SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " problem " 2,212 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Opinion | Mental health care can't replace the gun bills we don't pass
"The Republican proposals — crisis hotlines, treatment beds, mobile crisis units," Edward F. Kouneski writes, "Every one of them responds to a problem that has already emerged."
NU president to participate in Trump's college sports roundtable
University of Nebraska President Dr. Jeffrey Gold is among a group of roughly three dozen people who will meet with President Donald Trump next week as part of a roundtable aimed at fixing perceived problems in college sports.
Common nighttime noise exposure may trigger heart problems, study suggests
European study of 272,000 adults finds nighttime traffic noise above 50 dB linked to higher cholesterol and increased heart disease risk. Researcher Yiyan He discusses.
Ford recalls over 4.3 million vehicles over software issue
Ford recalls 4.3 million vehicles over a software problem that could cause trailer brake failure and a loss of exterior lights when towing.
How to turn your side hustle into a business
Gig work can boost your income, but it can also create new money problems if you’re not planning ahead. Consumer Investigator Rachel DePompa shares how to treat your side hustle like a business and make it work for you.
Green hydrogen has a hidden problem and scientists may have fixed it
Green hydrogen could be a game-changer for the clean energy transition—but right now, it’s too expensive and still relies on harmful “forever chemicals.” A new EU-backed project called SUPREME aims to fix that by reinventing how hydrogen is made. Led by the University of Southern Denmark with partners across Europe, researchers are developing a PFAS-free electrolysis system that slashes the use of rare metals like iridium and dramatically cuts costs.
The more you fear aging, the faster your body may age
Worrying about getting older—especially fearing future health problems—may actually speed up aging at the cellular level, according to new research from NYU. In a study of more than 700 women, those who felt more anxious about aging showed signs of faster biological aging in their blood, measured using cutting-edge “epigenetic clocks.” Fears about declining health had the strongest link, while concerns about beauty or fertility didn’t appear to have the same biological impact.
Fixing her gut health helped reduce bloating and boost energy
Throughout her 20s, a woman struggled with bloating, indigestion, and skin problems. She revised her diet for better gut health and energy.
Ancient Killer Is Rapidly Gaining Resistance to Antibiotics, Scientists Warn
This is a global problem.
Potter Center concert cancelled due to performer’s health concerns
Jackson College has cancelled a scheduled rock concert at the Potter Center after one of the featured performers encountered health problems.
WATCH: Surgeon General nominee Means says health problems reflect nation with a 'broken heart,' 'society losing its mind'
Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer allied with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says she wants to address the root causes of chronic disease if chosen as the nation’s doctor.
5 takeaways from Trump's State of the Union address
President Trump hit familiar notes on immigration and culture in his speech Tuesday night, but he largely underplayed the economic problems that voters say they are most concerned about.
Q&A: How can microbiome science solve problems in agriculture?
Microbiome — referring to the community of microorganisms inhabiting a specific organism — science may help solve problems facing agriculture, but prior research findings have not yet been translated to practical recommendations for growers, according to a team of scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences that has offered some ways to accelerate the transition.
68% of Americans Say Trump Has the Wrong Priorities
As Mr. Trump prepares for his State of the Union address, polls show that most Americans say he isn’t paying enough attention to the country’s biggest problems.
SRU hosts high school science competition and career fair
Empowering the next generation of problem-solvers and leaders, Slippery Rock University welcomed nearly 300 area high school students…
Meta's Addiction Trial Could Predict Problems for Sports Gambling
If social media is found to be addictive in a way that violates the law, will the same finding be made with sports betting? Sportico investigates.
The Nothing Phone 4a fixes my two biggest problems with the Nothing Phone 3
It might not look as unique, but I think Nothing's Phone 4a will be much more pocketable than its premium predecessor.
New ‘Acme Weather’ app from Dark Sky creators wants to fix weather apps’ biggest problem
The team behind Dark Sky is back with a new weather app for iPhone called “Acme Weather.” One of the...
Sports betting drives jump in calls to Florida problem gambling helpline
Calls over online gambling have increased by 138% since 2023.
Call for Jersey politicians to prioritise future generations
Deputy says some current policy decisions are stacking up problems for the future.
