New York Times (October 30)
“Alarming new evidence” indicates “that insect populations worldwide are in rapid decline.” We need to take the “proven steps” that can slow the decline even as we look for ways to reverse it. “The fate of the world’s insects is inseparable from our own.”
Tags: Alarming, Decline, Evidence, Insect populations, Inseparable, Reverse
The Economist (April 15)
“Despite an influx of 1.2m refugees over the past two years, Germany’s population faces near-irreversible decline. According to predictions from the UN in 2015, two in five Germans will be over 60 by 2050 and Europe’s oldest country will have shrunk to 75m from 82m.”
The Economist (February 25)
“It is a turning-point for one of the world’s oddest industries…. The supply of new diamonds is expected to peak in the next few years, before beginning a slow decline.”
Tags: Decline, Diamonds, Peak, Supply, Turning-point
LA Times (February 14)
“California’s majestic Oroville Dam is currently in danger of spillway failure in a season of record snow and rainfall. That could spell catastrophe for thousands who live below it and for the state of California at large that depends on its stored water. The poor condition of the dam is almost too good a metaphor for the condition of the state as a whole; its possible failure is a reflection of California’s civic decline.”
Tags: California, Catastrophe, Danger, Decline, Failure, Oroville Dam, U.S., Water
Australian Financial Review (November 28)
“Mr Trump will not reverse America’s relative decline. The chances are he will drastically accelerate it…. The US-led international order as we knew it for 70 years is over. “ While much focus will be “on Mr Trump’s dealings with Mr Putin,” that’s strictly short term. “The long-term trajectory is towards China.” Going forward, things “will not be pretty. Europe will be the loser. So too will American prestige.”
Tags: China, Decline, Europe, International order, Long term, Prestige, Putin, Short term, Trump, U.S.
Institutional Investor (December 28)
“U.S. earnings have declined for four straight quarters, and market participants are taking notice.” This decline in corporate profits may “signal a looming recession.”
Institutional Investor (April 2)
Expectations are low as U.S. companies prepare to report first quarter results. Consensus forecasts “show a decline in first quarter earnings of more than 4 percent, with anticipated shortfalls across all sectors. This represents the largest downward revisions since the first quarter of 2009.”
Tags: Decline, Downward revision, Earnings, Expectations, Forecasts, Results, Sectors, Shortfalls, U.S. Q1
Institutional Investor (December 31)
“The major market narrative remains oil.” 2014 brought the largest annual price decline since 2008. Investors are “focusing on what the impact of cheap oil will be on global fundamentals in the coming quarters.”
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.
Bloomberg (December 31, 2013)
Gold climbed higher and higher…until it didn’t. Very few predicted the extent gold would plunge in 2013. “One year ago, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had a median price target of $1,815 an ounce for the end of 2013. Actual year-end price: around $1,200.” The 29% decline was the biggest since 1981.
Tags: Analysts, Climb Gold, Decline, Forecast, Plunge
