Wall Street Journal (September 19)
“A few years ago, auto executives weren’t sure there would be enough buyers for plug-in electric models. Now, they worry they can’t build them fast enough, while they intensify a multibillion-dollar rush to accelerate timelines and bring factories online.” In July, EVs and PHEVs accounted for “five of the six fastest-selling vehicles in the U.S,” where EVs have tripled in vehicle share over the past two years as “sales of other types of vehicles have declined.” Waiting lists now exceed a year for new electric models at GM and Ford.
Tags: Accelerate, Auto executives, Buyers, EVs, Factories, Fast enough, Fastest-selling, GM, PHEVs, Rush, Share, Timelines, U.S., Vehicles, Waiting lists
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (September 18)
ESG “is not a unitary principle or even a collection of a fixed set of particular principles. Rather, ESG encapsulates the range of risks that all corporations must carefully balance, taking into account their specific circumstances, in seeking to achieve long-term, sustainable value.” The ESG label may be new, but “corporate boards and management have long considered ESG factors and risks in setting and executing strategy…. Doing so is associated with superior financial results, and consistent with long-accepted norms as to the place of business in society.”
Tags: Balance, Boards, Circumstances, Corporations, ESG, Financial results, Fixed, Management, Principle, Range, Risks, Society, Strategy, Sustainable, Value
The Economist (September 18)
For years, digital advertising has been “largely impervious to the business cycle” and “dominated” by Google and Meta. These “verities” may be falling as companies tighten marketing budgets. “Until recently, that would have meant cutting non-digital ads but maintaining, or even raising, online spending. With most ad dollars now going online, that strategy is running out of road. Last quarter Meta reported its first-ever year-on-year decline in revenues. Snap, a smaller rival, is laying off a fifth of its workforce.”
Tags: Business cycle, Decline, Digital advertising, Dominated, Google, Impervious, Marketing budgets, Meta, Non-digital ads, Online spending, Revenues, Rival, Snap, Strategy
Washington Post (September 16)
“Japan is inching closer to a full reopening, with an announcement likely in the coming days. But the country’s prolonged closure during the coronavirus pandemic has done lasting damage to its reputation as a destination for international investors, academics and tourists, experts say.”
Tags: Academics, Coronavirus, Damage, Destination, International, Investors, Japan, Pandemic, Prolonged closure, Reopening, Reputation, Tourists
Reuters (September 15)
“A railway hiatus is the last thing America needs.” Fortunately, “the narrowly averted shutdown of U.S. rail services should avoid widespread economic damage.” Even though trucks “carry the majority of freight in U.S. domestic shipments, rail still accounts for about $700 billion worth of annual shipments.”
Tags: $700 billion, Annual shipments, Averted, Domestic shipments, Economic damage, Freight, Rail services, Railway, Shutdown, Trucks, U.S.
New York Times (September 16)
“Pessimism is deepening as bellwether companies like FedEx and General Electric warn of worsening economic and business conditions.” On Friday, stocks declined, “ending one of the worst weeks of the year for Wall Street.” This may just be the start of bad news. “A parade of prominent investors and corporate executives made it clear that they believed the worst was yet to come for the economy and financial markets.”
Tags: Bellwether, Business conditions, Corporate executives, Economic, FedEx, General electric, Investors, Pessimism, Prominent, Stocks declined, Wall Street, Worsening
Institutional Investor (September 14)
“In a sign of the times, VC is bragging about being slow and thorough. Thanks to an unfriendly exit environment and lower fundraising, venture capitalists have finally started to focus more on due diligence than closing deals quickly.”
Tags: Closing deals, Due diligence, Exit environment, Fundraising, Slow, Thorough, Unfriendly, VC
BBC (September 12)
China “is the world’s last major economy attempting to entirely stamp out Covid outbreaks, claiming this is necessary to prevent wider surges of the virus which could overwhelm hospitals.” At present, “tens of millions of people in at least 30 regions have been ordered to stay at home under partial or full lockdowns,” with some of the impacted residents “complaining of shortages of food and essential items.”
Tags: China, Complaining, Covid outbreaks, Food, Home, Hospitals, Last, Lockdowns, Major economy, Overwhelm, Prevent, Residents, Shortages, Stamp out, Surges, Virus
The Guardian (September 12)
“New Zealand, which once eliminated the virus through the toughest pandemic rules in the world, has made relaxations similar to Australian or European conditions. Mask-wearing will no longer be mandatory in public places, and the last vaccine mandates will be ditched in two weeks.” Tests for inbound travelers “on arrival in New Zealand are no longer required but encouraged.”
Tags: Australia, Encouraged, Europe, Inbound travelers, Mask-wearing, New Zealand, Pandemic rules, Public places, Relaxations, Tests, Toughest, Vaccine mandates, Virus
Washington Post (September 10)
“After months of gloom, Americans are finally starting to feel better about the economy and more resigned to inflation. Consumer sentiment, which hit rock bottom in June, has begun inching up in recent weeks. Gas prices are down. Decades-high inflation appears to be easing.” And there are signs that “many families are learning to deal with higher prices.”
Tags: Americans, Consumer sentiment, Easing, Economy, Families, Gas prices, Gloom, Higher prices, Inflation, Learning, Rock bottom