Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Yes, Russia abused Facebook. But did it actually work?
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 20/12/2018
» Russia's propaganda operations during the 2016 US presidential election were broader than previously thought, according to two recently published studies. But they don't provide proof the influence campaign was as effective as the Kremlin may have hoped. Both reports, based on data provided by social networks, combine a distrust of the companies' disclosures and a naive trust in the metrics they tout.
Fighting tax dodgers can kill growth
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 26/07/2018
» It's easy to be outraged about multinational corporations' shifting of profits to tax havens, but much harder to figure out how to stop them from doing it without hurting the economy. Evidence exists that curbing tax avoidance opportunities makes these firms move actual jobs, not just accounting profits, overseas.
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.
US-EU trade imbalance does need fix
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 08/03/2018
» In response to US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on European imports such as steel, aluminium and cars, the European Union (EU) is threatening to slap a 25% duty on jeans, cosmetics, bourbon and Harley Davidson motorcycles. This is an intentionally cartoonish list of US staples designed to portray Mr Trump's attempt at a trade war as a farce.
Russia has no reason to undermine Qatar
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 09/06/2017
» The ubiquitous "Russian hackers" are now accused of providing the spark for a diplomatic fire between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. While the facts in the case remain in the shadows, it's hard to understand why it would be in Russia's interest to undermine Qatar.
Blockchain test could change Russia
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 08/06/2017
» Russian President Vladimir Putin and his economic team have long been under the impression that, to wean the country off its oil dependence, they needed a major leap in some specific area of technology that wasn't yet dominated by Western, Chinese or Japanese tech giants. Their latest hopes are being pegged to the Ethereum blockchain platform.
US tech must beat Trump's policies
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 08/02/2017
» Few tech workers come from the seven countries affected by President Donald Trump's entry ban. But the 97 US companies, most of them from the tech sector, that lent their support to the State of Washington's lawsuit aiming to block Mr Trump's executive order, have good reasons to fight it every step of the way.
Catch some Pokemon and get a glimpse of the future
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 20/07/2016
» One of the interesting debates over Pokemon Go, the addictive smartphone game that 9.5 million Americans play -- and probably a lot more than that now -- is whether it's truly augmented reality (AR), an up-and-coming companion technology to virtual reality (VR).
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.
Backlash against new urban tourists
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 17/08/2015
» Cities like Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon and Hong Kong, which only became major tourist destinations in the last couple of decades, are starting to look for ways to keep visitors out. This isn't about xenophobia: it's a protest against the changing nature of tourism.