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DHL Health Logistics Singapore Expands Capabilities to Elevate Life Science & Healthcare Logistics
DHL Group has announced the expansion of its life sciences arm—DHL Health Logistics—with the development of a €10 million Pharmaceutical Hub in Singapore. This investment bolsters regional Life Sciences and Healthcare (LSHC) infrastructure.
A tiny light trap could unlock million qubit quantum computers
A new light-based breakthrough could help quantum computers finally scale up. Stanford researchers created miniature optical cavities that efficiently collect light from individual atoms, allowing many qubits to be read at once. The team has already demonstrated working arrays with dozens and even hundreds of cavities. The approach could eventually support massive quantum networks with millions of qubits.
USMNT's Ricardo Pepi reportedly close to joining Fulham from PSV
Fulham will reportedly pay PSV a transfer fee of roughly $44 million, though the deal has not been finalized yet
'Melania' documentary earns $7 million opening weekend
"Melania," which debuted in theaters on January 30, offers audiences a glimpse into first lady's life leading up to the 2025 inauguration.
Health care costs are cannibalizing the economy — consumers can fight back
American health care costs are cannibalizing the economy, with 2024 national health expenditures reaching $5.3 trillion, double the developed-world average, and hidden prices being the main reason …
Detroit Lions have 6 of ESPN top 100 MVP seasons
The Detroit Lions landed six players on ESPN’s top-100 MVP candidates for 2025.
Local Columnist Floats Wild Matthew Stafford–Detroit Lions Reunion Scenario
A Detroit Free Press columnist suggests a bold Matthew Stafford return to the Lions via a double trade — but how realistic is it? A full breakdown and reality check.
These Are The Best Car Tires Of 2026, According To Consumer Reports
Of the millions of components that make cars go and stop with performance and comfort, tires are the only ones that actually touch the road.
New Guide Aims to Improve UTI Care as Telehealth Use Grows
By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterSUNDAY, Feb. 1, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, send millions of Americans to urgent care every year. But today, many people no longer see a doctor in person. Instead, they message their clinic, use video visits or fill out online forms to get antibiotics, sometimes ...
Meet the JPMorgan beauty banker who shaped Rhode's $1 billion sale
When cosmetics meets corporate finance, JPMorgan's Fei-Fei Zhang is often at the intersection. Here's what she predicts for the business of beauty.
If We Care About Learning, We Must Care About Kids’ Oral Health
Izvernari: We must start treating children’s oral health as what it really is: a foundation for academic success, not an afterthought.
All the ways Elon Inc. is already intertwined
The five companies led by Elon Musk have increasingly become intertwined, even before Tesla's $2 billion investment in xAI or merger chatter.
The world's first trillionaire is coming. Here's what it will mean
Elon Musk may see his net worth surpass the trillion-dollar mark as soon as 2027, if not sooner. And he's not alone
Missouri sports betting tops $543M in first month, state gets $521K
After giving more than $100 million in free plays to lure customers, FanDuel and DraftKings, the sports books dominating the MO market, paid no taxes.
Hims and Hers Super Bowl ad highlights 'uncomfortable truth' about elite healthcare for the rich and 'broken' system for the rest
The company is putting wealth inequality center stage as millions are expected to drop their Obamacare plans.
Republican National Committee Enters 2026 With Nearly $100 Million Edge on D.N.C.
Democrats have struggled to raise money, as is often the case for the party out of power, but the depth of their financial hole against the Republican National Committee is noteworthy.
Luis Arraez joins Giants on reported 1-year, $12 million deal
The three-time batting champion is staying in the NL West.
3 Detroit Lions Who Could Become Cap Casualties
The Detroit Lions could make difficult cap decisions this offseason. Graham Glasgow, Taylor Decker, and David Montgomery are names to watch.
Expanded SNAP work requirements are kicking in for more states
The new requirements are expected to reduce the average monthly number of SNAP recipients by about 2.4 million people over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office
Ben Johnson Could Poach Dan Campbell’s Right-Hand Man
Ben Johnson could look to Detroit for coaching help as the Bears search for offensive staff. Could Lions assistant Scottie Montgomery be next?
