Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Don't rely on last year's trends for global economy
Oped, Published on 16/01/2024
» Behavioural economists have popularised the term "recency bias" to describe our tendency to be disproportionately influenced by the latest events compared to earlier ones. Could this cognitive phenomenon explain why numerous analysts have a rather optimistic tilt for the world economy in 2024? Or are there really positive trends counterbalancing the obvious and mounting challenges to global growth?
We should let China spy on us
News, David Fickling, Published on 22/04/2019
» Even as the US and China seem headed toward a truce on trade, their rivalry is heating up in other areas.
Trump's phone tap karmic revenge?
News, Published on 30/10/2018
» Specific incidents can sometimes reveal much larger truths. This would seem to be the case regarding recent revelations that the Chinese have been eavesdropping on US President Donald Trump's less-than-secure phone calls and using the information gathered as part of an elaborate plot to influence the president.
Innovation no fix for urban transport ills
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/07/2018
» Urban transportation is undergoing a revolution. Offerings such as Uber and Lyft, as well as car- and bike-sharing services are widely believed to reduce congestion and generally make urban dwellers more mobile; driverless cars are expected to provide further benefits. Yet the notion that these innovations always make things better is far from a given: The new services are a net good only if they complement traditional public transportation systems rather than compete with them.
Secretive Russian billionaire vents to US conservatives
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 13/03/2018
» It's not every day that a Russian billionaire submits a op-ed piece to the Daily Caller, the conservative US website. When the billionaire in question is as media-shy as Oleg Deripaska, something extraordinary is going on. As the unfortunate recipient of an oversized role in the "Trump-Russia" scandal, he has had enough and is not quite sure how to defend himself.
The cyber whodunnit and the global blame game
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 21/12/2017
» The US government has officially attributed to North Korea the WannaCry ransomware attack, which encrypted hundreds of thousands of computer drives around the world in May, 2017. And yet as with a series of other highly public cyberattack attributions, little evidence for the claim was made public. It's time for the cybersecurity world to follow the advice of the Rand Corporation and set up an unbiased international consortium that would seek to attribute attacks based on a common set of rules.
Coup against Mugabe is really nothing to celebrate
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 17/11/2017
» As leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has survived longer than Stalin in the Soviet Union and Mao in China. If it's coming to an end -- which seems likely given his apparent inability to emerge from house arrest after the military took charge -- it's worth reflecting on the mistakes he made to end such a remarkable run.
Solo attacks are expected to grow
News, Eli Lake, Published on 18/07/2016
» After the horror at Nice, perhaps the most depressing comment came from France's prime minister. Calling for unity in the face of terror, Manuel Valls observed: "Times have changed, and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm."
Merkel, Juncker fight the dreamers
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 08/07/2016
» It is increasingly clear that the European Union (EU) is about to waste the crisis brought on by the UK's withdrawal vote. The leaders of the nation states have no stomach for any meaningful reform of EU institutions, the bureaucrats in Brussels are forced to take a back seat, and federalist dreamers are unceremoniously shunted aside.
Warren Buffett tumbles into 'The Confidence Trap'
News, Published on 04/05/2016
» Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, is a confident man. Having built one of the greatest businesses in history, and having become one of the world's richest men in the process, he sees great prosperity in the rear-view mirror, and more of the same ahead.