Major sewage issue at Steinbrenner Field impacts Yankees spring game
Broken sewer lines caused a big problem during Saturday's exhibition home opener, including damage to the Yankees' clubhouse.
Can the Vikings Finally Have a Strong Offensive Line?
It’s been a problem for so long, but it was supposed to get fixed in 2025. With two good tackles […]
Does Nigel Farage have a problem with women?
Critics say Reform leader’s patronising rhetoric is part of worrying trend. He says scrutiny is a two way street.
Salt Lake City revisits business nuisance ordinance following significant adjustments
Utah's capital city is revisiting a proposed ordinance that seeks to tackle issues with problem businesses, but with significant changes after the initial effort ran into complaints.
Nissan recalls over 640,000 vehicles for engine and gear issues
Nissan issued two recalls for its Rogue sport utility vehicle, one due to engine problems and the other because of broken throttle body gears.
Climate Physicists Face the Ghosts in Their Machines: Clouds
The planet is getting hotter, but one factor in particular makes it hard to tell just how hot it will get. Physicists and computer scientists are racing to solve the problem of clouds.
Review | ‘Everybody Loses’ tallies the steep costs of sports gambling
Danny Funt’s book makes clear that addiction is just one of many problems in the new age of legalized betting
Science Democrats Concerned Over Reports of Problematic NIST Policy for Foreign Researchers
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
McTominay opens up about recent injury and future at Napoli
Napoli star Scott McTominay sees himself at the club for ‘a very long time’ but admits he must ‘manage’ a tendon problem that forced him to miss the last two games.Napoli and Scotland star McT...
COLUMN: Eligibility problems are coming to an end
Sports headlines are across the map, with the biggest storyline being the ongoing battle between the NCAA and its athletes. There have been several cases of athletes suing for eligibility. With cases like Montana linebacker, Solomon Tuliaupupu and Alabama’s Charles Bediako.
Scientists Grew Mini Brains, Then Trained Them to Solve an Engineering Problem
A step toward studying how disease changes the brain’s ability to learn.
McCord: Run Huntington Beach Like a Service Business
Run Huntington Beach like a service business—not a political stage. Demand accounting on the 25-year Pacific Airshow deal, stop “balanced” budgets that rely on reserve raids and one-time patches, and tackle deferred maintenance and real hazard risks. November 2026: vote for competence, not drama.
Can Sporty & Rich’s Emily Oberg Break the Founder-CEO Curse?
Oberg stepped into the top job at her startup last August. In an exclusive interview with The Business of Fashion, she explained how she plans to scale her business while sidestepping the “founder’s ego” problem that has doomed many emerging brands.
Doctors emphasize early heart‑health habits as key to preventing future disease
Tackling risk factors in our younger years can prevent future heart problems in adulthood.
McLaren Health starts using AI to detect risk for heart disease
"This is a very important way of finding the disease before it causes any problems for the patient long-term or short-term," a McLaren doctor said.
Tyra Banks Needs To Be Held Accountable. She’s Also The Perfect Scapegoat
We let Tyra Banks off too easy for the harm America's Next Top Model caused. Now, the same problematic beauty standards she perpetuated are back.
Franz Wagner injury: Magic star out indefinitely with ankle issue
One of the Magic's best players is going to miss at least three more weeks with an issue that's been a problem all year
21 Movies And TV Shows That Just Got Harder To Defend Over Time Because They Were THAT Problematic
I wish I could unread some of these.