New NKY clinic to offer cardiology, women’s health, labs and primary care under one roof
The Christ Hospital Health Network is expanding into Northern Kentucky with a new $16 million outpatient center.
What 3 million new documents tell us about Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein
President Donald Trump is mentioned more than 1,000 times in the three million Jeffrey Epstein documents released Friday, after the president initially resisted the effort. While some of the references are benign, others include newly disclosed unverified sexual assault claims against Trump as well as fresh details about how some of Epstein’s victims described their interactions with the future president.
Life may have rebounded 'ridiculously fast' after the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact
After the asteroid smashed into Earth around 66 million years ago, it didn't take life that long to rebound, a new study finds.
'Shark Tank' star worked at Red Lobster while building his business: Your 9-to-5 can be 'your first investor'
'Shark Tank' star Daymond John says he kept his waiter job at Red Lobster while building his brand, FUBU, which made him a millionaire years later.
A $40 Billion Idea to Keep One Glacier From Flooding the Earth
Scientists have long opposed polar geoengineering. Some now believe it will be necessary.
‘Food is medicine’ and the $800M shortfall: How WV hopes to change rural health care
With West Virginia now poised to lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually in federal health care funding, Gov. Patrick Morrisey plans to embrace a “food-is-medicine” movement to bridge the gap and make the state’s residents healthier so they’re less reliant on the health care system.
How gene loss and monogamy built termite mega societies
Termites did not evolve complex societies by adding new genetic features. Instead, scientists found that they became more social by shedding genes tied to competition and independence. A shift to monogamy removed the need for sperm competition, while food sharing shaped who became workers or future kings and queens. Together, these changes helped termites build colonies that can number in the millions.
TikTok Superstar Khaby Lame’s Big Deal—Which Saw Him Valued At $6.6 Billion—Raises Red Flags, Experts Say
The all-stock transaction revolved around a small Chinese firm with less than $6 million in revenues, which went public just six months ago and saw its stock skyrocket over 650%
Google takes down an invisible network that was secretly using your phone's internet
Google wipes out IPIDEA botnet that hijacked millions of home routers.
The top five transfer additions for the Buffs (so far)
The Buffs have remained aggressive in the portal, so here’s a top five you need to know right now. We’ll count down from No. 5 to No. 1 and hit why each addition fits, and how they raise the floor this fall. #5 Liona Lefau, Texas Lefau is a senior transfer from Texas who comes […]
Planned Parenthood, reproductive healthcare could receive $90 million in new state funding
California will bolster funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers of reproductive health with a one-time infusion of $90 million, leaders of the state Legislature announced Friday.
Analysis: 5 early takeaways from the DOJ’s big Epstein files drop
The Justice Department on Friday announced the long-awaited release of an enormous tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files, spanning more than 3 million pages, which it said fufilled its obligations under transparency legislation passed last year.
Gov. Stitt suggests Medicaid cuts to curb health care costs
On Thursday, the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority asked for nearly half a billion more in its budget. Healthcare Authority Director Clay Bullard told lawmakers that a remedy for high agency costs coul…
Trump Is All over the Epstein Files. Except, Well, the DOJ Says It’s “Fake.”
So we’re just supposed to believe that millions of newly released documents are completely false?
January 30, 2026
A flu variant called subclade K emerged too late to be fully covered by this year’s vaccine. But the flu shot can still help protect you. Plus, a new study suggests dogs began to diversify about 11,000 years earlier than we thought. And, in turbulent times, it helps to hear stories of resilience. What can we learn from 3.5 billion-year-old bacteria that eat light?
Missouri sports betting tops $540 million in first month
Bettors in Missouri wagered more than half a billion dollars in December during the state’s first month of legalized sports betting, according to a new state report.
Chicago-area retail sales rose amid tariff threats
Threats of tariffs had Chicago-area consumers spending big on clothing and appliances, retail sales tax data from the first half of 2025 shows.Retail sales in the Chicago area jumped 16.1% year over year in the first six months of 2025, rising to nearly $97.5 billion, according to a report from…
Missouri sports betting tops $543M in first month but deductions leave state with only $521K
Missourians placed more than half-a-billion dollars in bets on sporting events in December but promotional offers offset the taxable profits.
