17 must-read stories for the weekend

1. What’s the future of German foreign policy? “Now more than ever, understanding the limits of one’s capabilities is an essential part of a viable foreign policy.”

2. Four winners and four losers from the oil price drop. Who won, who lost, and the consequences for the global economy.

3. How can business help deal with disasters? Disasters that once might have only had local effects now increasingly have global ramifications.

4. What is geoeconomics? 5 things you need to know about it. Want to dig deeper? Read our 7 Challenges to Globalization report.

5. Can robots understand feelings? “Software can be designed to identify your emotional state from the melody and tone of your voice, as well as your facial expressions and body language”

6. 15 charts that explain the Greek crisis. The data behind the headline.

7. In this week’s podcast, we dig deeper into the brain and how leaders use it when making decisions.

8. Greater national competitiveness doesn’t lead to more entrepreneurship. Research based on the Global Competitiveness Report comes up with a paradox: “in less competitive economies, more people start businesses.” (Entrepreneur)

9. Conflict clouds Ukraine’s debt distress. Draws on President Poroshenko’s speech in Davos. (FT)

10. Net neutrality and the voice of business. Alan Murray cites Tim Berners-Lee, speaking at a panel in Davos. (Fortune)

11. Coming soon: beer in biodegradable bottles. The innovation was unveiled in Davos. (Food World News)

12. Fast dispute resolution helps mitigate infrastructure project risks. Draws on the Forum’s Strategic Infrastructure report. (Business Standard)

13. Game Theory calls cooperation into question. A recent solution to the prisoner’s dilemma, a classic game theory scenario, has created new puzzles in evolutionary biology. The best strategies were selfish ones.

14. How does global inequality manifest itself in a world of nation states? A fight between populism and plutocracy, argues Branko Milanovic.

15. A global wealth tax is not the best way to solve inequality, says Thomas Piketty, who called for one in his best-seller Capitalism in the 21C. He now thinks the answer may be making capitalism more German.

16. The real value of China’s stock market. “Since the reforms of the last decade, China’s stock market has become as informative about future corporate profits as in the US.”

17. China’s vision for modernizing the United Nations. China wants to use its UN Security Council presidency to ask big questions about 21C global governance. If UN reform, can’t work, China may look for new long-term partners.

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: The shadows of visitors are cast on the ground at a promotional event for Valentine’s Day at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse in Yokohama, south of Tokyo February 14, 2008. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon