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Many regulations play this standard-setting role. Contrary to the simplistic view that regulation is inevitably bad for business, there are in fact three important channels through which regulation can benefit an economy.

3 ways that regulation benefits economies

By: EBR | Friday, July 20, 2018

One of the striking changes any rich-world traveler to low-income countries cannot fail to have missed during the past decade or so is the rapid spread of mobile phone use, followed now by expanding mobile Internet access

In 2017, Parker warned that social media "literally changes your relationship with society, with each other…God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains." Parker has two young children, so he's surely familiar with the universal tactic of handing over a screen to buy a moment's peace - the so-called "digital pacifier".

5 surprising ways digital technology is changing childhood

By: EBR | Friday, July 20, 2018

When even tech veterans such as Napster founder Sean Parker critique how smartphones are affecting childhood development, you know a shift is coming

Women are becoming a force to be reckoned with on the start-up scene across the Middle East. Because the tech industry is still relatively new in the Arab world, there is no legacy of it being a male-dominated field. Many entrepreneurs from the region believe that technology is one of the few spaces where everything is viewed as possible, including breaking gender norms, making it a very attractive industry for women.

How women are transforming the Arab world's start-up scene

By: EBR | Friday, July 20, 2018

It may surprise some to learn that one in three start-ups in the Arab World is founded or led by women. That’s a higher percentage than in Silicon Valley

When we envision the AIs of the far future, maybe WALL-E and C-3PO aren’t the droids we should be looking for. Instead, we might picture something more like a smartphone full of apps, or a kitchen cupboard filled with gadgets. As we prepare for a world of algorithms, we should make sure we’re not planning for thinking, general-purpose wonder-boxes that might never be built, but instead for highly specialised toasters.

The AI revolution will be led by toasters, not droids

By: EBR | Friday, July 20, 2018

Will the intelligent algorithms of the future look like general-purpose robots, as adept at idle banter and reading maps as they are handy in the kitchen?

While Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were busy gathering for a high-profile summit in Helsinki on Monday, a far less publicized meeting between two other world powers was simultaneously held in Beijing. The twentieth EU-China summit was maybe less attention grabbing but is still significant in its own right. Although the EU-China relationship is becoming more fraught, both sides shared an interest in a summit marked by more positive tone this time around.

Trump provides China an opening in Europe

By: EBR | Thursday, July 19, 2018

Don’t place bets that a divided EU can successfully navigate a delicate balancing act between a disruptive Trump and an assertive China

Any loose statements Trump might have made during his two-hour private meeting with Putin may never be known or verified. Contrary to widespread fears among Western observers and Trump’s own statements in the run-up to the meeting, details regarding Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Western sanctions were conspicuously absent from the carefully crafted statements at the press conference. When answering journalists’ questions, it was interestingly Putin who chose to address the Crimea issue.

Trump and Putin go home

By: EBR | Tuesday, July 17, 2018

The Helsinki summit painfully underlined that the global order is under a frontal attack—and that the West is struggling to respond

Greece is approaching the end of an odyssey. After eight drama-filled years, it is now barely six weeks until the debt-burdened country exits its third and final international bailout programme. Renaissance, rebirth, recovery are mots du jour as the historic date nears. And relief is etched on the faces of officials in Brussels.

Has Greece finally escaped the grip of catastrophe?

By: EBR | Monday, July 16, 2018

The country will exit from its final international bailout within weeks but, with no sign the debt will ever be paid off, some fear another crisis

Now, after decades of such practices, China is waging a worldwide campaign to impose its own definition of “One-China policy” by coercing countries, as well as foreign companies, to restrict even unofficial ties with Taiwan. China is unilaterally changing the status quo, and is a major cause of instability and potential conflict in Asia, if not beyond.

When your “One-China policy” is challenged

By: EBR | Monday, July 16, 2018

It is no news that China bullies Taiwan. But China’s recent coercion of foreign companies is news, and should be a wake-up call for countries to think about whether their own “One-China policy” has been infringed

The next gathering of heads of state and government takes place in Brussels from 11-12 July. The summit comes amid tensions over whether member countries are meeting domestic military spending targets. At the 2014 summit in Wales, NATO members made a “Defence Investment Pledge” to move towards spending 2% of GDP on defence within a decade (for those member states not already doing so).

5 facts about global military spending

By: EBR | Friday, July 13, 2018

Since its founding in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has convened members at important moments to reinforce partnership and address critical issues

A woman who is 40 years old today can expect to live another 45 years, on average, while 5% will live to see their 100th birthday. The average 40-year-old man will live another 42. For many people, most of those years will be healthy enough to continue work that doesn’t involve intense physical labor. So why are we still packing all of our career and family obligations into a few frantic decades?

A Stanford researcher says we shouldn’t start working full time until age 40

By: EBR | Friday, July 13, 2018

For people smack in the mad mid-life rush of managing full-time careers, dependent children, and aging parents, nothing feels so short in supply as time

The era of hard-talking, tyrannical managers is over – both on and off the pitch. “Football, which I love and work in, is really bad at talking,” says Caulfield. “It does instructing and telling off but it doesn’t do talking and listening and empathy that well. It sounds a bit fluffy but that’s the world in which we now live, and the world in which these players have grown up.” Southgate, he says, realised early in his coaching career that instilling fear wasn’t going to work. “We all need a telling-off now and then – and he’s good at that, by the way – but you’ll get far more from putting your faith in people than you will anything else. People had this lazy opinion that he’s too ‘nice’ and they see kindness as weakness, but it’s the most unbelievable strength if you use it in the right way.”

