The UK's refugee plan with Rwanda, Turkey's inflation crisis and Hollywood's fascination with "bad entrepreneurs"
April 2022
Hello and welcome! 👋
Q2 2022 is firmly in session and what a wild few weeks it’s been. French voters re-elected Emmanuel Macron, Imran Khan was ousted from power in Pakistan, the Ukraine-Russia war intensified, Sri Lanka’s economic mess worsened, scores of Shanghai’s residents were (and remain) under harsh lockdown…the list goes on.
This edition will focus on the UK’s deal with Rwanda over asylum seekers, Turkey’s inaction on inflation and Hollywood’s fascination with flamboyant founders.
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REROUTED TO RWANDA?
Instead of avoiding controversy, Boris Johnson’s government appears to be actively courting it. There are many fires for the prime minister and his cabinet to put out, including the furore over a proposed refugee policy with Rwanda.
On 14 April, the British home affairs chief, Priti Patel, and the Rwandan foreign minister announced a deal to “contribute to the prevention and combating of illegally facilitated and unlawful cross border migration by establishing a bilateral asylum partnership”.
Put simply, Downing Street wants to shift some of the UK’s immigration responsibilities to a third party, which happens to be an independent country on another continent. The £120 million (US$150 million) pilot scheme will allow for certain illegal arrivals to be flown directly to Kigali. The local authorities will then temporarily house - and possibly permanently resettle - them on Rwandan soil.
Johnson and Patel argue that the policy will break the business model of smugglers and human traffickers operating on both sides of the English Channel. The threat of being sent off to Africa for asylum processing is meant to deter refugees and, consequently, stem the flow of boat crossings. [It’s worth noting that Denmark is in similar negotiations with Rwanda and Australia continues to use offshore detention centres.]
The potential arrangement has generated widespread criticism from politicians, civil servants, human rights group and even the Church of England. Human Rights Watch says the scheme is “not only cruel and ineffective, but also very likely to be unlawful”.
SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL
It seems everyone at the moment is talking about the soaring cost of living. In the past, inflation data was buried in the financial news section, but the monthly number has now become a headline story that provokes existential angst.
One economy in turmoil from rocketing prices is Turkey. The latest figures reveal the annual inflation rate in the country hit 61% in March, accelerating to a 20-year high. However, this crisis didn’t develop overnight - the pace of inflation in Turkey was already in the double digits a year ago. In fact, the Turkish lira lost nearly half of its value against the US dollar in 2021.
Covid-related supply chain complications and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have undoubtedly compounded Turkey’s inflation problem, but analysts say the main cause is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox policy.
In an attempt to radically reform Turkey’s economy, Erdogan is determined to stimulate growth by keeping monetary policy loose. The leader believes that lower borrowing costs will encourage businesses to seek loans to invest and expand, while a weaker lira will make Turkish exports more enticing to foreign buyers.
In these extraordinary circumstances, though, central banks typically raise interest rates to increase borrowing costs in order to cool down price hikes. For his part, Erdogan remains resolutely opposed to such moves. He has called himself an “enemy” of interest rates, describing them as “an evil that make the rich richer and the poor poorer”. The president justifies his approach by quoting traditional Islamic banking principles.
As a result, Erdogan has leaned on Turkey’s central bank to slash its rates. Those who object are replaced - there have been four central bank chiefs in three years. The question is, will the president’s strategy erode voter support ahead of the national elections in June 2023.
C-SUITE ANTICS ON SCREEN
The intrigue surrounding Elon Musk’s mission to acquire Twitter is perfect material for a Hollywood screenwriter. Just imagine who would be cast as the Tesla CEO, Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal!
Silicon Valley’s titans and larger-than-life founders have inspired the entertainment industry for more than a decade. Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network and Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs are prime examples. However, this April saw the finale of not one, not two but three TV series based on young - and morally corrupt - moguls.
As the New York Times explains, bad entrepreneurs are “figures who exemplify the delusions of start-up hype as they lure investors to bankroll ideas that turn out to be stupid, evil or fraudulent.” Additionally, these shows create a “curiosity gap…when they assign a movie star to a name in the news”.
My favourite of the lot is Hulu’s The Dropout, a terrific look at Elizabeth Holmes and her doomed blood testing company, Theranos. Amanda Seyfried is absolutely spellbinding as Holmes, although her somewhat sympathetic portrayal of the convicted scammer has rankled several viewers.
The other small screen dramatisations explore the depths of male hubris. Showtime’s Super Pumped tracks the rise and fall of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who resigned in 2017 following various scandals at the ride-sharing firm. Joseph Gordon-Levitt imbues his version of Kalanick with plenty of gusto, narcissism and nastiness. Yet despite his awful behaviour, Uber’s disruptive technology successfully attracted venture capitalists.
Launching an enterprise, making mad sums of money and extreme self-confidence are also the themes of Apple TV’s WeCrashed. Jared Leto turns on the charm - and an Israeli accent - to capture WeWork boss Adam Neumann. His lifestyle guru wife Rebekah is played by Anne Hathaway. WeCrashed is fun and glossy rather than educational, but it still exposes how Neumann’s extravagance eventually decimated WeWork’s valuation.
Given the popularity of this genre, who do you think will be next to receive the Hollywood treatment?
Thanks for reading! Take care and stay curious, Sara x