Insights

Welcome back to the Global Month Ahead, Global Counsel's briefing on the events and stories that will define the month to come. In each episode, Global Macro Associate Director Isabelle Trick will hear from different members of the GC team to preview the month's stories before they are in the headlines.

The UK has a labour market problem. It is the only developed economy that saw the share of working-age citizens outside the labour market continue to rise after the initial pandemic jolt. Both Labour and the Conservatives appear to understand the importance of tackling the problem, perhaps because the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has identified the reduced size…

Recorded earlier this month at our Politics of Food conference in Washington DC, GC Chairman Peter Mandelson speaks to Dr. Jewel Bronaugh, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture. They discuss the state of American food production, Bronaugh's policy priorities in her role, and the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on global food supplies.

Over the last few months, GC has been fortunate to work as the Research Partner for R2 Factory, interviewing leading supply chain professionals on how they see their work after the covid-19 pandemic and against a backdrop of evolving demands on supply chains. Their basic answer: they have stopped thinking about supply chains, and started thinking in terms of networks of…

This week on Top in Tech, Conan D'Arcy speaks to Leo Ringer, Founding Partner at Form Ventures. They discuss the state of the UK tech startup scene, how it compares to other countries and Form Venture's contributions to Atomico's State of European Tech Report.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially brought a case against Meta to trial in an attempt to stop Meta’s acquisition of Within, a virtual reality (VR) fitness company. The trial marks the first high-profile legal test of the FTC’s efforts under Chair Lina Khan to broaden the scope of antitrust law to attempt to slow the growing power of Big Tech companies…

Amid a record-breaking elective backlog in England, NHS England has opted to flex its newly-granted financial powers by proposing a partial return to the Payment by Results system for acute care. But does this seemingly technical rewiring of the NHS’s financial flow have actual political and business salience? The answer is yes, and here is why. 

This year, Global Counsel's flagship policy conference is exploring the Politics of Food. Events throughout the month of January will offer a chance to debate and discuss the technological, regulatory and geopolitical challenges testing food systems around the world in 2023.

This week on Top in Tech, Conan D'Arcy is joined by Michelle Ryang to hear about what she saw at last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. What does the biggest show in tech tell us about the new trends emerging in 2023 and how are US companies reacting to newfound regulatory scrutiny?

The rapid evolution of social media has transformed the advertising industry, offering new channels for brands to market their goods and services to consumers, and increasing sophistication in segmenting target audiences. However, this has also generated new regulatory challenges and enforcement issues for the sector. One prominent example of this has been how brands and…

This week on Top in Tech, Conan D'Arcy speaks to Guy Parker, Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, the UK regulator of advertising in media. They discuss recent questions around advertising in the technology sector, Parker's long career regulating the sector, and the policy questions raised by new advertising technology. 

2022 has popularised a new German word in international politics: Zeitenwende, an “epochal tectonic shift”, emanating from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Europe’s increased awareness of economic exposure to authoritarian regimes has coincided with the emergence of new, China-critical voices in European capitals, such as the Greens in Germany, which have…

As the world’s largest grain-importing region in the world, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has felt acutely the impact of the Ukraine conflict’s disruption to global food production and exports. The MENA is an agro-ecologically diverse region, ranging from the Gulf, where there are no permanent rivers or lakes and minimal rainfall, to Egypt and Iraq, where river…

Associate Director Jens Presthus is joined by Senior Practice Director Thomas Gratowski to discuss China's remarkable reversals regarding covid policy.

The ‘metaverse’ term was coined thirty years ago, and until recently was part science fiction, part speculation. But with Facebook’s rebranding as Meta last year, an increasing consumer acceptance of virtual interactions post-Covid, and a steady uptick of interest from new sectors (ranging from retail to public services), the metaverse suddenly seems very real. Against…

This week saw the third meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) take place in the United States. What was discussed by the negotiators, and how significant is what was announced?