28 May 2019
Question: According to MSN: News: Which country has the highest incarceration rate per 100,000 residents? What is number 2 and 3?
China’s record subsidies add to strain on talks with US – Pg. 4
– China increased its subsidies to domestically listed companies to a record level last year to help them weather a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, in a move likely to further strain trade talks with Washington
– China’s economy expanded at 6.6% last year – its slowest rate in almost three decades – because of weak credit growth and the worsening trade war with Washington
– China typically hands subsidies to companies that participate in national infrastructure projects or help meet targets in technology research and development
– The US also subsidises domestic companies, with Fortune 100 companies receiving $3.2bn in federal grants between 2014 and 2017…
– Local governments in the US have also competed to offer multibillion-dollar tax-breaks to attract investment by groups such as Amazon
Walmart faces heat over chief’s pay – Pg. 11
– Walmart, which employs about 2.2m people globally, gave the average worker a pay rise last year of less than 3% to $21,952, while chief executive Doug McMillon’s total pay package last year rose 3.6% to $23.6m
– …total shareholder returns last year fell 8% (Prof Note: What is wrong with these CEOs? I get the outsized pay, i.e. maximize one’s value. However, when shareholder value goes down, something must be done. Also, what is unknown, was the payrise pre-negotiated? If so, good for Doug for negotiating well!)
Overseas MBA students see little gain from US visa rule changes – Pg. 14
– Changes to US immigration rules aimed at helping overseas MBA students gain employment have failed to improve their chances of finding work in the country after graduation this year….
– International students have felt shut out of the US jobs market by the tightening of the rules governing H-1B visas, which are given to specialist workers. This in turn has discouraged overseas students from applying to American MBA programmes, even at some of the most prestigious business schools
– Seventy per cent of US schools have reported declining applications to the two-year full-time course (Prof Note: …and how much of this is attributable to cost, value-proposition, and the European one-year model?!)
– The median annual base salary of $115,000 that employers plan to offer new MBA hires is up from $105,000 in 2018,…
Answer: USA (698/100,000); El Salvador and Cuba are #2, and #3, respectively