A town in Japan's <keyword id="21536386" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yamagata-prefecture" source="keywords">Yamagata prefecture</keyword> is taking a unique approach to <keyword id="19913584" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-health" source="keywords">public health</keyword>. Local lawmakers have passed a law encouraging residents to laugh at least once a day!<br /><br />This unusual ordinance, enacted last week, is based on research conducted at <keyword id="22386082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yamagata-University" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Yamagata University" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Yamagata University">Yamagata University</keyword>. The research suggests <keyword id="19907840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="laughter" source="keywords">laughter</keyword> has significant health benefits, potentially reducing the risk of heart disease and even extending lifespans.<br /><br />The law doesn't force laughter, but rather aims to nudge residents towards a more cheerful outlook. It encourages daily "sniggers, chortles, or guffaws," along with urging businesses to create laughter-filled work environments.<br /><br />Remember that <em>Brooklyn Nine-Nine </em>episode where Captain Holt is disgruntled after nobody was having a good time despite him “specifically requesting it”?<br />  <div type="image" title="Brooklyn Nine-Nine" msid="111685548" hostid="261" sizebytes="1778319" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>The eighth of every month is now designated as "Laughter Day," further promoting the lighthearted initiative.<br /><br />However, the law has sparked some debate. Critics, including members of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), argue it infringes on personal freedoms. "The right to laugh, or not to laugh, is guaranteed by the constitution," said JCP member Toru Seki. Others, like Satoru Ishiguro of the Constitutional Democratic Party, worry the law disregards those struggling to laugh due to illness or hardship.<br /><br />Defenders of the law, like Kaori Ito of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), emphasise it's an encouragement, not a mandate. "There's no penalty for not laughing," says Ito. Officials also clarified the law is focused on promoting <keyword id="19896695" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="well-being" source="keywords">well-being</keyword>, not forced merriment.<br /><br />Whether laughter truly becomes the best medicine in Yamagata remains to be seen. But one thing's for sure, this lighthearted approach to health is certainly getting a chuckle out of the world.<br />

Japan has ordered its residents to laugh at least once a day; the opposition thinks its human rights violation

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/530fce6b6da8119105dc2a24-1200-924/soldier-tattoo-1.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Soldier tattoo" width="480" /><p class="source"><span>Associated Press</span></p><p class="caption">Spc. Jeremiah Butts of Magna, Utah, of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, shows off a tattoo that he got for his wife as he stands in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010</p></div><p></p></div>Troops with tattoos that may "scare other beachgoers" are no longer allowed to enjoy the popular Zushi beach a <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/scary-tattoo-ban-passed-at-popular-beach-for-servicemembers-in-japan-1.270194">short trip away from the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka Naval Base</a>, Stars and Stripes reports.</p>
<p>In addition to the tattoo ban, which applies more to full-body or sleeve tattoos rather than small, single ones, the Zushi city council also banned barbecues, loud music, and drinking alcohol on the beach, <a href="http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140227/NEWS/302270021/Report-Japanese-city-bans-scary-tattoos-beach-popular-U-S-troops">according</a> to Navy Times.</p>
<p>From Stripes:</p>
<p class="TX Body" style="padding-left: 30px;">The Zushi city council passed an ordinance that includes a host of restrictions at its beach, which is regularly packed on weekends with young adults from the Tokyo region during summer. Zushi is a 10-minute train ride from <a href="http://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrj/installations/cfa_yokosuka.html" target="_blank">Yokosuka Naval Base</a>, making its beach one of the most accessible for sailors.</p>
<p>Large tattoos are usually associated with the <em>Yakuza</em>, Japan's version of the mafia. Members often adorn their bodies with elaborate murals covering their backs and arms, <a href="http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html">according to</a> Crime Library.</p>
<p>The new ordinance however, doesn't really elaborate on what constitutes a "scary" tattoo.</p>
<p class="TX Body">"Public morals [at Zushi Beach] have worsened every year," city official <span>Masashi </span>Koizumi told Stripes. "The residents have said that they wished for the summer to pass quickly and that they just have to endure it."</p>
