports, The Wolfgat -- whose six mostly female staff have no formal training -- opened just two years ago in a 130-year-old cottage and cave on the beach at Paternoster. Chef Kobus van der Merwe, who did not begin to cook seriously until he was 30, forages every day for ingredients on the wild Atlantic shore of the Western Cape near his Wolfgat restaurant, where he also makes his own bread and butter.
Book a table here: https://www.wolfgat.co.za/
SPORT
Mikaela Shiffrin won her fourth consecutive world championship in the slalom.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy to retire after this season.
@AP_Sports: Man United defeats Chelsea, advances to FA Cup quarterfinals
Soccer Matches: Champions League - Round of 16 - Leg 1 of 2:
Lyon v Barca @ 3:00 pm ET
Liverpool v Bayern @ 3:00 pm ET
Atletico Madrid v Juventus - Wednesday @ 3:00 pm ET
Schalke 04 v Man. City -Wednesday @ 3:00 pm ET