Bloomberg Businessweek

in brief

China posted second-quarter domestic output growth of 6.2%, the lowest rate in nearly three decades. A 9.8% surge in retail sales in June was discounted as a one-off. Meanwhile, the U.S. said negotiators may head to Beijing to restart trade talks. North Korea’s economy, hit by sanctions, may be in its worst shape since the 1990s famine that killed up to 10% of the population. South Korea is also suffering, from a cooling tech boom, the U.S.-China trade war, sky-high consumer debt, and tensions with Japan. A multilateral report from the Zimbabwean government and NGOs in the drought-stricken country says as much as $218 million may be needed to prevent 5.5 million from going hungry. That’s almost 60% of the population. Stella McCartney, who in March 2018 bought back a 50% stake in her label…

agenda

▶ Will It Be BoJo? The U.K.’s Conservatives will announce the tally of their leadership ballot—mailed to all 180,000 party members—on July 23. The next day, either former London Mayor Boris Johnson or Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will succeed Theresa May as prime minister. ▶ Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan meets President Trump on July 22 at the White House, where they’ll seek greater cooperation between the two nations. ▶ Amid growing uncertainty in global trade, the WTO General Council will convene on July 23 in Geneva. ▶ On July 23 the European Union will decide on Vodafone’s $22 billion bid for Liberty Global’s cable assets in Germany and central Europe. ▶ On July 24 former special counsel Robert Mueller testifies before two congressional committees on his report on Russian election interference. ▶ More than…

no way to pick a leader

The new president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, will have no shortage of pressing tasks on her agenda. Among the most urgent should be reforming the dysfunctional process that got her the job. As the head of the European Union’s executive branch, the commission presidency is powerful. Its occupant sets the EU’s policy agenda, allocates key portfolios, and directs a civil service of more than 30,000. Von der Leyen will face challenges including a Brexit deadline, slowing EU growth, a trade dispute with the U.S., and disagreements about further integration—not to mention the possibility of another euro crisis. Deciding who fills this essential role, however, is a maddening game of thrones. To become the nominee, a candidate must win over a qualified majority of the national leaders…

management lessons from the moon

There’s something faintly embarrassing about the 50th anniversary of the first moonwalk. It was just so long ago. It’s no longer “we” who put a man on the moon, it’s “they” who put a man on the moon. So why can’t “we” do it? It’s hard not to feel that for all the technological advances of the last half-century, America has lost something—the ability to unite and overcome long odds to achieve greatness. At one level this is silly. The U.S. stopped going to the moon because Americans stopped seeing the point of it, not because they stopped being capable of it. The lack of fresh footprints on the lunar surface is not evidence that the U.S. has fallen into a new Dark Age. Still, the historic Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs…

the real cannabis rush

Mention legal cannabis, and many people think of the weed stores that have sprung up in Boston, Denver, Seattle, and other major U.S. cities. Inside, infused brownies and vape pens are sold next to branded joints and neatly packaged bags of marijuana presented in a way that wouldn’t be out of place in any American mall. In Canada you can even order pot through the mail, and some of the world’s alcohol giants have set up shop there to develop weed beer. But the business of getting people high is only part of the cannabis craze. Marijuana is still banned for recreational use across much of the world, and even medical access, while expanding, is restricted in most countries. So players in the $340 billion global cannabis market are turning their…

pets need to calm down, too

Two years ago, Dingo was going to be put down. The 14-year-old basenji, in pain from arthritis in her neck and spine, could barely walk and wouldn’t eat. She suffered from anxiety and had early-stage kidney disease. Then she started taking cannabis. Kelsey Brown, Dingo’s owner, decided to dose her with drops of CBD, or cannibidiol, three times a day, using a tincture that runs $120 for a 1-ounce bottle. It was a last-ditch effort to ease the dog’s pain and anxiety before euthanasia became a reality. “Within a week she could actually jump on the couch again,” says Brown, a dog trainer in Mora, Minn. Demand for CBD, a nonintoxicating compound found in hemp and marijuana, has exploded in the U.S. since December, when Congress passed a new farm bill that…