<p class="TX Body">Koizumi told Stripes the city had seen a sharp increase in complaints from residents in the area.</p>

Troops Can't Have 'Scary' Tattoos At Popular Beach In Japan

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacexs-new-astronaut-flight-for-nasa-has-reached-the-iss-2021-4">Astronauts</a> on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-space-station-module-fired-thrusters-moved-iss-2021-7">International Space Station</a> held the first "Space <keyword id="6360967" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="olympics">Olympics</keyword>" last week.</li><li>Microgravity allowed the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-astronauts-begin-china-space-station-mission-2021-6">astronauts</a> to show off flips, twists, handstands, and wall crawls.</li><li>In the videos below, they also played "no-handball" and practiced slingshot-style sharpshooting.</li></ul><p>While Olympians on Earth were <a href="https://www.insider.com/tokyo-olympics-volunteer-helps-jamaican-hurdler-gold-medal-race-2021-8">sprinting</a>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/modern-pentathlon-what-events-how-it-works-olympics-explained-2021-8">sparring</a>, and contending with <a href="https://www.insider.com/misbehaving-horses-wreak-havoc-kill-dreams-at-olympic-pentathlon-2021-8">misbehaving horses</a>, <keyword id="73998" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronauts">astronauts</keyword> on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-station-flipped-upside-down-russian-module-fired-thrusters-2021-8">International Space Station</a> held their own friendly competitions in microgravity.</p><p>In the first-ever "Space Olympics," the seven-person ISS crew faced off last week in ball games, target practice, and flipping and floating routines.</p><p>"We did give medals to each other, but it was always unanimous," <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> astronaut Mark Vande Hei told Insider in a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIloZ-Cr-d8">call</a> from the space station.</p><p>Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency astronaut, posted <a href="https://twitter.com/Thom_astro/status/1423780686020894721?s=20">videos</a> of each competition on Twitter. The main event was synchronized space swimming, in which the astronauts used their weightlessness to perform coordinated dances that would be impossible on Earth. For the full effect, turn the volume up on the video below.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Thomas Pesquet  (@Thom_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1423780686020894721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a></blockquote><p>The crew split up into two teams - Soyuz and Dragon - named for the spacecraft that carried them to the ISS.</p><p>Team Soyuz members launched to space aboard Russia's Soyuz rocket; the group included Vande Hei and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy. Team Dragon is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-crew-2-astronauts-reactions-orbit-2021-4">second full crew</a> to launch aboard <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-civilian-crew-view-from-spaceship-toilet-2021-6">SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship</a>: NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, along with Pesquet and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.</p><p>Team Dragon took the gold for their synchronized space-swimming routine, in which they shimmied, leapfrogged, summersaulted, and touched feet in mid-air.</p><p>"It was really, really impressive," Vande Hei said.</p><h2>Ball games and target practice work differently in space</h2><div type="image" title="seven astronauts crowded together smiling on space station" height="717" width="1174" msid="85288701" hostid="261"></div><p>Having a little fun is crucial for making it through a six-month stint on the football-field sized orbiting laboratory.</p><p>"We deal with frustration with humor," McArthur told Insider.</p><p>Laughter came easily when the astronauts played "no-handball," in which they used only their breath to move a ping-pong ball into nearby doorways, or "hatches," that served as goals.</p><p>The game looked difficult.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Thomas Pesquet  (@Thom_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1423780526230548480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a></blockquote><p>"We had to adapt the rules a bit during the match," Pesquet said on Twitter.</p><p>They also competed in "sharpshooting," using their thumbs to slingshot stretchy bands at a black-and-white target.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Thomas Pesquet  (@Thom_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1423780871761534980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a></blockquote><p>The astronauts even took inspiration from Olympic gymnasts with a "lack-of-floor routine." Each crew member showed off their best flips, twists, handstands, wall crawls, and other stunts (while bumping into a few things along the way).</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Thomas Pesquet  (@Thom_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1423780299243196422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a></blockquote><p>The crew wrapped up their competitions with a little <a href="https://twitter.com/Thom_astro/status/1424278282300702720">ceremony</a>. Hoshide, who is Japanese, passed a printout of the Olympic rings to Pesquet, who is French, symbolizing the end of the Tokyo games on Earth and looking forward to the Paris games in 2024.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-Thomas Pesquet  (@Thom_astro) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1424278282300702720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2021</a></blockquote>

