Brigadoon Daily | Global Street Smarts
Your daily dose of the emerging issues + independent thinkers shaping commerce + culture
January 14, 2022
'Coney King'
TOP FIVE
1. Should central banks develop their own digital currencies?
2. Web3, Silicon Valley’s new obsession, looks a lot like its last one
3. Jack Dorsey creates the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund
4. “This is not CNN 2”
5. Jose Mourinho at AS Roma: What's gone wrong?
GLOBALIZATION + STATECRAFT
The world ahead 2022: Five stories to watch out for
Teneo
Don’t deride the Davos prophets of doom: Investors should note a shift in preoccupations from economic and political issues to environmental and social ones.
Gillian Tett
Should central banks develop their own digital currencies? Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could improve payment systems, promote financial inclusion, protect against financial fraud and accelerate the transition to a cashless society. But there are potential downsides in terms of consumer privacy and threats to cyber-security.
Economics Observatory
Collapsing Turkish lira may bring Erdogan down with it: The Turkish president’s disastrous response to an inflation crisis has stirred up anger at his authoritarian rule.
The Times
Turks pile into Bitcoin and Tether to escape plunging Lira: WSJ reports cryptocurrencies are embraced in Turkey and parts of the developing world where government economic policies spark significant distrust.
Danish spy agency frets over Arctic operations by China and Russia
Bloomberg
Undersea cable connecting Norway with Arctic satellite station has been mysteriously severed: The cables run through a highly strategic stretch of water near where the Barents and Norwegian Sea meet.
TWZ
US diplomats in Geneva, Paris struck with suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’: WSJ reports the mysterious neurological ailment has afflicted as many as 200 US officials in diplomatic posts worldwide.
New Balance lawsuit shows how flimsy the ‘Made in USA’ label actually is: American consumers will pay a premium for domestically made products. But how can consumers tell what’s actually made in the USA?
Fast Company
UK, India launch post-Brexit free trade talks: DW reports after exiting the EU, London is looking to hammer out a new trade agreement with India. The UK is hoping for lower tariffs on Scotch whisky and better access to the tech sector, while India is eyeing a better visa deal.
MI5 names Chinese ‘agent’ with links to Labour MP Barry Gardiner: Commons Speaker says covert donations facilitated by Christine Lee are unacceptable.
The Times
Lithuania’s foreign minister calls on EU to stand up to China: FT reports Beijing targeting companies that use components made in the Baltic state, says Gabrielius Landsbergis.
China is watching Ukraine with a lot of interest: Biden’s handling of Putin may tell Xi Jinping how resolutely the US would defend Taiwan.
Michael Schuman
Nazarbayev and the power struggle over Kazakhstan’s future: The protests looked as if they might sweep aside the former dictator and his allies but much of the old order could remain.
FT
Nuclear power gets a fresh look as nations chase climate goals: Reactors are poised to become a bigger part of the energy mix as the 2030 emissions deadline looms.
Bloomberg
DISRUPTION + INNOVATION
Checkout.com, a payments processor that works with Netflix, Sony, and Coinbase, raised new funds at a $40 billion valuation.
Amazon Prime: Loved at almost any price: For many Americans, it has become hard to imagine online shopping without Prime.
NYT
Robinhood embraces permanent remote working.
After the Beanie Baby bubble burst: What happens when the frenzy ends and the world doesn’t value your valuables?
Vox
Web3, Silicon Valley’s new obsession, looks a lot like its last one: Crypto enthusiasts are pitching a decentralized internet. The investors backing their companies have other ideas.
Bloomberg
Who is Web3 really good for?
Can Duruk
The theory of metaphors, or why Metaverse will fail
Panu Korhonen
Netflix needs new subscribers. Its Korean playbook is its secret weapon. In the race to global streaming domination, Netflix’s success with ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Kingdom’ gives it a map to winning over the rest of Asia.
Bloomberg
Just how big in media does Apple want to be? The $3trn tech firm is not playing the same game as its rivals.
Economist
iPhone and its impact on mobile
OM
What if you could read a fashion label like a food label? Transparency and traceability is all the rage when it comes to clothing, and it is finally reaching the tags on the rack.
