Quartz Daily Brief—Europe Edition—Facebook and Google want transparency, new looks for old companies, angry Legos
What to watch for today
Turkey turmoil. PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned he will not show “any more tolerance” with protesters—not that he’s shown much to begin with. Turks are watching one indicator in particular to measure the impact on the economy: the exchange rate between the lira and the dollar.
Jobs in the UK. Britain will release its unemployment data for May. A decrease from April’s 7.8% would corroborate the recent spate of upbeat economic data.
An IPO to make an old face young again. Coty, a 109-year-old US cosmetics company, is set to go public on Wednesday with its $1.1 billion IPO on the NYSE.
A bid to take a old firm private again. Dole’s 90-year-old CEO hopes to save the company from lackluster performance, but may need to raise his already generous bid after shares soared 22%.
Nobody likes taxes. Except US tax consultancy H&R Block, which is expected to report robust earnings (paywall), with revenues rising 13% and income increasing 28%.
While you were sleeping
Fickle to the last. North Korea called off the highest level talks with South Korea since 2011 over the relative rank of each country’s representatives. The meeting was aimed at re-opening a jointly-operated industrial zone that was closed when North Korea threatened nuclear war.
Immigration reform cleared its first hurdle. The US senate approved a procedural vote to begin formal debate. Defense contractors will be the big beneficiaries if the legislation passes.
Facebook and Google want more transparency. Worried about their reputations after the PRISM leaks, the tech firms asked the US Department of Justice to let them publish more details about government requests for user data.
Bloomberg’s barriers. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a proposal to spend $20 billion on a network of flood walls and levees to protect the low-lying areas of the city. Last autumn’s Hurricane Sandy caused an estimated $19 billion in damage.
Google got Waze. The search giant confirmed that it bought the Israeli mapping firm that Apple and Facebook had both been courting; the price is reportedly $1 billion. Waze should help Google—even though it needs Waze the least.
Quartz obsession interlude
Tim Fernholz on how digital currencies facilitate tax evasion. “The head of online investigations for the US government’s tax collection agency is concerned that digital currencies could be used to evade taxes, and is considering new disclosure rules for businesses that use them. To which we say, well, duh.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Brace for another recession. Bond manager Pimco calculates a 60% chance that the world will slip back into decline in the next three to five years. Libertarianism has been done before. It was called feudalism.
How to respect your opponents. Begin by phrasing their argument better than they do.
The murky world of transnational land deals. Find out who’s buying.
Dubai forgot how it got into trouble. With a roaring economy, the careless bets are back.
Surprising discoveries
Claret collateral: A Goldman loan to a former director was backed by 12,000 bottles of Burgundy and Bordeaux.
Stand aside Boeing. The future of flight is clip-on wings.
Lego people are getting angrier. And more likely to carry guns.
No tips, thanks. A New York sushi restaurant prefers other perks for staff.
Caffeine withdrawal is now a psychological disorder. As is caffeine intoxication.
George Orwell is so hot right now. Big Brother knows why.
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