In The News

Forbes: Lifelong Learning Matters

Lynne Doughtie April 26, 2018
To compete in a global and digital economy, workers cannot afford to stop educating themselves. Technological advancements like artificial intelligence disrupt economies, and businesses struggle to recruit skilled employees. “Part of the problem is that many workers are struggling to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by technological disruption,” explains Lynne Doughtie, CEO of KPMG,...

Project Syndicate: The Globalization Backlash Paradox

Arvind Subramanian April 26, 2018
Some forms of globalization tend to be appreciated more than others, and economist Arvind Subramanian delves into why cross-border financial exchanges are more widely accepted than trade or migration despite having “regularly wreaked havoc on rich and poor economies alike over the last 40 years.” He concludes: “When it comes to real global integration, it is easy to identify perpetrators and...

Quartz: Changing Weather Picks New Winners for Wine

Akshat Rathi & Dan Kopf April 26, 2018
Specific climate conditions influence the taste, quality and production of some crops, especially grapes for wine. Annual wine output last year was up in Argentina, Australia, and South Africa, but down in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Chile, and China,” report Akshat Rathi & Dan Kopf for Quartz. Annual wine production fell by 9 percent in 2017, and that put production at a 60-year low....

Foreign Affairs: Reflexive Hostility to Russia Harms US Interests

Emma Ashford April 25, 2018
Many US leaders automatically adopt a tough stance on Russia to counter the US president’s reticence: “bipartisan enmity toward Russia has pushed even Trump, whose rhetoric on the country often vacillates between open hostility and admiration, to adopt reflexively hawkish policies, from purposeless sanctions to nuclear saber rattling,” notes Emma Ashford for Foreign Affairs. She encourages...

BBC: Finland’s Basic Income Trial Falls Flat

Laurence Peter April 24, 2018
Populations grow yet automation and productivity reduce job numbers and security. To reduce poverty, governments consider guaranteeing a universal income for their citizens. Finland launched a pilot program in 2017, when the unemployment rate exceeded 9 percent, for 2000 unemployed people selected randomly to receive monthly payments of $685 per month. Results are expected in 2019, but the...

Japan Times: Tourism Takes Its Toll on Coral

Jessica Kozuka April 24, 2018
Coral growth is a delicate process, depending on marine microeukarvotes living inside the marine networks. Coral dies without the photosynthetic organisms. The UN Environment Program recommends a dive site be limited to 6,000 visitors per year to remain healthy. Concerned that Japan’s coral reefs receives little monitoring, a marine scientist at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology...

New Statesman: No Serious Strategy for Syria

John Bew April 23, 2018
After seven years of civil war, Syria is in peril. UN peace efforts have flailed, and leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia have met just before a chemical attack on Ghouta. The three countries do not agree on a role for Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad, but are “are increasingly alienated from the West, have a substantive military presence on the ground within Syria, want to keep the Saudis and...