Five Berkeley Lab Scientists Receive DOE Early Career Research Awards
Five scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have received Early Career Research Program (ECRP) awards from the Department of Energy. The ECRP program, now in its 16th year, was established to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by supporting exceptional researchers at the outset of their careers, when many scientists do their most formative work. Recipients use the funding to pursue projects that have the potential to solve scientific challenges and advance the country’s STEM capabilities. To be eligible for the program, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution, or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility, who is within 10 years of having earned their doctorate. Awards to an institution of higher education will be approximately $875,000 over five years, and awards to a DOE national laboratory or Office of Science user facility will be approximately $2,750,000 over five years. This year’s Berkeley Lab awardees and their projects are listed below: Timon Heim: Better detectors for more powerful particle colliders Timon Heim is a staff scientist in the Physics Division. His ECRP project will develop a new type of detector that can track the particles generated by collisions in particle colliders with high spatial and temporal resolution. Current detectors in use at high-energy colliders, like the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, can track the trajectory and measure momentum of particles, but they can’t track a particle’s time of arrival with sufficient precision to discern from which of the many particle interactions they originate. Heim’s proposed technology — called a 4D tracking detector, because it captures data about particles’ positions in space and time — aims to solve this challenge, allowing researchers to glean more precise data from collision experiments to uncover new insights into fundamental forces and potentially discover new particles. The enhanced capabilities of 4D detectors will be a necessity for experiments at future colliders, such as the Muon Collider or Future Circular Collider. The project will develop custom microelectronics that process the signal of a pixelated silicon sensor that can register charged particles passing through it in an extreme radiation environment that these colliders produce during operation. The goal is to measure individual particles’ position with 50-micro-meter spatial and 50 pico-second (one trillionth of a second) temporal precision, for an incoming flux of around 1 billion particles per second per square centimeter. Harrison Lisabeth: Studying underground processes to unleash abundant energy Harrison Lisabeth is a research scientist in the Energy Geoscience Division focused on combining real-world experiments and AI to guide development of geothermal energy systems. His project will explore how deep underground rock formations – where geothermal wells are dug – are stressed by chemical reactions of the minerals and mechanical strain from movements in the Earth. A better understanding of subsurface stresses is essential to engineer safe and reliable geothermal wells that access the heat of deep rocks to produce electricity. It is estimated that the U.S. could generate ten times the amount of energy needed to power the grid using geothermal sources. Lisabeth plans to simulate how minerals grow, dissolve, and influence the behavior of surrounding rock in geothermal reservoirs by tracking chemical changes in rock samples under pressure in the lab. The project will also develop machine learning models to predict geologic strain based on field measurements and refine existing models that describe how common rock types deform under stress. Combining these approaches, Lisabeth hopes to develop a framework to predict stress to improve stability and longevity of geothermal wells. Daniel Carney: Pushing the quantum boundaries of particle measurement Daniel Carney is a staff scientist in the Physics Division who uses quantum information science to study particle physics and gravity. At very small scales, “quantum noise” — random fluctuations from the act of measurement — can drown out faint signals from rare processes. Carney’s ECRP project, “Fundamental Physics at the Quantum Limits of Measurement,” aims to build a new mechanical quantum sensor that can measure extremely small particle interactions below the limits of that quantum noise. The approach uses lasers to hold a tiny bead containing radioactive atoms; when one decays, the system measures the bead’s motion and the energy of any particles emitted. The experiment’s initial goal is to search for heavy sterile neutrinos, hypothetical particles predicted by some extensions of the Standard Model. The system could also help measure the mass of the neutrino, study the way particles interact through the electromagnetic and weak forces, and hunt for low-mass dark matter — all unsolved mysteries in particle physics. Callum Wilkinson: Using machine learning to demystify neutrinos Callum Wilkinson is a staff scientist in the Physics Division and part of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) hosted by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. DUNE will create an intense beam of neutrinos that interact in detectors in Illinois and, after an 800-mile journey through the earth, in massive detectors in South Dakota. By precisely measuring neutrinos and how they change, researchers will get a better understanding of their fundamental properties and whether they are responsible for why there is so much more matter than antimatter in our universe. Wilkinson’s ECRP project will apply two machine learning techniques to improve the analysis of DUNE’s data and enhance the experiment’s precision. One approach will look for hidden patterns in how neutrinos interact and produce low-energy particles, while the other will help correct for distortions in what the detectors record. The methods will be tested on one of DUNE’s prototype detectors and could be used in other neutrino experiments, improving their measurements and helping scientists build better models. Aditi Krishnapriyan: Machine learning methods that scale as datasets grow Aditi Krishnapriyan is a faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Applied Mathematics and Computational Research Division (AMCR) and assistant professor at UC Berkeley. Her project, awarded through UC Berkeley, will develop machine learning methods that scale with dataset size for modeling complex, multi-scale phenomena. The resulting tools can be applied in a wide range of research, including the study of new electrolytes for batteries or the examination of molecular interactions. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
WHO validates elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Libya
WHO today announced that Libya has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, a landmark victory for public health in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region. This hard-won achievement protects future generations from preventable blindness and provides a powerful reminder that countries can overcome neglected tropical diseases despite persisting challenges.
