Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Guy Verhofstadt on Brexit and U.S. of Europe | Newsnight 30Jan17

You have to watch this one on the EU and Brexit and expect a great negotiation!


You have to watch the full 12 minutes!

The rolling debate on brexit is coming to a close, one/two months to go, then two years to negotiate. What has been said and done!

I will collect some of the things that influence my view pre and post-referendum and what I think influenced and influences voters and policy makers:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/475679/Donald_Tusk_letter.pdf David Cameron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYLQtDpVWCA Phillip Hammond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_gyYnwu4Pw Nigel Lawson

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35622105 BBC coverage

http://www.economistsforbrexit.co.uk/ Expert views on value or exit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum BBC features

https://www.ft.com/topics/themes/Brexit FT feastures

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/14/eu-immigration-control-labour-supporters-voters-party Frank Fields

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzxU3GJz7AE& Giesla Stuart

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/06/27/brexit-symptom-globalization-deeper-ills/BY8fKiVi8BdpnZHCu3lv4I/story.html Prof Jeff Sachs

https://qz.com/744854/joseph-stiglitz-euro-future-of-europe-book/ Stiglitz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RXaHvZjqoA Phillip Hammond WEForum2017




Monday, January 30, 2017

Sachs and Trump, 1st or many months!


Jeff Sachs is a developmental economist always worth reading:

"The key to resolving America’s ills depends on greater fairness, decency, and honesty lie within our own borders, notably on how we share the benefits of advanced technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence, and the booming profits they are producing. The real counterpart of falling American working-class incomes is not the rise of Mexican incomes but the soaring profits and incomes now going to the 1 percent. The key solutions for American workers are right at home, not in overseas military adventures, new arms races or self-defeating trade wars."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/01/29/the-balance-sheet-america-first/5NN1urTLce1xB0rGObvUEI/story.html

Thursday, January 26, 2017

UK fastest growing economy for how long?

UK shrugs off Brexit fears to be fastest growing G7 economy in 2016

GDP grew 0.6% in fourth quarter and 2% for the year, according to ONS

https://www.ft.com/content/1666262a-e39e-11e6-8405-9e5580d6e5fb

The two camps are saying different things, some expect this to bomb in 2017 2018 and 2019 and I will be posting the best or the worst of it in the run up to 2020!

Trump and ABC news, who own the narrative, the action, the outcomes!

Watching this, the accountability and the transparency is going to be the key issue for the next 4 years!

http://digg.com/2017/donald-trump-interview-abc-full-video


Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Singularity today and in the future. NOW=WON!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t7_u53_kNc&t=3s

Prof. Moshe Y. Vardi - Humans, Machines and Work: The Future is Now

Pound to strengthen up to and beyond 2019!

This is a good read and I reckon all the worst outcomes are factored in so the future is bright!

Sterling’s future under a ‘clean’ Brexit


"Such is the uncertainty surrounding these issues that anyone with significant exposure to sterling should seriously consider hedging to protect against future losses, or to lock in gains already made. Economists can outline possible scenarios but cannot be expected to make accurate predictions when such radical uncertainty is prevalent. The cost of hedging, though higher than the historic average, still seems small relative to the two-way risks inherent in sterling exposures around the time of Brexit."

https://www.ft.com/content/60c23bd8-dd16-3b07-9d8a-62ed73557cd7

Its not necessarily what anyone is publicly shouting but its my researched opinion!

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Davos 2017 - Opening Plenary with Xi Jinping President


Its interesting to listen! With the internet people, citizens have the chance to hear and read so much more. Learning how to research is critical to all, for the individual and for the rest of us listening to original sources and the crowd! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys6skqxQKMk

Davos 2017 - Opening Plenary with Xi Jinping President of the Peoples Republic of China #XiJinping #Davo2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-JbvMq6aLU


MArk Carney, Christine Legarde, Martin Sorrel and others on growth and inequality
Davos 2017 BBC News Debate a Richer World But for Who

Open Sesami - global trade for 30:30:30


Jack Ma www.alibaba.com

Listening to Chinese people who are driving things is real interesting - his very last statement not 20:20 vision but 30:30:30 - The next generation- next 30 yrs: people aged 30: companies of 30 people! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsQ7ysVt-0A&t=1800

Ali Baba "In the story, Ali Baba is a poor woodcutter who discovers the secret of a thieves' den, entered with the phrase "Open Sesame". The thieves learn this and try to kill Ali Baba, but Ali Baba's faithful slave-girl foils their plots." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Baba

http://activities.alibaba.com/alibaba/following-about-alibaba.php?spm=a2700.7848340.0.0.IjYA0P

Friday, January 20, 2017

Davos2017 China's voice being heard, rightly!

