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The World
While President-elect Biden announced his Agency Review Teams (bios), he is likely weeks away from filling out his economic team. Three factors: Trump's refusal to acknowledge Biden's win and the GSA’s declining to authorize official transition resources; a puzzle to solve as Biden has pledged the executive branch will “look like America”; and history suggests the president-elect starts penciling in names at the top of the org chart, suggesting Biden won’t name key appointees (i.e. SEC chair) until December. So far, liberal groups backing stricter financial regulation are cautiously optimistic, though on balance expect the final team to reflect some give and take. Meanwhile, the White House told federal agencies to proceed with Trump 2022 fiscal budget plans. Separately, white collar prosecutions likely to pick up in Biden's DOJ. (Finance 202, Washington Post, Bloomberg)
UK economists upgraded Britain’s growth forecasts amid hopes that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will end the health restrictions that have hammered businesses and the economy this year. GDP may return to pre-pandemic levels as soon as next summer, as life gets back to normal faster than many forecasters had dared predict. In the U.S., markets appear to be in a V-mode. (The Times, Reuters)
Russia says its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is 92% effective, as the EU will buy up to 300m doses of BioNTech-Pfizer’s Covid vaccine. Hungary will make mask wearing mandatory in all public spaces starting today. In the U.S., all signs point to a harrowing autumn. After calling some employees back to work in anticipation of California park reopenings, Disney will furlough many of them now that the reopening won’t happen soon. New research: Not only are restaurants covid hot spots, but they are four times riskier than the next riskiest location, which was the gym. Other new research: Colds may be helping children avoid Covid-19. And there will be no mask mandate for Sioux Falls, mayor breaks council tie: "My official vote on this is a 'no.'" (Reuters, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, MIT Technology Review, Science, Argus Leader)
Nearly 80% of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, recognize Biden as the winner of the Nov. 3 election after most media organizations called the race. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Biden and Harris on their victory. Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. called Biden the "prospective" President-elect, in what could indicate a slight shift in position after the Mexican government said it was too soon to recognize an election winner. (Reuters/Ipsos, Reuters, Reuters-2)
All of Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers will resign en masses after China’s top legislative body passed a resolution giving local authorities power to unseat politicians without having to go through the city’s courts. (South China Morning Post)
The CIA and German intelligence jeopardized Switzerland’s historic reputation for neutrality by using a Swiss company as a platform for a global espionage operation for decades, according to a report released by Swiss parliament members. Investigators concluded that Swiss authorities were aware of, and at times complicit in, an elaborate espionage operation in which the CIA covertly owned and controlled a Swiss company that secretly sold rigged encryption systems to foreign governments. (Washington Post)
It appears that a majority of Supreme Court justices are ready to uphold the Affordable Care Act again. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. — who twice before joined liberal justices to uphold Obamacare — said Congress in 2017 did nothing more than eliminate the tax penalty for those who did not have insurance. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh took a similar view, suggesting that even if the insurance requirement is unconstitutional, that should not affect the rest of the law. (Los Angeles Times)
Economy
Regulators and bank executives are concerned about European banks and the potential for €1.4 trillion, equivalent to $1.7 trillion, of bad loans that could overwhelm lenders when government rescue packages end. The concern is that banks could run out of capital if they are suddenly overwhelmed by defaults, needing state support or even failing. (Wall Street Journal)
Today is China's Singles Day, the world's biggest 24-hour online shopping event, with 1.9bn products ordered and delivered last year. Meanwhile, China drafted new antitrust guideline to rein in tech giants in e-commerce, online food delivery and ride hailing, wiping US$102 billion from Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan stocks. Tech giants plunge broadly in Hong Kong trading, with Meituan and JDcom both down by more than 8%. (BBC News, South China Morning Post)
Big and small investors have moved their assets away from fossil-fuel producers and toward renewable energy companies. Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s CEO believes a Biden election win benefits the automaker because of the push to electric vehicles, while Toyota’s chief confident of beating Tesla in era of clean energy cars. (Wall Street Journal, Cnet, Financial Times)
Private equity’s 2020 election bets mostly paid off, as 8 of the top 10 recipients of industry money claimed victory at the ballot box. Meanwhile, will the UK axe private equity tax break worth millions? Any move by the UK could set a marker for how the financial sector is taxed globally post-pandemic. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
The great e-scooter debate: Shared e-scooters are coming in March to the four boroughs other than Manhattan. This has his set off a frenzy among dockless vehicle operators, who all see an opportunity to serve what has, until now, been the largest untapped market in the U.S. Bird, Lime, Spin and Voi are mentioned as contenders. (Axios, SmartCitiesDive)
Technology
The European Commission sent a “Statement of Objections” to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opened a second investigation into its e-commerce business practices. (European Commission)
Apple announced its first in-house chip for Macs and a trio of new computers that will be the first to use it, deepening the company’s control over key ingredients in its products. The new M1 chip will offer better performance than other computer chips made by Intel, meaning applications that load and respond faster, computers that wake up instantly and better battery life. Apple framed the new lineup carefully, seeming to understand that most people's laptops and desktops are the hub of their setups; perhaps not the device they use most often, but the one that has all the storage and all the apps. That means it's making the Mac work more like, and better with, its other devices. The new computers that use the M1—the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini—will go on sale next week. (The Information, Apple, Source Code)
TikTok parent company ByteDance asked a U.S. appeals court to delay a forced divestiture of its U.S. business set to go into effect Thursday, saying its talks with the Trump administration have stalled in recent weeks. It added it remains committed to “reaching a negotiated mitigation solution with CFIUS satisfying its national security concerns” and will only file a motion to stay enforcement of the divestment order “if discussions reach an impasse.” (The Information, TechCrunch)
WarnerMedia announced layoffs estimated at “more than 1,000 and possibly in the thousands.” (CNBC)
Smart Links
‘Lockdown’ is 2020’s Word of the Year: Collins Dictionary. (Forbes)
Ackman places new bet against corporate credit. (Financial Times)
Mortgage demand from homebuyers drops to lowest level in 6 months. (CNBC)
Biden's transition team is stacked with tech players. (Protocol)
Colleges have shed 10% of their employees since the pandemic began. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Facebook says just 6% of its content is political. (The Information)
Demolishing abandoned houses does not reduce nearby crime. (University of Kansas)
Calories by the clock? Squeezing most of your calories in early doesn't impact weight loss. (Science Daily)
New science suggests how to shorten quarantine. (Elemental)
It’s the relationship network: Data science, psychology reveal why the ‘Game of Thrones’ books are so riveting. (Smithsonian Magazine)