Month: January 2021

Categories
Politics

SEC reviewing GameStop frenzy, vows to guard retail buyers

SEC reviewing GameStop frenzy, vows to protect retail investors

The US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Friday that it will help protect investors by reviewing recent trading volatility that has caused stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment to soar.

In a statement, the country’s top financial regulator pledged to protect individual traders and to examine measures taken by brokers that “could disadvantage investors or otherwise unduly hinder their ability to trade certain securities”.

“We will act to protect retail investors when the facts show abusive or manipulative trading activity that is prohibited by federal securities laws,” the SEC said.

“The Commission is working closely with our regulatory partners, both in government and at FINRA and other self-regulatory organizations, including exchanges, to ensure that regulated companies meet their obligations to protect investors and identify and prosecute potential misconduct.”

The explanation came as sharply shortened, soaring stocks rose again during Friday’s session. Video game retailer GameStop, theater operator AMC and headphone maker Koss were up 50%, 53% and 43%, respectively.

The SEC’s promise to curb brokerage deals that may have “unduly” restricted customers’ tradability is good news for members of WallStreetBets Reddit and other retailers who sparked the rally.

By buying the sharply shortened stocks or their call options, retail investors have forced investors betting against the stocks known as short sellers to cover their positions by repurchasing stocks to avoid further losses.

If this happens on a massive scale, it is called a “short squeeze” and can lead to a dramatic, volatile rise in the share price.

Many individual traders took to Twitter and other social media platforms on Thursday to protest Robinhood’s decision to restrict access to certain stocks at the center of the controversy. The high trading volume puts pressure on online brokers like Robinhood, who customers have to pay in cash when closing a position. The brokers also needed additional cash to provide their clearing facility with additional capital and to protect trading partners from excessive losses.

Robinhood later said it would allow limited purchases in GameStop and other volatile stocks on Friday.

For the week, GameStop is up 420%, Koss is up 1,800%, and AMC is up 280%.

A pedestrian walks past a GameStop Corp. store in Rome, Italy on Thursday, January 28, 2021.

Alessia Pierdomenico | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The sharp swings in such stocks, as well as Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading, have drawn the ire of politicians on both sides of the political aisle.

Senator Elizabeth Warren told CNBC Thursday that she blamed the SEC’s failure to act for the days of flash of market speculation.

“We need an SEC that has clear rules for market manipulation and then has the backbone to enforce and enforce those rules,” said the Massachusetts Democrat. “To have a healthy stock market, you have to have a cop on the beat.”

“That should be the SEC,” she added. “You have to step up and do your job.”

North Carolina MP Patrick McHenry, the senior Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, said Friday he was concerned about unequal access to capital markets.

I want to “make sure we don’t stop people from having additional access to markets and therefore leave them to activities like we’ve seen with GameStop and some other tradable stocks,” he said on Squawk Box.

“What I’m seeing here is this bigger case: average, everyday investors are excluded from the access that insiders like C-suite members get from corporations, and hedge funds and private equity get natural access,” he added. “And that the credit investor standard has turned our markets into an extremely prosperous lie.”

Categories
Business

The Work Diary of a Cinematic Chef

The Work Diary of a Cinematic Chef

6 p.m. Quit tonight at a reasonable hour. Jess is meeting a friend for an ice cold al fresco dinner at Meadowsweet, and I fully intend to have a beer, turn my brain off, and watch TV in my home theater.

8 p.m. I saw David Byrne’s American Utopia. Unsurprisingly, it was great. Next is “History of Swear Words”. Nicolas Cage beats it up wonderfully, but the editing is a bit of a scatter shot.

9:30 am I overslept, I’m really sore, and I’m not going to exercise this morning. Jess’s eye hurts like crazy, and it sounds a lot like it when I had a scratched cornea in college. I go to get her remedies and an eye patch. At least she’s looking forward to a light pirate cosplay.

10:30 am Three different episodes are due to be reviewed by sponsors on Monday, so I have to do an absolutely tremendous amount of editing. But I also have almost consecutive conference calls until 3 p.m. I’ll find out what I can between calls, but have to take care of my cute Cyclops upstairs if I can.

14 o’clock I crack my ankles, update (video editing software) Premiere and dig in. Fun fact: I’m currently editing shots of the leftover fried rice I have for lunch. Is that a fun fact? Well I enjoy it. This concludes the brown rice saga.

4:30 p.m. I am receiving and testing some new samples from my upcoming cookware range. It’s carbon steel pans that I find nervous when presenting them as an alternative to nonstick pans, but if you practice a little they will become your lifelong friends.

