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WEF 2022: The World Is No Longer Flat
This week, a colourful cabal of cognoscenti gathered in Davos to offer diverse takes on the world’s most pressing issues. With climate change, war, pestilence, and a host of lesser plagues assailing the global village, there is not a dearth
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Ursula von der Leyen’s Speech to Davos 2022 In Full
This article is part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed Davos 2022 today. She called for unity and interational cooperation in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the shocks to
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The Fog of War: The Tragic Triumph of Hope Over Experience – The Folly of Great Powers
Wars of conquest seldom end well for the would-be conqueror even if waged against a weaker neighbour. Somehow, those to be subjugated always seem to find unity in a resolve to spoil the plans and designs of the aggressor. Their
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Liberalism and Its Discontents: Francis Fukuyama on the Future of History
Poor Francis. History didn’t end after all. Neither did liberalism triumph over the forces of evil. Possibly one of the most misunderstood or misinterpreted books of recent times, Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man[1] did not
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Plus ça Change: Mired in Multiple Crises, Lebanon Votes for Continuity
In a scathing indictment of the country’s political elite, Lebanon tumbled some 25 places on the annual United Nations World Happiness Index and now ranks only above Afghanistan as the most depressing country in the world. Severely dysfunctional states such
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Crypto Jitters: Unhinged Stablecoins Add Volatility to an Already Unstable Market
The dig is impossible to resist. On Thursday, tether – the world’s biggest ‘stablecoin’ – briefly became untethered from its dollar peg. tether’s value sank to 95¢ before recovering to 97¢. That may seem a minor oscillation but indicates a
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Power Meets Pluck: Paranoid and Haunted, President Putin Sees Nazis Everywhere
In President Vladimir Putin’s book everybody not excitedly cheering his ‘special military operation’ to liberate Ukraine is a Nazi. If the Russian press is believed, the worse of the lot are to be found in Finland and Sweden as those
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The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity – A Non-Linear Anarchist Reading of World History
It’s an ideology that inspires fear and loathing in equal measure. Anarchism or the conviction that the state – and its pantheon of agents including potentates, scribblers, soldiers, and priests – is a parasite of society and inherently oppressive and
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Crash by Stealth: Investors Head for the Hills to Find a Valley of Tears
In a bear market, nobody can hear you scream. Equity markets are suffering a crash by stealth with reality nibbling away at asset values. Not long after he slipped into his job, Ben Bernanke, the two-term 14th chair of the
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Corporate Earnings Fine, Markets Not So Much: Seesawing Stock Markets Rattle Investors
And just like that… the party was over. Wednesday’s stock market rally, sparked by the dovish comments of US Federal Reserve Chairperson Jay Powell, not only fizzled out but reversed with Nasdaq suffering its biggest drop since June 2020. The
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