The silent breakthrough: why Apple paid $1.5 billion for a secret Israeli startup
Apple has announced the acquisition of Israeli startup Q.ai, which developed technology that deciphers speech without sound, by reading micro-movements of the face and jaw, the system translates whispers and silent speech into words and commands
The Department of Justice announces release of more than 3 million pages of files related to Epstein investigation
CHANCELL-ING: UC Davis AI Research is Transforming Health Care
Imagine this scenario: Doctors know a small number of patients will face life-threatening complications after an illness, but they need to scan millions of records to identify the patients in need of intervention. It’s a task that would consume weeks and keep practitioners from other care needs.
Oops, Scientists May Have Severely Miscalculated How Many Humans Are on Earth
While most estimates place the current human population at around 8.2 billion, a new study suggests we might be vastly underrepresenting rural areas.
'ChatGPT saved my life.' How patients, and doctors, are using AI to make a diagnosis
Hundreds of millions of people are turning to chatbots to help figure out what's wrong with them. Doctors say that's not always a bad thing. In fact, many are using it themselves.
Gavin Newsom says he's 'burdened by the facts' as he criticizes California billionaire wealth tax proposal
California Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down on his criticism of the proposed billionaire wealth tax, warning it could cut school and safety funding rather than solve budget issues.
Hubble Sees Galaxy with Dark Rings in New Light
This Hubble image is of NGC 7722, a striking galaxy with an uncommon appearance located about 187 million light-years away.
California Crypto Billionaires Plan to Spend Tens of Millions on Moderate Candidates
Chris Larsen and Tim Draper, two outspoken Silicon Valley leaders, are planning to spend tens of millions of dollars to elect moderate state lawmakers this year.
Fintech lender SoFi profit jumps on strong growth in fee‑based businesses
Consumers are shifting high-cost credit-card balances to fintech lenders to take advantage of low-interest personal loans. SoFi's financial services business, which includes credit card and investing products, saw revenue surge 78% in the quarter ended December 31 to $456.7 million. Fee-based businesses help insulate fintechs from interest-rate swings.
Here’s how Baton Rouge’s casinos fared in December
After two strong months in October and November, Baton Rouge’s casinos continued their upward trajectory in December. Collectively, the casinos posted $25.7 million in revenue for December, u… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
Sepsis-finding biotech Prenosis lands $40M in financing, federal contract
Chicago-based sepsis diagnosing biotech Prenosis announced two $20 million milestones this morning, Series A financing and a large government contract.
Clay gets a $1 million boost to revive its waterfront, a step toward becoming entertainment destination
The grants will help pay for a boat launch and shoreline improvements at Three Rivers Point.
Dallas County grapples with mixed signals on federal mental health funding
The White House administration notified mental health and substance abuse and addiction provider organizations nationwide that by executive order, $2 billion in already awarded federal funding would be taken back.
Apple buys secretive Israeli AI company Q.ai for $1.6 billion in biggest acquisition of its history
With the move, Apple aims to improve its access to AI technology, which has suffered recent setbacks, especially after several delays in deploying Apple Intelligence's full announced capabilities.
South Dakota knocks off Oral Roberts 77-69
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Uzziah Buntyn had 26 points in South Dakota's 77-69 win over Oral Roberts on Thursday.
Council Speaker looks to savings, not taxes, for budget
Mayor Mamdani says the city faces a $12 billion budget gap.
Communities unite to address stigma and discrimination affecting people with neglected tropical diseases
Marking World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that millions of people living with NTDs continue to face profound and often unseen suffering due to discrimination, social stigma and untreated mental health conditions. Under the rallying theme "Unite. Act. Eliminate.", WHO and partners urge governments to integrate mental health care into NTD elimination efforts, ensuring that no one is left behind in pain or isolation.
Nearly 100-year-old candy company files for bankruptcy amid rising costs, heavy debt: report
Nearly century-old Chicago candy maker Primrose Candy Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeking to restructure over $12 million in debt.
Windows 11 has hit 1 billion users just a hair faster than Windows 10 did
Windows 11 clears a milestone as Windows 10 continues its slow fade.
Pitt launches $25M biomedical institute to bring space science from orbit to the operating room
The University of Pittsburgh officially launched a $25 million biomedical institute Thursday aimed at bridging human health on Earth and in space. The Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine is one of the first dedicated institutes focused on applying insights from spaceflight to improve human health on Earth, according to Pitt.