Astronauts on the space station held their own Olympics, complete with synchronized air swimming - watch the videos

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5dc5c8e93afd3758976fc335-2000/carli%20lloyd%20.jpg" border="0" alt="Carli Lloyd " data-mce-source="Catherine Ivill - FIFA / Getty Images" /></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/carli-lloyd">Carli Lloyd</a> is making a case to start for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/uswnt">USWNT</a> in the 2020 Tokyo <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/olympics">Olympics</a>.</li><li>In newly-minted head coach <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/vlatko-andonovski">Vlatko Andonovski</a>'s first game with the team, the 37-year-old recorded two <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/goal">goals</a> and an assist to lead the USWNT past rival <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/sweden">Sweden</a> 3-2.</li><li>The two-time <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/fifa">FIFA</a> Player of the Year has been outspoken about deserving more playing time than she received during the 2019 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/world-cup">World Cup</a> and has hinted that she would consider quitting if her role heading into the 2020 Olympic Games in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/tokyo-2020">Tokyo</a> isn't commensurate with her expectations.</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Carli Lloyd is undoubtedly a US Women's National Team (USWNT) legend, but does the fourth all-time leading scorer in the team's history still have what it takes to start for the world's best squad at 37 years old?</p><p>Carli Lloyd certainly thinks so. And she backed that confidence up with a stunning pair of goals and an assist in the USWNT's 3-2 win over rival Sweden in newly-minted head coach <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uswnt-coach-vlatko-andonovski-what-to-know-2019-10">Vlatko Andonovski</a>'s first game with the team.</p><p>She netted the first score just six minutes into Thursday night's grudge match. Fellow forward Christen Press made a stunning run up the flank and sent a one-touch pass across the box that Lloyd delivered to the corner of the goal in stride.</p><p>Lloyd returned the favor to Press just over 20 minutes later, assisting on the 30-year-old's 50th international goal.</p><p>And in the 31st minute, Lloyd lofted a beautiful chip over the Swedish keeper's head and into the back of the net to extend the United States' lead to three and extend her international goal count to a whopping 120.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p>The two-time World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Player of the Year has been outspoken about deserving more playing time than she received during the 2019 World Cup. On&#xa0;<a href="https://t.co/8m1QpkfJwv?amp=1">ESPN's 'Laughter Permitted' podcast</a>, Lloyd told host Julie Foudy that the USWNT's historic run in France was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uswnt-carli-lloyd-world-cup-worst-time-of-my-life-2019-10">"absolutely the worst time of my life."</a></p><p>"It was hard. I'm not going to lie and sugarcoat it," Lloyd said. "It was absolutely the worst time in my life. It affected my relationship with my husband, with my friends. It really was the rock bottom of my entire career."</p><p>"It sucked. It absolutely sucked," she added.</p><p>Lloyd went even further, arguing that she should have been among the starting XI for each of the team's seven World Cup matches. The Delran, New Jersey, native was remarkably candid regarding her dissatisfaction with her playing time, repeatedly <a href="https://www.apnews.com/09b978184c234b8aa650055d2b73d0a8">sharing her grievances with the media</a> throughout the USWNT's World Cup run. She told Foudy she was comfortable doing so because she had had "loads of conversations" with former head coach Jill Ellis.</p><p>Before US Soccer announced its decision to name Andonovski as the ninth head coach in the USWNT's history, Lloyd hinted that she may choose to quit altogether if her role heading into the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo isn't commensurate with her expectations.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5db729afdee0191155395c87-2000/carli%20lloyd%202.jpg" border="0" alt="Carli Lloyd" data-mce-source="Catherine Ivill - FIFA / Getty Images" /></div></div></div><p>"I hope a coach comes in that values me, respects me, wants me part of the Olympic plans," Lloyd said. "There's no question that my ability is there. I'm able to do it - physically, I'm able to do it."