Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Is there a case for universal basic income?
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 11/02/2019
» The first results of Finland's two-year experiment with a universal basic income are in, and if they're confirmed by further research, they will probably hurt the unconditional income cause. The trial run showed that "money for nothing" makes people happier but doesn't inspire them to find work any more than traditional unemployment benefits would.
Social media needs bigger clean-up
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 31/07/2018
» The plunge of Facebook and Twitter shares last week shows that both companies are hostages to investors' unrealistic perceptions of how quickly they should grow even as they purge bots and trolls. Moving to eliminate all fake and malicious accounts, as well as making new ones very hard to register, would be scary given these inflated expectations.
Journalist murders are a major problem in the EU
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 01/03/2018
» The time has come to ask whether membership in the European Union (EU) is still a quality assurance seal for democracy and the rule of law among member states. The bloc has clearly failed to enforce its stated values on its periphery. Any additional expansion can only dilute them further.
Facebook's new mission looks well nigh impossible
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 17/01/2018
» If Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is sincere in a recent post about gradually taking the media element out of "social media", he's striking a powerful blow for tech self-regulation, as well as preparing to pay a heavy price for the evolution of his vision. But getting the genie back into the bottle may be too difficult even for Mr Zuckerberg, and, in any case, his creation's problems go far beyond his proposed fix.
Why Putin won't admit the truth about Russia doping
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 21/07/2016
» Russian President Vladimir Putin is changing his tune about the doping scandal that has engulfed Russian Olympic and paralympic athletes. As proof mounts that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a state-sponsored system in Russia, Mr Putin appears less and less willing to cooperate with international sports organisations and increasingly inclined to complain about political conspiracies against his country.
Emissions lawsuit tipped to scare VW out of US market
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 07/01/2016
» The US government's lawsuit against Volkswagen threatens the German automaker with such heavy penalties that, in hindsight, it may not have been worth it for VW to be present in the US market at all.