Australia, China, Catalonia, Italy, Move Here Move the World, Tax Reform, Uber, colette, Kobe
Caracal Business Insider | Daily
December 20, 2017
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Caracal Business Insider = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits.
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
What Caracal Global is watching today:
✔️ China v India
✔️ China v Australia
✔️ Catalonia votes again
✔️ Detroit's Amazon HQ2 bid revealed
✔️ colette, ‘trendiest store in the world’, bids adieu
GEOECONOMICS
India is unequal: The top 10% in India take home 55% of the country’s income.
China has India surrounded in their new Great Game: Nikkei reports, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan -- Beijing is pulling South Asia into its orbit. https://goo.gl/YsdDS8
Japan is building missile bases to confront rising threat from China: WSJ reports, Japan’s military is laying the groundwork for batteries of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles in a quiet, sugar-cane-filled valley in its southwestern island chain, as it girds to confront what Tokyo views as its greatest long-term threat: China.
ABC: China's embassy in Canberra issues safety warning for Chinese nationals in Australia
China's embassy in Canberra has taken the rare step of issuing a public safety warning for Chinese students living in Australia due to "a rising number of insulting incidents".
NYT: Espionage bills in Australia stir fears of anti-Chinese backlash
"The Chinese government has been using proxies in Australia for years to polish its image and press for its priorities, including reunification with Taiwan and sovereignty over the South China Sea. These efforts have intensified under President Xi Jinping, who seems to view Australia — which has benefited greatly from trade with China — as a laboratory for efforts to sway opinion abroad and increase China’s global influence."
Twelve days in Xinjiang: How China’s surveillance state overwhelms daily life: WSJ reports, China’s government has turned the northwestern region into a laboratory for high-tech social controls. Citizens and visitors must run a daily gantlet of police checkpoints, surveillance cameras and machines scanning their ID cards, faces, eyeballs and sometimes entire bodies.
North Korean cyberheists fan fears amid bitcoin frenzy: Nikkei reports, US points to Pyongyang as the culprit behind WannaCry attacks.
Reuters: South Korean cryptocurrency exchange to file for bankruptcy after hacking
LAT: Spain's Catalonia region is set to pick a new parliament Thursday amid ongoing independence fight
Catalonia votes again, this time in a gamble to stall its secessionists: NYT reports, after Catalonia declared independence two months ago, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain took extraordinary control of the region and called elections, gambling that voters would punish the separatists who had propelled the nation’s worst constitutional crisis in decades. That election now comes Thursday, but far from solving the conflict, it could just as easily complicate the task of governing the first of Spain’s 19 regions to have its autonomy stripped, placing the country in uncharted political terrain.
Catalonia in turmoil: Bloomberg reports, while Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sought to halt political chaos in Catalonia by forcing a snap election, the result of Thursday’s vote there may kick off a new phase of upheaval. With no clear winner and mutual resentment increasing, separatists from Edinburgh to Venice are watching closely.
Madrid believes Catalonia independence threat is over: FT reports, the Spanish national government still faces enormous difficulties in the region, analysts say.
Norway is to become the first Scandinavian country to decriminalize drugs as it focuses on treatment rather than punishment.
2020: The EU expects the U.K.’s post-Brexit transition period to last until the end of 2020 and is aiming for a trade deal to kick in immediately after that, according to a European Commission official.
Reuters: Full Brexit in Jan. 2021 as EU sets transition deadline
The EU wants a transition period after Brexit to end no later than the last day of 2020, according to the European Commission's negotiating directives agreed on Wednesday.
The Times: Theresa May plans new Brexit speech as ministers urge her to aim high
Trump's London visit still uncertain after call with May as tensions continue: Guardian reports, Theresa May spoke to Donald Trump on Tuesday about their country’s very different positions on Jerusalem, but it was left unclear whether previous damage to the relationship had been repaired – or whether the president would visit London in February to open the new US embassy.
The Daily Mail is reporting Trump plans to visit Britain in February to open the new US embassy in London but will not meet Queen Elizabeth.
Donald Trump’s first visit to UK ‘to be announced soon’: The Times reports, details of Trump’s first official visit to the UK will be announced soon, the White House has said. The statement from the US president’s office will strengthen expectations that Mr Trump will dedicate the new US Embassy in London in February. The “working visit”, which is not expected to include a meeting with the Queen, was proposed after controversy around the UK’s offer of a state visit in January.
How Italy turned Euroskeptic
Politico - Naomi O'Leary
"(New voters are) a member of an Italian generation that has known only economic stagnation, and which will head to the ballot box for the first time in a general election next spring. They were born around the same time as the euro — 1999 — and are now old enough to vote. They’ve seen nothing but political and economic crises since their childhoods, and politicians apparently unable to fix them."