</p><p>But Thursday's performance certainly helps bolster Lloyd's chances of playing a major role in Japan next summer. With her two tallies, Lloyd extended her international goal count to 15 on the year - more than anyone else on the USWNT roster.</p><p>Additionally, superstar striker <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-morgan-pregnant-uswnt-olympics-2019-10">Alex Morgan's pregnancy</a> could open up the spot Lloyd needs to break through as a starter. The 30-year-old announced that she was having a girl in April of 2020 via social media. Even though Morgan has publicly stated that she intends to get in shape and return to the team prior to kickoff at the summer Olympics, Lloyd will have the next six months to continue padding her resume - which is already arguably the most impressive in women's soccer - and make the case to Andonovski that she deserves the spot regardless of Morgan's return.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/julie-ertz-cries-in-coachs-arms-after-nwsl-championship-loss-2019-10" data-analytics-position="11">USWNT star and Chicago Red Stars captain Julie Ertz shares tender moment with coach after losing in NWSL final: 'she deserves better than what happened today'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uswnt-star-crystal-dunn-suffers-gruesome-ankle-injury-nwsl-final-2019-10" data-analytics-position="12">US Women's National Team star Crystal Dunn suffers nasty ankle injury during NWSL championship game</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/megan-rapinoe-alex-morgan-highlight-ballon-dor-shortlist-2019-10" data-analytics-position="13">Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan headline a Ballon d'Or shortlist that features 4 US Women's National Team stars</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nwsl-mvp-sam-kerr-learns-about-award-minutes-before-winning-2019-10" data-analytics-position="14">International soccer star Sam Kerr didn't know her league's MVP award was being announced until minutes before she won it</a></li></ul><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>06.20.19 - USA goal in the third minute.<br>11.07.19 - USA goal in the sixth minute.<a href="https://twitter.com/CarliLloyd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CarliLloyd</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChristenPress</a> doing the lord's work and giving us things we LIKE to see. <a href="https://t.co/mwzq1XlP63">pic.twitter.com/mwzq1XlP63</a></br></p>- U.S. Soccer WNT  (@USWNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1192606607491895296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Not only did we get that classic <a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChristenPress</a> speed 💨 and epic moves ⚡️on this, but it also marked her 50th international goal so overall we are blessed. <a href="https://t.co/JCTs6c08ZE">pic.twitter.com/JCTs6c08ZE</a></p>- U.S. Soccer WNT  (@USWNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1192611905225056257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Once <a href="https://twitter.com/CarliLloyd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CarliLloyd</a> gets hot, it's impossible to stop her.<br><br>Case in point: 2 goals + an assist in 31 minutes 👑 <a href="https://t.co/qlyyGj7xWJ">pic.twitter.com/qlyyGj7xWJ</a></br></br></p>- U.S. Soccer WNT  (@USWNT) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1192613067554734080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Carli Lloyd scored 2 goals in Vlatko Andonovski's first USWNT game as head coach, and the performance could support her bid to start at the 2020 Olympics

52. The Republic of Samsung

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57088c7452bcd044008bbc6c-2251-1688/2016-04-09t034221z_1_lynxnpec3801s_rtroptp_4_usa-obama.jpg" alt="President Obama" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Jim Young" data-mce-caption="U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Chicago Law School in Chicago, Illinois, United States, April 7, 2016." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jim Young</span></p><p class="caption">US President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Chicago Law School in Chicago, Illinois, United States, April 7, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div>President Barack Obama said Donald Trump and Ted Cruz "have done us a favor" at a high-dollar Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising dinner in San Francisco on Friday night.</p><p>Obama was speaking about the Republican-controlled House and Senate when he first mentioned the top two GOP presidential candidates.</p><p>"This notion that Donald Trump or Ted Cruz are outliers and that now suddenly the Republican establishment wants to ... they're embarrassed by them," Obama said, according to a White House press release. "Why?  They're saying the same things that these members of the Freedom Caucus in the House have been saying for years."</p><p>"In fact, that's where Trump got it," he continued.