Forbes (October 15)
“Amid chatter about the ‘Japanification’ of China’s economy, it’s wise to keep an eye on how Beijing’s troubles might scuttle Tokyo’s recovery, too…. Japan is uniquely vulnerable to China’s downshift amid myriad global headwinds and other dynamics—including controversies over patents.”
Tags: Beijing, China’s economy, Controversies, Downshift, Headwinds, Japanification, Patents, Recovery, Tokyo, Troubles, Vulnerable
Wall Street Journal (February 6)
“Today congestion has all but disappeared at U.S. ports, supply chains have almost returned to normal, and freight costs have fallen back to prepandemic levels. But in the aftermath of this disorienting and costly experience, it is critical to ask: What led to such a severe backup and what can be done to prevent a recurrence?” Until there are corrective measures like 24/7 port operation and automated container handling, “the system remains vulnerable to future supply disruptions that will harm the U.S. economy.”
Tags: 24/7 port operation, Automated container handling, Backup, Congestion, Costly, Critical, Disorienting, Economy, Freight costs, Ports, Prevent, Supply disruptions, U.S., Vulnerable
Wall Street Journal (March 3)
“How in the world did Europe leave itself so vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s energy extortion?” Less than two decades ago, EU nations “produced more gas than Russia exported. Yet European production has plunged by more than half over the last decade” while Russia “happily filled the supply gap.”
Tags: Energy extortion, EU, Europe, Export, Gas, Plunged, Production, Putin, Russia, Supply gap, Vulnerable
Wall Street Journal (October 7)
“Natural gas stocks are alarmingly low around the world, and prices in most places have never been higher after surging to new records…. Demand has jumped as economies have bounced back from pandemic shutdowns, and the squeeze has caught traders, shipowners and energy executives off guard.” Nations that “have wound down coal-fired plants and become more dependent on gas” are particularly vulnerable and, in some cases, restarting mothballed power plants despite higher GHG emissions.
Tags: Coal, Demand, Economies, Energy, GHG emissions, Natural gas, Pandemic, Prices, Records, Shipowners, Shutdowns, Squeeze, Stocks, Surging, Traders, Vulnerable
Washington Post (August 30)
“Enormous as it is, the number of people evacuated by air from Kabul since the end of July — about 122,000 — is not large enough.” Countless others, who are vulnerable, did not escape. “This is a moral disaster.”
Tags: Air, Enormous, Escape, Evacuated, July, Kabul, Moral disaster, Vulnerable
USA Today (July19)
“A doubling of COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks suggests the USA has entered a fourth wave of the pandemic.” Deaths and hospitalization rates may stay lower than previous waves and instead of ravaging “entire communities,” this wave “is likely to target the unvaccinated, including children, and if rates are high enough, the most vulnerable of the vaccinated—the elderly and the immunocompromised.”
Tags: Children, COVID-19, Deaths, Doubling, Elderly, Fourth wave, Hospitalization, Pandemic, Ravaging, U.S., Unvaccinated, Vulnerable
San Francisco Chronicle (October 13)
“As coronavirus cases swell across much of the United States and the nation lurches toward a uniquely tumultuous election day, California has held off another pandemic upswing. Public health experts, however, warn the state is still vulnerable.” The nation “topped 50,000 new cases on four of the past seven day, the highest numbers since August.”
Tags: California, Cases, Coronavirus, Election day, Experts, Pandemic, Public health, Swell, Tumultuous, U.S., Upswing, Vulnerable
Reuters (May 14)
Banks mainly seem to be provisioning for consumer debt, but “bad-debt risks could easily spread beyond consumer finance. Commercial real estate could face a brutal reckoning if white-collar workers in major cities decide not to return to the office when lockdowns lift.” When stimulus measures wind down, it will leave “over-indebted small and medium-sized enterprises vulnerable. Mass unemployment would lead to increased mortgage defaults.”
Tags: Bad debt, Banks, Commercial real estate, Consumer finance, Lockdowns, Mortgage, Office, Over-indebted, Provisioning, Risks, SMEs, Stimulus, Unemployment, Vulnerable, White collar, Workers
Reuters (October 30)
“Climate change will put three times more people at risk of coastal flooding by 2050 than previously thought… with swathes of Asia and cities in North America and Europe all vulnerable to rising seas.” According to the latest study, “300 million people are now living on land that is likely to flood at least once a year on average by mid-century… even if governments manage to make sharp cuts in emissions.”
Tags: Asia, Climate change, Coastal flooding, Emissions, Europe, Flood, North America, Vulnerable
New York Times (June 9)
“Americans have been far too vulnerable for far too long when they venture online. Companies are free today to monitor Americans’ behavior and collect information about them from across the web and the real world.” U.S. lawmakers have fallen behind their European peers. In fact, widespread compliance with the EU’s GDPR means that “technocrats in Brussels are doing more for Americans’ digital privacy rights than their own Congress.” Finally, however, “there finally seems to be enough momentum to pass a federal law.”
Tags: Behavior, Brussels, Collect Web, Compliance, Congress, DPR, EU, GDPR, Lawmakers, Online, Technocrats, U.S., Vulnerable