World trade is getting increasingly deregulated (and disorganized) + A shifting world of work needs businesses to adapt quickly
A global economy without a cop: The world trading system is grappling with deregulation as the World Trade Organization (WTO) becomes increasingly sidelined, the Wall Street Journal writes. Countries have been imposing greater export controls, subsidies, and tariffs that undermine trade relations — a trend spearheaded by the world’s two largest economies, the US and China. The Trump administration, for instance, violated WTO regulations by imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum — with a US Trade Representative spokesperson insisting that the US, not the WTO, gets to decide what constitutes the protection of national security. China, meanwhile, has managed to circumvent the WTO’s jurisdiction through opaque subsidies. For years, the only EVs it subsidized were those with Chinese batteries, but no WTO violation could be proved because these discriminatory subsidies aren’t written into law. What’s more, Western countries often refrain from raising complaints against China to the WTO in fear of retaliatory measures, such as antitrust and cybersecurity investigations.
Where does this leave the future of world trade? The WSJ posits that the future is going to look a lot like “the pre-WTO past,” with trading partners moving towards negotiation rather than litigation and embracing regional pacts rather than a single stream of hardset rules. Countries will form trade relations “a la carte,” picking from a menu of partners and sectors that align with their values. But as always, not all will wield the same power. “Just as hockey without referees favors the team with the largest players, trade without binding dispute settlement favors those countries best able to retaliate, or withstand retaliation — i.e., the US, China and the EU,” the writer notes.
Business needs to adapt to a changing world of work if they want to be around in 10 years: Nearly 40% of global CEOs believe their company will no longer be financially viable within a decade if they remain on their current trajectories, pointing primarily to a shortage in skilled employees, technological advancements, and shifting customer preferences, PwC’s Global CEO Survey shows. The survey, which was released yesterday just as Davos kicked off, paints an image of a widely negative sentiment regarding “immediate global outlook and longer-term survival prospects,” The Guardian writes. Growth prospects were bleak as well, with almost 75% of CEOs predicting that growth will slow in the coming year. CEOs across the globe were more confident in their three-year revenue growth prospects than they are in the shorter-term.
CEOs’ confidence in their own company’s prospects fell 25% y-o-y — a steeper decline than any other drop in the previous 15 years, with the exception of the 50% y-o-y drop recorded in 2009 with the global banking crisis. CEOs in the Middle East, Africa, Brazil, China, Japan however were an exception; they remained as confident in their growth prospects as they were last year. CEOs in the US were the most optimistic “about the long-term viability of their business models,” while their peers in China (who are facing uncertainty about freeflowing global trade) and in Japan (who have been hindered by having one of the oldest populations in the world) were the least optimistic.
AND- The majority of the C-suite class anticipate some level of climate-change-related impact over the next year, particularly in their cost profiles (which 50% anticipated will be impacted) and supply chains (42%). Fewer respondents (24%) were concerned about physical assets being impacted by climate change. Chinese CEOs feel particularly susceptible with 71% anticipating potential impact to their supply chains, 65% in cost profiles, and 56% in physical assets.
Big shakeup in Big Tech manufacturing as Apple moves away from Samsung for microLED screen production: Apple is set to begin manufacturing its microLED screens in-house, as it looks to move its production chain away from production partners Samsung and LG, Bloomberg reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Apple is currently planning to begin using its own screens for certain products as early as next year, which will allow it to create and test higher quality screens faster and cheaper, the sources say.
Researchers have developed a laser beam that can divert lightning strikes and help protect infrastructure. The new “laser lightning rod” is a significant advancement in the development of laser-based lightning protection that may be used to protect important facilities, such as airports and power stations during thunderstorms, according to the results of the research published in Nature Photonics.
How it works: The new technology managed to deflect four lightning strikes at the Swisscom transmitter tower on Mount Säntis, during six hours of thunderstorm activity through the use of a high-frequency laser beam which “ionizes air molecules in its path, creating an electrically conducting channel to guide a lightning strike” to the ground, The Financial Times writes. The aim of the project is to protect a broader area than the traditional metal rods that protrude from critical buildings and tall towers currently do. Those rods’ radius of protection from strikes is approximately equal to their height. The Säntis trial comes after 20 years of studies and laboratory tests aimed at producing a laser capable of diverting lightning without using large amounts of energy or creating safety issues. The scientists’ next step for the project is applying for funding to test the system at an airport.