</p><p>Obama said Trump was simply listening to positions of Republican members of Congress on immigration, national security, taxes, and programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.</p><p>"He'd been paying attention, and he said, 'you know what, I can deliver this message with more flair - (laughter) - with more panache,'" the president quipped.</p><p>Trump, the GOP frontrunner, and Cruz, a Texas senator snapping at his heels for the nomination, have done the Democrats a big favor because they both "stripped away any veneer" that the Republican party is about "responsible governance," Obama said, adding that those have been the "central tenets" of many Republicans in Congress during both his presidency and previous White House administrations.</p><p>He then called out Trump's plan to build a massive border wall along the US-Mexico border and Cruz's talk of increasing police surveillance on US neighborhoods with large Muslim populations, although he made a point of saying that a substantial number of Republicans are "embarrassed by it."</p><p>The presence of Trump or Cruz at the top of the ticket provides a special opportunity for Democrats running for House and Senate seats, he said.</p><p>Obama continued:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">If we are successful, not only can we advance the causes that so many of you have fought for and devoted your time and effort and energy and money to, not only do we have a chance to pass immigration reform and pass early-childhood education, and rebuild our infrastructure, and invest in science and research and development that has been at the heart of the dynamism in our economy - not only do we have a chance to do all those things, but I actually genuinely believe it gives an opportunity for Republicans to step back and reflect on where it is that they're going.</p><p>He concluded his speech by noting the importance of the election and that he will still be making his stances known after he's out of office.</p><p><span data-term="goog_1810655859"><span>"In 10 months</span></span>, I will no longer be president of the United States," he said. "But <span data-term="goog_1810655860"><span>in 10 months</span></span>, I will - contrary to Mr. Trump's opinion - still be a citizen of the United States. And I've said this before, quoting Justice [Louis] Brandeis, the most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen."</p><p>Obama <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-donald-trump-mexico-wall-2016-4">increasingly made a point</a> of calling out Trump and Cruz in recent weeks after spending the initial months of the primary season mostly quiet on the rise of the party's frontrunners. On Tuesday, he called Trump's newly released strategy to make Mexico pay for a giant wall along the border a "half-baked" plan.</p><p>"Good luck with that," Obama said sarcastically of the plan to block remittance payments from the US to Mexico. He later called Cruz's stance on immigration "just as draconian" in the news conference.</p><p>Earlier this month, Obama critiqued Trump's foreign policy in another press conference, this one coming at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit, which was attended by various world leaders in Washington, DC. Those remarks came shortly after the Manhattan billionaire <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/us/politics/donald-trump-transcript.html">told The New York Times</a> that he would be open to a nuclear-capable Japan and South Korea in exchange for an ease in security commitments for the US.</p><p>Those comments "tell us that the person who made the statements doesn't know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean Peninsula or the world, generally," Obama <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-donald-trump-south-korea-japan-nuclear-2016-4">said during that news conference</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/poll-donald-trump-gop-ted-cruz-hillary-clinton-election-politics-2016-4">NEW POLL: 7 in 10 Americans do not want Trump as their president</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="QwbzRvMjE66okHsjXr1A3Vy8UsdFuw2F" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'QwbzRvMjE66okHsjXr1A3Vy8UsdFuw2F',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

OBAMA: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz 'have done us a favor'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a81c97ed0307227018b4574-1517/rtr2db5j.jpg" alt="man walking beach Cayman Islands" data-mce-source="Reuters" data-mce-caption="A man smokes a cigar as he walks along Seven Mile Beach in George Town, Cayman Islands, April 27, 2010." /><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A few hundred Wall Streeters met in the Cayman Islands last week as the market was melting down.</strong></li><li><strong>No one could stop talking about the newest feature in global markets - fear of the unknown.</strong></li><li><strong>The market is morphing into a more volatile creature. Some investors will get it, and some will be winnowed out.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Last week, a few hundred terrified Wall Streeters met in paradise as the market weighed (and howled at) the prospect of a swiftly changing global economy.