Dana Thomas
Where did all the wild salmon go? Wild Scottish salmon has disappeared from our supermarket shelves, replaced by farmed fish. Adam Weymouth meets the netsmen who have lost their way of life.
The Times
Tesla removes the 2022 production date from the Cybertruck website.
Twitter will now let all iOS and Android users record Spaces.
Monster Beverage buys owner of craft breweries Cigar City, Oskar Blues for $330 Million: WSJ reports the energy-drink maker is entering the beer and hard-seltzer business with the purchase of CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective.
DAZN is reportedly near a deal to buy the BT Sport service for $800 million to get the rights to English Premier League soccer matches.
Bloomberg: Ford market cap tops $100 billion for first time on EV surge
Joby’s CEO wants to make flying taxis as cheap as yellow cabs: JoeBen Bevirt says low-cost rides will draw commuters out of cars and into the sky.
Bloomberg
POLITICS + CAMPAIGNS
After a year of uncharacteristic calm, Italian politics is set for a rude awakening
The Times
For Macron and France, It’s the economy, stupide: Culture-war clashes make all the noise, but a strong recovery from the pandemic crash may be what sways French voters in April.
Bloomberg
Johnson’s allies try to calm UK ‘lockdown party’ furor: WSJ reports members of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet are urging disgruntled Conservative lawmakers to hold off trying to oust their leader and wait for an official probe into his attendance at a party during a Covid-19 lockdown.
5 ways Boris Johnson’s Partygate scandal could play out
Politico
Boris Johnson plans big shake-up of Downing Street team: Chancellor’s allies insist he is backing prime minister amid a scandal over lockdown party.
FT
The party’s over: Boris Johnson, Britain’s “minister of chaos,” may be forced from office for—what else?—partying on the job.
Tom McTague
+ Breaking: House Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Twitter, Alphabet, and Reddit
Vilifying Trump supporters doesn’t solve anything
Gary Abernathy
Top Trump nemesis might join GOP Senate primary: Politico reports there’s growing speculation in Arizona that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey will jump into the high-profile Senate race.
Crypto firms gear up for battles over new rules in Washington
Bloomberg
Bitcoin’s noble goal is no more. Time for regulation
James Coney
In defense of Bitcoin: NYT reports Jack Dorsey yesterday announced the creation of a nonprofit group, the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund, to help developers of the original cryptocurrency facing “legal headaches.”
Crypto companies bet new mayor will make New York digital asset hub
Reuters
Arkansas tries a new strategy to lure tech workers: Free Bitcoin: Bloomberg reports with a new twist on its remote worker incentive program, the Northwest Arkansas region is also marketing itself as crypto-friendly.
PERFORMANCE
Strategy is sacrifice
Dave Trott
CULTURE
Bob Saget’s pals John Mayer and Jeff Ross choke up while retrieving his car from LAX
LAT
Forget ‘preppy’ style — I’m team Ivy: One can be used as an insult, the other is aspirational. The distinction is not always easy to make.
Robert Armstrong
Detroit 'Coney King' Chuck Keros dies at 88
Charlie LeDuff
WP: Colleges enrolled 465,000 fewer students in the fall, a trend that is raising alarms
“This is not CNN 2”: Inside the cable news giant’s streaming dreams: CNN+ is loading up on new talent (Alison Roman, Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish) and tapping its own (Anderson Cooper, Kate Bolduan) for a subscription service launching this spring. It’s shaping up to be a major investment in the network’s future—and maybe a lifeboat?
Vanity Fair
SPORT
Jose Mourinho at AS Roma: What's gone wrong, and can the Special One's second Serie A stint still succeed? Six months ago Jose Mourinho was unveiled as the new coach of Roma, but he hasn't fixed his new club's old problems yet.
CBS Sports
Rocco Commisso bought a football club. Then the trouble started: The US cable billionaire purchased ACF Fiorentina for €170m. The emotional cost? He’s still counting.
FT
The Florida financiers buying up Europe’s football teams
Bloomberg
Bloomberg: Arizona Cardinals unveil NFL’s first sportsbook at stadium site
A new year, a renewed hobby: How surfing brings me calm during the pandemic
Natalie Dupille
Preet Chandi: ‘No, not Southall, I’m off to the South Pole’: The first woman of color to reach the South Pole tells Hilary Rose why that matters.
The Times