Germany’s finance chief Wolfgang Schäuble thinks that a larger amount of liquidity and higher global debt can only herald a new financial crisis in the coming years. He added that the world could face “new bubbles” because of the cash central banks
have invested in their countries’ economies.

Schäuble is also concerned about instability affecting the European Union mainly because the problem of non-performing loans has not been properly addressed by banks since the last financial crisis.

Schäuble, a longtime Europhile, criticized England’s Brexit vote warning of “demagogues” who claim that we’re paying too much to be part of the E.U. He believes those people helped even more with the European integration.

Germany is facing a rise in the number of rightwing politicians and, as Schäuble will leave his government position to join the German parliament as Speaker, 92 new members of the parliament with right wing views are expected to occupy their seats in the German Bundestag.

World’s Economists Worried about a New Financial Crisis

The outgoing finance minister is expected to assure his European counterparts on Monday that the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won 12.6 percent of votes for the German parliament last month, will not affect Germany’s commitment to a liberal democracy.

There’s no chance Germany will ever relapse into nationalism,

he told the Financial Times in a recent interview.

He explained that AfD’s backers are just angry at the injustices seen in today’s politics and how the global changes affected them, but we should be more worried about new bubbles in the global economy. Schäuble, who is one of the lead architects of the Greek austerity plan, noted that the world’s experts warn about increased liquidity and public and private debts. He added that he is concerned about these two matters too.
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A group of former Google employees named their latest start-up “Bodega” after the name of the very business they want to destroy. Their plan, however, drew a lot of criticism especially in New York where bodegas are commonplace.

Paul McDonald and Ashwath Rajan say their new concept offers nonperishable goods in an “unmanned pantry box”. While the term may seem so fancy that only a hipster could use, it refers to the good ol’ fashioned vending machine.

Customers will be able to buy the products via a special app. The vending machines will be placed in key locations so the system can beat any two-hour delivery. The company’s owners claim that their system is better even than the half-hour delivery.

McDonald thinks his startup could soon make bodegas obsolete.

Twitterers Are Enraged

The idea in itself sparked a tweetstorm, with people identifying several major issues with the startup. First, the term used to describe the concept – “unmanned pantry box” – is meant to lure in investors for a vending machines-based business. This is one of those ideas that look superb on paper but fail in the implementation phase.

Second, it is hard to believe that a high-tech glass case can replace bodegas. Twitter users argued that bodegas also sell fresh egg sandwiches and allow people communicate, two things an unmanned box would never do.

Can their bodega app make this? I think not. pic.twitter.com/qbKIortMrS

— This Is How I Mom (@howimom) September 13, 2017

Weird that they’re calling this heinous vending machine “Bodega” and not “Gentrification Box” https://t.co/xPCozclRRD

— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) September 13, 2017

What’s more, the startup’s logo is a cat which is a reference to the many cats that populate bodegas. But New Yorkers love cats and don’t want them put out of work:

I don’t understand why they don’t understand that customers get this when they walk into a bodega and it’s awesome. pic.twitter.com/CAeySIFj8z

— Patty (@PattyLibrarian) September 13, 2017

tfw you just heard about Bodega pic.twitter.com/0HVVRaARq4

— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) September 13, 2017

also think of all the bodega cats. bodega cat in my old hood had *2* stores. they want to put him out of not one but TWO jobs

— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) September 13, 2017

And last but not least, the ‘Bodega’ could leave without food on the table millions of recent immigrants and their families, which is to say the least heartless.
Image Source: Flickr

Google and Walmart decided to take their rivalry with Amazon to the next step, so they decided to start a partnership which they hope will help them beat their adversary. Near the end of September, Walmart will start selling many of its products on Google Express. Also, Google Home Assistants will support voice shopping from Walmart.

Google and Walmart build a new online shopping alternative

This move will be welcome by thousands of customers, as they have one more alternative to go shopping from the comfort of their couch. If things weren’t already good enough, Google made another exciting announcement. The Google Express fee is gone.

Google used to charge Google Express users a $95 membership fee. Now, the fee is gone. This means they can order anything and get it delivered to their homes for free, as long as they reach the minimum order set by the store.

Intense efforts to overcome Amazon

Google and Walmart picked the perfect time to start a partnership. Amazon currently owns the supremacy of the e-commerce market, with about 43 percent of all online sales which take place in the US. This is given mainly by the Amazon Prime membership and, more recently, by its Whole Foods purchase.

Walmart is the biggest grocery store in the US, but its business is greatly threatened by Amazon. At the same time, Amazon is a threat for Google as well. The company’s inventory became so big that people started using it as a shopping search engine. Besides, Amazon started mingling with online ads as well, which is a bit hit for Google.

Lately, both Google Express and Walmart have started growing, and are making progresses in their fight to take over Amazon. This new partnership might really be successful, by offering people another shopping alternative. Google Express has already been collaborating with Costco and Target, while the chain store greatly increased its inventory and purchased other online shopping platforms.
Image Source: Flickr

A Google engineer has recently written a memo which sparked a lot of controversy, after claiming biology is what keeps women from enjoying as much success as men in the industry of tech. The company couldn’t stay indifferent to such claims, and a recent report confirmed the dismissal of the engineer.

The engineer who wrote the memo was James Damore, and he has already confirmed he had been dismissed via an email. As the reason why Google made this decision, Damore said the company accused him of propagating gender stereotypes.

Google’s CEO also wrote a memo for the other Google employees

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, declared Damore violated important rules of the company after writing the document and then making it public. Therefore, the engineer needed to be dismissed. In this sense, Pichai also wrote a memo addressed to all employees.

In this memo, titled “Our words matter”, Pichai sends some warnings to all employees not to violate the company’s rules or suffer the consequences. Also, making assumptions based on biological reasons directed towards other members of the company is offensive, and people should refrain from doing so.

Damore made several outrageous claims in his memo, but still wants to take legal action against Google

In fact, what Damore’s memo did was to criticize Google for promoting diversity among workers. Initially, it was posted on an internal network, but it quickly went viral. As expected, it gave rise to a lot of controversy among other Google employees.

The document is called “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber”, and claims women are not placed on a lower rank in the tech industry because of discrimination, but because of biology. According to him, biology dictates certain preferences and differences which make women different, including at the workplace.

Damore believes he was illegally dismissed, and is thinking of pursuing legal action against Google. Before writing the document, he issued a complaint for the National Labor Relations Board, where he said the company shamed him to silence his dissatisfaction.
Image Source: Pixabay