BBC (August 17)
“Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts.” During the 20th Century, “global water use grew at more than twice the rate of population increase.” As a result, water crises have consistently ranked high in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks and look poised to become an increasing source of conflict.
Tags: Conflict, Conflicts, Crises, Dam building, Downstream, Extraction, Population, Risk, Rivers, Thirsty, Unprecedented, Water, Water use
Wall Street Journal (July 9)
“Slack Chinese imports are a symptom of the underlying reason China’s trade surpluses, not just with the U.S. but the world, persist: China consumes too little and saves too much.” Though China’s surpluses have shrunk as a share of GDP, due a decade of explosive GDP growth, the surpluses “remain enormous.” Domestic “consumption is still under 40% of Chinese GDP, one of the lowest ratios among major economies. The persistence of those imbalances is why trade conflicts aren’t about to go away even if Mr. Trump isn’t re-elected.”
Tags: China, Conflicts, Consumption, GDP, Growth, Imbalances, Imports, Saves, Slack, Trade surpluses, Trump, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (October 4)
“The jobs figures carry more weight than usual because worries about the health of the U.S. economy are mounting. Manufacturers have essentially fallen into recession as U.S. businesses have cut spending on industrial machinery, computers and other factory goods. And overseas demand for U.S. exports has fallen sharply as President Donald Trump’s trade conflicts with China and Europe have triggered retaliatory tariffs.”
Tags: Businesses, China, Computers, Conflicts, Economy, Europe, Exports, Factory goods, Industrial machinery, Jobs, Manufacturers, Overseas demand, Recession, Retaliatory tariffs, Spending, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (May 28)
JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon told the “the truth about proxy advisory firms” when he urged investors not to blindly follow their guidance on corporate governance and shareholder votes. Firms like Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. “have enjoyed far too much influence over companies they don’t own and been subject to far too little scrutiny given their potential conflicts of interest.”
Tags: CEO, Conflicts, Glass Lewis, Governance, Guidance, Influence, Investors, ISS, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan, Proxy advisory firms, Shareholders, Votes