We’re launching the Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science.
AI isn’t just helping people solve problems faster, it’s unlocking new possibilities for discovery and scalability. To support organizations at the forefront of scientif…
In ‘Neighbors,’ America’s Problem Isn’t Politics. It’s Personal
'Neighbors' directors Dylan Redford and Harrison Fishman discuss their HBO docuseries about fights between neighbors all over America.
Valve's Steam Deck "intermittently" out of stock as RAM shortage drags on
Forget launching new stuff—Valve is even having problems with existing hardware.
S.F. healthcare workers say safety issues continue at city’s clinics
Seasoned city healthcare providers say problems with safety still extend beyond San Francisco’s flagship medical center.
Will President Trump avoid 'MAGA dud' problem with 2026 primary picks?
Trump has long wielded his endorsements as a cudgel to purge the Republican party of those he clashed with, such as former Rep. Liz Cheney.
Why your most creative ideas may come after a night of sleep
Got a problem? Science says you should sleep on it.
Switch 2 price, PS6 release could be impacted by memory shortage
Rumors are surfacing about more problems related to RAM shortages.
Imported pears from Argentina are causing problems for California farmers
California pear growers are facing challenges as the United States imports many pears from Argentina, a move that is affecting the state's market and prompting calls for government intervention.
Scientists found a way to plant ideas in dreams to boost creativity
Sleeping on a problem might be more powerful than we ever imagined. Neuroscientists at Northwestern University have shown that dreams can actually be nudged in specific directions — and those dream tweaks may boost creativity. By playing subtle sound cues during REM sleep, researchers prompted people to dream about unsolved brain teasers they had struggled with earlier. An astonishing 75% of participants dreamed about the cued puzzles, and those puzzles were solved far more often the next day.
New careers, relocations and medical problems: How ex-federal workers’ lives have been upended since DOGE
CNN spoke with several former federal workers who were laid off or accepted buyouts amid DOGE’s aggressive and controversial cuts last year. They’ve had very different experiences since then.
Don't forget to call mom: MLB catcher gets candid about sports struggles
Sports was never the solution to Maverick Handley's problems in life. It was more like a release. How his experience can help young athletes.
Sick Detainees Describe Poor Care at CoreCivic ICE Facilities
Problems at detention centers operated by CoreCivic extend far beyond recent measles outbreaks.
I'm Obsessed With 'You've Got Mail'—Minus This Enormously Problematic Plot Point
Don't get me wrong—this is one of my favorite romantic comedies. But Joe Fox, you've got some major work to do.
February's Windows 11 update is causing startup problems for users
Several users are experiencing various issues with system startup after installing the KB5077181 update for Windows 11.
There's Confusion Over God of War Sons of Sparta Having Co-Op, Based on Its PlayStation Store Description
God of War Sons of Sparta is a side-scrolling spin-off listed as having 1-2 player support. The only problem? Fans can't find its two-player option.
Sussan Ley: Does Liberal Party drama show Australian politics still has a problem with women?
The Liberal Party elected its first female leader at a time of crisis. She lasted less than a year.
North Star closes at least 1 clinic as it appears in bankruptcy court
As North Star Health Alliance seeks help in court over its money problems, there’s word that at least one of its clinics is permanently closed.
What is Typti? New racket sport could solve pickleball's noise problem.
The NBA’s yucky tanking problem, plus an American speedskating gold
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Protect your hamate bone today. Inside: 📉 Tanking, everywhere 📧 Tisch’s Epstein emails exposed 🏅 Another packed Olympic day Tanking has always been a part of the modern NBA, because the math is too simple: forfeit a season now for a better return (an elite draft prospect) later. Elite players win championships and bring about every form of success this league has to offer. At its base, the logic is flawless. The product,...