8 p.m. After a nice, uninterrupted piece of productivity, all three episodes are put together, music inserted and voice-over recorded. I really wanted to get it done before the weekend, but there are over eight hours of voice-over work left. I take a lunch break with my significant other and then see if I have any juice left to carry on.

21 clock No! I’m full of Thai takeout, had two mojitos, my voice is shot from all conference calls, and it’s Friday. It’s time to do what young lovers do: watch a pulpy murderous drama. We decide on “The Undoing”, snuggle up under our weighted duvet (yes, of course we have one, we’re stressful Brooklynite millennials) and watch Nicole Kidman continue her long career as a crushing artist. Before we pass out, I find out that “WandaVision” has just premiered, and I wake up so I can be careful. I’m glad I did, because Wanda describes an open four-course menu from the 1950s that I’d like to add to the “Binging” list of ideas!

Categories
Health

New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warns

New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warns

Funeral directors wearing personal protective equipment carry a coffin during the funeral of a COVID-19 victim amid a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) nationwide lockdown at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, southwest of Joburg, South Africa, on Jan. 6, 2021.

Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters

According to the World Health Organization, new and more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading across Africa, causing an increase in infections and deaths.

In the week leading up to Thursday, more than 175,000 new cases and more than 6,200 deaths were reported across the continent, the WHO said in an update, while infection rates were between December 29 and January 25 compared to the previous four weeks increased by 50%.

The number of deaths doubled to 15,000 over the same period, concentrated in 10 mainly South and North African countries. Infection rates are increasing in 22 countries.

“The variant that was first discovered in South Africa has quickly spread beyond Africa. So what keeps me awake at night is that it is very likely to be circulating in a number of African countries,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa , Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a virtual press conference on Thursday.

The variant first discovered in South Africa leads to record infection rates on the subcontinent and has now been identified in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and the French region in the Indian Ocean in Mayotte, Zambia, together with 24 countries outside Africa.

The highly contagious strain originally identified in Great Britain has since found its way to Nigeria and Gambia.

The CDC in Africa has set up sequencing laboratories across the continent, and the WHO urged all nations to send at least 20 samples per month to the sequencing laboratories to coordinate a targeted response.

“In addition to the new flavors, COVID-19 fatigue and the aftermath of year-end gatherings can create a perfect storm and fuel Africa’s second wave and overwhelming health facilities,” Moeti said.

“Africa is at a crossroads. We need to hold on to our guns and duplicate the tactic that we know works so well. That is wearing masks, hand washing and safe social distancing. Countless lives depend on it.”

Infections last week fell slightly in South Africa, the worst-hit country on a continent that has largely avoided the exponential spread of the virus that stalled many major economies in various places over the past year.

As of Friday morning, South Africa had recorded 1,437,798 cases of Covid-19 and 43,105 deaths. The entire continent has reported around 3.5 million cases and 88,985 deaths, according to a BBC data aggregation compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Categories
World News

Dow futures prolong losses after J&J says vaccine much less efficient in opposition to some Covid variants

Dow futures extend losses after J&J says vaccine less effective against some Covid variants

U.S. stock futures were significantly lower in early Friday trading after Johnson & Johnson said its one-off coronavirus vaccine showed less effectiveness in some regions.

The average Dow Jones Industrial futures lost 160 points, or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.5%.

Futures accelerated losses after JNJ said its single-dose vaccine had shown an overall 66% effectiveness in protecting against Covid-19. The vaccine was 72% effective in the US, 66% in Latin America, and 57% in South Africa at four weeks. The vaccine provided full protection against hospital stays related to Covid. JNJ’s shares fell 3.7% in the pre-market.

Stocks had rebounded to hit record highs in hopes that vaccines against Covid would be effective to allow for a smooth economic reopening before the end of the year. New mutations that are more resistant to vaccines could improve the bright outlook for investors.

Increased speculative trading by private investors also continued to worry the market. GameStop’s shares doubled in premarket trading after Robinhood announced it would restrict purchases of the stock and other heavily shortened names after restricting access the previous day. Robinhood raised more than $ 1 billion overnight from its existing investors and also used the banks’ credit lines to ensure that the capital was in place to start trading the volatile stocks again.

Investors are concerned that if GameStop continues to rise in such volatility, it could penetrate financial markets and cause losses at brokers like Robinhood and force hedge funds that bet against the stock to sell other stocks to raise cash.

