Great expectations: The Darwinian wars of economic and epidemiological forecasting July 29, 2020 A key concept in modern economics is, to use the jargon term, rational expectations. The idea has dominated orthodox macroeconomics over the past 30 years. Not all economists have been persuaded of its merits by any means, but nevertheless, its influence has extended far beyond academia, into finance ministries and central banks around the world. [...]
Letter: Is the government right to focus on obesity as its top public health issue? July 29, 2020 Re: Is the government right to focus on obesity as its top public health issue? People with obesity are at a much greater risk of serious Covid-19-related complications and death. They are also more likely to require hospitalisation, ICU admission, and mechanical ventilation. Hence, addressing obesity makes sense not only as a way to prevent [...]
The City takes the lead as Ebay reports 335 per cent jump in UK businesses July 29, 2020 The number of UK businesses signing up to become sellers on Ebay spiked more than 300 per cent in June, with Canada taking the top spot for the most new companies on the site during lockdown. Ebay said the number of new businesses on its website jumped 335 per cent in June [...]
Twitter limits Donald Trump Jr’s account over coronavirus video July 28, 2020 Twitter said today it has limited access to Donald Trump Jr’s account for 12 hours, following a tweet he had posted which violated its misinformation policy on coronavirus. The eldest son of US President Donald Trump posted a video yesterday of doctors talking about the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus. In the video, [...]
Facebook and Instagram remove Wiley’s accounts after grime star’s antisemitic rant July 28, 2020 Facebook said it has decided to fully delete the accounts of British grime musician Wiley from both Facebook and Instagram, after he was placed on a temporary ban from the platforms. The self-styled godfather of grime, whose real name is Richard Cowie, is being investigated by police after posting a series of antisemitic tweets over [...]
Intel chief engineer to depart in tech unit shake-up July 28, 2020 Intel said its chief engineering officer Murthy Renduchintala is stepping away from the business, as part of a move to split up a key technology unit into five teams. The chipmaker said today that it is reorganising its technology, systems architecture and client group, with each section’s new leader to report directly to Intel boss [...]
A digital tax is no way to reward our innovative online retailers July 28, 2020 Throughout lockdown, the advantages — indeed, the essentiality — of online retail became clear. Now, Rishi Sunak is rumoured to be mulling over a new online sales tax. Advocates for this new tax, such as SportsDirect owner Mike Ashley and Tesco boss Dave Lewis, believe that the existing business rates system creates an uneven playing [...]
Google to build undersea cable between New York and Cornwall July 28, 2020 Google is set to build a subsea network cable between the US, the UK and Spain, it said today. The landing points will be situated in New York, Bude and Bilbao, and is set to go online by 2022. Named after Grace Hopper, who was a pioneering computer scientist, the project will join three existing [...]
Video: Is Big Tech under threat? July 28, 2020 | City Talk In this short video Sean Markowicz explains why the market dominance of big tech firms might prove to be a threat to their own future performance. While many businesses are struggling under the global lockdown, the largest technology companies are thriving. Firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook have all seen increased demand [...]
Facebook sues EU regulator for invading employee privacy in antitrust probe July 27, 2020 Facebook has said it is suing the EU antitrust regulator for attempting to gain information beyond what is necessary for its case against the firm. The tech giant said this included seeking highly personal details from its employees, such as medical history and information about family members. The European Commission has been probing Facebook since [...]
