Inc (May Issue)
“The world’s most ubiquitous manmade material is also one of the atmosphere’s arch foes: Between 4 and 7 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions come from cement production.” This may be changing. A “new cement-making process that subs out some of the traditionally used limestone for a synthetic version of the mineral wollastonite” cuts emissions by approximately 70%. Moreover, “Solidia’s manufacturing process can be done in existing facilities and costs about the same as–and, perhaps soon enough, less than–traditional cement-making methods.”
Tags: Atmosphere, Cement, Costs, Emissions, GHGs, Limestone, Manufacturing, Solidia, Synthetic, Wollastonite
Financial Times (January 27)
“We can make a fresh start on Tuesday, and avoid the disaster of a no deal, by extending Article 50 to allow an honest reconsideration. Parliament and the people must level with one another about the detailed costs and benefits of EU membership and all sides must begin to recognise reality.”
Tags: Article 50, Benefits, Costs, Disaster, EU, Fresh start, Membership Reality, No-deal, Parliament, Reconsideration
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
The Guardian (August 9)
“The era of low interest rates will last for at least another 20 years, despite gently rising official borrowing costs in the coming years, one of the Bank of England’s leading policymakers has forecast.” Outgoing monetary policy committee (MPC) member Ian McCafferty said that “structural changes in the global economy meant UK borrowers and savers should get used to interest rates being “significantly” below the 5% average in the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis.”
Tags: BOE, Borrowing, Costs, Era, Financial Crisis, Global economy, Interest rates, Low, MPC, Structural changes, UK
Investment Week (April 27)
The European Union’s Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPS) regulation “is aimed at helping retail investors better understand and compare the key features, risks, rewards and costs of different products through a short Key Information Document (KID).” However, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “has expressed he is ‘concerned’ about the new PRIIPS legislation, highlighting literature requirements ‘are not providing useful context’ while there is evidence it is causing US funds to withdraw from Europe.”
Tags: Bailey, Context, Costs, EU, FCA, KID, PRIIPS, Regulation, Retail investors, Rewards, Risks, US funds, Useful
Newsweek (March 12)
By playing “his America First card,” President Trump thinks he’s getting ahead, particularly in the Rust Belt. He believes adopting tariffs will help fulfill “his promise to America’s industrial heartland to bring back jobs in its traditional industries. The problem is that those in the industrial heartland don’t seem to think it’s the right thing to do.” In fact, many “who work in manufacturing, remain convinced that tariffs will increase costs and lead to job losses. Far from saving the industrial sector, they say, Trump is showing economic illiteracy that will only add to the cost of significant consumer goods.”
Tags: America first, Consumer goods, Costs, Economic illiteracy, Heartland, Jobs, Manufacturing, Rust Belt, Tariffs, Trump
Wall Street Journal (April 25)
Will protectionism be as welcome once the costs are realized? The Journal reports “Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced Monday that the Trump Administration will raise the cost of new single family homes in the U.S. as part of its promise to ‘make America great again.’” The Journal adds, “Mr. Ross didn’t put it quite that way.” Ultimately, however, the 20% tariff on lumber from Canada Mr. Ross did announce “will add an additional $1 billion in new costs for U.S. construction.”
Tags: Canada Construction, Costs, Homes, Lumber, Protectionism, Ross, Tariff, Trump, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 6)
“PNC Capital Advisors is putting its large-cap mutual funds under a factor-based computer model.” Now that quant funds tend to outperform human stock pickers, at least in the large-cap space, the move seeks to reduce costs, improve performance and attract more investors. “Quantitative factor-based models” appear to “reduce human being’s tendency to make behavioral mistakes. Portfolio managers are prone to confirmation bias as human beings are rarely swayed by new information that goes against long-held beliefs.”
Tags: Confirmation bias, Costs, Investors, Large caps, Mutual funds, Performance, PNC, Portfolio managers, Quantitative, Stock pickers
New York Times (January 9)
India’s “man-made currency crisis” has had real costs and limited benefit. Two months after the surprise move to invalidate over 80% of existing currency, “the manufacturing sector is contracting; real estate and car sales are down; and farm workers, shopkeepers and other Indians report that a shortage of cash has made life increasingly difficult.”
Tags: Benefit, Car sales, Contracting, Costs, Crisis, Currency, Farm workers, India, Manufacturing, Real estate, Shopkeepers, Shortage
Wall Street Journal (January 7)
“Does Donald Trump understand business?” He might know real estate and branding, “but the President-elect’s Twitter assaults on auto companies make us wonder if he understands cross-border supply chains, relative business costs, regulatory mandates, or anything else about building and selling modern cars and trucks.”
Tags: Automakers, Branding, Business, Cars, Costs, Cross-border supply chains, Real estate, Regulatory mandates, Trucks, Trump, Twitter
