What we’re reading (12/17)
“What Happens When The 1% Go Remote” (Bloomberg). “In the long run, cities’ ability to attract new generations of innovative and creative talent will ensure their financial survival. But if policies don’t change, their budgets will suffer in the meantime, and their least-advantaged people and neighborhoods will bear the brunt of it as budget cuts and austerity measures eliminate key services. If things get bad enough — as they did in New York in the 1970s — it could take them quite a while to restore their budgets.”
“Ten States Sue Google, Alleging Deal With Facebook To Rig Online Ad Market” (Wall Street Journal). “Ten states sued Google Wednesday, accusing the search giant of running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly and enlisting rival Facebook Inc. in an alleged deal to rig ad auctions that was code-named after ‘Star Wars” characters.’”
“China Rental Company’s Shares Have Cratered 76% This Year As The Shine Of Debt-Fueled Growth Fades” (CNBC). “Danke, founded in 2015, leases properties from owners on a long-term basis, refurnishes them, and then rents them out. The business model entails getting more money back from renters than Danke has paid to lease the apartment. Danke touts itself as a tech company, claiming that data, artificial intelligence and its IT infrastructure are the “backbone” of its business.”
“Russia’s Hacking Frenzy Is A Reckoning” (Wired). “This week, several major United States government agencies—including the Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, Treasury, and State—discovered that their digital systems had been breached by Russian hackers in a months-long espionage operation. The breadth and depth of the attacks will take months, if not longer, to fully understand. But it's already clear that they represent a moment of reckoning, both for the federal government and the IT industry that supplies it.”
“Sheriff Of Boston-Ham Comes For Robinhood” (Dealbreaker). “[Y]ou can be sure that if you give Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin a new law with which to bludgeon the financial services industry, he’ll do so. Especially if the object of the bludgeoning has proven itself of richly deserving thereof.”
