April 23, 2021
In 2010, the Japanese government had a rude wakeup call: Beijing had abruptly cut off all rare earth exports to Japan over a fishing trawler dispute. Tokyo was almost entirely dependent on China for the critical metals, and the embargo exposed this acute vulnerability.
The silver lining to this incident, which sent global rare earth prices skyrocketing before they crashed down as the speculative bubble popped, is that it forced Japan to rethink its critical raw materials policy. A decade on, it has significantly reduced its dependance on China for rare earths, and continues to diversify its supply chain by investing in projects around the world. Its model may have lessons for the US, which desperately wants to break China’s rare earths monopoly. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals that are crucial in the manufacturing of high-tech products.
April 13, 2021
The most beloved movie theaters in Los Angeles are closing. Now cinephiles in the movie-obsessed city are shining a Bat-Signal into the sky, hoping a deep-pocketed company (or individual) will swoop in and rescue them. The question is: Who will answer the call?
ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres are permanently shuttering all 16 of their southern California locations, the theater chains announced in a statement yesterday, citing financial hardship brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. “This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward,” the statement said. Both chains, which are owned by the Los Angeles-based real estate development company Decurion, had been closed since March 2020.
March 16, 2021
At the end of May last year, as protests exploded over police killings of Black Americans, numerous fashion and beauty companies went online to post their messages of support for the Black community and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as to pledge their own commitments to change.
Instagram was a preferred channel for these declarations. It’s become a vital way for companies to connect directly with audiences, and its photo-based sharing has made it particularly powerful for fashion and beauty brands. Companies published statements expressing solidarity, posted black squares for Blackout Tuesday, and collectively acknowledged a need to do better.
January 20, 2021
Joe Biden isn’t wasting time. On his first day in office, the newly inaugurated US president signed 17 executive actions. It’s not unprecedented for world leaders to get to work on day one, but the number of directives on Biden’s desk is much higher than usual. It took his recent predecessors weeks to sign 17 executive orders. Trump, Obama, Bush, and Clinton signed four executive orders or memos on their first day combined.
Biden’s executive orders vs Trump, Obama, Bush, and Clinton
The orders are wide ranging, including directives to reverse the “Muslim travel ban,” rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, stopping construction on the border wall, and ending the Keystone XL pipeline. Many were clearly aimed at overturning Trump’s decisions.