Brigadoon Daily
July 27, 2021
Brigadoon Daily | Exclusively for Brigadoon Members
What are Jared and Ivanka up to these days?
Sponsored by | Caracal
TOP FIVE
1. China stocks tumble in ‘panic selling’ amid broad crackdown
2. Biden approval drops to 50%
3. Amazon is hiring a head of digital currency + blockchain
4. How TV went from David Brent to Ted Lasso
5. The internationalization of the NBA
GLOBALIZATION + STATECRAFT
US, China leave room to talk after contentious meeting: Bloomberg reports Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told visiting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman during a meeting Monday that the relationship was “in a stalemate and faces serious difficulties.” Xie presented the No. 2 American diplomat with two lists of demands he portrayed as necessary to stabilize ties, including “US wrongdoings that must stop” and “key individual cases that China has concerns with,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
+ The US and China left open the possibility of a summit between their presidents despite a contentious day of talks between officials from both sides in the city of Tianjin.
Biden’s China strategy meets resistance at the negotiating table: Washington hopes to find areas of collaboration, while also confronting Beijing on disputed issues. But talks between the two sides began with harsh words from Chinese officials.
NYT
US calls on China to be responsible power: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press after talks Monday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, also said the US welcomes vigorous economic competition with China but does not want it to veer into conflict.
AP
China stocks tumble in ‘panic selling’ amid broad crackdown: Bloomberg reports a selloff in Chinese private education companies sent shockwaves through the equity market Monday, as investors scrambled to price in the growing risks from an intensifying crackdown by Beijing on some of the nation’s industries.
+ “I see panic selling in the market now as investors are pricing in a possibility that Beijing will tighten regulation on all sectors that have seen robust growth in recent years,” said Castor Pang, head of research at Core Pacific Yamaichi. “I don’t think investors can do any bottom fishing at this point. We don’t know where the bottom is.”
China offers a masterclass in how to humble big tech, right? Be careful what you wish for.
Schumpeter - Economist
What China’s vast new cybersecurity center tells us about Beijing’s ambitions: Since 2017, China has been building a 15-square-mile National Cybersecurity Center campus in Wuhan to help facilitate its ambitions of becoming a “cyber powerhouse.”
DefenseOne
China’s Huawei hires Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta: WSJ reports hiring comes amid renewed DC lobbying push by the company that was a target of Trump administration.
Taiwan temptation keeps US guessing about Xi's true intention: Biden is under pressure to change the policy of 'strategic ambiguity.'
Lionel Barber - Nikkei
The Pentagon needs more than ships and planes to deter China: US forces in the Indo-Pacific region need to be more resilient, flexible, and effective.
Bloomberg - Editorial
+ Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to visit Vietnam and Singapore later this summer.
Japan’s leaders worry the Olympics could hurt their global brand. They’re wrong. Shinzo Abe hoped the Tokyo Olympics would show that Japan is a respected leader on the world stage. Turns out, it already is.
Tobias Harris - Politico
UK looks to remove China’s CGN from nuclear power projects: Change in stance follows worsening of relations between London and Beijing.
FT
The Times: Big fall in COVID cases suggests third wave has peaked
+ COVID cases in the UK have fallen for five consecutive days for the first time since February.
France mandates COVID health passes for dining and travel: Axios reports France's legislature approved a law mandating universal vaccinations for health workers and pandemic passes for all restaurants and domestic travel early Monday local time.
Biden officials closely monitor delta variant in UK as their anxieties mount over impact to US economy: WP reports some US economists wonder if the UK will prove ‘canary in the coal mine’ as Boris Johnson pursues aggressive reopening.
US will not lift travel restrictions, citing Delta variant-official: Reuters reports the announcement almost certainly dooms any bid by US airlines and the US tourism industry to salvage summer travel by Europeans and others covered by the restrictions. Airlines have heavily lobbied the White House for months to lift the restrictions.”
Census delays threaten Latin America’s vulnerable: As COVID rages, postponed population counts in Brazil, Bolivia, and beyond put social programs and hard-to-detect populations at risk, experts say.
