Financial Markets and Economy
Get Ready to See This Globalization 'Elephant Chart' Over and Over Again (Bloomberg)
Globalization was the driving force behind the growth miracle in emerging markets, lifting millions of people out of poverty over the past few decades.
America’s shrinking middle class is killing the economy (Business Insider)
The middle-income class is hollowing out and it's hurting US economic growth.
Pound Records First Post-Brexit Gain as Historic Selloff Abates (Bloomberg)
The pound rose for the first time since the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union, as a recovery in investor appetite for higher-yielding assets seeped through currency markets and sapped demand for the dollar and the yen as havens.
Everybody needs to stop worrying about the end of the world (Business Insider)
The world is going to end … in a few billion years.
Prepare for 'aftershocks' following the global market earthquake (Business Insider)
It's not over yet.
The most successful tech IPO of the year just rocketed up another 10% (Business Insider)
Twilio, the tech company that had a blockbuster initial public offering last week, is on fire again.
These hidden ETF fees are sucking money from your investment returns (Market Watch)
Exchange-traded funds, which are the vehicle of choice for index-tracking investors, harbor hidden costs that are big enough to dent portfolio performance.
That’s the conclusion of recent research, which runs counter to ETFs’ reputation as efficient, low-cost instruments that have attracted $2.23 trillion of assets in the U.S. alone.
Oil Climbs With N.Z. Stocks as Traders Wait for Brexit Blueprint (Bloomberg)
The relief rally looked set to endure into a second day, with most Asian index futures signaling gains, oil rising and haven assets on the back foot as investors await developments on the U.K.’s plan to leave the European Union.
Increased income polarization is hurting U.S. consumption, IMF says (Market Watch)
Middle-income households are now more likely to fall into lower-income ranks than move up, and that’s weighing on the engine of U.S. and global growth: American consumption.
Oil Is Still Heading to $10 a Barrel (Bloomberg View)
Back in February 2015, the price of West Texas Intermediate stood at about $52 per barrel, half of its 2014 peak. I argued then that a renewed decline was coming that could drive it below $20, a scenario regarded by oil bulls as unthinkable. But prices did fall further, dropping all the way to a low of $26 in February.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts – Pouting Plutocrats and Their Pampered Professionals (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right."
Get Ready for a U.K. Recession, Lower Interest Rates and More QE (Bloomberg)
Mark Carney warned U.K. voters it could happen. Now economists say it’s time to get ready.
Here’s how the weak pound could wreck the U.K.’s economy (Market Watch)
A decline in a currency’s value typically benefits an economy by making goods and services produced within it more competitive on the global market. But for the U.K., it could be too much of a good thing.
Taking Stock of European Equities (A Wealth of Common Sense)
The Brexit vote has dominated the financial and political news cycle for the past few days (and rightly so). People are angry, confused and there are plenty of opinions out there on the potential implications on globalization, immigration, free trade, the working class, elites and a whole host of other topics that people are using this situation as an excuse to bring to the fore.
Apple Pay is struggling to catch on (Business Insider)
The public isn't exactly jumping at the chance to use Apple Pay.
Politics
George Will exits the Republican Party over Trump (Washington Post)
Conservative columnist George Will has left the Republican Party over its presumptive nomination of Donald Trump.
Why Susan Rice, Not Hillary Clinton, Took the Fall for Benghazi (Bloomberg)
On Benghazi day, let's spare a few thoughts for President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice. Yes, the headlines all say the House Select Committee on Benghazi couldn't find any new dirt on Hillary Clinton. But the woman who almost replaced her as secretary of state did not come out looking very prepared.
Technology
Inside Silicon Valley’s Robot Pizzeria (Bloomberg)
In the back kitchen of Mountain View's newest pizzeria, Marta works tirelessly, spreading marinara sauce on uncooked pies. She doesn’t complain, takes no breaks, and has never needed a sick day. She works for free.
Health and Life Sciences
This Tiny Camera Can Be Injected Into Your Body (Popular Science)
Using something called a "femtosecond direct laser writing system," they 3D printed a three-part lens, no bigger than a grain of salt, onto the end of a fiber optic cable the width of two human hairs. The researchers say the device could be injected into previously difficult areas to photograph such as inside an organ–even the brain–and pave the way for next-generation endoscopes (those snake-like devices surgeons use to glimpse your insides).
Stem Cell Crusader Sparks New Hope for Fighting Diabetes, Heart Disease (Bloomberg)
Four years ago, Shinya Yamanaka received a phone call that would forever change his destiny. The Kyoto University professor had won a Nobel Prize for his work in stem cell biology, which has since sparked a torrent of investment into regenerative medicine in Japan, a fast-moving field the country’s pharmaceutical industry aims to dominate.
Life on the Home Planet
Burning Question for World Giraffe Day: Can They Swim? (Scientific American)
June 21st – is World Giraffe Day. Ever one to jump on a bandwagon and join in the fun, I thought I’d take advantage and re-post the following excerpt of text. It describes the time Don Henderson and I decided that we should work on a paper that analysed the swimming and flotation abilities of giraffes, the published result being Henderson & Naish (2010) (see also Naish (2010) for a popular version).
Beautifully preserved feathers belonged to tiny flying dinosaurs (New Scientist)
Around 99 million years ago, these tiny dinosaurs had a sticky encounter. Today, their feathered wings look almost exactly as they did when they became stuck in resin.
Lida Xing at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, who has led an analysis of the two similar partial amber fossils, says these dinosaurs may only have been 3.5 centimetres in length.