Why a $193M injection for rural health care in Pa. isn’t easing closure worries
The five-year Rural Health Transformation Program is meant to expand and strengthen access to care, but state officials and experts warn the money isn’t enough to fix every problem.
Puerto Rico Energy Bureau's temporary response to electric grid woes is problematic at best, corrupt at worst
And no matter what, it's not best for the people of Puerto Rico.
Commentary: Students cannot use ChatGPT as a shortcut in science and maths problems
Students who use AI to solve STEM problem sets can evade detection, but they skip the mental work that builds understanding, says chemistry tutor Kelvin Ang.
U.S. Small-Business Confidence Slipped in January
U.S. small-business confidence fell unexpectedly in January, with businesses citing inflation, labor quality and the cost or availability of insurance as problems.
Starmer Has an Epstein, Not Truss, Moment
Personal probity is the very least of the British prime minister’s problems, and markets are in for a period of uncertainty.
Health Advice From A.I. Chatbots Is Frequently Wrong, Study Shows
In part, the problem has to do with how users are asking their questions.
Military family advocates for mold safety legislation after health crisis
Thompson’s push for reform began after she and her family moved into military housing in 2023 and immediately encountered problems.
NASA's Artemis II Spacesuits Still Have One Big Problem, According To Former Astronauts
Space exploration experts have expressed concerns over the Artemis II spacesuits that will be worn by astronauts for NASA's missions, particularly its heft.
14 Cool Tech Products That Solve Everyday Problems
Technology's job is to make life easier, but it feels like we often forget about this truth. These gadgets will remind you of why tech exists.
Specific is terrific: A modest idea to combat the epidemic of loneliness
Loneliness is a big problem. This is a small idea — and maybe that’s the point.
Scientists finally solve a 100-year-old mystery in the air we breathe
Scientists at the University of Warwick have cracked a long-standing problem in air pollution science: how to predict the movement of irregularly shaped nanoparticles as they drift through the air we breathe. These tiny particles — from soot and microplastics to viruses — are linked to serious health risks, yet most models still treat them as perfect spheres for simplicity. By reworking a century-old formula, researchers have created the first simple, accurate way to predict how particles of almost any shape behave.
Light-based Ising computer runs at room temperature and stays stable for hours
A team of researchers at Queen's University has developed a powerful new kind of computing machine that uses light to take on complex problems such as protein folding (for drug discovery) and number partitioning ...
Gemini’s Google Messages, iMessage, and WhatsApp problem
Google has set out three tentpoles for Gemini: personal, proactive, and powerful. The company made big strides on the first...
App issue triggers voluntary recall of some Siemens Healthineers CT systems
Siemens self-reported a problem with software being inadvertently delivered to U.S. systems when the applications have not yet been cleared for use by the FDA.
Google is finally fixing one of the At a Glance widget's biggest problems
Google has started rolling out the new high-contrast mode we spotted in development last year for its At a Glance widget.
This paper-thin chip turns invisible light into a steerable beam
Researchers have built a paper-thin chip that converts infrared light into visible light and directs it precisely, all without mechanical motion. The design overcomes a long-standing efficiency-versus-control problem in light-shaping materials. This opens the door to tiny, highly efficient light sources integrated directly onto chips.
The Wayback Machine debuts a new plugin designed to fix the internet's broken links problem
WordPress is helping the non-profit fight the scourge of "link rot."
Dad’s Early Bond May Affect a Child’s Health Years Later, Study Finds
By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For decades, researchers mostly blamed moms when children developed long-term mental or physical health problems. Now, a new study suggests someone else may play a bigger role than once thought: Dad. By age 7, children whose fathers were less attentive to ...
Why our ancestors had straight teeth without braces
Small jaws mean big problems for modern humans.
North Side neighbors and businesses react to Save A Lot closing: ‘These people relied on it’
Frequent break-ins and shoplifters are a problem in the area, other business owners say.
The economy is the world's most important problem, but not America's
Only the U.S. and eight other countries – out of 107 – cited politics as their top problem in a new Gallup survey.
iOS 26.2.1 Problems Reported by iPhone Users After the Update
iOS 26.2.1 update brings bug fixes and AirTag 2 support, but some iPhone users report crashes, Face ID issues, and Maps problems.
