Harvard Business Review (January 29)
“In the eyes of businesses, the UK has come to resemble an emerging market” with concerns about “political volatility, consistent market uncertainty, an unpredictable and fluctuating currency, and supply chain issues”…. Regardless of where the current Brexit talks lead, these issues plaguing the UK are likely to remain for years.”
Tags: Concerns, Currency, Emerging market, Market uncertainty, Political volatility, Supply chain, UK, Unpredictable
Institutional Investor (January 7)
“Institutional investors representing more than $7 trillion plan to pull money from public equities amid concerns the bull market is ending, according to a client survey released Monday by BlackRock.”
Wall Street Journal (March 23)
“A majority of the board has been in place for at least 10 years” at nearly a quarter of the largest companies in America. This is prompting investor concerns. “Long-tenured directors can offer companies institutional memory and deep insight into company operations across a variety of economic and competitive environments…. Yet some investors worry that longtime board members may grow too close to the companies and management teams they are supposed to oversee, and lack the critical eye and fresh ideas that newer directors likely bring.”
Tags: Board, Concerns, Critical eye, Directors, Fresh ideas, Insight, Institutional memory, Investors, Management, Operations, U.S.
Institutional Investor (March 16)
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve. Not because anybody expects them to change interest rates at today’s meeting, but because everybody wants a glimpse of the future. “Concerns over volatility around the globe and fragility in some sectors, notably energy and industrials, suggest that the Fed may signal a moderation of the pace of tightening…. A slower path for rates seems plausible as core inflation appears to be manageable.”
Tags: Concerns, Core inflation, Energy, Fed, Fragility, Industrials, Interest rates, Moderation, Tightening, Volatility
Financial Times (December 19)
Concerns that lower oil prices will spark deflation are misplaced. “While lower oil prices will have a one-off arithmetic effect on the price level and hence reduce inflation, that should boost growth rather than retarding it. Lower oil prices…benefit households almost immediately,” essentially raising real incomes and stimulating demand.
Tags: Concerns, Deflation, Demand, Growth, Households, Inflation, Oil prices, Real incomes
Financial Times (March 27)
Abenomics “has been judged a qualified success but there are concerns the effort will peter out.” The upcoming consumption tax increase ranks high among these and an even more fundamental concern, that higher inflation would make the government’s debt burden unsustainable, remains untested. If the latter holds true, however, “it is precisely when Abenomics reaches its stated aim that it will begin to unravel.”
Tags: Abenomics, Concerns, Consumption tax, Government, Inflation, Success, Unsustainable
New York Times (November 3)
“Washington needs to be more responsive to legitimate Okinawan concerns. It should impose stricter limits on its troops’ behavior and more effective training and oversight. And it should move swiftly to lighten its presence on Okinawa, by shifting troops to Guam, Hawaii and elsewhere in Japan. Okinawans will feel safer and less aggrieved only when they believe that Japan and the United States are taking their objections seriously.”
