BBC (January 2)
“France’s transport strike against pension reform has entered its 29th day, making it the longest rail workers’ strike since May 1968.” Even though a majority of the French population supports President Macron’s pension reforms, plans call for additional disruption. “Union leaders have called for a day of mass protests on 9 January. A new blockade of petrol facilities, including refineries, petrol terminals and depots, is also planned on 7 January for 96 hours until 10 January.”
Tags: Blockade, Disruption, France, Macron, Pension reform, Petrol, Protests, Rail workers, Refineries, Strike, Transport
Wall Street Journal (December 16)
“Impeachable or not, Trump’s foreign policy is reckless. He begins with disruption—breaking things—but lacks the patience and attention to rebuild.”
Tags: Attention, Breaking things, Disruption, Foreign policy, Impeachable, Patience, Rebuild, Reckless, Trump
Reuters (September 16)
“The last thing the slowing world economy needs is a big and unexpected disruption in oil output.” The drone attacks “took out roughly half of Saudi Arabia’s crude output appear to fit that bill. But even fragile global growth can probably withstand this first cut.” However, if “sustained disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supply–or anything that heightens the risk of them–will buoy crude. That will deliver the deepest cut to growth.”
Tags: Crude, Crude output, Disruption, Drone attacks, Economy, Fragile, Growth, Middle East, Oil, Output, Risk, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Unexpected
Chicago Tribune (June 8)
“Because of historic rains, less than half the normal amount of corn has been planted in Illinois.” The state is “the nation’s second-largest producer of corn,” typically supplying about 15% of U.S. production. “A disruption in planting has the potential to shake marketplaces, both domestic and foreign,” and this has been the slowest ever start. “As of June 2, Illinois farmers have only been able to sow corn seed in 45% of the acreage dedicated to the crop, 53% below the five-year average.”
Tags: Corn, Disruption, Historic, Illinois, Marketplaces, Planting, Rain, U.S.
Fortune (December 22)
“Technology and globalization are leading to more and faster disruption than ever. To stay ahead, smart companies are turning to design to better connect with customers and find their competitive advantage.” In a “hyper-connected world, “design can help bring coherence to the chaos” and “Fortune 500 companies are hiring chief design officers and investing heavily in design centers and innovation centers. Professional services firms, too, have joined the fray.”
Tags: Chaos, Chief design officers, Coherence, Competitive advantage, Customers, Design, Disruption, Fortune 500, Globalization, Hyper-connected, Technology
Financial Times (July 28)
“More than 420,000 auto jobs in Germany could be imperilled by a 2030 ban on combustion engine cars” that’s currently under debate. “The beguilingly deceptive electric car… might look like any other car from the outside but inside, it is more like a computer on wheels.” For example, UBS analysts discovered a Chevy Bolt “had just 24 moving parts compared with 149 in a VW Golf, mainly because electric motors are so much simpler than combustion engines.” Moreover, it was much cheaper to produce than expected, leading to their conclusion that “with further cost falls likely, electric cars would probably disrupt the industry faster than widely understood.
Tags: Auto jobs, Ban, Bolt, Combustion engine, Disruption, Electric cars, Germany, Golf, Imperilled, Moving parts, UBS
New York Times (February 21)
“While not as dangerous as protectionism and xenophobia,” blaming robots for job losses and economic disruption “is also a distraction from real problems and real solutions.” We’ve been through this before. “Automation is the hero of the story in good times and the villain in bad. Since today’s middle class is in the midst of a prolonged period of wage stagnation, it is especially vulnerable to blame-the-robot rhetoric.” Bad policies can result in disruption, but economic history has repeatedly shown “that automation not only substitutes for human labor, it complements it. The disappearance of some jobs and industries gives rise to others.”
Tags: Automation, Dangerous, Disruption, Jobs, Labor, Protectionism, Robots, Wage stagnation, Xenophobia
Wall Street Journal (January 31)
“Political disruption has its uses but not if it consumes your Presidency in the process.” Donald Trump “seems determined to conduct a shock and awe campaign to fulfill his campaign promises as quickly as possible, while dealing with the consequences later.” Unfortunately, governing effectively “is more complicated than a campaign rally” and the “bonfire over his executive order on refugees shows that government by deliberate disruption can blow up in damaging ways.”
Tags: Awe, Blow up, Consequences, Damaging, Disruption, Executive order, Governing, Government, Presidency, Promises, Rally, Refugees, Shock, Trump
Institutional Investor (December 29)
“Disruption in the asset management industry is imminent…. Due to a combination of new technologies, shifting demographics and changing client demands, the asset manager of the future must self-regulate, adopt corporate governance by investment firms, invest in technology, and cultivate and keep top-notch talent.”
Tags: Asset management, Client demands, Corporate governance, Demographics, Disruption, Imminent, Self-regulate, Talent, Technology
Bloomberg (December 4)
In India, “the chaos accompanying ‘demonetization’ hasn’t eased up noticeably. It seems likely the disruption to the economy…will hit growth sharply for at least a few quarters. It’s tough to say for how long and by how much; we are in uncharted territory here and guesses have varied widely.” There is a very loose consensus, however, that the move by Prime Minister Modi to invalidate 86% of the currency in circulation could cause GDP growth to fall by approximately 2 percentage points.
Tags: Chaos, Currency, Demonetization, Disruption, Economy, GDP, Growth, India, Modi
