Perspective

statista – Super Bowl LII – Felix Richter 1/26

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

FT – The dangers of digital democracy – Rana Foroohar 1/28

FT – What Venezuela’s chaos means for the oil market – Nick Butler 1/28

• “Anyone looking for an explanation of the recent uptick in the oil price towards $70 a barrel need look no further than the unhappy state of Venezuela. Oil production in the country fell 13% in 2017 (against the 2016 average), with the drop accelerating towards the end of the year. In the last three months alone output has fallen by more than 500,000 barrels a day to a 28-year low of just over 1.6m a day.”
• “On any normal measure, Venezuela should be one of the world’s richest countries. With proven oil reserves of over 300bn barrels and a wealth of other natural resources, the 30m citizens of the Bolivarian Republic should be the beneficiaries of a secure regional market for oil supplies and of the skills accumulated in the industry over the last 80 years.”
• “Instead, the country is on the verge of bankruptcy. The government is toying with inventing a currency — the petro — securitized against the contents of an oilfield in the Orinoco basin. But the first requirement of cryptocurrencies is trust and there is little or none of that for the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Inflation rate is running at 1,178%, according to unofficial estimates — the government has stopped publishing inflation data.”
• “The collapse of Venezuela as a viable state has accelerated over the past six months and its effects have begun to hit the country’s core business — the production of oil. The state company PDVSA is deeply in debt. Including bonds, notes and other loans, it owes around $56bn. Schlumberger the international oil services company, took a write down of $938m last month because of bills the country has failed to pay.”
• “Cuba, once the closest ally of Venezuela’s hard-left leadership, has taken control of PDVSA’s stake in a local refinery to offset unpaid debts. Russia and China have at times propped up the Maduro government but now the limit of generosity seems to be some relief on repayment terms rather than new loans.”
• “In the absence of regime change there will be no rescue funds from the International Monetary Fund or anyone else. Meanwhile, the opposition, although vocal, lacks any effective power. In these circumstances, the country’s oil production is likely to stay down, and could well fall further during 2018.”
• “For Venezuela the situation is a deepening tragedy. For the oil market, and Opec in particular, the loss of production from one of the most important producers outside the Middle East is a source of salvation.”

NYT – The Follower Factory – Nicholas Confessore, Gabriel Dance, Richard Harris, and Mark Hansen 1/27

• “Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media’s black market.”

Energy

WEF – We’re getting closer to completing the energy transition – Faith Birol 1/18

Environment / Science

FT – The problem with plastic – Clive Cookson 1/23

• “Every year an estimated 8 million tons of plastic end up in ocean.”

Health / Medicine

NYT – In Kenya, and Across Africa, an Unexpected Epidemic: Obesity – Jeffrey Gettleman 1/27

China

FT – China faces refinancing crunch with $2.7tn of bonds bearing down – Emma Dunkley and Gabriel Wildau 1/28

• “China’s $4tn bond market faces a refinancing challenge over the next five years as more than half of the outstanding debt matures, heightening concerns over default risk by some borrowers.”

FT – China’s HNA tries to navigate turbulent times – Lucy Hornby 1/28

• “In the space of just 12 months, Chinese airline-to-finance conglomerate HNA has morphed from a symbol of the ambition and wealth of China Inc into a cautionary tale of corporate indebtedness.”
• “About $20bn in US dollar-denominated bonds issued by HNA and its subsidiaries are due to mature in 2018 or 2019. The yields on three of those dollar bonds issued by HNA’s main Hong Kong subsidiary have spiked, doubling this month to more than 18%.”
• “There are also signs of a cash crunch rippling through the group’s complex structure, which includes 16 listed entities and many layers of shell companies and crossholdings. Several have raised debt from Chinese banks and HNA has also turned to high-interest peer-to-peer loans, making its renminbi-denominated debt harder to quantify.”

Japan

Project Syndicate – The Bank of Japan’s Moment of Truth – Takatoshi Ito 1/25

• “After years of deflation, Japan’s labor market is the tightest it has been in decades and the Bank of Japan is still providing significant stimulus to the economy. But with inflation still well below target, central bankers are finding themselves between a rock and hard place.”