Wall Street will miss McDonald’s boss, but it won’t regret his departure.
A $4 billion error of judgement—that’s pretty hefty. The bill refers to McDonald’s market capitalization (-2.95%) following the announcement of the CEO’s departure for having had a consensual relationship with an employee. (No further details about the person have been divulged.)
Steve Easterbrook had not proved himself unworthy in terms of the stock market since taking on the role in 2015, compared to other fast food representatives or the general benchmark. And while he hasn’t managed to increase the number of customers in his restaurants or dress up his menus with vegetarian burgers, it’s not sure that his successor, Chris Kempczinski, until now the president of McDonald’s U.S., will have an easier task.
It’s all very well for commentators to point out that the same romantic affair wouldn’t necessarily have had the same consequences in other countries. But even if Wall Street misses the outgoing boss, they won’t lament his departure, given the legal and reputational risks associated with inappropriate behavior on the other side of the Atlantic. The mistake’s impact on stock market history would have been even worse.
During the Cold War, the United States occupied the apex of this triangular dynamic, pitting China and the USSR against each other. Today, it is Beijing that occupies that apex.
The challenge for Washington is no longer whether it possesses sufficient capabilities, but whether the political system can align those capabilities behind a coherent long-term priority.
History has never witnessed a leader quite like Donald Trump — a mix of ignorance, arrogance immorality, brazenness, insensitivity and sheer stupidity.
The challenge for Washington is no longer whether it possesses sufficient capabilities, but whether the political system can align those capabilities behind a coherent long-term priority.
European autonomy - military, technological, economic, and financial - is beginning to take shape as Europe hedges against current and future fluctuations in [U.S.] policy.