Washington Post (October 12)
“A second catastrophic hurricane in as many weeks has forced the U.S. government to grapple with a harsh reality: Climate calamities are becoming more frequent, deadly and costly in a country already facing massive fiscal challenges.” With the ballooning U.S. national debt already exceeding $35 trillion, “budget experts agree that climate change threatens to add to these woes, harming economic output while forcing the government to spend more, and generate less, as it grapples with the consequences of dangerous emissions.”
Tags: $35 trillion, Calamities, Catastrophic, Climate change, Costly, Deadly, Economic output, Fiscal challenges, Frequent, Government, Grapple, Harsh, Hurricane, National debt, U.S.
New York Times (October 11)
What “will become of all the species the planet stands to lose… if human beings cannot halt the rate at which our climate is heating and our habitats are fragmenting and our whole planet is being poisoned?” While it is “entirely possible that we will lose them all…. It’s also not unthinkable that we will yet find a way to work together to prevent the worst calamities from unfolding.”
Tags: Calamities, Climate, Habitats, Human beings, pecies, Planet, Poisoned, Prevent, Unthinkable, Work together
The Economist (December 17)
“Japanese firms spent a record $80 billion on some 620 foreign companies in 2011…, exceeding the previous record of 466 deals worth $75 billion in 2008.” This major shopping spree is different. Corporate Japan’s acquisitions of the 1980s showed strength. “This time, it is a symptom of weakness.” Multiple calamities made 2011 “wretched” for Japan and, due to long-term demographics, “Japanese firms find it nearly impossible to expand domestically.”
Tags: 2011, Calamities, Demographics, Japan, M&A, Overseas