Italy's share of world GDP (PPP):
1987: 4.28%
1997: 3.39%
2007: 2.64%
2017: 1.82%
Russia: say 2018, think 2024: To divert attention from growing economic frustrations, Putin in the coming six years must maintain popular belief in the “siege mentality” narrative – the idea of a salient threat from the West that seeks to destabilize Russia’s national security at any moment.
Control Risks - Emily Ferris
Canadian executives push Trudeau to join new US-free Trans-Pacific Partnership: BNN reports, more than a dozen top business leaders are telling Justin Trudeau it's time for Canada to immediately join the revamped Trans-Pacific Partnership that no longer includes the United States. An open letter to the prime minister from 18 chief executives comes after last month's decision by Canada to withhold support from what appeared to be a breakthrough agreement by the 11 remaining TPP countries to sign a newly-configured version of the Pacific Rim trade pact.
Globe and Mail: Ottawa to more than triple cannabis licenses to boost production
Trump is a gift to Trudeau. He makes Trudeau look good: Trump may be a blight on his country and a bane to civilized behavior, but for Trudeau, he could prove to be a considerable asset when the next election comes.
National Post - Kelly McParland
AMERICAN POLITICS
WSJ: GOP nears tax victory as bill passes in Senate
LAT: Congress prepares to deliver Trump's top legislative priority as Senate approves tax bill
The Senate passed the tax-overhaul bill, 51-48, putting Congress on the cusp of passing a $1.5 trillion tax cut and the largest structural overhaul of the tax system since 1986.
Trump hosting an all-cabinet meeting today at 11:30 am ET
The measure will return to the House for a final vote on this morning followed by a White House presser expected around 1:00 pm ET.
This is the best day of the Trump administration so far - he best enjoy this moment because 2018 is the year of the dog.
@CNBC: The big debate on Wall Street right now is whether to 'sell the news' on the tax cut rally
Every vote counts: A Democrat in Virginia defeated a Republican incumbent by a single vote — 11,608 to 11,607 — leaving the House of Delegates evenly split between the two parties.
8,500 firefighters = The number of firefighters who have battled the Thomas wildfire in Southern California — the largest mobilization to fight a wildfire in California's history. The effort has cost $130 million and forced 104,607 people to leave their homes.
ENTERPRISE
Detroit's Amazon HQ2 bid revealed: tax breaks, $120 million talent program, transit vision https://goo.gl/C4uENc
In the sales pitch to Amazon, a reimagined downtown Detroithttps://goo.gl/2pNDQg
Move here, move the world (video) https://goo.gl/xd2sM8
Microsoft's worldwide "advertising expense" for its fiscal year ending June 30 totaled $1.5 billion.
United Parcel Service said it is buying 125 Tesla all-electric semi-trucks.
Uber dealt a blow as EU court rules it is a transport firm: WSJ reports, Uber suffered a major defeat in its effort to overturn strict rules and licensing requirements in Europe, after the bloc’s highest court ruled the ride-hailing company should be regulated as a transportation service, rather than a digital service.
Uber is a taxi service, the ECJ says, in a major setback to the firm: NYT reports, the decision by the European Court of Justice found that Uber operates more like a transportation service than an online platform that matches passengers with drivers. It is likely to restrict the company from expanding services that allowed nonprofessional drivers to offer rides to clients.
TRENDS
Do’s and don’ts brand lessons from 2017: Pepsi, Ikea, Netflix, McDonald’s, Amazon’s Alexa, and others have served up hearty marketing tutorials throughout 2017. https://goo.gl/rjqAdq
QOTD: “You cannot buy attention. You have to earn it by being idea-first and not content-first.” --@ThamKhaiMeng, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Chief Creative Officer
CULTURE
Paris’s colette, ‘trendiest store in the world’, bids adieu after 20 years: AFP reports, located on rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement (district), right in the beating heart of Paris, colette -- the brand's name deliberately spelled in lowercase -- became a “must-visit” for anyone seeking to put their finger on the Parisian trend-setting pulse. It drew crowds from all over the world, including celebrities like Rihanna, Pharrell and Zlatan, who came to experience its unique universe of blending fashion, street art, beauty products, jewelry and high-tech gadgets under the same roof, not to mention its famous water bar which contains some 80 different varieties of the blue stuff.
SPORT
The Lakers have retired both of Kobe Bryant’s jerseys — No. 8 and No. 24.
