Washington Post (September 25)
“After dominating Germany and, indeed, Europe for so long, Ms. Merkel leaves a legacy of sober, patient leadership, in which she both articulated and modeled democratic values. This was especially important at times when the leaders of other Western nations… did not.” The impact of her departure will be widely felt as “the world’s need for strong champions and exemplars of democracy is greater than ever.”
Tags: Champions, Democracy, Democratic values, Dominating, Europe, Exemplars, Germany, Leadership, Legacy, Merkel, Need, Patient, Sober
Chicago Tribune (September 24)
“Many employers pushed Labor Day return to office plans back as the delta variant fueled a resurgence in COVID-19 cases—another setback for businesses catering to the Loop’s formerly bustling office crowd. While businesses like coffee and shoe repair shops are optimistic their customers will eventually return, they may be downtown less often and may need time to rebuild old habits.”
Tags: COVID-19, Customers, Delta variant, Downtown, Employers, Labor Day, Loop, Office, Old habits, Resurgence, Return, Setback, Shops
Star-Ledger (September 23)
“Facing a lack of bus drivers at the start of the academic year, school districts around the state are dangling incentives that include higher pay for commercial drivers and ‘parent contracts’ worth $1,000 for residents to transport their kids to school in their own cars. The issue extends beyond the state’s borders. In Massachusetts, the governor activated 250 members of the National Guard to get behind the wheel of school transport vans.”
Tags: Bus drivers, Commercial drivers, Higher pay, Incentives, Lack, Massachusetts, National Guard, Parent contracts, Residents, School districts, Transport
Financial Times (September 22)
“While Evergrande’s US dollar bonds are trading at levels that suggest default, Beijing is unlikely to allow the company’s woes to proliferate to the point at which they risk creating a systemic crisis. The correct way to view the Evergrande meltdown is to see it as a controlled explosion. Beijing is teaching the developer a very public and painful lesson.”
Tags: Beijing, Bonds, Controlled, Default, Evergrande, Explosion, Lesson, Meltdown, Painful, Risk, Systemic crisis, Trading
New York Times (September 21)
“The halt to the 18-month ban on travel from 33 countries, including members of the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, could help rejuvenate a U.S. tourism industry that has been crippled by the pandemic,” which caused travel spending to fall by approximately $500 billion in 2020.
Boston Globe (September 20)
“Back-to-office plans are playing out much differently than anyone expected. Anticipation for a momentous post-Labor Day return has come and gone, but now a growing number of employers are repopulating their offices gradually and on a voluntary basis, rather than pinning all their hopes—and anxieties—onto one date.”
Tags: Anticipation, Employers, Labor Day, Office, Plans, Repopulating, Return
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“Transportation costs—typically a fraction of a finished product’s price—are emerging as another supply-chain hurdle, overwhelming some companies already paying more for raw materials and labor…. The Covid-19 pandemic has driven a long-lasting surge in transportation costs, putting pressure on many businesses already confronting higher wages and raw-material prices. Some CEOs are saying they expect elevated freight costs stretching into 2023.”
Tags: COVID-19, Hurdle, Labor, Overwhelming, Pandemic, Pressure, Product price, Raw materials, Supply chain, Surge, Transportation, Wages
Reuters (September 16)
“Australia’s new security pact with the United States and the UK, seen as a move to contain China, may worsen strained ties with its biggest export customer, but China’s insatiable appetite for resources may limit its punitive responses.”
Tags: Australia, China, Contain, Customer, Export, Insatiable, Punitive, Resources, Responses, Security pact, Strained, U.S., UK
San Francisco Chronicle (September 16)
Governor Newsom’s “overwhelming victory in Tuesday’s recall election was, on most levels, cause for celebration. A loss would have been a disaster for the state at a time it could least afford it.” As Trump’s grip loosens, the ex-President remains “a pustule on the face of the nation,” but is no longer “even the biggest pockmark in his home state of Florida.” This recall sham was “perpetrated by a party that would rather play dirty tricks than adjust its policies to the 21st century. And voters knew it.”
Tags: Celebration, Dirty tricks, Disaster, Election, Grip, Loosens, Newsom, Overwhelming, Pockmark, Pustule, Recall, Sham, Trump, Victory, Voters
Market Watch (September 16)
“The U.S. passed another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, when the number of fatalities from COVID-19 passed 666,000, meaning that about 1 in every 500 people living in America has died of the illness.” And with just under 2,000 deaths from COVID a day, “the U.S. is suffering more deaths every two days than in the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001.”
Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Deaths, Fatalities, Grim, Milestone, Pandemic, Sept. 11, Terrorist attacks, U.S.
