CNN (April 2)
“GE once did almost everything for the typical American family…. No longer. With Tuesday’s split into two companies, the break up of the once mighty industrial icon is complete.” Founded in 1892 by Thomas Edison, GE was “built into the world’s largest and most valuable company by the once legendary, but now oft-criticized CEO Jack Welch” before floundering during the 21st century.
Tags: 1892, Break-up, CEO, Criticized, Edison, Floundering, GE, Industrial, Largest, Legendary, Most valuable, Split, U.S., Welch
Washington Post (April 14)
“Businesses and consumers have found it more challenging to obtain financing.” Federal Reserve data shows “commercial bank lending fell by over $100 billion in the two weeks ending March 29,” which was “the largest two-week cutback in overall bank lending… in records going back half a century.” The same period also brought “the largest decline in commercial and industrial loans on record. And the largest decline on record in lending to real estate, and the largest decline on record in bank holdings of mortgages.”
Tags: Businesses, Challenging, Commercial bank, Consumers, Cutback, Decline, Fed, Financing, Industrial, Lending, Real estate
American Banker (November 9)
“Lenders made it harder in the third quarter for both consumers and businesses to access credit,” and this trend looks likely to continue. “If the U.S. economy falls into a recession, more than 80% of banks said they would ‘somewhat’ or ‘substantially’ tighten lending standards for credit cards and loans backed by commercial real estate. More than 70% of banks said they would do the same for auto, commercial and industrial and residential real estate loans.”
Tags: Access, Auto, Banks, Businesses, Commercial, Consumers, Credit, Credit cards, Economy, Industrial, Lenders, Lending standards, Loans, Real estate, Recession, Tighten, U.S.
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
Financial Times (April 13)
“A charitable take on things would be that Toshiba — a 146-year-old industrial masterpiece that fancies itself as the “Mona Lisa” but more often comes across as “The Scream” — has reached this important landmark via the scenic route.” Since this “included accounting fraud, a brush with bankruptcy, multiple chief executive resignations and a four-year war with investors,” it could also be said that Toshiba “finds it institutionally hard to read signs or admit it is lost.”
Tags: Accounting fraud, Bankruptcy, Charitable, Industrial, Investors, Landmark, Mona Lisa, Resignations, Toshiba
New York Times (February 2)
“Warehouse space is the latest thing being hoarded.” Retailers and logistics companies now confront a new challenge as they “try to stockpile goods to hedge against supply chain problems…. The shortage of commercial warehouse and industrial space is the latest fallout from pandemic-fueled growth in online shopping and shows few signs of abating.”
Tags: Challenge, Commercial, Fallout, Hoarded, Industrial, Logistics, Pandemic, Problems, Retailers, Shortage, Space, Stockpile, Supply chain, Warehouse
The Economist (August 1)
“The downfall of America’s industrial giant is a cautionary tale for all big firms.” GE’s “near-collapse in 2018 beggared belief. It still limps on, but the suspects behind a destruction of $500bn in value over little more than 20 years are so many that the mystery feels like a whodunnit.”
Tags: Cautionary tale, Collapse, Destruction, Downfall, GE, Giant, Industrial, U.S.
Bloomberg (April 17)
“China’s economic expansion held up amid robust consumer spending, underpinning global growth and giving authorities room to purge excessive borrowing, while the industrial sector showed signs of modest slowdown.”
Tags: China, Consumer spending, Economic expansion, Excessive borrowing, Global growth, Industrial, Slowdown
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
Financial Times (December 24)
“The triumph and tragedy of space flight, manned and unmanned, have been on full view over the past year.” Funding both types of space exploration is essential, as each provides benefits. “Space exploration is a worthy activity for our modern industrial civilisation. It is the ‘manifest destiny’ of humanity to move beyond Earth.”
Tags: Benefits, Civilisation, Earth, Exploration, Funding, Humanity, Industrial, Manifest destiny, Manned, Space, Tragedy, Triumph, Unmanned
