New York Times (April 19)
“Civilization’s understanding of Earth has expanded enormously in recent decades, making humanity safer and more prosperous.” But a new “dark age is a growing possibility” as our ability to predict future weather patterns is disrupted by climate change. Without the ability to accurately forecast long-term phenomena, “we will face huge challenges feeding a growing population and prospering within our planet’s finite resources.”
Tags: Challenges, Civilization, Climate change, Dark age, Disrupted, Earth, Forecast, Humanity, Patterns, Population, Predict, Prosperous, Resources, Weather
Bloomberg (April 18)
“The death toll from earthquakes that struck southern Japan rose to 42 and the economic impact began to reverberate Monday as companies surveyed damage and the potential effects on production from supply-chain disruptions.” Amidst the uncertainty, investors “are speculating that Japan’s government and central bank will need to consider more stimulus for an economy that is already struggling.”
Tags: BOJ, Damage, Deaths, Earthquakes, Economic impact, Government, Investors, Japan, Production, Stimulus, Supply-chain disruptions, Uncertainty
Japan Times (April 17)
“The indiscriminate nature of the destruction saw some houses reduced to piles of rubble and smashed roof tiles while neighboring homes were left standing.” Amid the ruins in Kumamoto, the search for survivors races on, hampered by the destruction of multiple quakes and inclement weather.
Tags: Destruction, Indiscriminate, Kumamoto, Quakes, Rubble, Ruins, Search, Survivors, Weather
The Economist (April 16)
“Across the developing world, solar power is hitting its stride.” In 2015, “global solar-energy capacity rose by 26% last year,” with China and India accounting for much of the gain. China displaced Germany in 2015 “to become the biggest producer of solar energy, benefiting from its dominance of solar-panel manufacturing and policies to reduce dependence on dirtier fuels, such as coal.” Not content to be left behind, India is also racing ahead with plans to increase solar installations twentyfold. “KPMG, a consultancy, expects solar’s share of India’s energy mix to rise to 12.5% by 2025.”
Tags: Capacity, China, Coal, Developing world, Energy mix, Germany, India, Manufacturing, Solar power
Institutional Investor (April 14)
In the U.S., “freakishly mild meteorological conditions this winter gave a major boost to the economy, which otherwise would likely have contracted in the first quarter. Moreover, the weather has set investors up for a shock.” With a return to the recessionary trend likely during the second quarter, there will be “exaggerated drops from the weather-boosted first-quarter figures.”
Tags: Economy, Exaggerated, Investors, Meteorological conditions, Recessionary trend, U.S., Weather, Winter
Wall Street Journal (April 14)
“Social media companies quickly are becoming the dominant news providers for many Americans and citizens across the world. The implications of this revolution are significant for how we understand the information ecosystem and our democracy.” Facebook has become far and away the most common source of news in the U.S., followed by Twitter.
Tags: Democracy, Dominant, Facebook, Information ecosystem, News, Revolution, Social media, Twitter, U.S.
LA Times (April 13)
“Kobe Bryant, the first player in NBA history to play 20 seasons with the same team, heads to his final game with the Lakers tonight.” By the time his 1,556th and final game finished, Bryant had scored “a stunning 60 points on 22-for-50 shooting in a 101-96 Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz.”
Tags: 20 seasons, Final game, Jazz, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA
New York Times (April 13)
“Now that Mr. Kerry has paved the way, there should be nothing keeping President Obama from becoming the first American president to stop at Hiroshima when he travels to Japan next month for a meeting of the Group of 7 leaders. But he should be prepared to offer some tangible new initiative to keep alive his flagging vision of a nuclear-free world.”
Financial Times (April 12)
“There are clear practical limits to cutting rates indefinitely; and in the eurozone at least, the policy may be close to its political limits. The question now is what should take its place…. Opponents of negative rates need to spell out the alternatives.”
Tags: Alternatives, eurozone, Limits, Negative rates, Opponents, Rates
Bloomberg (April 11)
“For global equity investors and Shinzo Abe, it’s splitsville.” For 13 straight weeks during 2016, “foreign traders have been pulling out of Tokyo’s stock market.” They’ve dumped “$46 billion of shares as economic reports deteriorated, stimulus from the Bank of Japan backfired and the yen’s surge pressured exporters. The benchmark Topix index is down 18 percent in 2016, the world’s steepest declines behind Italy.”
Tags: Abe, BOJ, Equity investors, Exporters, Italy, Shares, Stock market, Tokyo, Topix, Traders, Yen