A surprisingly timely Things from my Newsblur covering a broad array of topics. Given that, why not start with everyone’s least favorite – Brexit!
While the political realignment in the U.S. is taking place within the political parties, in the UK it’s happening across the parties with Brexit as the central catalyst. PM Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, his chief strategist and the guy who lead the Vote Leave campaign, have been the accelerant with their all-in approach and the hard-lining of October 31st as THE date. Since becoming PM over the summer, PM Johnson has lost his majority, every meaningful parliamentary vote, unanimously in the Supreme Court and is testing political norms/conventions. Yet, his Conservative party has jumped to a meaningful lead in the polls and he has cemented “No Deal” as the default option to the consternation of the Opposition whose fears and frantic reactions ratchet higher as the deadline approaches. Cummings is central to the escalating tension. Is he a fool that has thrown it all away and put the nation at risk? Or is he a visionary that has realized that politicians and media in the “Westminster bubble” is out of touch with the country, and by keeping his eye on the ‘prize’ of achieving Brexit created a situation where the Opposition and the EU are trapped amidst multiple prisoner’s dilemmas and faced with making a Hobson’s choice. So what is Cummings, fool or visionary? Or is he both?
(Harry Lambert, The New Statesman)
Bonus Cummings edition: This 2018 video, of Cummings talking about Why Leave Won the Referendum, is well worth watching.
Long-time readers will know that Our Man is a huge fan of Michael Pettis and his take on both China and economics. This timely article, from a couple of months ago, talks about how taxing capital inflows is a far better way to balance trade than imposing tariffs. The article discusses how it addresses the root causes of the problem, and shifts most of the adjustment costs onto banks and speculators. The idea was amongst the smorgasbord of things that the Trump Administration threatened last week; even a blind squirrel finds a nut!
(Michael Pettis, China Financial Markets)
The spectacular collapse of the WeWork IPO has cast a spotlight on the valuation of companies in the private markets. In particular, it is on a group of capital burning companies that use technology to facilitate real world services. They are neither pure technology companies (e.g. Enterprise SaaS cos) nor are they old world companies. It’s yet to be determined if they will grow to profitability or if, like the late 1800s Steel technological revolution, it’s all profitless prosperity. Who better to explain the nuances than Ben Thompson! Anyone remotely interested in technology should at least read his (free) weekly article! (Ben Thompson, Stratechery)
With Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Disney et al all streaming their content libraries, which ones should you watch? What’s the difference between their offerings, their business models and their goals? Which might survive? The excellent Matthew Ball breaks it all down in this comprehensive guide! (Matthew Ball, Redef)
While genetics explain a good portion of autoimmune disease prevalence, changing environments (including stress) are helping lead to sharp increase in the number of cases. For anyone who has, or knows someone who has, an autoimmune disease much of this article will feel familiar. It touches on the increased prevalence, the lack of a central database for autoimmune disorders (of which there are over 100) which contributes to the long and hard process of identifying them, and the difficulty in treating them. (Tessa Love, Medium Elemental)
An inside look from BBC reporter Mark Daly whose Panorama program sparked the USADA’s investigation, which led to one of athletics' most successful coaches being found guilty of doping violations. That Salazar was a long-time friend of Phil Knight (Nike founder), founded and ran the Nike Oregon Project, and even after the story broke was supported by Nike Ambassador’s including his “good friend” the IAAF President, Seb Coe, only adds to the intrigue. UK Athletics, which found “no reason to be concerned” despite taking evidence from whistleblowers and the BBC, comes out with no credit either! It also shows how long these investigative pieces take to come to fruition. The initial work began in 2013, to Panorama’s “Catch Me if you Can” program aired in 2015, USADA charging Salazar in 2017, and it took a secretive 2-year court battle to get justice!
(Mark Daly, BBC Panorama)
Want to know about that Bitcoin thing but don’t want to read long dull pieces on it? Well, here are the key arguments in a far more digestible 21st century format! (Rhyme Combinator, Youtube)
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