DWS | After experiencing a slight fall during the second quarter, German gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a slightly positive rate in the third quarter of the year. This means that Germany has been spared, by the hair, of falling into a technical recession. However, it is likely that the most recent data fail to reassure skeptics.
Peter Isackson (Fair Observer) | For the first time in over 150 years, The Economist is finding itself on the wrong side of history, or at least of the ideology of history it created and sold to the rest of the developed world.
S. Schindler and J. M. Kanai (The Conversation) | Huge investments in infrastructure are redefining global development, from China’s Belt and Road Initiative to infrastructure development plans from the African Development Bank and the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America.
Fernando G. Urbaneja | In France, president Macron, making good arguments, although not explaining them enough, wanted to raise taxes on fuel and millions of citizens forced him to back down. In Ecuador, President Lenin Moreno has gone through such a trance for the same reason. In Chile, President Piñera is on the verge of eviction for the attempt to raise urban transport rates.
Peter Isackson (Fair Observer) | We may soon be obliged to call our beloved fake news “shallowfake news” now that deepfake technology threatens to disrupt our perception of the truth.
David Kohl (Julius Baer) | US growth appears to be more resilient than feared. Trade-related uncertainty and weaker global industrial activity dampened business investment, but private consumption remained strong and the return of residential investment as a positive growth contributor improves the 2020 growth outlook.
Shaun Riordan | Is there a Manchurian candidate in the White House? While the US people decide who Trump is, Europe must decide whether it wants to be a player in the geopolitical chess game, or the chessboard on which others play.
Neil Dwane (Allianz) | The machine will be better at seeing patterns. However, the human will be better at understanding change.
James Johnson (The Conversation) | The U.S. government, long a proponent of advancing technology for military purposes, sees artificial intelligence as key to the next generation of fighting tools.
John Feffer (Fair Observer) | From the US to the UK to Turkey, it is a hallmark of right-wing populists to make a preposterous policy and then be forced to retreat.