</p><p>"The world has not ended. The market will be back. Stay true," Caryle Group cofounder Daniel D'Aniello said as he wrapped up his talk to shell-shocked money managers at the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit in the Cayman Islands.</p><p>Of course, D'Aniello was right - but his comment was beside the point. No one in that room of professionals was afraid because they felt the market had gone away. Instead, their great fear was and is that the market that will come to exist in the aftermath of last week's violence will be unrecognizable to them.</p><p>In the last 10 years, the "wolves of Wall Street" have become much more like passive house cats, living easy lives going long the market and watching money grow in a friendly bull market world created for them by central banks in the wake of the financial crisis. They have forgotten that their nature was once to roam in the wild, to hunt and kill.</p><p>But that all has to change, now that volatility has come back to the markets and the future of the economy is more uncertain.</p><p>And what dominated conversations between beach cocktails at the Kimpton Seafire and one-on-one sessions with Will Smith, Danica Patrick, and Sophia the Robot was the existential Wall Street question - <em>am I cut out for this?</em></p><p>"Certainly managers have done well with the volatility and some haven't," Elise Rosenberg, a director of capital solutions at Barclays, said on a panel on "100 years of hedge funds." That comment elicited some weak laughter, and she continued. </p><p>"You just have to be prepared."</p><h2>Young again</h2><p>Nothing better illustrates this changing of the guard than the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-tudor-jones-used-a-quote-from-shakespeare-to-sound-the-alarm-on-a-financial-bubble-2018-2">first line of an investor letter that floated around Wall Street last week</a>. The letter was written by Paul Tudor Jones, an embattled but legendary macro trader.</p><p>In the last few years of market placidity, men like Jones who cut their teeth on the wild market swings of the 1970s and 1980s have been neutered - forced to lower their fees and return money to investors as the lack of commotion made it harder for them to generate returns.</p><p>"I feel like I'm in my 20s again," Jones wrote.</p><p>That is to say, what's old is new again. In the letter, he warned that policymakers are making the same mistakes he saw their counterparts make in the 1980s. The Federal Reserve, he said, is putting too much emphasis on stoking inflation and ignoring dangers arising in household and corporate debt, fueled by low rates.</p><p>And then there's the Trump administration. Jones blames the weak dollar on its complete and total lack of fiscal responsibility, which is further stoking inflation fears.</p><p>From the letter:</p><p style="padding-left: 60px;"><em>"'And just as I promised the American people from this podium eleven months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.' - Donald Trump, State of the Union Address 2018</em></p><p style="padding-left: 60px;">"This statement probably brought the loudest cheer of the night this week as all the Republicans jumped to their feet and offered a chorus of huzzahs. No doubt the tax cut has had a profound impact on the economy in the short-term and that will continue. But I wonder if they would have remained cheering if President Trump had followed with, 'By the way, Treasury auctions will increase this year from the current projection of $583 billion to almost $1 trillion. Relative to recent auction sizes, Treasury auctions will be higher by $500 billion next year and by $545 billion in 2020.</p><p style="padding-left: 60px;">"'And, secondly, the Congressional Budget Office's long-term projection for our debt/GDP will eclipse that of Japan at its peak, possibly making us the most indebted country in the world by 2033.' For those of you not old enough to remember, one of the most popular phrases of the 1970s and 1980s was 'crowding out.' Get used to it as it describes the detrimental effects excessive public sector borrowing has on the economy, which will become more popular as time progresses. This is all simply breathtaking. It is incredible that at full employment we have passed a tax cut that will push our deficit to 5% of GDP. Can you imagine what will happen to the deficit and debt in the inevitable downturn? This is what the dollar is sensing."</p><p>Right now, thanks to the return of inflation, the market is weighing a new set of possibilities, some of which include complete and total chaos and an economic downturn prompted by rising interest rates. This risk calculation is a process - one that Jones doesn't think is over. No one in the crowd of endowment heads and allocators in the Cayman Islands did either.</p><p>"The bottom line is that the upside risks to US rates are significant as a result of higher US inflation and likely weaker demand for US Treasuries. I now have clients asking me what the probability is that US 10-year rates will hit 4%," Deutsche Bank analyst Torsten Slok said in a note to clients as the market pacified on Monday. "<span>Watch carefully how equities and credit spreads perform as we get more evidence of higher inflation and evidence of weaker demand at US Treasury auctions."