October 15, 2020

what we are watching...

empowering you with insights and information from the edge of today’s headlines

Business

Taxing Amazon: The UK announced a digital tax in April with the goal of making “global giants with profitable businesses in the UK pay their fair share towards supporting our public services.” However, Amazon has found a loophole, and is instead charging its vendors for the tax. Amazon has stated that the 2% tax on revenues made in the UK will be passed on to sellers, but it will not be adding the charge to the cost of advertising on its platform. Amazon, which paid only £14.4M in corporation tax on total UK revenues of £13.7B last year, will not have to pay the tax on goods it sells directly. On the other hand, Google told its advertising clients in the UK that it will charge an additional fee for ads served on Google and YouTube to cover the tax.

EU Targets Tech: EU regulators are drawing up a “hit list” of up to 20 large internet companies, likely to include Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook and Apple, that will be subject to new and far more stringent rules aimed at curbing their market power. Large companies that find themselves on the list will be subject to tougher regulations than their smaller competitors, and may be forced to share their data with rivals. The proposed EU regulation is expected to be aimed at major US tech companies. The EU’s new trade chief has also told the US to prepare for additional levies on exports to Europe unless it withdraws punitive tariffs on more than $7B of EU products.

Chinese Markets: While most Chinese financial investments are limited to foreign investors, China has taken a different tactic to raising funds: the Ministry of Finance has issued $6B in a series of international bonds in the US market. The IMF has forecast that China’s economy will be the only major one to actually grow this year, and this is the fourth year in a row that China has raised US dollar funds with a sale of international bonds. Despite the tensions between the two governments, investors are apparently hungry for a piece of the pie (and the yield).

Chinese government bonds are also expected to be added to the FTSE Russell Index starting in October 2021, which could lead to an additional $100B investment into China. This inclusion will help to further internationalize China’s domestic financial markets. China’s roughly $16 trillion bond market is the second largest globally, but is under-owned by international investors (estimated at around 3%). Chinese government bonds have already been added to the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index and the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets.

Space

Back to the ISS: It wasn’t as exciting to watch as this summer’s launch, but a three-person crew was delivered to the International Space Station on Wednesday in just three hours, aboard a Russian Soyuz. This was the fastest transfer yet, with most averaging six hours while journeys used to take 2 days. This was also the last contracted flight on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for NASA, marking the transition to using U.S. launch providers like SpaceX instead. The ISS will celebrate its 20th anniversary on November 2, when the first crew arrived in 2000.

Asteroid Rubble: The OSIRIS-REx has been orbiting the asteroid Bennu for close to 2 years, but next week the probe will plunge down toward the surface of the asteroid and attempt to scoop up some rubble and dust from the surface. It will be one of the hardest things NASA has ever attempted, taking place over 4.5 hours more than 200 million miles away from Earth. Then it has to bring the sample safely back over the course of the next three years. Bennu is 4.5B years old, and may hold information about the formation of the solar system.

Look up: The night sky is always intriguing, but lately if you look up you can see Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in the night sky. Mars is particularly bright (and orange) since it is in direct opposition to the Earth and Sun. We won’t have a better view of the Red Planet until 2052.

Culture

Our Favorite Serial Killer: If you were like us and were glued to the television 10 years ago, when Dexter Morgan the serial killer who only murders other murderers was on air, you’ll be pleased to know that Showtime will be releasing a new limited series of Dexter. We don’t remember the finale (it was controversial in that Dexter faked his own death), but we are all in for a reboot (expected late next year).

Michelin at Home: Meal kits have been a staple of home cooking for some time. We’ve seen fast food restaurants and grocery stores get in the game. Now some of the world’s best restaurants are entering the field in an effort to combat the pandemic (both from a financial and charitable standpoint). New York’s Eleven Madison Park is offering a $275 chicken dinner that can be cooked at home, which also provides 10 meals to people in need. The restaurant is still closed, and is expected to offer kits for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Several of San Francisco’s famous restaurants also offered kits including to-go pasta kits from Cotogna for cooking multiple meals at home, including tagliatelle with summer squash and their blossoms and spaghetti alla carbonara ($155 for four). There is even an app for reserving the higher-end to-go kits, Tock, so stock up and get ready to get your own star rating.

Hot Sauce Protest: August Winningham had been protesting in Portland when he was hit with tear gas, so he decided to take his own protest to another level. He has created Tear Gas Ted’s Hot Sauce (in an homage to Mayor Ted Wheeler). The hot sauce uses peppers like serranos, jalapenos, and tomatillos, and comes free with a donation to Don’t Shoot Portland.

Bieber Goes to the Crocs: Justin Bieber has launched a collaboration with Crocs in his signature color yellow (supposedly the color of his fashion brand Drew House). Bieber said: "As an artist, it's important that my creations stay true to myself and my style. I wear Crocs all the time, so designing my own pair came naturally. With these Crocs, I just focused on making something cool that I want to wear." Is this considered normcore or being punk’d?

Bathroom Break: Prior to the pandemic, when we visited a museum, the one place we were sure to visit was the restroom. Museums seem to be realizing that a majority of their patrons visit the facilities, and they are taking advantage of the space. Remember the Guggenheim’s golden toilet (over 100,000 visitors waited in line to use it, and it was reportedly offered to the White House, when the Administration requested a VanGogh)? Some museums are adapting their bathroom signage while other are installing artworks or even plumbing that resembles their artwork.

— Lauren Eve Cantor

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