In The News

Globalization and Extremism: New Internationalist

Helena Norberg-Hodge February 22, 2020
Extremism and authoritarianism are rising, and Helena Norberg-Hodge, writing for the New Internationalist, blames economic globalization. She writes about Ladakh, an area administered by India that opened to tourism and development in mid-1970s. With increased economic development and external funding, local farming went into decline. Competition for jobs increased, contributing to ethnic and...

Global Spread of COVID-19: Spiegel

Veronika Hackenbroch and Fritz Schaap February 20, 2020
Thirty countries report confirmed coronavirus cases. Global public health experts suggest that case counts are low and express concern about the spread to less developed countries with dense populations and deep trade connections with China. For example, battling COVID-19 would be a challenge in Africa with shortages of health personnel, testing facilities, protective equipment, and...

COVD-19 Cuts Luxury Retail Sales: New York Times

Elizabeth Paton February 20, 2020
The shopping boulevards in London, Paris, Dubai and other cosmopolitan cities, once crowded with enthusiastic Chinese shoppers, are near empty due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. The coronavirus has placed more than 50 million people under quarantine in China, and 70 other countries imposed travel and visa restrictions for Chinese tourists. Meanwhile, the global luxury goods industry, which...

EU Proposes Big Tech Data-Sharing: Financial Times

Javier Espinoza, Madhumita Murgia and Richard Waters February 20, 2020
The European Commission wants the world’s top tech companies – Amazon, Facebook, Google and others to follow the lead of financial services firms by sharing data with small firms. The commission released a “European Strategy for Data,” and proposes compulsory data-sharing in areas with market failure. “The commission said that tech companies were able to build huge advantages by guarding their...

To Hell With the Truth: Folha

Flavia Lima February 19, 2020
WhatsApp and other social media platforms increasingly influence public perceptions during election campaigns. A parliamentary committee in Brazil is examining the spread of misinformation on social media and finds disturbing trends, including a tendency for confirmation bias. A data analysis firm demonstrated how some Brazilian officials support misinformation on official social media accounts,...

Handling Coronavirus and No Zero Risk: USA Today

John Bacon February 18, 2020
The world has more than 70,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. All but a few hundred are in China. The emergence and rapid spread of the new coronavirus, in the same family as the common cold, has alarmed public health officials. Authorities apply a range of controls: Quarantines separate those exposed until confirmation, isolation separates confirmed cases, lockdowns contain all in affected regions...

Global Retirement Ages Creep Higher: CNBC

Lorie Konish February 15, 2020
Life expectancy is higher worldwide, and governments and individuals respond by hiking the retirement age. “Fueled by changes in lifestyles, working practices, diet and medical advances, people living today can expect to live up to 30 to 40 years longer when compared with people at the beginning of the 20th century,” notes the Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey. A majority of US workers plan to...