I received this report from the NZ Super Fund earlier today. It provides some insights into the investment environment right now.
In this 'Investment Environment Report', Dr Roland Winn, Senior Investment Strategist, explains the global investment environment and its implications for the NZ Super Fund.
A campaign to increase New Zealand's refugee quota started two years ago, when I completed a documentary: "Stepping up: NZ's response to the refugee crisis" https://www.luciadore.com/blog/stepping-up-nz-s-response-to-the-refugee-crisis.
Amnesty International then endorsed it. In it, I point out that while I agree with increasing the refugee quota, any increase should also go hand-in-hand with an increase in government funding. Refugees will only do well if they have employment, have educational prospects, overcome any language barrier and have good access to healthcare. The Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre (CRR&RC), formerly, the Canterbury Refugee Council (CRC) and I are about to embark on a study to investigate these issues further.
In the meantime, Tracey Barnett, has written this great article about NZ's response to the refugee crisis so far.
It would appear that America is no longer the country of the "free", with immigration being curbed and a ban on Muslim immigrants in particular, and a crackdown on the media. No longer can journalists say what they know to be true; it is clearly better to present "alternative facts".
The volume of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia has interested me, ever since I covered oil and gas in the Middle East. There were often disputes about the oil reserves in the region, and that the current estimates were not believable. How much does Saudi Aramco administer? How much will it fetch for its planned IPO? This article that appeared in the Wall St Journal, on 26 January, sums up recent activities.
Having lived in the Arab World for some years I'm sympathetic to the views of many Arabs about the attitude of the West toward their countries. This article, that featured in Politico Magazine, sums up the ways in which America is similar to the Arab World.
The presidential inauguration of Trump in the USA seems to be the only show in town. Every day the problems seems to get worse. Now, lies or falsehoods don't exist. There are only "alternative facts".
This article appeared in the Weekend Financial Times. I think it sums up the latest US administration well.
I've had a great deal of information cross my desk saying that online video is the way to go for blogging and for dissemination of information since videos engage the readers more. This survey undertaken by the Nieman Lab says otherwise.
Millennial communication professionals and their managers hold sharply different perceptions about millennials’ workplace factors, values and attributes
The future of technology and how it affects us, as companies and individuals, are important issues we ought to think about. In this article, James Manyika, Director, McKinsey Global Institute gives his opinion of what technology means for us.
It's always important to know what might happen in the year ahead and there are many ideas in various sectors. Here are some predictions for Customer Management Services.
President-elect Trump takes over running the US on Friday. Is he up to the job? More importantly, is his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, equipped to take over the Middle East peace process?
President-elect says his son-in-law ‘knows the region, knows the people,’ but the reality appears to be somewhat different
This story has come across my desk again and again. Many will gloat at the demise of Yahoo. But is it a good thing?