Record $1.76B expected to be bet on Super Bowl
Approximately $1.76 billion is expected to be bet on Super Bowl LX with U.S. sportsbooks, a nearly 27% year-over-year increase, according to the AGA.
6 Tactics Black Businesses Can Apply To Spur Revenue Growth In A Post-DEI World
Starting roughly a year ago, DEI rollbacks have meant $217 million in lost federal contracts to small businesses, including Black-owned ones.
Bills' Dalton Kincaid gets $8.73 million contract update
Buffalo has a new head coach but a lot of cohesiveness.
Medicare Advantage insurers face new curbs on overcharges in Trump plan
Federal officials have a plan that could curb billions of dollars in overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans. But will they follow through on it?
Apple buys Israeli startup Q.AI as the AI race heats up
Apple announced its acquisition of Q.AI for a reported nearly $2 billion, making it the company's second-largest acquisition to date.
U.P. college town to create business incubator where it’s ‘safe to fail’
Houghton won a $3.9 million state grant that’s making this and other projects possible.
Tanzania eyes East Africa’s pharmaceutical hub crown {Business Africa}
Tanzania is betting on local drug manufacturing to reduce imports and become East Africa’s pharmaceutical hub and we find out how Africa's private sector is fixing the supply chain to minimise the billions lost in post-harvest logistics.View on euronews
The promise and reality of the rural health fund
In the 2025 budget bill, Congress created the $50 billion Rural Health Fund to help struggling hospitals, doctors, and patients in rural America. But rural hospitals are expected to lose three times that through Medicaid cuts in that same budget bill. So, what will it take to keep rural healthcare afloat?
GM's ability to balance profits, politics under Trump paying off for investors
GM's ability to walk such a tightrope has been easier to do when it can fall, if needed, onto $21.7 billion in cash to end 2025.
A massive clump of dark matter may lurk in the Milky Way
Pulsating remnants of stars hint at a clump of invisible matter thought to be about 10 million times the sun’s mass.
Mia Bonta pleads for ‘pandemic-level’ response to Feds’ gutting of Medi-Cal
Up to two million of the state’s lowest-income people may lose health insurance due to federal changes. Bonta wants to lead the charge to stop that.
AI Real Estate Business Taps $100 Million Private Credit Loan
Propy, a real estate technology company, tapped the private credit market for the first time, securing $100 million to support the startup’s acquisition strategy.
Lions may have Georgia Tech QB on NFL draft radar
The Detroit Lions reportedly talked with Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King at the Shrine Bowl.
What to know about the Melania Trump documentary
As Melania Trump prepares to walk the red carpet at the newly rebranded Kennedy Center Thursday evening, she is proving that a peek behind the curtain of her life isn’t just a historical record, but a multi-million-dollar commodity.
Inside Maryland’s High-Stakes Bid for Trump’s $50 Billion Rural Health Fund
The White House asked states to compete for a rare pot of new money dedicated to transforming health care across rural America.
Trump’s National Guard deployments have cost taxpayers nearly $500 million dollars
President Donald Trump’s sweeping deployment of National Guard troops to several major cities across the United States cost taxpayers approximately $496 million from June through December last year, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
Alibaba to merge with China's Zelos on $2 billion robovan business, WSJ reports
Alibaba's logistics arm plans to merge its autonomous-driving unit Cainiao with China's Zelos Technology, forming a new entity valued at approximately $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Alibaba Teams Up With Zelos on $2 Billion Robovan Business
Alibaba’s logistics arm is merging its autonomous-driving unit with Chinese robovan specialist Zelos Technology.
Yuba City eyes $8.5 million state grant for new regional sports complex
A new regional youth sports complex could be coming to Yuba City. The city's public works department is planning to apply for a state grant that could award up to $8.5 million through a revitalization program.
Senate committee reviews Gov. Beshear’s budget proposal
The proposal dedicates $500 million of the budget reserve trust fund to affordable housing, rural hospital assistance and food assistance.
WSOC-TV & KFF Health News Win Prestigious duPont-Columbia Award
The SSA's practice left millions of Americans, including some in the Carolinas, facing unexpected financial hardship and prompted sweeping policy changes in the nation’s capital.
