The Economist (April 13)
Extreme weather incidents are increasing in frequency due to climate change. “In the decade from 2000 to 2009 only three thunderstorms cost the industry more than $1bn at current prices. From 2010 to 2019 there were ten. Since 2020 there have already been six. Such storms now account for more than a quarter of the costs to the insurance industry from natural disasters.”
Tags: $1bn, 2010, 2019, 2020, Climate change, Costs, Extreme weather, Frequency, Incidents, Industry, Insurance, Natural disasters, Storms, Thunderstorms
New York Times (January 13)
“Critics of D.E.I., or diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, have tried to scapegoat it for everything” of late. “The economy and political landscape have changed since 2020, when companies hired D.E.I. officers in droves amid a racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd. Recently, D.E.I. programs have become less visible.” It may be rebranding, but “over the past two years, hiring for D.E.I. roles has plunged and the number of investor calls mentioning D.E.I. has dropped.”
Tags: 2020, Critics, D.E.I. officers, Diversity, Economy, Equity, Floyd, Hiring, Inclusion, Investor calls, Plunged, Racial, Rebranding, Scapegoat, Visible
Bloomberg (October 3)
“Global funds further trimmed their Chinese stock holdings in September, extending a relentless selloff and lowering their average position in the country to the lowest level since 2020,” as “outflows surpassed the $3 billion level for a second consecutive month.” The MSCI China Index has now slumped more than 11% in 2023 and is “ on track for a third straight year of losses, which would mark its worst losing streak in two decades.”
Tags: $3 billion, 2020, 2023, China, Global funds, Losing streak, MSCI China Index, Outflows, Selloff, September, Slumped, Stock holdings
Tampa Bay Times (July 26)
“A marine heat wave has brought alarmingly high water temperatures to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. In Florida’s Manatee Bay, a reading of 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit broke an unofficial world record.” If approved, it “would shatter the current world record of 99.7 degrees, which was recorded in Kuwait Bay in the Persian Gulf, and confirmed by a study, in 2020.”
Tags: 101.1 degrees, 2020, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Heat wave, Kuwait Bay, Marine, Water temperatures, World record
Forbes (April 8)
“Job cuts are approaching levels not seen since the pandemic began in 2020, as major cuts in the technology and financial industries are starting to show their impact on the economy and soften the labor market.”
Tags: 2020, Economy, Financial industry, Impact, Job cuts, Labor market, Pandemic, Technology
Newsweek (January 4)
“For all its love of control, the Chinese leadership appears to have condemned its public to relive the uncertainty of early 2020, when Western capitals couldn’t grasp the spread of COVID. For those hoping to track the country’s first nationwide outbreak, it’s nothing short of a guessing game.”
Tags: 2020, Condemned, Control, Covid, Leadership, Nationwide, Outbreak, Public, Relive, Spread, Uncertainty
Wall Street Journal (November 10)
“If Donald Trump announces he’s running for president again, the 2024 election is over.” He is “the Republican Party’s biggest loser” having “flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.” Donald Trump “has led Republicans into one political fiasco after another.” Perhaps now that “Mr. Trump has botched the 2022 elections,” Republicans will finally be “sick and tired of losing.”
Tags: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, Biggest loser, Botched, Election, Elections, Fiasco, Flopped, Losing, Republicans, Sick and tired, Trump
BBC (April 4)
“Even if all the policies to cut carbon that governments had put in place by the end of 2020 were fully implemented, the world will still warm by 3.2C this century…. The good news is that this latest IPCC summary shows that it can be done…. But keeping temperatures down will require massive changes to energy production, industry, transport, our consumption patterns and the way we treat nature.”
Tags: 2020, Carbon, Consumption, Energy production, Governments, Implemented, Industry, IPCC, Nature, Policies, Temperatures, Transport, Warm, World
Australian Financial Review (February 4)
“Mr Buffett shocked the world in 2020 when Berkshire Hathaway announced that it bought stakes in five of Japan’s biggest trading companies, which at the time were grappling with declining profits as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for fuel and raw materials.” Now, his “surprise bet” is clearly “paying off as the companies expect a record-breaking rebound in profits.”
Tags: 2020, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, COVID-19, Demand, Fuel, Grappling, Japan, Pandemic, Profits, Raw materials, Shocked, Stakes, Trading companies
Chicago Tribune (July 7)
Illinois has successfully vaccinated 70% of its citizen. The “Department of Public Health on Monday reported zero deaths from COVID-19 for the first time since march 2020—a sign of how far the state has come since the pandemic took hold.” Though concerns over variants and the unvaccinated remain, this represents tremendous “change from the spring of 2020 and this past winter when the state was frequently reporting more than 100 deaths a day,” peaking at 238 on December 2.
Tags: 2020, 70, Change, COVID-19, Illinois, Pandemic, Unvaccinated, Vaccinated, Variants, Zero deaths