There are also fears that the GameStop mania is a sign of a bigger bubble in the market, and that its dissolution could also create turmoil and hit retail investors hard. Several e-brokers took steps Thursday to curb intentional buying of highly speculative names. A number of lawmakers also called for an investigation into the chaotic trade.

“Between calling for hearings and reports in Washington, Robinhood was forced to not only draw on its credit lines but also raise $ 1 billion from existing investors. The whole situation continues to undermine market confidence,” said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, note in a Friday.

It’s been a volatile week on Wall Street. The Dow lost more than 600 points on Wednesday and suffered its worst sell-off in three months. Then the blue chip benchmark rallied 300 points on Thursday amid a broad market rally. All three major averages have lost at least 1% this week.

The market also saw its highest trading volume in years as the mania heated up. On Wednesday, the total market volume reached more than 23.7 billion shares, surpassing the level at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. On Thursday, there was also extremely strong trading with more than 19 billion shares that changed hands.

A wave of retailers motivated each other on the red-hot WallStreetBets Reddit forum to pile into the most hated names of hedge funds, resulting in massive short-bruising of stocks. GameStop is up more than 900% in January, while AMC Entertainment is up over 300% this month.

“This smaller capitalization rally would likely destabilize and lead to inefficiencies,” Christopher Harvey, senior equity analyst at Wells Fargo, said in a note. “Stocks are ultimately fundamentals – and reversals can be very painful, both up and down.”

However, some believe that the impact on the overall market should be limited as the retail crowd is focused on only a handful of names.

“While we believe there will be more pain, we remain optimistic that it will likely stay local,” said Maneesh Deshpande, head of equity derivatives strategy at Barclays. “Long-short hedge funds have relatively little market exposure, which indicates little impact on the overall market due to deleveraging.”

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Categories
Entertainment

Pauline Anna Strom, Composer of Enduring Digital Sounds, Dies at 74

Pauline Anna Strom, Composer of Enduring Electronic Sounds, Dies at 74

Ms. Strom did not address her blindness (“Blindness is more of a nuisance to me than anything,” she once said), although mastering her synthesizers was an experimental process, since in the 1980s when the instruments were still relatively new ‘There were no user manuals for the blind. Ultimately, she thought, her poor eyesight made her music worse.

“In my opinion, my hearing and my inner visualization have developed to a higher level than might otherwise have been the case,” she said in 1986 in a rare interview in her early career to the publication Eurock, also technical standpoint. It is entirely possible to program synthesizers and effects devices, precisely record your own work, and use a mixer. I do all of this with sound. “

“Indeed,” she added, “I prefer to work in the dark.”

Pauline Anna Tuell was born on October 1, 1946 in Baton Rouge, La., The daughter of Paul and Marjorie (Landry) Tuell. Growing up in Kentucky in a Roman Catholic household, she said chants and other types of church music influenced her musical ideas, as did the works of Bach, Chopin, and others.

She was married twice, to Bob Strom and then to Kevin Bierl, but the dates of these marriages and how they ended, like many details of their life, are hard to come by. She moved to San Francisco when her husband – it is unclear which one – was stationed there during the military. Withdrawn by nature, she lived in the same apartment in San Francisco for decades. (“Thank goodness this town is in control of the rent,” she told the listentothis.info website in 2018.)

Her early musical endeavors included some do-it-yourself sound effects like in “Emerald Pool,” but she gradually became more adept at using the multiple synthesizers she had accumulated to get the sound she wanted. She was influenced by the work of the German band Tangerine Dream and the German composer Klaus Schulze, pioneers of electronic music.

Categories
Business

EU piles stress on AstraZeneca over delayed vaccines, reveals particulars of contract

EU piles pressure on AstraZeneca over delayed vaccines, reveals details of contract

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will give a lecture at the end of a video conference of the members of the European Council that dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic in Brussels on January 21, 2021.

OLIVIER HOSLET | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – The European Union released an edited version of the contract it signed with AstraZeneca on Friday as the bloc put pressure on the drug maker to deliver the promised Covid vaccine shipments.

The EU, which has been criticized for its slow adoption of vaccinations, was hit with a blow by AstraZeneca last week when the company said it could only deliver a fraction of the shots it agreed to for the first quarter.

AstraZeneca has denied it failed to deliver on its commitments, stating that shipments to the 27-nation bloc were targets rather than promises. The company also cited production problems at its European plants for the delays.

The European Commission, the EU executive, welcomed AstraZeneca’s commitment to greater transparency after the company agreed to publish details of the agreement. AstraZeneca was not immediately available to leave comments when CNBC contacted them.

