CFO.com (March 13)
“While any good finance executive will focus first on the costs and revenue opportunities in proposed energy-saving plants, the risks and benefits to company employees and external society will be squarely on his or her radar, because they potentially affect the company’s brand reputation.” Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) will also have their eyes open for sweet spots, “where what’s good for the planet melds seamlessly with what’s good for the bottom line. For example, Costco found that changing its energy consumption helped cut its costs.” The problem is that most environmentally based metrics aren’t linked to financial metrics. For example, when a company reduces its carbon footprint, CFOs want to see the link with “an income statement, balance sheet, or cash-flow statement.” Does the smaller footprint reduce costs, increase sales or reduce liabilities such as lawsuits? “The challenge of sustainability at the corporate level is to find a way to answer that question in hard, numeric, provable ways that take into account the self-interest so basic to our free-enterprise system.”
Tags: Benefits, CFOs, Costs, Environment, Finance, Metrics, Risks, Sustainability
New York Times (August 17)
In the UK, “the thousands who were arrested last week for looting and for more violent crimes should face the penalties that are prescribed by law.” It is, however, petty and misguided to try to further persecute them as Prime Minister Cameron has suggested by “cutting off government benefits even to minor offenders and evicting them.” The Prime Minister should focus on restarting the economy and creating jobs. “Making poor people poorer will not make them less likely to steal. Making them, or their families, homeless will not promote respect for the law. Trying to shut down the Internet in neighborhoods would be an appalling violation of civil liberties and a threat to public safety, denying vital real-time information to frightened residents.”
The Economist (October 14)
American states like California are facing crippling budget deficits. As if things aren’t bad enough, the Economist points to a massive $3 trillion hole: public-sector pensions. States have been underfunding pensions to police, fire fighters and other civil servants. Overly generous benefits and an unrealistic assumption of 8% asset growth have contributed to the staggering pension shortfall. “American states have promised their employees benefits they can’t afford.”
Tags: Assumptions, Benefits, Pensions, Shortfall, States
