Professional Pensions (August 20)
“If we want our savers to make informed choices, we need to get them to understand the products and devices we’re using to help them save for when they aren’t working any more. That’s because they are going to have to make decisions (even if we created a limited choice framework), so we need to start using clear language now and getting used to it.” We must jettison the jargon. Those in the pensions world should no longer “languish in the luxury of our familiar phraseology understood only by cosy insiders.” It is time “to get into” their “hearts and minds and use the language of our saving community who need to know at all times what we’re talking about.”
Tags: Clear language, Decisions, Devices, Familiar, Hearts, Informed choices, Insiders, Jargon, Jettison, Minds, Pensions, Phraseology, Products, Save, Savers
Fortune (August 19)
“The U.S. Federal Reserve’s looming decision on whether to cut interest rates in September 2025 is sparking heightened concern on Wall Street, as strategists at Bank of America (BofA) Securities draw unsettling parallels to the months preceding the 2007–08 financial crisis” in a note entitled “Ghosts of 2007.”
Tags: BofA, Concern, Cut, Fed, Financial Crisis, Interest rates, Looming. Decision, Parallels, September, Strategists, U.S., Unsettling, Wall Street
Wall Street Journal (August 18)
“The global economy appears to have taken a sharp rise in U.S. tariffs and increased uncertainty about the future of the international trading system in its stride, but faces stronger headwinds as tax rates continue to climb.” Many countries chose not to retaliate. “Forgoing retaliation may count as a series of losses for them and a sequence of wins for the U.S. But those choices are also wins for the global economy, and for now a return to the tit-for-tat mayhem of the 1930s seems unlikely.” The tariffs have nevertheless been detrimental, “but it will take some time before the impact of tariff increases that are already settled is clear, and it is likely that further increases in duties will add to the damage.”
Tags: 1930s, Climb, Damage, Duties, Global economy, Headwinds, Impact, International trading system, Mayhem, Retaliate, Tariffs, Tax rates, Tit-for-tat, U.S., Uncertainty
USA Today (August 16)
“President Donald Trump’s aggressive economic policies will likely significantly slow U.S. growth and push up inflation but stop short of causing a recession or “stagflation” – the dire scenarios that forecasters envisioned before he took office.” Economist Justin Begley of Moody’s Analytics believes the U.S. is edging toward stagflation, but will not end up there. Much will depend on the Fed which “faces a dilemma because lowering rates to bolster a softening labor market could further drive up inflation.”
Tags: Begley, Dilemma, Economic policies, Economist, Fed, Growth, Inflation, Labor market, Moody’s Analytics, Rates, Recession, Stagflation, Stagflation. Dire, Trump, U.S.
New York Times (August 16)
“States have been competing for corporate charters since the late 1800s. The incentives are high: About 30 percent of Delaware’s revenue in 2024 came from franchise taxes.” But Texas has taken things to a new low, with recent legislation creating “a wild west for corporate governance” by helping corporations dodge proxy access. “Corporations incorporated or headquartered in Texas can restrict shareholder proposals to only their largest shareholders… owning at least $1 million in stock or 3 percent of the company.” Texas is also trying to muffle proxy advisors with measures that effectively block them “from siding against management on any shareholder proposal.”
Tags: Corporate charters, Corporate governance, Corporations, Delaware, Legislation, Muffle, Proxy access, Proxy advisors, Restrict, Shareholder proposals, Texas, Wild west
Investment Week (August 15)
“In the wake of political pushback and shifting corporate priorities, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in financial services has found itself at a crossroads…. Public commitments have dampened, budgets are under scrutiny, and sceptics question whether the industry’s progress is unravelling.” Especially in the United States, a growing number of firms are “scaling back or abandoning DEI initiatives altogether.” However, UK industry leaders believe “the narrative of decline does not tell the full story. While some organisations are quieter in their public statements, there remains evidence that internal commitment remains firm.”
Tags: Abandoning, Budgets, Commitment, Corporate priorities, Crossroads, Dampened, DEI initiatives, Financial services, Political pushback, Public commitments, Scaling back, Sceptics, Scrutiny, U.S., UK, Unravelling
Barron’s (August 14)
“Investors have typically penalized emerging markets such as Turkey, Argentina, and China due to concerns about the independence of the central bank, government intervention in the private sector, and rampant overspending.” Now these concerns are focused on “the U.S., which has historically been the paragon of a developed market.” Investors are reevaluating “the premium that U.S. assets have long commanded” and this could lead to “weaker long-run returns for stocks or, more immediately, higher bond yields and a continuation in the weakness of the dollar that has emerged this year.”
Tags: Argentina, Bond yields, Central bank, China, Developed market, Emerging markets, Government intervention, Independence, Investors, Overspending, Paragon, Penalized, Premium, Private-sector, Rampant, Reevaluating, Returns, Stocks, Turkey, U.S. assets
The Atlantic (August 14)
“After making a show of getting tough on China, President Donald Trump desperately needs a trade agreement to prove that his disruptive tactics get results.” This desperation has again postponed additional tariffs on China, which “would have hurt business between the world’s two largest economies. But the president’s newfound willingness to allow the export of vital AI chips to China indicates that an eventual deal could imperil American interests. Eager for a pact, Trump may give up more than he receives.”
Tags: AI chips, American interests, China, Desperation, Disruptive tactics, Eager, Export, Imperil, Pact, Postponed, Results, Tariffs, Tough, Trade agreement, Trump
CNN Business (August 14)
In the U.S., “businesses have been eating Trump’s tariffs. That’s starting to change.” Wholesale inflation “picked up steam last month, with prices rising by the fastest monthly pace since June 2022.” The Producer Price Index (PPI) “jumped 0.9% from June, lifting the annual rate to 3.3%.” With costs “sharply on the rise for producers and manufacturers in July,” it looks like “higher prices could soon filter down to American consumers.”
Tags: $3, Businesses, Consumers, Costs, Higher, July, Manufacturers, PPI, Prices, Producers, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Wholesale inflation
The Guardian (August 14)
“As parts of the developing world get wealthier, people eat more meat, meaning more forest and grassland is obliterated and greater emissions are belched out by livestock and its attendant machinery, feed and chemicals. Even if we do manage to kick the habit of coal, oil and gas, modern agriculture now has enough heft on its own to shove us headlong into environmental catastrophe.” Food production remains “in a relative stone age when it comes to the climate crisis.” A revolution is necessary if we are to solve “food’s climate problem.”
Tags: Agriculture, Chemicals, Climate crisis, Coal, Developing world, Emissions, Environmental catastrophe, Feed, Food production, Forest, Gas, Grassland, Livestock, Machinery, Meat, Oil, Stone age, Wealthier
