What we’re reading (12/18)
“A Moment Of Reckoning: The Need For A Strong And Global Cybersecurity Response” (Microsoft). “The final weeks of a challenging year have proven even more difficult with the recent exposure of the world’s latest serious nation-state cyberattack. This latest cyber-assault is effectively an attack on the United States and its government and other critical institutions, including security firms. It illuminates the ways the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve and become even more dangerous. As much as anything, this attack provides a moment of reckoning.”
“Largest U.S. Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase Files For IPO As Bitcoin Soars Past $23,000” (CNBC). “Digital currency exchange Coinbase is going public as renewed investor interest in cryptocurrencies has pushed bitcoin to an all-time high. On Thursday the company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The form is expected to go into effect after the SEC completes its review process.”
“Are IPO Pops Signs Of Market Irrationality” (Marginal Revolution). “It’s all a bit like a restaurant on a Saturday night. If the place is seen as “cool” — whether because of its food and service (the product), its setting (the physical asset) or its ambience (the brand) — there will be a line out the door. Otherwise it will be fairly empty. Furthermore, the presence of a line will draw continued interest over time. It is hard or maybe even impossible to set prices so that every table is filled yet there is no line. To deploy some technical language, the demand curve may be discontinuous.”
“Landlords Are Running Out Of Money. ‘We Don’t Get Unemployment’” (CNN Business). “As the coronavirus pandemic drags on -- with unemployment still high, government support dwindling and the status of future stimulus unknown -- landlords are suffering…[a] national ban on evictions, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop the spread of the virus, has meant many landlords must continue to pay to maintain and finance their properties with less rent coming in and no recourse to remove non-paying tenants”
“Google’s Legal Peril Grows In Face Of Third Antitrust Suit” (New York Times). “More than 30 states added to Google’s mushrooming legal woes on Thursday, accusing the Silicon Valley titan of illegally arranging its search results to push out smaller rivals.”
