BBC (August 23)
Brexit is “akin to attempting to remove an egg from an omelette” and if there’s not a deal, it’s likely to become an even bigger mess. “Today’s “no deal” papers reveal the complicated exercise could carry significant costs for consumers and businesses if Britain and the EU fail to agree on a transition period and a subsequent trading agreement.” Failure to reach a deal would “very likely to have a negative impact on the economy and could mean higher prices in the shops as firms pass on the higher costs of doing business.”
Tags: Brexit, Businesses, Complicated, Consumers, Costs, Economy, EU, Failure, No-deal, Prices, Transition, UK
Wall Street Journal (August 23)
“The Fed has been able to slowly and predictably raise interest rates this year because the economy has performed largely in line with its expectations, but Wednesday’s minutes show how trade uncertainties loom large for U.S. businesses and Fed officials.”
Tags: Businesses, Economy, Expectations, Fed, Interest rates, Trade uncertainties, U.S.
Washington Post (June 8)
“Trump is waging a trade war in the dumbest way possible.” In the best of times, “trade wars are neither good nor easy to win…. Every side loses, experiencing lost jobs, crippled businesses and higher prices for consumers.” Trumps tariffs are now estimated to result in 16 lost U.S. jobs for every job gained in the aluminum/steel industry: a painful, self-inflicted wound. Moreover, the counterpunches of our trading partners “are likely to draw more blood.” With the “already announced $40 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made products,” Canada, the EU, Mexico, Russia, India, Japan and Turkey have “fine-tuned the art of minimizing their own pain — and maximizing ours.”
Tags: Aluminum. Steel, Businesses, Canada, Consumers, Counterpunches, Dumbest, EU, India, Japan, Lost jobs, Mexico, Prices, Russia, Tariffs, Trade war, Trading partners, Trump, Turkey, U.S.
Time (March 22)
“Farmers, electronics retailers and other U.S. businesses are bracing for a backlash as President Donald Trump targets China for stealing American technology or pressuring U.S. companies to hand it over.”0
Tags: Backlash, Businesses, China, Electronics retailers, Farmers, Technology, Trump, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (April 24)
President Trump is now talking about “a ‘massive tax cut’ for businesses and individuals.” He even said it would likely be “bigger” than “any tax cut ever.” Simplistic boasts may be exciting, but they are dangerous. “Here’s the thing: Trump, who used the word ‘massive’ 12 times in that AP interview, forgot to mention a huuuuge caveat about tax reform efforts: They are devilishly difficult to pull off. Cutting taxes without adding trillions to the federal debt is especially hard to do.”
Tags: Boasts, Businesses, Dangerous, Debt, Huuuuge, Individuals, Massive, Tax cut, Trump
The Economist (October 24)
The approach insurgent companies are taking will survive long after some of them have failed. They are providing a striking addition to the capitalist toolbox. Airbnb and Uber and the rest…. are pioneering a new sort of company that can do a better job of turning dreams into businesses.”
Tags: Airbnb, Approach, Businesses, Capitalist, Dreams, Insurgent companies, Pioneering, Uber
New York Times (June 7)
“In a welcome development, businesses are asking world leaders to do more to address climate change. This week, the top executives of six large European oil and gas companies called for a tax on carbon emissions.” Implementation will face stiff resistance, but “world leaders, who will meet in Paris later this year to negotiate a climate change agreement, cannot give up in the face of this opposition. Carbon taxes are one of the best policies available to solve this global problem.”
Tags: Businesses, Carbon emissions, Carbon taxes, Climate change, Climate change agreement, Oil and gas, Resistance
Washington Post (April 8)
A recent study from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “confirms that the investment bust is a global phenomenon. It’s not just the United States but also Europe, Japan and most advanced countries. As important, the main cause of the investment slump is clear-cut: Businesses aren’t expanding because they can already meet most demand with existing capacity.”
Tags: Businesses, Demand, Europe, Existing capacity, Expanding, IMF, Investment, Japan, Slump, U.S.
Washington Post (August 13)
“U.S. businesses are aging…and a sharp decline in start-up companies is a big reason. As the share of young firms shrinks, the surviving companies are naturally older — and this may have huge ramifications for the economy.” Nobody’s sure why this trend is occurring, but it suggests slower job creation and raises a troubling question. “Could it be that a society whose members are getting older is more risk-averse and less adventurous?”
Tags: Adventurous, Aging, Businesses, Decline, Economy, Job creation, Ramifications, Risk-averse, Society, Start-ups, U.S.
The Economist (March 1)
Businesses can never fully eliminate fraud, but directors and executives must “treat it like any other unavoidable risk, and manage it professionally.” This means listening carefully to whistleblowers. “Three times as many frauds are discovered by tip-offs than by any other method…. Firms with fraud hotlines, which staff can call anonymously, suffer smaller losses from fraud, and cut by seven months the ‘exposure gap’ between the start of an illicit scheme and its discovery.”
Tags: Anonymous, Businesses, Directors, Discovery, Executives, Exposure gap, Fraud, Hotlines, Losses, Risk, Staff, Tip-offs, Whistleblowers