Especially in the business and social sense and not the political sense, at least not on the surface:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsQ7ysVt-0A


Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Corruption at every stage and at both ends of the Aid ODA 0.7% supply chain!

Worth a read of the 6 key principles to fight corruption.

Reminds me - dont let the urgent get in the way of the important!!

https://www.bond.org.uk/news/2017/01/aid-corruption-and-the-perils-of-turning-a-blind-eye

Monday, January 16, 2017

Davos2017 expected themes and trends!

To keep track of this week as it happens and then retrospectively compared to past and future years

https://www.ft.com/content/576fb394-dbcd-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6

From elections to AI from growth to establishing the true or new reality!

Why Davos 2017 matters: 10 things to watch for

Xi’s visit, the globalisation conundrum and living with Trump loom large on agenda

UK forecast from the IMF, up for 2017, less so for 2018!

Optimism and then being hedged into 2018! We will see:

https://www.ft.com/content/f8e84a34-db36-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6

" In the latest update to its world economic outlook, the IMF said domestic demand had “held up better than expected in the aftermath of the Brexit vote”. The Washington-based organisation now predicts the British economy will grow by 1.5 per cent this year, an increase of 0.4 percentage points. However, the IMF revised down its projection for growth in 2018 by 0.3 percentage points to 1.4 per cent.  "

Comments on group-think are interesting as applied to the IMF, EU and UK communities!

IMF’s upward revision for UK economy fuels Brexit debate

Growth of 1.5% predicted in 2017, a rise of 0.4 percentage points

The business positioning of the SDG's

Interesting to see this developing in 2016 giving a clear roadmap addition for 2030!

http://report.businesscommission.org/

Paul Polman the CEO of Unilever being the leading and key advocate from the corp community!


Plays into the wider positioning as I like to see it:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/people-planet-prosperity-light-arrives-new-everyday-sets-nick-horslen


Heres another from the Lancet of SDG health http://www.thelancet.com/infographics/sdg

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Your AI mobile GP

https://www.ft.com/content/1efb95ba-d852-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e

How smartphones are transforming healthcare

Powerful new apps are turning our phones into mobile medical clinics. Could this help solve the issue of rising healthcare costs?


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Bank of England changing tact on Brexit

Pain passing for UK trouble brewing for Europe, well I never, negotiations will be just that!

https://www.ft.com/content/7836112a-98d7-3af1-a982-a1fe78a9783d

If only it was as visible and predictable as the weather http://earth.nullschool.net Brilliant real time visualisation of the fundamentals of weather - highs and lows, wind directions, everything a global or local sailor needs to start from!

Hipster capitalism, the gig economy is not letting globalisation leave everyone behind

Interesting to re visit

https://www.ft.com/content/61a654de-d723-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e

UK Income inequality lowest level since the 80's

Interesting data coming to the fore

https://www.ft.com/content/394b82da-d74f-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

China and the mystery of Renminbi

https://www.ft.com/content/d7498e82-d3e9-11e6-9341-7393bb2e1b51

Renminbi mystery has a Beijing suspect

Is People’s Bank of China intervening in the currency market or simply enjoying the show?

Monday, January 09, 2017

CrispR, Nano and AI, the perfect mix for a decade of progress

It might be 2017 but come 2020 we will see the revolution of three pivot points exploding, AI, Nano and gene editing of gene drives IMHO

http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/12/30/13164064/crispr-cas9-gene-editing

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Maps and charts from here to 2050

Interesting:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/fastest-growing-major-religion

Fun:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/map-renames-us-states-with-country-generating-same-gdp-2016-6

Economists on the UK 2017 outlook

Important markers in the sand to reference in 2017 and 2018 as the results come in!

https://www.ft.com/content/a0c3fce4-d0e2-11e6-b06b-680c49b4b4c0

A history of global living conditions in 5 charts

Possibly some of the best and most important charts we will see in 2017!

https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts/

"..........A recent survey asked “All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?”. In Sweden 10% thought things are getting better, in the US they were only 6%, and in Germany only 4%. Very few people think that the world is getting better.
What is the evidence that we need to consider when answering this question? The question is about how the world has changed and so we must take a historical perspective. And the question is about the world as a whole and the answer must therefore consider everybody. The answer must consider the history of global living conditions – a history of everyone..........."