NFL has a troubling championship diversity problem
Seahawks-Patriots will be the 10th rematch in the 60-year history of the Super Bowl
Chris Shula not the issue with the Rams defense
The Rams defense struggled late, but Chris Shula isn’t the problem. Here’s why Sean McVay’s philosophy matters more.
Poll: People View Prior Authorization as Greatest Burden in Navigating the Health System
New KFF polling explores the challenges beyond costs that people with insurance face in navigating the health care system. People cite prior authorization review as their top problem by a wide margin, with a third (32%) saying prior authorization requirements are a “major burden.
An incredible sports week arrives with Olympics, Super Bowl. Plus: NFL coaching carousel wraps up
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! It’s the start of a brilliant sports week. Coming up: 🏅 Olympic stars to know 🏈 Super Bowl week, baby ✍️ Coaching carousel problem We often talk about the unmatched glory of a great sports weekend, whether that’s the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, MLB’s Opening Day blitz, Thanksgiving weekend in the football world, whatever. We have arrived at one of those junctures — and it’s a full week. Let’s start...
Using generative AI to help scientists synthesize complex materials
Generative AI models have been used to create enormous libraries of theoretical materials that could help solve all kinds of problems. Now, scientists just have to figure out how to make them. In many ...
Report: Apple 'exploring' clamshell foldable iPhone as potential follow-up model
In today’s Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman, an interesting new possibility was shared for the iPhone lineup: a smaller,...
China's military has a serious leadership problem
The anti-corruption campaign has left open positions and a lack of senior officials with the experience to fill them.
Scientists finally may know why kidney patients die of heart disease
More than half of people with advanced kidney disease develop cardiovascular problems. A new study finds that diseased kidneys release tiny particles that are toxic to the heart.
CA groups seek local taxes to offset federal health care cuts
An L.A. health care coalition is trying to qualify a measure for the June ballot in order to head off impending health care funding problems.
Tittle Law Firm Guides Dallas Businesses Through Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorneys Support
When debt problems escalate, local leaders can contact Tittle Law Firm, PLLC for Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorneys support and clear next-step direction. Tittle Law Firm Guides Dallas Businesses Through Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorneys Support When debt problems escalate, local leaders can contact Tittle Law Firm, PLLC for Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorneys support and clear next-step direction. Dallas, TX , Jan. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dallas businesses dealing with mounting debt and tightening cas
Scientists found a way to cool quantum computers using noise
Quantum computers need extreme cold to work, but the very systems that keep them cold also create noise that can destroy fragile quantum information. Scientists in Sweden have now flipped that problem on its head by building a tiny quantum refrigerator that actually uses noise to drive cooling instead of fighting it. By carefully steering heat at unimaginably small scales, the device can act as a refrigerator, heat engine, or energy amplifier inside quantum circuits.
Analysis: Why the Minnesota deportation impasse will be so hard to solve
What happens now that the tough Minnesota deportation crackdown has turned tragic depends on whether President Donald Trump concludes he simply has an optics problem or whether he’s ready to make genuine changes to unpopular hardline policies that are central to his political identity.
Tri-County Community Health Coalition releases first unified health report in Fox Valley
With the Unified Health Report, organizations across the Fox Valley now have the same information on local health problems and can plan together.
Give Your Problems (and Passwords) to Moltbot, Then Watch It Go
A viral new virtual assistant formerly known as Clawdbot is complex and brings security risks—but some early adopters say it feels like the future.
The Odds: Is DHS Secy. Noem becoming an unavoidable political problem for President Trump?
Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs
In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman presents his Venn diagram of health care cost problems and shows how, in our fragmented health system, reducing one health cost problem often makes another worse.
Nervous Allies and Fox News: How Trump Realized He Had a Big Problem in Minneapolis
President Trump often blusters his way through a crisis, refusing to back down. Minneapolis tested the limits of that strategy.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
Politics and Agriculture - AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST
Washington Post Columnist, Megan McCardle wonders what ever happened to trying to understand what the problems are and coming up with a compromise.