Bloomberg
AFP: Brazilians unite to protest against vaccine scandal, Bolsonaro's COVID-19 response
Cuba’s communist authorities fear change. Street protests show the risk of resisting it. Cuba has clung to an economic model based on centralized planning and state control. But the July 11 protests that shook the country’s rulers showed that model might be their biggest vulnerability
WP
Spain’s growing culture war over General Franco
Jim Lawley
DISRUPTION + INNOVATION
Toyota led on clean cars. Now critics say it works to delay them. The auto giant bet on hydrogen power, but as the world moves toward electric the company is fighting climate regulations in an apparent effort to buy time.
NYT
AMERICAN POLITICS
Gallup: Biden approval drops to 50%, lowest for him to date
Skilled in strategy (and grudges), top Biden adviser to depart White House: Anita Dunn, who is returning to her Democratic consulting company next month, has long faced questions about how her influence in the White House intersects with her company’s corporate work.
NYT
Manchin weighs another term as his influence peaks: Politico reports Sen. Joe Manchin said 2018 was his "last campaign for Senate." Now, he says "you never know" about 2024.
Axios: Over 50 medical groups call for mandatory vaccinations for health care workers
LAT: California government and health workers must show vaccination proof or be tested
Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2bn discount for lunar contract: FT reports Amazon founder’s Blue Origin space company lost out to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the contract.
Trump ally Tom Barrack pleads not guilty to foreign agent charges: Politico reports the longtime adviser is charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to the FBI.
So, what are Jared and Ivanka up to these days?
Eve Peyser
Trumpworld is already weighing veeps for 2024. Hint: It ain’t Pence.
Politico
COMMERCE
Heathrow airport has warned that it could see even fewer passengers this year than last as expensive tests before flying and other regulations put off travelers.
+ Vaccine passports are being considered in the workplace by almost a third of major UK businesses, according to industry surveys.
WSJ: Tesla’s quarterly profit soars to record $1.1 billion
Facebook is exploring the idea of letting users synchronize workout data from Oculus virtual-reality headsets with Apple’s Health app on iPhones, according to code discovered in the Oculus iPhone app.
The remote-work czar is the new shortcut to the C-Suite: One of the most sought-after management jobs right now is leading large, far-flung teams through uncharted waters. Human resources veterans need not apply.
Bloomberg
+ The former head of Google’s HR says that most companies will bail on “hybrid” work setups within two years.
Amazon is hiring a head of digital currency and blockchain projects.
The value of bitcoin surged to almost $40,000—up by 12% in a day—after speculation that Amazon will soon start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.
Aon + Willis Towers Watson called off their planned merger because of antitrust concerns.
Luxury goods frenzy pushes LVMH to new heights: FT reports the demand has not faded even as spending on travel and entertainment increases.
Intel sets plan to again become world’s premier chip company: WSJ reports the semiconductor maker aims to launch a new central processing unit—the brains of the modern computer—every year between 2021 and 2025, part of Intel’s planned reboot after falling behind Asian rivals.
SPACE + SCIENCE
DeepMind unlocks the protein secrets of life: British pioneer’s AI system opens a new era of drug development.
The Times
PERFORMANCE
By now, burnout is a given: The pandemic has stripped our emotional reserves even further, laying bare our unique physical, social, and emotional vulnerabilities.
Atlantic
CULTURE
How TV went from David Brent to Ted Lasso: Two decades ago, TV’s most distinctive stories were defined by a tone of ironic detachment. Today, they’re more often sincere and direct. How did we get here?
NYT
Meet Julie K Brown, the woman who brought down Jeffrey Epstein
Guadian
SPORT
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s immigrant story and the internationalization of the NBA
Matthew La Corte + Jacob Czarnecki
Russell Wilson signed a multi-year partnership with e-commerce giant Fanatics, teaming up for an expected boom in the sports memorabilia market.
Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast alive, could be the next marketing GOAT too
LAT
Scottish climber dies in K2 avalanche: DW reports Rick Allen was hit by an avalanche while climbing K2, the world's second-highest mountain. The renowned climber was on an expedition for a children's charity.
Superconference mock draft: Forget Texas and Oklahoma, we redraw the college football map
LAT
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Curation and commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder @ Brigadoon
Like this content? Sample Brigadoon Daily for a week. Drop me an email and get added to the distribution list for a week. marc@thebrigadoon.com