</span></p><h2>Winners and losers</h2><p>And it's not just talk - there are already winners and losers emerging from our new, more uncertain world.</p><p>Over the next few weeks you'll see a particularly Wall Street genre of stories in the press - the "they saw it coming" stories of investors who made perfect bets on this violent market move. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/vix-surge-hands-8-600-profit-to-a-tiny-hedge-fund-in-colorado">Here's one about some guys in Denver</a> making a killing betting against a popular short-volatility trade that blew up in last week's market chaos. </p><p>Kudos to them, they're in an exclusive group - most people didn't catch this falling knife. Take t<span>he California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), for example.</span></p><p><span>From Yves Smith over at <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/02/calpers-manages-get-pretty-much-everything-wrong-latest-asset-reallocation.html">Naked Capitalism</a>:</span></p><p style="padding-left: 60px;"><span>"CalPERS under its chief investment officer Ted Eliopoulos has been too clever, in a bad way, over the last eighteen months. It cuts its allocation to US stocks just before Trump took office, getting less benefit from that rally than it could have. CalPERS has had a 50% allocation to foreign stocks for years, betting on a weak dollar environment when the dollar has been strong. It cut its foreign investment targets, and if my recollection is right, not long before the dollar started to weaken."</span></p><p><span>Even the great Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates was blindsided. He told attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 23 that: "If you're holding cash, you're going to feel very stupid."</span><span></span></p><p><span>Life comes at you fast.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/vince-stephanie-shane-mcmahon-wwe-successor-triple-h-jim-ross-wrestling-2018-1">JIM ROSS: Here's who will take over WWE after Vince McMahon</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/BDTTW4pO-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

A bunch of shell-shocked Wall Streeters met in paradise during the market meltdown - here's what scares them most

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52abab626da8117d323a73cb-1200-800/162361127.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="bejing skyline pollution fog" width="800" /><p class="source">Feng Li / Getty</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>The spectacular rise of the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas over the past several decades has inspired city leaders around the country to try and emulate their success by building up city clusters of their own. The national capital has proved to be no exception. For years, plans to develop a greater <keyword id="1333" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beijing">Beijing</keyword> area were toyed with but never formalised. This may now finally come to pass. According to local media, a plan for the economic integration of Beijing, Tianjin and the surrounding province of Hebei may be announced early next year. The merits of centrally planned regional integration will be tested.</p>
<p>During <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>'s reform period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, emphasis was placed on labour-intensive manufacturing for export to boost growth. Special economic zones were established to attract much-needed capital, technology and management know-how. The resulting inflow of foreign direct investment ended up being a boon not only for core cities such as Shenzhen, but also for their surrounding areas. As cities like Guangzhou matured, the more polluting, lower-value-added industries within the core were pushed out, first to the suburbs and then to surrounding regions outside city borders, providing neighbouring cities with the opportunity to industrialise.</p>
<p>A paper published in 2011 by the Japan Research Institute showed that the contribution of the core areas-defined as Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou-to manufacturing sector added value in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) fell from 54.4% in 2005 to 50.4% in 2009. In the same period, the contribution from the outer-core areas-defined as Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan-rose from 34.8% to 37.4%. The paper also showed a shift toward services in the core.</p>
<p>Seeing the success of city clusters in the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas, China's authorities now push city integration schemes in regional development plans. These plans are consistent with the country's fixation with "balanced and co-ordinated regional development", especially between core cities and surrounding smaller ones.</p>
<h2>Horse trading</h2>
<p>Such attention was only paid to the national capital in the 2000s, however, as the economic void between the northern coastal area and the south-eastern coastal regions could no longer be ignored. There were steadily mounting concerns that Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei were all competing for industrial supremacy, with very little co-ordination between them.</p>