Caracal Business Insider | December 15, 2017
Tory Rebellion, Taiwan, Tax Reform, Twenty-First Century Fox, Tragically Hip
Caracal Business Insider | Daily
December 14, 2017
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Caracal Business Insider = Global Business News at the Intersection of Politics + Policy + Profits.
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
What Caracal Global is watching today:
✔️ Disney deal with Twenty-First Century Fox
✔️ Republicans reach a deal on tax legislation
✔️ UK PM Theresa May suffers parliamentary defeat on her Brexit plans
✔️ Dems lead GOP by 15 points in generic 2018 ballot
✔️ Austraila-China relations | China summons Australia ambassador
GEOECONOMICS
Global conflicts to watch in 2018 https://goo.gl/zEE3Z7
"The US is now the most unpredictable actor in the world today."
India, US combine to stymie WTO ministerial meeting: Nikkei reports, Washington's blocking of appellate body appointments may worsen trade rows.
LAT: Wary of Trump, some foreign-born tech workers are choosing Canada instead of Silicon Valley
Tory rebels inflict Brexit defeat on May: FT reports, MPs back an amendment to withdrawal bill giving parliament a vote on the final deal.
AFP: British lawmakers defy May, give parliament final say on Brexit deal
Government loses key vote after Tory rebellion: BBC reports, the UK government has been narrowly defeated in a key vote on its Brexit bill after a rebellion by 11 Tory MPs. In a blow to Prime Minister Theresa May, MPs voted to give Parliament a legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit deal struck with Brussels. The government had argued this would jeopardize its chances of delivering a smooth departure from the EU.
Soft Brexit looking more and more likely with an extended transition period beyond March 2019.
For UK politics, it is the first time that PM May has been defeated on her own business in the Commons.
NYT: Tillerson says embassy in Jerusalem is at least three years away
AFP: South Korean President in China to mend ties
Taiwan eyes 'important role' in alternative Asian sphere of influence: Nikkei reports, Taiwan is turning to Southeast Asia and beyond as part of a strategy to reduce its economic dependence upon China, its biggest trading and investment partner. The island economy also hopes to identify itself more closely with an emerging "Indo-Pacific" bloc of Asian economies.
Taiwan feeling whiplash after a turbulent year of Trump: Nikkei reports, an initial US interest faded as president drew closer to China.
Beijing sends warning to US with a new aircraft carrier to patrol South China Sea: The Times reports, Beijing has warned that its new aircraft carrier will “thwart” attempts by foreign forces to seize disputed territories in the South China Sea as it objected to the US signing a deal that will allow American ships to be deployed to Taiwan. Trump this week signed a National Defense Authorization Act that allows the US and Taiwan to deploy ships into each other’s waters.
China summons Australia ambassador over foreign influence row: The Times reports, in a further escalation of deteriorating relations between the two countries, Jan Adams, the Australian ambassador to China, was asked to explain Canberra’s proposed new legislation that aims to counter attempts by overseas governments to influence Australia’s affairs. The meeting is understood to have involved a “robust” discussion.
Why Europe need not kowtow to China: With a modicum of confidence, EU nations can set the terms of the relationship.
FT - Philip Stephens
Italy declares a state of emergency after a deadly gas explosion in Austria: Guardian reports, snow-hit southern Europe could face energy shortages after authorities warned that Austrian pipelines were likely to be out of action for days following an explosion and fire that ripped through a main gas hub near Vienna.
Telegraph: Vladimir Putin says it's 'not my job' to create rivals for his 2018 election bid, as he hosts annual press conference
Putin says US gripped by fabricated spymania, praises Trump: Reuters reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursdaythe United States was in the grip of a fabricated spymania whipped up by President Donald Trump's opponents but he thought battered U.S.-Russia relations would recover one day.
@BBCDanielS: Annual Vladimir Putin press conference. Situation normal.
@georgegalloway: Putin is right now in a 5-hour press Conference in front of 1000 journalists, no holds barred. It is a dazzling display that no western leader could dream of. It’s live on @RT_com
@bpolitics: Putin praises Trump at his annual press conference: “Look at the markets, how they’ve risen” https://bloom.bg/2ysEyJd
AMERICAN POLITICS
Senate and House GOP reach a deal on tax bill: NYT reports, the agreement on a consensus bill between House and Senate Republicans keeps the party on track for final votes next week on the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades.
Trump's eldest son testifies to Senate committee in Russia probe: Reuters reports, Trump's eldest son met with the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday as part of the panel's investigation into Russia, the 2016 U.S. election and whether his father's election campaign colluded with Moscow.
