Bloomberg (March 2)
“European Central Bank officials confronting faster-than-expected inflation might also wonder if this is just the last stumble before their 2% target looms large. While the 2.6% outcome for February released on Friday — and a still-stubborn 3.1% result for the so-called core measure — present grounds for caution, the downward momentum in consumer prices is getting harder to ignore.”
Tags: 2% target, Caution, Consumer, Core measure, Downward, ECB, February, Inflation, Momentum, Outcome, Prices, Stumble
New York Times (June 19)
“China’s economic weakness holds benefits and dangers for the global economy. Consumer and producer prices have fallen for the past four months in China, putting a brake on inflation in the West by pushing down the cost of imports from China. But weak demand in China may exacerbate a global slowdown. “
Tags: Benefits, China, Consumer, Dangers, Demand, Global economy, Imports, Inflation, Producer prices, Weakness, West
New York Times (July 4)
3-D printing (or additive manufacturing) began in the 1980s. “The technology, economic and investment trends may finally be falling into place for the industry’s commercial breakout.” 3-D printing “is no longer a novelty technology for a few consumer and industrial products, or for making prototype design concepts.” By 2026, “the 3-D printing market is expected to triple to nearly $45 billion worldwide.”
Tags: $45 billion, 1980s, 3-D printing, Additive manufacturing, Commercial breakout, Consumer, Economic, Industrial, Investment, Prototype, Technology, Trends
WARC (December 3)
With the “coronavirus in check,” China’s economy “is showing increasing signs of recovery.” This now extends to alcohol sales. “As social distancing rules and dining out restrictions are eased, brewers and distillers report increased demand, and the Chinese consumer, it seems, has a thirst in particular for premium brands.” The “growing penchant for premium products” is happily in step with the Government, which is promoting them as “a key driver of the country’s economic recovery.”
Tags: Alcohol, Brewers, China, Consumer, Coronavirus, Demand, Dining out, Distillers, Eased, Economy, Recovery, Restrictions, Sales, Social distancing
1843 (March Issue)
“Even though the fashion business relies on passing fads to keep the consumer interested, many of the products sold under the flag of luxury are built to last. Personal tech, conversely, is built to be surpassed. A top-of-the-line iPhone 7 currently retails at just north of £900, but next year it will be last year’s phone – an anachronism. Tech is perishable. Luxury is forever.”
Institutional Investor (January 3)
“The most powerful influence on current and future climate mitigation and practice is the sleeping giant: the consumer. When people wake up in the morning frightened that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could detach from the continental shelf and cause an abrupt sea level change and all the geophysical mayhem that could accompany such an event, they might then make purchasing decisions calculated to alter commercial, industrial, municipal, national and international pollution practices and management.”
Tags: Climate mitigation, Commercial, Consumer, Industrial, Influence, Pollution, Purchasing decisions, Sea level change, Sleeping giant, West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Los Angeles Times (December 16)
Consumer drones have taken off and already number over a million. It’s conceivable the day will come when every home has 2 or 3, just like TVs. “The key difference, though — and it is a big one — is that each one of these flying robots has outsized potential for mischief compared with other tech products like TVs, headphones and tablets.”
Financial Times (December 3)
“For the average Japanese investor and consumer, inflation expectations have not budged. Japan needs to jump-start a wage-price spiral of the sort feared from the 1970s…. Such a cycle should be started by increasing nominal wages by 5 to 10 per cent in 2016.”
Tags: 2016, Consumer, Expectations, Inflation, Investor, Japan, Price spiral, Wages
Wall Street Journal (February 13)
“In 2013, the consumer item with the fastest sales growth was private jets. Last year: used cars and trucks.” As steady growth continues, the U.S. recovery “is now beginning to benefit the average consumer more than the few at the top of the income curve.”
Tags: Consumer, Income, Private jets, Recovery, Sales growth, Trucks, U.S., Used cars
Institutional Investor (August 28)
“Chinese companies are the new force in global M&A.” With $51 billion of outbound M&A, China has surpassed both Japan ($37 billion) and Germany ($49 billion) during the first eight months of 2014. Though it still trails the U.S. ($174 billion), “mainland firms are stepping up the pace of foreign acquisitions, increasingly targeting technology and consumer plays in developed countries.”
Tags: Acquisitions, China, Consumer, Developed countries, Germany, Japan, M&A, Technology, U.S.
