The military-civil fusion at the heart of the new dollar order (POLITICO)
By Izabella Kaminska · Apr 26, 2023, 2:22 PM To read remarks made by a string of treasury officials and central bankers in recent weeks, one thing becomes clear: It’s no longer an exaggeration to suggest the global economic system is heading toward a shift unlike anything since World War II. And what’s more, what’s […]
US takeover of French nuclear firm sparks tensions in Paris (POLITICO)
By Giorgio Leali – Apr 21, 2023 (POLITICO) PARIS — France’s feisty Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has another opportunity to pick a fight with Washington as a sensitive investment screening case is about to land on his desk. The French government wants to prevent nuclear-submarine parts supplier Segault from falling into American hands just […]
How an unlikely “deep state” duo massaged EU Italian-German relations for years (POLITICO)
By Paola Tamma – Apr 4, 2023 It’s a tale of intrigue, improbable friendship and backroom deal-making that gets to the heart of where political power in the EU really lies. And it concerns one of the bloc’s most secretive — yet influential — bodies, and two of its leading members who have just been […]
What the hell is wrong with TikTok? (POLITICO)
By Clothilde Goujard – Mar 22, 2023 Western governments are ticked off with TikTok. The Chinese-owned app loved by teenagers around the world is facing allegations of facilitating espionage, failing to protect personal data, and even of corrupting young minds. Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and across Europe have moved […]
Saving Silicon Valley Bank UK (POLITICO)
By Annabelle Dickson, Mark Scott, Tom Bristow – March 13, 2023 LONDON — British officials woke up Saturday with a ticking time bomb: find a new home for Silicon Valley Bank’s local operations or face a potential implosion to the United Kingdom’s tech sector. Amid a flurry of late-night WhatsApp messages, intensive lobbying from high-profile […]
DarkFi Projects Set to Challenge Crypto Regulation (POLITICO)
POLITICO, (Feb 3, 2023) – by Ben Schreckinger
Dark Kitchens Are Not the Dystopia You Think They Are
What’s scary about dark kitchens is not that they work badly, it’s that they work well. They are the path of least resistance in an economy whose workforce no longer has the time or inclination to cook.
The Great Kitchen Exodus: Why All the Fine Dining Staff Quit in 2022
By Robert Stevens, exclusively for The Blind Spot “Hell” – that’s how one Spanish chef described his time at one of London’s three-Michelin starred restaurants. The experience saw the junior chef squirt gelatins and primp vegetables with ungodly precision from six in the morning until well past midnight, five days a week, for a monthly […]
In Geneva, State Parties Are Calling for New Biological Weapon Verification Mechanisms
Between Kanye and Elon Musk breaking the internet, the SBF interviews and a right Royal drama unfolding at the palace, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that one of the more important gatherings of international experts and state signatories of the year has been taking place in Geneva, Switzerland under the auspices of the United […]
What the MrBeast Burgers Phenomenon Tells us About Our Low-Trust Economy
It’s easy to be condescending about a market dominated by shaking rears that can attract more media coverage than statements by political or religious elites. The rise of influencers has left many non-social-media natives confused about the seemingly trivial nature of their success. Trivial they may be. But you’d be wrong to dismiss their power. […]