Germany’s Ifo Institute has called for a replacement solution to be found quickly for the Appellate Body at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This body will soon cease to be operational, since the terms of office of two of its remaining three members end today, leaving the body unable to make decisions. The US has for some years now been blocking the appointments of new judges to replace outgoing ones.
E-Toro | Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco will be listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) later this week on December 11th. Furthermore, the oil company is expected to price its initial public offering Thursday at the high end of the targeted range to give the oil giant a total value of $1.7 Tr. This would be the world’s biggest-ever IPO. These are the pros and cons we found about the firm.
Alphavalue | The pressure on the oil industry to paint itself in green appears to be growing by the day and its strategic corner even more acute. It is remarkable and probably unique for such a powerful sector (nearly €700bn in market cap) to find itself under such powerful negative lime-lights in such a short period of time
A&G Banca | With a exports still in contraction, although perhaps less than a few months ago, it is the American consumer who has sustained the global cycle.
Tensions between France and the United States due to the so-called Google Tax worry the OECD. Washington is moving forward with retaliation tariffs that could be as high as 100% on French goods. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development asked all countries to accelerate the implementation of a global tax.
VV. AA. (The Conversation) | Online misinformation has significant real-life consequences, such as measles outbreaks and encouraging racist mass murderers. Online misinformation can have political consequences as well. The problem of disinformation and propaganda misleading social media users was serious in 2016, continued unabated in 2018 and is expected to be even more severe in the coming 2020 election cycle in the U.S.
The 25th United Nations Conference on Climate Change 2019 COP25 begins today in Madrid. We expect from COP25 two more encouraging developments: Firstly, a key issue left unadressed in the preceding Conference of Parties – COP24 in Katowice, Poland: the use of financial markets as mechanisms for fighting climate change. Secondly, a range of updates to countries’ individual targets, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
Yoni Assia, Johannes Rude Jensen and Omri Ross (E-Toro) | With direct access to 2.7 billion users, many of whom do not have access to conventional financial services, the Libra project presents a unique opportunity for innovation in the financial services. Nevertheless, we believe the launch strategy pursued by the Libra Foundation neglects a vital implication of the technology: Decentralization.
CaixaBank Research | The Fed has cut interest rates in 2019 for the first time in 11 years. However, it has barely lowered its growth outlook for the US and has justified the cut with the weakness of inflation and the persistence of risks. Is it possible that the Fed has changed its reaction function? The results of the analysis in this article suggest so.
DWS | In the face of persistent commercial tensions, the atmosphere in boardrooms has deteriorated much more than in homes.