The contract, which was signed on August 27, provides for AstraZeneca to undertake to the best of its ability to build capacity to produce 300 million doses of vaccine, with the Commission having the option to order an additional 100 million doses.

In the case of AstraZeneca, the agreement defines “best effort” as the activities a company with similar resources would undertake in the development and manufacture of its vaccine.

This includes “bearing in mind the urgent need for a vaccine to end a global pandemic that is creating serious public health problems, restrictions on personal freedoms and economic impacts around the world, but considering its effectiveness and safety”.

The contract states that AstraZeneca will use its “best possible efforts” to manufacture the vaccine at manufacturing facilities in the EU. The deal also provides for this to include plants based in the UK, although the country left the bloc last year.

AstraZeneca has been told to send some of the UK-made cans to the block, but the company said a separate deal with the UK prevented that.

The European Medicines Agency is expected to make a decision on Friday on whether the AstraZeneca vaccine will actually be approved for use.

International Competition Concerns

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday morning on German radio: “There are binding orders and the contract is crystal clear.”

“AstraZeneca also explicitly assured us in this contract that no other obligations would prevent the fulfillment of the contract,” she said, according to Reuters.

Von der Leyen of the EU claimed the deal included clear delivery amounts for December and the first three quarters of 2021.

Earlier this week, Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said the EU contract was based on what is known as a “best effort” clause and did not officially oblige the drug maker to a specific delivery schedule.

The EU von der Leyen rejected this proposal on Friday, adding that the clause would only apply if it was unclear whether AstraZeneca could develop a safe and effective vaccine. She also claimed that the contract specifically mentioned four manufacturing facilities that would supply the vaccine to Europe, two of which are in the UK.

A look at the headquarters of the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca as a Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and inspected in Brussels, Belgium on January 28, 2021.

Dursun Aydemir | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

EU officials have indicated that deliveries from the UK to Europe could be rerouted if delays in European production persist.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he remained “confident” of delivering the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in partnership with Oxford University. Johnson added that he was “very pleased” that the country was among the fastest in Europe to introduce the vaccine.

The UK has the second highest number of confirmed Covid cases in Europe after Russia, recording the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths of any European nation and the fifth highest worldwide.

The EU of around 450 million people is struggling to get its vaccinations up and running as it is insufficiently supplied and is currently lagging far behind countries like Israel and the UK in delivering vaccines to its citizens.

Vaccine maker Pfizer-BioNTech initially delivered a blow, announcing it would temporarily cut production to improve its production capacity in Belgium. This was followed by AstraZeneca last Friday, which reduced its delivery estimates for the region.

An unnamed senior EU official told Reuters that the bloc expected about 80 million doses by March but had been told it would only receive 31 million doses instead. The company has not confirmed the quantities concerned.

A deepening dispute between the EU and AstraZeneca has raised concerns about international competition for limited vaccine supplies. Hopefully the vaccinations can help end the coronavirus pandemic.

– CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

Categories
Health

Serving to a Teen Who Is Indignant About Home Guidelines on Covid

Helping a Teen Who Is Angry About House Rules on Covid

Our adolescence columnist, psychologist Lisa Damour, answers a reader’s question. The question has been processed.

[To submit a question, email AskDrDamour@nytimes.com.]

Q. We have a very difficult time with our 15 year old grandson who lives with us. He finally made friends after fighting socially and wanting to hang out with them, but they don’t have social distance and don’t wear masks. Some of their families don’t really believe in this pandemic. It’s an absolute mess in our house because he’s struggling to be able to do things. He says he’s sick of Covid because while he stays most of his friends don’t and go about their lives like nothing has changed. He’s angry and depressed and we don’t know what to do.

A. You and your grandson find yourself in a heartbreaking situation for which there are no complete or satisfactory solutions. I can’t tell you how much I wish it wasn’t true. First of all, I want to acknowledge the painful reality of the circumstances you described.

Even if there are no perfect remedies, the situation can possibly be improved at least a little. First, note that you face two different, albeit related, challenges. One of them is that the pandemic has uprooted your grandson’s thriving social life. The other is that his perfectly legitimate need to stop being in touch with his new friends disrupted his relationships at home. On the first front, providing your grandson with more social opportunities than you already have can be difficult. On the second side, however, there may be ways to reconnect with your isolated teen who is now more in need of loving support than ever.

