Defund vs. Reform
What You Need To Know
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The World
The global economy is expected to shrink by about 5.2% in 2020, making it one of the four most severe downturns in 150 years, according to the World Bank. Emerging and developing economies will shrink for the first time in at least 60 years. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
New York City took the first steps toward reopening. As many as 400,000 workers could return to construction jobs, manufacturing sites and retail stores in the first reopening phase. Meanwhile, some states, including CA, FL, and TX, report a rise in new cases as they lift restrictions. (New York Times, Wall Street Journal)
A veto-proof nine Minneapolis City Council members said they will “begin the process of ending the Minneapolis Police Department.” In NY, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to cut the city’s police funding. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he would cut as much as $150 million from a planned police budget increase. (Star Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times)
Congressional Democrats unveiled The Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which would ban chokeholds, establish a national database to track police misconduct and prohibit certain no-knock warrants, among a wide array of steps. (Washington Post)
Defunding vs. reforming police: Defunding police often refers to shifting public safety roles from social services like housing, employment, community health, education, and more, though some supporters want to dissolve departments. Police reforms include tactics limits, including banning chokeholds, changing reporting systems for use of force incidents, requiring officers to intervene when they witness misconduct, and more. (NPR, The Guardian, CNN, Vox)
Economists question China’s labor market’s purported strength. Meanwhile, China’s trade surplus surged to a record in May as exports fell less than expected and imports slumped along with commodity prices. (Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg)
A Chinese official suggested that Hong Kong should behave to keep its autonomy beyond 2047. Meanwhile, China mobilized thousands of paratroopers, armoured vehicles and equipment that could be deployed the India border ‘within hours’. (Reuters, South China Morning Post)
U.S. allies in Europe — who hadn’t been officially informed — expressed dismay over plans to slash American troop numbers in Germany by more than a quarter, saying it undermined NATO and boosted adversaries such as Russia. (Wall Street Journal)
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton plans to publish “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir” on June 23 even if the White House does not give publication approval. (Washington Post)
Several universities joined a growing list reporting coronavirus cases within their athletic programs, including Arkansas State, Auburn, Marshall University and Oklahoma State University, among others. (CNN)
Economy
The May jobs report that stunned economists is dividing policymakers over next steps. Meanwhile, Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote that “June payrolls could rise by one or two million,” while Goldman Sachs expects “the unemployment rate to fall to 10% at the end of 2020 and 7.5% at the end of 2021." (Finance 202)
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, faces growing scrutiny over its role at the center of the Federal Reserve’s massive bailout of U.S. corporations. (Politico)
Protectionism is poised to play an elevated role in global dealmaking, as governments including France, Australia, Germany and the UK create new regulations and incentives to maintain local ownership of homegrown companies. (Axios, The Times)
BP will cut nearly 10,000 jobs, or 14% of its workforce, and freeze pay increases for senior level managers. Royal Dutch Shell faces spending scrutiny after announcing a two-thirds quarterly dividend cut, as the oil rally and Saudi price spikes could hurt refiners. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC)
Dunkin’ plans to hire 25,000 workers, while launching its first advertising campaign centered on hiring to tout the benefits of working there — including offering employees an online college education. (CNBC)
Technology
US ecommerce will surge 18%, up from prior forecast of 13%, even as retail sales are expected to drop more than 10% in 2020. (eMarketer)
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky hasn’t ruled out an IPO this year, as sites see a summer demand surge. (Bloomberg)
An antitrust battle focused on ads might play to Google’s advantage. (The Information)
The betting world is putting its action on E-Sports, including computer-vs.-computer games of FIFA livestream and League of Legends lineups, as video games have become casinos’ darling. (New York Times)
Smart Links
Astronomers found a planet like Earth orbiting a star like the sun. (MIT Technology Review)
Effective communications tactics in Zoom age. (Harvard Business School)
Science explains “Zoom fatigue.” (Wall Street Journal)
How Google Docs became the social media of the resistance. (MIT Technology Review)
James Bennet resigns as New York Times Opinion Editor. (New York Times)
Masks change human behavior. (Washington Post)
Remote learning didn’t work. (Wall Street Journal)
Good News
A nine-year-old aims to be the youngest chess grandmaster ever. The prodigy Tanitoluwa Adewumi, whose family fled Boko Haram, is climbing the ranks amid an internet chess boom. He won the U.S. championship last year. (The Economist)
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