As US president-elect Donald Trump counts down to his inauguration on
January 20, the American public - and the world - is watching closely
as Trump's financial conflicts of interest remain a point of concern.
According to Trump, US law states that both the president and the
vice president are exempt from even having a conflict of interest at all
- a comfortable resolution for the vast Trump business empire.
he Wall Street Journal, however, says that The Trump Organisation and
its numerous subsidiaries happen to owe hundreds of millions of dollars
to hundreds of Wall Street institutions.
As president, Trump will have the power to regulate those lenders,
and the American people only have his word in stating he will not use
his office to favour his business interests.
"With every one of those business activities comes the potential for a
clash with official activities," says Norm Eisen, a fellow at the
Washington DC-based Brooking Institution and former chief White House
ethics lawyer under President Barack Obama.
"Unfortunately, the president-elect has demonstrated that his word is
not always his bond ... his penchant for inaccuracies in this statement
that federal law of conflicts does not apply to him - that's not true.
The most fundamental federal law in the United States is the
Constitution and the Constitution itself has a no conflicts clause,"
Eisen adds.
What can be done to ensure that the future US president complies with
the actual laws, rules and regulations governing business ownership and
accepting money and goods from foreign governments?
"For four decades, every president has done it: appoint a trustee -
and this would be easy for Mr Trump to do - the trustee's instructions
are to sell the business as quickly as you can, liquidate it, put it in
other conflict-free holdings," suggests Eisen as a possible solution.
Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:
Smart robots and the future of home care: The annual
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has kicked off once again in Las Vegas,
shining a light on all the latest technological advances from around
the world. This year, the focus is on the concept of "home connectivity"
and how to make daily, mindless tasks more conveniently completed.
Home robots are one solution hundreds of creators are currently
developing. However, with the complexities of reality, such as dozens of
different fabrics that might make doing the laundry difficult for a
home help robot, it appears that a walking-talking robotic helper may
still be some time away for CES participants.
But with the World Health Organisation forecasting that the
proportion of the world's population over the age of 60 will have
doubled by 2050, the urge to create a robot that can help care for the
elderly is evident.
Finland's social experiment: Finland has
officially become the first European country to try and execute the
concept of a universal living wage. Selecting 2,000 random unemployed
people, Finland will pay $587 to each for a two-year period - a wage
which will continue even if employment is found.
But where is this money coming from? Can the Finnish government
afford this experiment? And how likely is it that this makes any kind of
impact on helping to minimise issues of poverty in the country and get
people off welfare and into the world of employment?
"This is an experiment
and the government has reserved 20 million Euros for this experiment.
Depending on what happens with this experiment, we can then decide
whether this is feasible or not. This is an experimental model, which
means we cannot implement it directly to the whole population," says
Olli Kangas, director of government and Community Relations at KELA, the
organisation that runs Finland's social security systems and the pilot
scheme.
"It's a really controversial idea," continues Kangas. "For some, it's
a dream, for others, it's a nightmare. The problem is, we have very
little evidence in favour of or against basic income. That's what we are
trying to do, in order to build a strong argument."
China's wine market ties: China has become one of
the world's largest importers of wine and is the biggest consumer of red
wine. As demand grows, Chinese investors have been eyeing up vineyards
around the world - including the western Canadian province of British
Columbia.
With rising property values and political stability, Chinese
investment in Canada isn't likely to slow down any time soon. As incomes
rise in China, the taste for wine is also growing as consumers expand
their experience with different wines. Read More....
