Populism

December 28, 2018

Party strategists struggle to woo voters

There is a deep sense of frustration about how to stop and reverse the breakdown of understanding between ordinary people and the political leaders and decision makers who serve them, writes Geoff…

December 27, 2018

The politics of research and science

Australia’s conservative coalition government has been caught intervening in the allocation of research funding. Labor is promising a comprehensive review of the country’s research needs and priorities. The shadow minister for Innovation,…

June 7, 2018

Capitalism blame game: politician vs expert

So it is agreed, capitalism is broken – for many. Can it be fixed to make it more “inclusive and sustainable”? Yes, says a politician and an economist, but their remedies diverge….

China’s AI advances spook Big Tech investors
AI advances by Chinese upstarts rattled US markets yesterday, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from the leading tech indexes. Falling tech stocks also dented market indexes in Europe and Japan, and the dollar slipped against the currencies of major US trading partners. The slide came days after the Chinese AI company DeepSeek said it could match the abilities of cutting-edge chatbots while using a fraction of the specialized computer chips that leading AI companies rely on. The news prompted investors to rethink the valuations of companies like Nvidia, whose equipment powers the most advanced AI systems. Shares of Microsoft and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, both of which have bet heavily on AI, fell yesterday by 2.1 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively. Oracle dropped almost 14 per cent. SoftBank shed more than 8 per cent during trading in Tokyo. Meta and Apple bucked the trend, posting gains. Shares of the chip company Nvidia plunged 17 per cent, and the company lost roughly $600 billion in market value, on what was its worst trading day since the pandemic sell-off in March 2020. New York Times, January 28

Denmark launches $2bn Arctic security plan, seeks EU unity on Greenland
Denmark on Monday announced a $2bn security plan for the Arctic ahead of a visit by the country's prime minister to Berlin, Paris and Brussels to shore up "European unity" on Greenland. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said Greenland was needed for US "national security". "We must face the fact that there are serious challenges regarding security and defence in the Arctic and North Atlantic," Denmark's Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement. Greenland is already part of a power struggle in the Arctic. As its ice melts due to global warming, the battle for its natural resources is also heating up - enormous oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under its seas. Russia and China have already increased their Arctic mining activities and military presence, and the region may soon offer new shipping routes between the US and Europe. France 24, January 27

Trump orders building of America’s own Iron Dome missile defence
President Trump has signed an executive order to build an Iron Dome missile defence shield modelled on the system that Israel has used to intercept rocket attacks. Trump had told Republican members of Congress at a Florida retreat that the order would be among a flurry of decrees to radically overhaul the US military. “We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defence shield, which will be able to protect Americans,” Trump said, to applause. “We have phenomenal technology … I think the United States is entitled to that.” He added that the new system “will be made right here in the USA”. He promised to build a similar defence shield for the American mainland during last year’s election campaign, although the scheme faces scepticism. The Times, J a nuary 28

UK has spent £12.5bn from energy bills to fossil fuel power plants in past decade
The UK has given more than £12.5bn from energy bills to fossil fuel power plants in the past decade through a government scheme to keep the lights on during winter, according to new analysis. The research found that, since 2015, the government has offered contracts worth £20bn through a “capacity market” to create a backup reserve of generators on standby, of which about 60 per cent were fossil fuel power plants and a quarter were energy storage and power cable projects. This has included 90 gas power plants, which each clinched a contract of up to 15 years backed by a levy on consumers’ energy bills. It could mean households will still be paying for gas plants in 2040, a decade after the government has promised to eliminate 95 per cent of fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity system. The report, by analysts at Aurora Energy Research, was published weeks after the Guardian revealed that the power grid operator was forced to use a separate scheme to pay almost £18m to two gas power plants in a single day to safeguard Britain’s electricity supplies when high demand for electricity combined with low wind speeds. The Guardian, January 28

UK to give businesses greater access to pension scheme surpluses
Sir Keir Starmer will promise on Tuesday to unlock some of the £160bn of surplus held in corporate defined-benefit pension schemes, in a bid to inject a surge of cash into the British economy and boost growth. The UK prime minister will tell an audience of executives in the City of London that restrictions on the use of pension surpluses will be eased, a move praised by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Starmer’s decision is intended to drive investment by businesses while also encouraging them to take more risk in their pension investment strategies. “Today’s changes will unlock billions for investment,” Starmer said. The government estimates that about 3,750 corporate defined-benefit pension schemes are in surplus, holding £160bn of assets in excess of the payments they owe to their members. Less than £70bn is eligible to be returned to companies under current rules. Total assets in the system are £1.2tn. Financial Times, January 28

Coca-Cola recalls drinks over safety concerns
Coca-Cola has recalled its drinks in some countries across Europe because they contain "higher levels" of a chemical called chlorate. The company said in a statement that the recall was focused on Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It added just five product lines had been shipped to Britain, and they had already been sold. Affected products include the Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Tropico and Minute Maid brands, according to the Belgium branch of Coca-Cola's international bottling and distribution operation. Chlorate can be produced when chlorine-based disinfectants are used in water treatment and food processing. "Independent expert analysis concludes that any associated risk for consumers is very low," a spokesperson told the BBC. The company said the issue affected "a very small number of imported cans" of Appletiser, Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke and Sprite Zero with production codes from 328 GE to 338 GE" which Coca-Cola said can be found on the base of the can. BBC news, January 27

Over half a million Palestinians waiting to see what's left of their homes
It’s thought well over half a million Palestinians in southern Gaza have been waiting to return to see what’s left of their homes in the North. Israel says that can now happen. But it looks chaotic. On the main road heading north, thousands of families who have camped at the gate for days have begun moving on foot laden with whatever possessions they can carry. But with much of northern Gaza in ruins after intense Israeli bombardment, many will discover they don’t have homes to go to. Israel agreed to allow people to move north after Hamas said it would release three hostages on Thursday, including a 28-year-old civilian, Arbel Yehud. It’s thought she is being held by the group Islamic Jihad. A further three hostages will be released on Saturday in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. BBC news, January 27

Tensions flare in Lebanon and Gaza
Fragile cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza were put to the test yesterday. In Southern Lebanon, Israeli forces killed or injured scores of people, Lebanese officials said, and in Gaza, Israel prevented thousands of uprooted Palestinians from moving back to their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of their truce, including by not adhering to the agreed order of hostage releases. By the end of the day, however, Israel and Hamas said understandings had been reached via mediators to resolve their dispute, and the White House issued a statement indicating that in Lebanon, an arrangement for an initial 60-day truce would be extended until February 18. Negotiators had hoped that the cease-fire in Lebanon would become permanent by now, securing a measure of calm in a turbulent region. Thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war have poured onto roads leading south as they return home. New York Times, January 27

France begins easing Syria sanctions, EU top diplomat expects deal 'today'
France will begin easing sanctions on Syria following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday ahead of talks with his EU counterparts in Brussels. Barrot said France would also propose sanctions against Iranian officials responsible for the detention of French citizens in Iran. The bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected EU members to agree to a "step-for-step approach" to sanctions relief for Syria. "We are expecting to decide today regarding this, it is a step-for-step approach," Kallas said at the start of the Brussels meeting. France 24, January 27

Keir Starmer set to resist Trump’s demand for higher defence spending
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resist pressure from President Donald Trump and the British military to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 because of concerns about the state of public finances, The Times has been told. The two leaders spoke for the first time since Trump’s inauguration last night in a 45-minute call characterised as “warm and personal”. Earlier the US president praised the prime minister for doing “a very good job” and suggested that his first official overseas trip could be to Britain. The pair discussed the close ties between the UK and the US. Trump offered Starmer his condolences on the death of his brother and expressed his “respect and affection” for the royal family. They largely avoided flashpoints including tariffs, the Chagos Islands and defence spending. The Times, January 26

UK revives plan for rival to Silicon Valley between Oxford and Cambridge
The UK government will turbocharge a strategic plan to create a British rival to Silicon Valley around Oxford and Cambridge, the latest sign that Labour is focusing on high-productivity areas of the economy in its push for growth. The decision to back the Oxford-Cambridge Arc marks a return to political favour for a scheme that was shelved three years ago after then Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson prioritised “levelling up” poorer regions. Science secretary Peter Kyle on Monday said the government wanted to double the economic output of the science-rich region that stretches between Britain’s two best-known universities, with the manufacturing and logistics hub of Milton Keynes in between. Fast-tracking the scheme to rival the science clusters of Boston and San Francisco in the US would add £78bn of GDP to the UK economy by 2035, according to research by consultancy Public First for the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, which comprises industry and university leaders. Financial Times, January 27

Two hundred UK companies sign up for permanent four-day working week
Two hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay, in the latest landmark in the campaign to reinvent Britain’s working week. Together the companies employ more than 5,000 people, with charities, marketing and technology firms among the best-represented, according to the latest update from the 4 Day Week Foundation. Proponents of the four-day week say that the five-day pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age. Joe Ryle, the foundation’s campaign director, said that the “9-5, five-day working week was invented 100 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose. We are long overdue an update.” Marketing, advertising and press relations firms led the charge, with 30 adopting the policy. This was followed by 29 organisations in the charity, NGO and social care industry, and 24 in technology, IT and software. Another 22 companies in the business, consulting and management sector had also permanently offered four-day weeks to staff. The Guardian, January 27

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Populism

Party strategists struggle to woo voters

The politics of research and science

Capitalism blame game: politician vs expert