Empathy, empathy, empathy is the starting point. The situation he is in is miserable and not of his creation. It may be true that he is playing off and upset everyone around him, and that many other young people are in a similar situation, and that we are starting to catch a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Try not to let these factors affect your compassion for your grandson. The adjustments we require of teens, both in terms of the way they lead their social lives and in terms of learning, are almost all the fun for teens and have been in place for almost a year. No compassion for that is too much.

Without any further agenda, convey the message to your grandson that you are very sorry that the pandemic has devastated his social life. Affectionately communicate that you understand how painful it must be to know that your friends will get together without him. Let him know that you cannot believe the pandemic has lasted this long (roughly a tenth of the life he is likely to remember) and that you understand that family support, especially for teenagers, cannot make up for the loss of contact Friends.

Compassion won’t change your dire circumstances, but it can still help alleviate your emotional suffering. Feeling alone with mental pain is far worse than believing that your plight is seen and acknowledged. So do everything you can to show your grandson that you are completely on his team.

Updated

Jan. 29, 2021, 6:05 p.m. ET

There’s another point of view that can help you build a better relationship with your grandson: Realize that he may be engaged in a persistent internal battle – between wanting to see his friends and knowing that their way of connecting to tie, does not exist. t sure – into an external fight between him and you.

It is by no means uncommon for teenagers to turn annoying personal dilemmas into fragile family struggles. Imagine a (post-pandemic) teenager who both wants to go to a concert and is also irritated by its sketchy venue. She might seek relief in recruiting her parents to take up one side of the battle. Voting that fight would be as simple as wholeheartedly lobbying to go to the concert while rolling her eyes when her people ask reasonable safety questions.

Try to free your grandson from this instinctive approach by articulating his dilemma warmly and compassionately. “It’s really frustrating,” you might say, “that your friends do things in a way that you can’t see for sure. I understand why you are so upset. “This could open the door for him to welcome you as a strategic ally.” We will do everything we can to help you see your friends safely. Can you go bike rides together or throw a ball outside? Guilt if you want to record the need to be outdoors and wearing masks with us. Just let us know if you can think of anything we could do to make this work. “

It is of course possible that your grandson does not like your proposal or wants to test the strength of his friendships. If so, there is still something else you can try. New research in the journal Child Development has shown that adolescents can endure pandemic conditions better when their families support their autonomy. Are there any options you can offer your grandson that were not previously given to him? Maybe you can tell him more about how or where he studies, what he does in his spare time, who controls the remote control or what else you can bring to the negotiating table. Own the limits of what you can offer. Acknowledge that choosing the dinner menu does not resolve problems with his friends. But having new freedoms at home might help him feel better enough.

Hopefully your efforts will lighten your grandson’s mood. If he remains unhappy no matter what you try, make an appointment with his doctor to have him checked for depression, which teenagers often experience as irritability rather than sadness.

You and your grandson are not alone in feeling drawn into a terrible corner by the pandemic. While we are so much beyond our control, we shouldn’t overlook the incremental ways we can comfort and support our teenagers.

This column does not constitute medical advice and does not replace professional psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns about your child’s well-being, talk to a doctor or mental health professional.

Categories
Politics

Job Seekers With Trump White Home on Their Résumés Face a Chilly Actuality

Job Seekers With Trump White House on Their Résumés Face a Cold Reality

Others are still weighing their options.

Hope Hicks, a senior advisor who left the White House in 2018 and got an important job as Fox Corporation’s chief communications officer before returning in March, has told people near her that she is planning an extended vacation.

Hogan Gidley, a former White House deputy press secretary and campaign spokesman whose duties recently included naming Mr. Trump on Fox News the “manliest” president in American history, said he was considering “various things” and not concerned about the search before him.

“I think it’s an exaggeration,” said Gidley of the challenges he and his colleagues may face in the months ahead. But then he paused. “Let me put it this way, I hope it’s an exaggeration.”

While former advisers ponder their future in Washington, a small group of advisors will stay with Mr. Trump in Florida and assist him in building his post-presidency presence.

The group of loyalists who have followed him include Dan Scavino, a former White House deputy chief of staff for communications, and Nick Luna, the former personal bird of Mr. Trump. A larger group of aides, including Brian Jack, the former White House political director, are considering staying in Trump country but have not yet made any final decisions.

Others, including Margo Martin, a former press office worker, and Molly Michael, an assistant to Mr. Trump, are government employees who are paid by the General Services Administration and will help Mr. Trump with the transition process.

While her former colleagues spent the weekend grappling with the cold reality of life in a Washington state where the Democrats are now in charge, Ms. Martin posted a photo of her surroundings in Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s sun-drenched resort in, on Instagram Palm Beach, Florida.