Doubting the intelligence, Trump pursues Putin and leaves a Russian threat unchecked: WP reports, nearly a year into his presidency, Trump continues to reject the evidence that Russia waged an unprecedented assault on a pillar of American democracy and supported his run for the White House. Interviews with more than 50 U.S. officials show that the personal insecurities of the president have impaired the government’s response to a national security threat, with Trump resisting or attempting to roll back efforts to hold Moscow to account as he tries to forge a partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ellis Insight on the control of the US Senate and Election 2018: "But, the most important occurrence accompanying the Jones victory is that the Democrats now have a path to the majority in 2018, something that didn’t exist before last night’s Alabama special election."
There are ten Democratic Senators on next year’s ballot in states that Trump carried.
The Hill: Democrats lead GOP by 15 points in generic 2018 ballot
The Monmouth University Polling Institute survey has 51 percent of registered voters saying they would vote for or lean toward a Democratic candidate with only 36 percent of voters said they would vote or lean Republican.
This is a total disaster for the GOP as Election 2018 hasn't officially begun.
2018 looks like a Democratic wave
WP - Alan Abramowitz
Reuters: Federal Communications Commission set to reverse net neutrality rules
WSJ: Nearly 5 million Americans in default on student loans
With California wildfires, insurers’ losses keep spiraling higher: WSJ reports, the insurance industry faces one of its biggest natural-disaster bills after year of hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires.
ENTERPRISE
FT: Disney-Fox changes power balance in Hollywood
Disney buys much of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox indeal that will reshape Hollywood: LAT reports, under the deal, Disney would take over the 20th Century Fox movie and television studio, Fox’s 22 regional sports channels, the cable entertainment brands FX and National Geographic, and Fox’s portfolio of international operations.
Walt Disney Co. said it would buy select assets of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion in stock.
The move makes Disney a true streaming competitor to services like Netflix and Amazon.
Bob Iger extends contract as CEO of entertainment company until 2021.
Google AdWords adds targeting by phone number, mailing address: AdAge reports, Google has expanded the consumer-targeting capabilities of its AdWords platform to let marketers use phone numbers and mailing addresses to reach their right people.
US broadband groups prepare for net neutrality roll back: FT reports, the move allows companies to open ‘fast lanes’ allowing preferential treatment for content owners who pay more.
How 2017 became a turning point for tech giants: Five or 10 years from now, we will come to regard 2017 as a turning point. Why? Because this year, for the first time, tech giants began to grudgingly accept that they have some responsibility to the offline world. The scope of that responsibility, though, is another matter entirely.
NYT - Farhad Manjoo
"This was a terrible year for the tech industry."
Panasonic is considering jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles with Toyota.
"Bitcoin is young people saying we have no faith in our institutions." --L2 founder Scott Galloway
Skift: Mafengwo raises $133 million as a booking app for Chinese Millennials
Business Insider Inc. drops ‘Business’ from its name: WSJ reports, in January, the company will begin doing business as Insider Inc., doubling down on its plan to create new coverage verticals on social media and elsewhere.
Retailers still haven't caught up to Millennials: The children of baby boomers don't seek personal fulfillment through shopping.
Bloomberg View - Barry Ritholtz
TRENDS
Instagram: You can now "follow" a hashtag on the platform the same way you would follow an account.
CULTURE
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”: LAT film critic Justin Chang calls it “easily its most exciting iteration in decades — the first flat-out terrific ‘Star Wars’ movie since 1980’s ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’”
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Bon Jovi, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues, Nina Simone, and gospel singer-guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe are headed to Cleveland.
Pitchfork’s 50 best albums of 2017 https://goo.gl/hMbtr6
All 218 U2 Songs, ranked from worst to best https://goo.gl/6kFpwN
Decider: "Long Time Running" and The Tragically Hip: Saying goodbye to my border-town band https://goo.gl/EGVPca
The documentary and concert film "Long Time Running" is now available on Netflix - go watch it and then watch it again.
SPORT
The NBA has surpassed the NFL as the league of America’s future: The NFL may still be America’s most popular sport, but it’s become increasingly clear that football embodies the spirit of a nation as it once was - not as it is today.
Guardian - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LAT: Lakers brass asks LaVar Ball to tone down the rhetoric
AFP: 'I broke no rules' says Froome after 'adverse' Vuelta drugs test
Kirk Cousins and other NFL players say they’d want to take CTE tests while active: WP reports, while reliable tests in living patients for the neurodegenerative disease have yet to be developed, the Redskins quarterback said he would retire if he learned he had CTE.
WP: Roger Goodell intends to retire as NFL commissioner by end of extension in 2024, league says