In The News

Bloomberg: US Sanction Power Reaching Its Limit?

Ben Holland May 23, 2018
The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and plans unilateral sanctions. Ben Holland of Bloomberg News identifies a pattern: the Trump administration’s increasing reliance on sanctions and disdain for diplomacy. Other major economies, especially the European Union, China and India may be weary of US demands that increase their costs. “...

Wired: Blockchain Follows Tuna From Fiji to Brooklyn

Louise Matsakis May 22, 2018
Blockchain technology provides tools who want to understand how their food or other products are sourced. Writing for Wired, Louise Matsakis describes tracking a yellowfin tuna from its catch in Fiji to the landing dock, processing facility and transport on to Brooklyn – with Ethereum blockchain by startup Viant. “A plethora of startups—as well as major companies like IBM and Walmart – are...

New York Times: Summary of US Russia Investigation

Mikayla Bouchard May 17, 2018
US special counsel Robert Mueller and a team of investigators have been at work for a year examining Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. A US Senate committee, also investigating, has released multiple documents. The New York Times presents a timeline summarizing themes of the investigation along with key dates, participants and targets. The investigation focuses on...

Forbes: Globalization vs Nationalism Forces Investor Rethink

Kenneth Rapoza May 17, 2018
Investors worldwide are assessing the forces of globalization including trade and immigration versus nationalism, protectionism and populism. Inequality, declining worldwide, is rising in the United States, and “investors that benefit from globalization are leaving the middle and working class in the dust,” notes Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes. Those left behind clamor for limits on international...

Globe and Mail: Changes in Global Water Supply Hint at Future Crises

Ivan Semeniuk May 17, 2018
Satellite data suggest that world global water supplies are dispersing in some regions as glaciers and polar ice melts and consolidating in others – due to population growth, dams, rising demand for water and climate change. The analysis, based on 14 years of satellite data produced by the NASA-led satellite mission GRACE, provides “a comprehensive map of water trends around the world,” reports...

Project Syndicate: Debt Shackles Return

Michael Heise May 16, 2018
Accelerating global growth is based on rising public and public debt. Economist Michael Heise counts such debt among the most serious challenges for the global economy. The Bank for International Settlements reports that total private and public debt of households, government agencies, corporations and other entities not in the financial sector – or non-financial debt – amounts to more than 240...

New York Times: Improve a Billion Lives With Eyeglasses

Andrew Jacobs May 10, 2018
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other deadly diseases are at the forefront of global health crises. This had allowed certain widespread health issues to be overlooked. Poor vision and lack of access to eyeglasses, while not necessarily fatal, afflicts more than a billion people worldwide. Eye exams and eyeglasses can be very expensive, while the resources allotted to improving vision care in...