In The News

The CIA and Diversity: BBC

Matthew Syed September 18, 2019
Numerous commissions have reviewed the activity leading up to the 9/11 attacks, hunting for strategies that might have prevented the threat. Of course, detecting threats in advance is challenging, but there were clues – reports of Saudi men attending flight school with no interest in landing. The problem may have been a systemic lack of diversity, notes Matthew Syed. The CIA has no trouble hiring...

Urgency for Alternative Energies Is Here: IOL

September 18, 2019
Nations that rely on oil imports are closely monitoring global supply after attacks on a Saudi Aramco facility cut half that country’s production capability, representing about 5 percent of the world’s supply. Crude and refined petroleum lead South Africa’s imports, most from Saudi Arabia. “South Africa’s top two oil suppliers – Saudi Arabia and Nigeria – are in regions that could, at best, be...

World Trade Uncertainty Index: IMFBlog

Hites Ahir, Nicholas Broom and Davide Furceri September 17, 2019
Uncertainty deters investment and slows economic growth, and the International Monetary Fund has introduced an index that attempts to measure trade uncertainty for 143 advanced and developing nations. The index relies on a search for words related to uncertainty and trade in the Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. “Globally, the trade policy uncertainty index is rising sharply, having...

Change for Aquaculture Industry: Vancouver Courier

Nelson Bennett September 17, 2019
With the catch of wild fish in decline, consumers turn to farmed seafood. “Aquaculture is already a $244-billion industry … and is the fastest-growing sector in the global food industry,” notes a new Nature Conservancy and Encourage Capital report, as reported by Nelson Bennett for the Vancouver Courier. The planet has limited food-production capabilities, and a growing population cannot rely on...

Unions Kill Manufacturing? South China Morning Post

Zhou Zin September 16, 2019
Consumers gravitate toward low prices, and companies have sought low cost labor to compete. In the early 20th century, US companies relocated from union-dominated northern states to the South, and since the 1970s, manufacturing shifted toward China and other countries with low wages and standards. The Chinese owner of a car glass factory based in Ohio blames unions for a decline in US...

Out of Style: All Animals

Karen E. Lange September 15, 2019
Fur no longer symbolizes glamour or high fashion, but cruelty and ignorance. Still, more than 100 million wolves, minks, foxes and other wild animals are killed for their skins each year – with more than 80 percent confined to cages on factory farms. The industry touts animal welfare guidelines, but biologists insist raising wild animals in small cages is never humane. China, the United States,...

Myth of Unified World Populism: Financial Times

Janan Ganesh September 12, 2019
The world has many populists in power in prominent nations – the US, India, the UK, Brazil, Turkey and the Philippines, to name a few – raising fears of global movement as envisioned by Steve Bannon, a former advisor to Donald Trump. Janan Ganesh expresses doubt that the populists have such capability. Populists thrive on enemies. Once in power, they struggle to take responsibility. Most simply...