The Guardian (October 28)
Tags: Certain destruction, Children, Costs, Dead, Earth, Economic sense, Money, Now, Planet, Protect, Saving
Fortune (October 11)
“China’s debt interest costs are soaring above U.S. levels and growing faster than any other budget category as Beijing struggles to prop up growth.” Current estimates suggest “debt-servicing payments will account for 19.2% of the central government’s general public budget this year, up from 12% in 2014.”
Tags: Beijing, Budget, China, Costs, Debt interest, Debt-servicing payments, Government, Growing, Soaring, Struggles, U.S.
Inc. (October 1)
“Self-checkout was supposed to cut costs. instead, it created a problem retailers didn’t anticipate.” Some of the retailers who installed them “are starting to abandon self-checkout lanes” because they are proving costly. ECR Retail Loss found that “grocery stores experienced an average 22 percent increase in merchandise losses in the year after installing self-checkout lanes. These losses included both theft and accidental errors, such as missed scans and incorrect product selections.” Overall, retailers are still investing in technology, but they are currently searching for better solutions.
Tags: Abandon, Accidental errors, Costs, Grocery stores, Incorrect product selections, Losses, Merchandise, Missed scans, Problem, Retailers, Self-checkout, Theft
The Guardian (September 23)
“Three heavyweight international bodies have issued stark warnings about the risks of rising debt levels and soaring borrowing costs across large economies.” On Wednesday, the OECD, IMF and International Institute of Finance (IIF) all “highlighted the dangers of soaring interest rates on $365tn (£275tn) in global borrowing.”
Tags: $365tn, Costs, Dangers, Debt levels, Global borrowing, Heavyweight, IIF, IMF, International bodies, Issued, Large economies, OECD, Rising, Risks, Soaring, Stark warnings
ABC (July 15)
“Runaway demand for turbines from data centres in the US is making new gas-fired power uncompetitive with batteries in the evening peak for the first time…. Australia’s top science agency, the CSIRO, said batteries were helping to lower high evening prices for electricity as the costs of the technology fell and significant extra capacity was added.” Looking further ahead, CSIRO expects “solar and wind power would by 2050 supply as much as 93 per cent of Australia’s electricity needs.”
Tags: 2050, Australia, Batteries, Capacity, Costs, CSIRO, Data centres, Electricity, Gas-fired, Peak, Prices, Runaway demand, Solar, Turbines, U.S., Uncompetitive, Wind power
Wall Street Journal (July 10)
The “dismal reality” is that Trump’s “border taxes are raising costs and have failed to usher in a manufacturing renaissance. His tariffs are “destroying U.S. jobs and raising prices.” The U.S. has shed “some 75,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2025” and it’s estimated Trump’s tariffs added 10.4% to new car sticker prices. Basically, “businesses don’t know what the trade rules or tariffs will be in a few years—or even tomorrow with Mr. Trump. His trade oscillations and border taxes are a major reason the economy hasn’t performed as well as during his first term, and why Americans are so unhappy.”
Tags: Border taxes, Businesses, Cars, Costs, Destroying, Dismal reality, Economy, Failed, Jobs, Manufacturing, Oscillations, Prices, Trade rules, Trump’s tariffs, U.S., Unhappy
Wall Street Journal (June 2)
“Exxon Mobil shareholders last week voted to support management’s decision to move its corporate domicile to Texas from New Jersey. It’s a smart move that raises a question for other companies: Is it becoming a corporate governance duty to leave states that punish business for states that don’t?” While some companies may opt for higher taxes and costs to take advantage of talent clusters, “don’t be surprised if Exxon is a harbinger of more shareholder-driven relocations.”
Tags: Companies, Corporate domicile, Corporate governance, Costs, Duty, Exxon Mobil, Harbinger, New Jersey, Punish, Relocations, Shareholders, Smart move, Taxes, Texas, Voted
The Times (May 6)
“The Iran war is causing global disruption as airlines battle fuel shortages and growing costs before the peak summer holiday season.” Current estimates suggest “airlines have cancelled more than 13,000 flights scheduled for this month as jet fuel shortages and high prices caused by the war on Iran cause disruption.”
Tags: 000 flights, 13, Airlines, Battle, Costs, Global disruption, High prices, Iran war, Jet fuel, Shortages, Summer holiday season
Financial Times (May 1)
“The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have warned they may need to raise interest rates in the coming months, as central banks grapple with the energy shock triggered by the war in the Middle East. The two central banks on Thursday followed the Federal Reserve in holding interest rates at their current levels, but both indicated future rate rises could be necessary if soaring energy costs spill over into persistently high inflation.”
Tags: BOE, Central banks, Costs, ECB, Energy shock, Fed, Grapple, Interest rates, Middle East, War, Warned
New York Times (December 28)
“Breaking China’s dominance will require creativity and patience…. The United States and its allies must solve their rare earth problem. The world’s democracies cannot depend on the most powerful authoritarian state — and an increasingly aggressive one — for critical minerals. The potential costs, to prosperity and freedom, are too great.”
Tags: Aggressive, Allies, Authoritarian, China, Costs, Creativity, Critical minerals, Democracies, Dominance, Patience, Prosperity, Rare earth, U.S.