Categories
Business

The GameStop Reckoning Was a Lengthy Time Coming

The GameStop Reckoning Was a Long Time Coming

Wall Street was one of the last powerful institutions to be overrun by online populists, partly because it had a higher barrier to entry. Anyone with an internet connection and a Twitter account can start a hashtag campaign. However, because trading stocks costs money and requires a certain amount of expertise and time, this has largely been left to professionals.

Smartphone-based trading apps like Robinhood changed that by introducing commission-free trades and an interface that made performing a gamma squeeze as easy as ordering a burrito on Uber Eats. All of a sudden, millions of amateurs could get organized, create their own market research and investment theses, add excitement in Reddit threads and TikTok videos, and go to the casino with the big boys. (Whether storming the high roller tables helped them financially is a whole different question.)

Many accounts of the GameStop saga have captured the hilarious, mundane excitement of the dealers and the stunned disbelief of their Wall Street antagonists. But there is a corner of economic justice that is easy to miss. On r / WallStreetBets, you’ll find passionate essays from traders who say that betting on GameStop will make them re-empowered in a financial system that has only been exploiting them and their families for years.

“Greed is absolutely out of control at the top, and this funny little message is tangible evidence of it,” one user wrote in a popular post on Wednesday. “Don’t let them make you think that getting a slightly bigger piece of cake is wrong for you.”

If you can get past the madness and weird jargon, the Redditors make some good points. Big banks and hedge funds actually adhere to different rules than private investors. Wall Street banks were truly bailed out after the 2008 financial crisis, while Main Street homeowners suffered. MBAs in fancy suits probably won’t give you good investment advice than people on YouTube with names like “RoaringKitty”.

While watching the GameStop drama, I was pondering what writer Martin Gurri calls “the public revolt”. Mr. Gurri writes that the Internet has empowered ordinary citizens by providing them with new information and tools that they then use to discover the flaws in the systems and institutions that run their lives. Once they discover these flaws, he writes, these citizens often rebel, raging down elites and dominant institutions for being lied to and holding back.

The result, writes Mr Gurri, is a kind of vengeful nihilism, an urge to burn the establishment down without a clear sense of what to replace.

Categories
Health

Thailand finance minister on vaccine rollout, tourism restoration

Thailand finance minister on vaccine rollout, tourism recovery

SINGAPORE – Thailand will receive its first batch of vaccines next month and plans to produce its own vaccines, according to finance ministers.

Initially, about 100,000 cans will arrive, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.

“The first vaccines will be coming to Thailand next month, the first lot,” he said, adding that Thai company Siam Bioscience will be working with Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to develop vaccines that will be useful for both Thailand and other countries are available.

He spoke to CNBC as part of the coverage of the World Economic Forum’s Davos agenda.

Thailand will begin rolling out vaccines on Feb. 14 and intends to vaccinate 19 million people in the first phase, its prime minister said on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report.

The Southeast Asian nation has According to the report, 26 million cans of AstraZeneca to be made by Siam Bioscience and 2 million cans of China’s Sinovac were secured. It has also reserved 35 million cans from AstraZeneca, it added.

Pandemic meets tourism

Termpittayapaisith also said tourism is expected to recover by the end of the year rather than mid-year as forecast. The Thai economy relies heavily on tourism for its growth, but the arrivals of foreign tourists almost completely stalled during the pandemic.

Tourist arrivals fell 66% to 6.69 million in the first six months of 2020 as countries around the world imposed bans and travel restrictions due to the pandemic.

By comparison, Thailand had a record 39.8 million tourists in 2019, according to Reuters. Tourist spending represented around 11% of Thailand’s GDP that year, the report said.

Commuters wearing face masks wait for a canal boat in Bangkok on March 2, 2020.

MLADEN ANTONOV | AFP | Getty Images

“We’re also focusing on domestic consumption so you can see that the economic package … encourages more spending on the basic economy,” Termpittayapaisith said, adding that it aims to offset the decline in international tourism revenue.

Thailand lowered its forecast for economic growth for this year from 4.5% to 2.8% on Thursday. According to the central bank, the economy is expected to shrink by 6.6% in 2020.

The country reported a record 959 cases on Tuesday, the highest daily increase since early January when it accelerated its testing, according to Reuters.

Thailand has one of the lowest reported cases in Southeast Asia. So far, 17,023 cases and 76 deaths have been reported, according to the Johns Hopkins University.