Windows 11 has reached 1 billion users faster than Windows 10
Windows 11 hits a big milestone
Sergey Brin Spends $20 Million on California Political Effort Amid Wealth Tax Debate
Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, is donating toward campaigns to solve California’s housing crisis, spurring other billionaires to pitch in. Their efforts may also help ward off a wealth tax.
Policy Brief: Teen Mental Health and School-Based Services in California
Rates of chronic sadness and suicidal thoughts in teens have been rising in California—and nationwide—since about 2009. Significant gaps exist between the reported need for mental health care and receipt of services. The state has recently invested $8 billion for child and teen mental health, including school-based services.
Music notes: Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding and more
The video for Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams" — the fifth single from her album 1989 — has become her latest to rack up 1 billion views on YouTube. It's her sixth video to hit that milestone, following “Blank Space,” “Shake It Off,” “You Belong With Me,” “Bad Blood” and “Look What You Made Me Do.”
$10 million gift to fuel transdisciplinary data science
Tom and Cathie Woteki, an alumni couple who made profound contributions to the fields of public health and applications of enterprise computing in their careers, have made a $10 million estate gift commitment to endow multiple faculty positions or fellowships, as well as create graduate fellowships, in the College of Science and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas marks two years and formally welcomes Bolivia and Uruguay as members
PAHO, the World Bank, and the IDB initiative has driven health system transformation and aligned more than one billion dollars in investments across five countries. Brazil expressed its support, signing a letter of intent.Rio de Janeiro, 28 January 2026 — The Alliance for Primary Health Care (PHC) in the Americas, a joint initiative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Bank (WB), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is celebrating its second anniversary with achievements in transforming health systems across the region.
Minn. companies pool funds to help small businesses amidst immigration enforcement surge
A couple dozen Minnesota companies have contributed about $4 million to a grant fund to support small businesses in the state as they navigate the challenges of meeting payroll and paying rent amidst the immigration enforcement surge.
Pa. county commissioners call for $40M increase to support mental health services
HARRISBURG — County leaders from across Pennsylvania on Wednesday called on legislators and Gov. Josh Shapiro to provide an additional $40 million in funding for county mental health services in
Roadkill is a surprising and untapped source for scientists
Millions of animals unfortunately die on roads each year, but the casualties hold important data.
Jets hire Brian Duker as defensive coordinator
The Jets’ search for a new defensive coordinator is over. The team is hiring Brian Duker per Tom Pelissero. The 36 year old Duker worked under Glenn with the Lions for three years. He went from defensive assistant in 2021 to safeties coach in 2022 to defensive backs coach in 2023. The last two years […]
iOS 26.2.1—Update Now Warning Issued To Millions Of iPhone Users
Apple has released iOS 26.2.1, an important update that all iPhone users should apply now. Here's what you need to know.
Here's what to know about the $50 billion states are getting for rural health
To satisfy Republicans opposed to last summer's cuts to health care, the Trump administration launched an ambitious 5-year initiative known as the Rural Health Transformation Program.
As More Founders Aim To Build Billion-Dollar, One-Person Businesses, New Research Points To High-Potential Niches
A new report points to areas where it is possible for solo founders to grow to $1 billion in revenue using AI, blockchain and a global team of freelancers.
Sword Health plans to acquire Kaia Health for $285M
Sword aims to raise about $500 million to fund more deals in the U.S. and Europe.
The unique sports collectibles that landed The Realest a $12 million investment round
The sports world is taking notice of The Realest's efforts to expand the definition of collectibles.
18 free agents with connections to Lions coach Mike Kafka
Taking a look at the 2026 NFL free agents who have connections to Detroit Lions coach Mike Kafka.
A Go-Kart Track Is Just the Start at This Arizona Home Built Like a Sports-and-Entertainment Complex
Over-the-top amenities at the $20 million listing include a batting cage, a basketball court, a shooting range, a day spa, a dance studio and a gaming lounge
Teamsters California endorses proposed billionaires tax
Teamsters California, with 250,000 members statewide, becomes the largest union to back the proposed November ballot measure to enact a onetime billionaires tax.
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
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