How the psychology of the England football team could change your life

By: EBR | Friday, July 13, 2018

England players seem happier and more grounded – and much of the credit goes to psychologist Pippa Grange. What can the team’s approach teach us all about facing fear and failure?

Generally, people believe that immigrants are poorer, more dependent on welfare, and more numerous than they really are. That’s according to study published last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, based on a 2018 survey in six developed countries.

What do Americans think about immigration?

By: EBR | Friday, July 13, 2018

Immigration may be at the center of the American political debate, but a new Harvard University study shows Americans are missing a crucial piece of information

The global community very much exists. At the same time, there is no automatic mechanism to deploy it. It largely happens on a voluntary basis. But when it happens, it is a powerful and wonderful thing to see in action.

Boys in a Thai cave: the positive power of globalism

By: EBR | Thursday, July 12, 2018

The events near Chang Rai powerfully underscore that a “global community” very much exists – and that it can have very positive effects on the lives and well-being of people

Trump sees NATO not as an organization that provides safety but one that should give value for money. Trump sees NATO not as an organization that provides safety but one that should give value for money. He has assailed NATO because he believes that allies are free-riding on the back of the United States; that they take America’s security guarantee for granted. He’s right. NATO’s European allies are dependent on the United States. And they have become dependent in a way that led to a kind of intellectual neglect or laziness about their own perception of security and defense.

NATO’s Relevance

By: EBR | Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Whatever President Trump says and thinks about the relevance of NATO, so far the alliance has coped with crises and criticism

Russia’s plan to raise Stalin-era pension ages draws opposition

By: EBR | Monday, July 9, 2018

While several different issues have come to the fore regarding Russia in the West, one has taken precedence in Russia itself: Legislation supporting a pension age increase for both men and women

Supported by the Japanese government and businesses, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan will co-design pilot projects to speed up Japan’s response to technological change. The goal is two-fold: First, to help Japan make the most of technology as it confronts critical issues like an aging and shrinking population — part of an ambitious program of social transformation that Japanese leaders are calling Society 5.0.

Could Japan become a role model for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

By: EBR | Friday, July 6, 2018

Leveraging fast-emerging technologies like self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and data-intensive precision medicine to address social challenges is a goal that many countries share

First and foremost, your primary task is not to tell people climate change is happening, or to make them worry about it. They already know, and they are already concerned. Despite what some media outlets and politicians would have you believe, public awareness of and concern about climate change is consistently high. Around two thirds of the US public worry about climate change “a great deal” or “a fair amount”, as they have done for two decades. In the UK, three quarters are concerned.

How to talk about climate change: 5 tips from the front lines

By: EBR | Friday, July 6, 2018

I have spent almost my entire working life in climate science and policy, social enterprise, government, and now philanthropy. Over time, I have seen public communication as increasingly important. Why?

The minister put all her hopes on Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who will be travelling later this month to Washington to seek a solution to the potential trade war between the US and the EU. But if the Trump administration decides to hit European cars, there will be consequences. “We will react with countermeasures because we need to protect our industry,” Schrambock warned. “I have the feeling that we stand together as one on this,” she said.

Austria Presidency pushes for dialogue on US-EU trade dispute

By: EBR | Thursday, July 5, 2018

Austria’s EU Presidency is committed to preserving EU unity on the US trade dispute during its mandate but wants the European Commission to prioritise a transatlantic dialogue and avoid escalation

Across seven studies, we hypothesised that imagining an alternative offer causes negotiators to boost their aspirations and motivates them to demand more from their opponents. In one study, for example, 306 online participants were divided into three groups. They were told to sell a second-hand CD to a potential buyer and were instructed to make a first offer. One group was told that another buyer was offering US$8 for the CD, which gave them a strong alternative. Another group lacked an alternative offer. The third group also lacked an alternative but was instructed to imagine what it would feel like to have one, what this alternative would look like and how it would affect their upcoming negotiation.

Imagine alternatives to negotiate more ambitiously

By: EBR | Thursday, July 5, 2018

Mentally simulating an attractive alternative can provide some of the advantages that real alternatives typically offer

Psychological experiments in recent years have uncovered other routes to power, beyond formal hierarchy and individual expertise. For instance, asking people to dwell on prior instances of empowerment can prime feelings of power. While such psychological manipulations involving recall tasks are reliable, they do require having experienced a sense of power in the past and a good memory. What if there was a way, in our daily interactions, to enhance our feelings of power without having to rely on memory?

Why power seekers give advice

By: EBR | Thursday, July 5, 2018

How giving advice makes some feel powerful and why it can be dangerous

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EU Actually

An as usual divided EU is looking for a more assertive China strategy

N. Peter KramerBy: N. Peter Kramer

In his weekly column, N. Peter Kramer writes about the laborious efforts of the EU member states to find a more assertive China strategy.

Europe

EU hails Hungary’s ’wind of change’ and unlocks €16.4bn for new PM Magyar

EU hails Hungary’s ’wind of change’ and unlocks €16.4bn for new PM Magyar

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told Hungary’s new prime minister that billions of euros in EU funding are to be unlocked subject to his government pushing through a raft of "long-overdue reforms".

Business

Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China’s new exports take on the world

Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China’s new exports take on the world

Step into pretty much any shopping mall in Singapore and you’re likely to find queues snaking outside shops with catchy names and bright-coloured branding.

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