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The World
Europe weighs border walls as migrants mass in Belarus at Poland’s frontier: A standoff over the fate of thousands of migrants camped in the forests of Belarus trying to enter Poland has pushed the European Union to embrace steps its leaders once considered controversial: explicitly paying for fences at the EU’s frontiers and pushing back people who attempt to cross. (Wall Street Journal)
European defense leaders are fretting that the surging migration crisis at the Belarus-Poland border could spark another crisis — violent conflict. “The potential for escalation is extremely high,” Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet said Wednesday at a press conference during the Annual Baltic Conference on Defense, a regular event that gathers the defense community in Estonia. His comments were echoed at the same press conference by senior defense officials from Greece, Lithuania and the U.K., who all shared the fear of escalation. (Politico EU)
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual summit on Monday amid tensions over trade, human rights and military activities. Washington and Beijing have been sparring on issues from the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to China's expanding nuclear arsenal. U.S. officials believe direct engagement with Xi is the best way to prevent the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies from spiraling toward conflict. (Reuters)
Singles’ Day, the world’s biggest online shopping event, posted its slowest annual growth pace as China’s antitrust crackdown dampened the event. This year’s Singles’ Day was weighed down by China’s slowest economic expansion pace in decades, as growth slowed to 4.9 per cent in 3Q21. (South China Morning Post)
An unprecedented commitment to phase out coal and fossil fuel subsidies is set to be deleted from the final Cop26 deal after opposition from Saudi Arabia, Russia and India. The dispute over the draft text is one of several sticking points which could mean the UN climate conference in Glasgow, due to finish tomorrow, runs into the weekend. Developing countries are demanding a much stronger commitment to increased funding from wealthy nations to help them adapt to climate change. (The Times)
A rift between Moderna and the US government deepened after the biotech group dismissed claims by the National Institutes of Health that three of its scientists should be recognized as co-inventors of a patent underpinning the company’s Covid-19 vaccine. More than any other vaccine maker, Moderna has worked in lockstep with the US government to develop its jab, receiving about $2.5bn of grants and orders while also collaborating on clinical trials. But now the pair are engaged in a bitter dispute over a patent relating to the genetic sequence in the vaccine: the NIH says its scientists are co-inventors, while Moderna insists they are not. (Financial Times)
The WHO reported that COVID-19 deaths rose by 10% in Europe in the last week, making it the only region in the world where coronavirus cases and fatalities are both steadily increasing. (Los Angeles Times)
Hospitals in Western U.S. are under siege as Covid-19 packs ICUs. (Bloomberg)
Dutch consider new partial lockdown as coronavirus cases hit record. (Reuters)
A third of voters agree with Biden’s timeline for an employer Covid-19 vaccine mandate, as two dozen states have sued to block the rule, which takes effect in January. (Morning Consult)
Nearly one in three Americans (32%) say that drug use has been a cause of trouble in their family. The latest figure, similar to measures from 2018 and 2019, reflects a sizable increase since the 1990s and early 2000s in the percentage of U.S. families that have experienced struggles with drugs. (Gallup)
Economy
Outlook 2022: The long road to higher rates. Coming off a year of surging global growth and inflation, Goldman Sachs Research expects 2022 to be broadly defined by more moderate expansion and normalizing monetary policy as the world navigates the next leg of an unusual pandemic recovery. Our economists now see the Federal Reserve responding to above-target inflation with the first interest rate hike in mid-2022, joining several advanced and emerging economies that will already be well into their tightening cycles at that point. In China, the property market is likely to soften further, and macro policy looks set to ease only modestly, with policymakers doing just enough to stem major downside risks but stopping short of the level of easing in prior cycles. The combination of comparatively sluggish growth in China, a rebound in India, solid growth in Russia, and near-term acceleration in advanced economies should lead to another strong year of global expansion, with real GDP likely to rise 4.5%. (Goldman Sachs)
How does the U.S. compare to other countries on paid parental leave? Americans get 0 weeks. Estonians get more than 80. The U.S. is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid family leave. (Washington Post)
Wall Street warns it will cut NYC workforce, with almost a quarter of financial services firms planning reductions over the next five years. (Bloomberg)
New York and Miami are leading the way when it comes to embracing crypto. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams are racing to prove that they’re the bigger supporter of crypto, in part by taking their paychecks in bitcoin. Both cities have also teamed up with CityCoins, a nonprofit startup that creates cryptocurrencies dedicated to specific cities. Revenue from mining and selling these coins is given to these cities as donations that go into their treasuries. (The Information)
The City of Miami will soon give out a “bitcoin yield” from the staking of its cryptocurrency to its citizens, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced. “We’re going to be the first city in America to give a bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents,” Suarez said. The yield comes from the staking of the city’s own cryptocurrency, MiamiCoin, which was introduced early this year and has already earned over $21 million in the past three months for Miami. Suarez noted that if you were to annualize that revenue, it would equal roughly one-fifth of Miami’s total annual tax revenue of $400 million. (CoinDesk)
$76 billion a day: How Binance became the world’s biggest crypto exchange. The trading platform surged by operating from nowhere in particular—without offices, licenses or headquarters. Now governments are insisting on taking some control. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway: In an effort to expand beyond music, Spotify has been investing hundreds of millions to build out its podcasts business. Now the company has set its sights on another form of audio, with today’s acquisition of digital audiobook distributor Findaway. (TechCrunch)
Amazon will let users easily share video clips showing up to 30 seconds of some of its Prime Video content, right from its iPhone app. The feature will only be available for a very limited number of shows initially, but letting users share video from shows is a very different attitude than the one displayed by some other streaming providers. When you’re watching a show, the Share Clip button will show up alongside the rest of your controls. Tapping it will create a 30-second video clip, which you can then fine-tune to make sure it contains the part of the show you’re trying to share. From there, you can share it using Apple’s built-in sharing feature, sending it to a friend over iMessage, or posting it on social media. (The Verge)
Shares of Rivian rallied another 22%, lifting the stock to about $123, up 57% from its IPO price and giving the electric truck maker a market capitalization of $115 billion. Rivian is starting out where Tesla was almost a decade ago, selling its RT1 pickup for $67,500, the same price as a 230-mile Tesla S sedan cost in 2012. But back then, and until very recently, Tesla had the EV market almost to itself. Rivian is entering an increasingly crowded, premium niche, with confined demand. One possibility is that Rivian ends up as largely an electric delivery van company, a possibly profitable space. (The Information)
A large majority of U.S. adults (84%) say they often or sometimes get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet, including 51% who say they do so often. This is lower than the 60% of Americans who said they often got news from digital devices in 2020. The portion who gets news from digital devices continues to outpace those who get news from television. Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently than to digital devices and television. Side note: Of digital platform preferences, the only platform to grow last year was podcasts. (Pew Research Center)
Smart Links
These US states have the most startup investment for their size. (Crunchbase)
U.S. joins global cybersecurity partnership. (Axios)
Cities with empty offices see new room to expand housing. (Politico)
Road deaths are soaring even as Americans are driving less. (Bloomberg)
Travel curbs leave Asian airlines' recovery lagging U.S. peers. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Live Event
Wharton Risk Center Annual Workshop, December 3, 2021: Climate Change and the Transition to a Carbon-free Economy: Managing Risks and Harnessing Opportunities. (Register: Wharton Risk Center)