<p>In 2004 the State Council (China's cabinet) set up a working group to draft a development plan. A draft report put together by a government think-tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was completed in 2006. The plan called for the creation of a metropolitan area covering the municipal city of Beijing, Baodi and Wuqing districts and Ji county in Tianjin, and six cities in Hebei province: Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Baoding, Langfang, Tangshan and Qinhuangdao.</p>
<p>After almost a decade and repeated revisions, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei conurbation plan has yet to progress further. Lacking a suitable mechanism, the area remains very difficult to co-ordinate. Conflicts of interest between the three local governments abound, as they are unable to agree on their respective roles. When the initial draft was first put forward, key industries in all three areas were very similar, concentrated on steel, construction materials, cars and heavy machinery. This made any realignment of industry difficult. A final blueprint will require the involvement of various central government departments, as local leaders look unlikely to be able to design and manage the project themselves.</p>
<p>The question of which Hebei cities should be included in the economic circle serves as another sticking point. At present, six cities are listed. However, the provincial authorities hope that more cities, such as Hengshui and Cangzhou, can be included, as they could then benefit from more economic support.</p>
<p>Any plan is likely to prioritise Beijing-centred integration, as the capital continues to radiate into Hebei and Tianjin. Beijing's central business district, in the eastern part of the city, has been expanding further east towards Hebei. Some of Hebei's counties and cities have become de facto satellite towns of the capital; around 200,000 residents in Hebei's Xianghe county and Yanjiao town work in neighbouring Beijing. However, Tianjin is unwilling to take a back seat. The municipality, whose Binhai New Area has been given priority since 2006, aspires to develop as an economic centre in its own right.</p>
<h2>Get it together</h2>
<p>As discussions continue, events on the ground seem to be driving towards a final settlement. China's president, Xi Jinping, visited Tianjin in May and urged the three provinces to push forward with regional co-operation. Tianjin and Hebei set up a bilateral co-ordination group, with a vice-governor and a vice-mayor in charge, to "break institutional barriers". In August local media reported that a plan would be released by early 2014, and in September the State Council released an action plan for the prevention and control of air pollution, addressing Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei as one region.</p>
<p>But even without a comprehensive plan, the process has already begun. At its simplest, the initial draft plan envisaged Beijing focusing on services, Tianjin providing port facilities and Hebei managing industry. This is already taking place, to a certain extent. Leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing worked hard to get rid of its older, highly polluting industries. More than 3,000 enterprises have relocated to the city's fringe districts since the 1990s, including some to Hebei. Shougang, a major steel company, closed its final Beijing production line in December 2010, effectively marking the end of a transition of heavy industry from Beijing to Hebei. In 2012 the capital's growth was driven primarily by services, led by the financial services, retail and information technology sectors.</p>
<p>The question is then whether a centralised plan covering the three provinces will have much of a positive impact. One concern is that Hebei's relative poverty and underdevelopment will pose a drag on the two municipalities. Hebei has yet to develop the mass of suppliers that the PRD has built up to support its main industrial clusters. For example, 80% of the parts supplying the automotive industry in Beijing and Tianjin are manufactured outside the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei zone, mostly in the Yangtze River Delta industrial belt.</p>
<p>This suggests that Hebei, the intended workshop for its urbanised neighbours, lacks the capabilities and capacity to deliver what they need. Furthermore, efforts to build up this capacity will be expensive. Directing people and business to certain areas requires the use of public resources, which would otherwise go to improving infrastructure and public services in existing metropolitan areas that are already in higher demand. Local leaders might do well to recall that the PRD was built on the back of market-oriented reforms, not a detailed plan.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.store.eiu.com">here</a> to subscribe to <keyword id="425741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Economist">The Economist</keyword></p>
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