OilPrice.com (April 12)
The Iran “crisis has thrown the precarity of the current global energy trade into sharp relief,” accelerating shifts in energy policy. That shift is expected to include “expanded clean energy production capacity” and greatly benefit China. Chinese companies are “incredibly well positioned to continue to consolidate their dominance in global markets, as they are by far the cheapest producer and most accessible trade partner for many nations that have been left in the lurch by the effective blockade of Hormuz.”
Tags: Accelerating, Accessible, Blockade, Capacity, Cheapest, China, Clean energy, Consolidate, Crisis, Dominance, Global markets, Hormuz, Iran, Policy, Precarity, Producer, Shifts, Trade, Trade partner
The Economist (June 4)
“For the past two years Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has pursued a zany policy of trying to bring down inflation by making borrowing cheaper. It is precisely the opposite of what any mainstream economist would advise, and it was never going to work.” His new cabinet “includes Mehmet Simsek, a voice of economic orthodoxy.” The new treasury and finance minister has said “Turkey has no choice left but to return to a rational basis” for policymaking. “Such words will be music to the ears of many foreign investors, who have given up on Turkey over the past couple of years. But they will not count for much unless they are backed up by concrete steps to fix the country’s economy.”
Tags: Borrowing, Cabinet, Cheaper, Economist, Erdogan, Finance Minister, Inflation, Mainstream, Orthodoxy, Policy, Rational, Simsek, Treasury, Turkey
Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine calls into question the wisdom of the environmental, social and governance movement’s policy centerpiece: restricting oil and gas investment.” Moreover, “the coordinated effort to depress oil and gas production is potentially a violation of American antitrust law. This combination of bad policy and legal risk will likely” cause the movement to “lose much of its support.”
Tags: Antitrust law, Coordinated, ESG movement, Gas, Invasion, Investment, Legal risk, Oil, Policy, Production, Restricting, Russia, Support, U.S., Ukraine, Violation
Foreign Policy (March 10)
“Putin’s war could save the global economic order. In this crisis, Western countries have shaken off decades of economic policy lethargy.” Though “the short-term economic costs will be steep, the conflict might end up being the savior of the global economic order.”
Tags: Conflict, Costs, Global economic order. Crisis, Lethargy, Policy, Putin, Savior, Short term, War, Western countries
Seattle Times (August 4)
“In a sign of growing momentum for vaccine mandates, Microsoft has reversed course and will now require employees to be fully vaccinated to enter the company’s U.S. offices and other worksites.” The revised policy “follows similar moves last week by other employers including tech rivals Google and Facebook, along with Disney and Walmart.”
Tags: Disney, Employees, Employers, Facebook, Google, Mandates, Microsoft, Momentum, Offices, Policy, U.S., Vaccine, Walmart, Worksites
New York Times (December 12)
“If there is one singular issue that defines the intersection of business and policy at this moment, it is a deepening trust deficit…. Businesspeople and policy leaders are scrambling for new ways to engender trust with constituents, including shareholders, employees and regulators. Some are trying to be more transparent. Others are diving into political and social issues that used to be verboten. Perhaps more than anything, they’re speaking publicly more about their thinking.”
Tags: Business, Businesspeople, Constituents, Employees, Intersection, Leaders, Policy, Regulators, Shareholders, Singular, Trust, Trust deficit
Washington Post (December 3)
President George H.W. Bush’s remarkable legacy includes putting together “one of the finest, scandal-free Cabinets in U.S. history.” In contrast, the “current crew” is populated with “liars, braggarts and bullies” who posterity will judge harshly. “None of them will be heralded for leaving American democracy stronger than when they entered office. Neither in their personal dealings nor in their policy choices will they be seen as kind or considerate. They’ve torn up international agreements, frayed relationships (here and abroad) and deformed institutions.”
Tags: Agreements, Braggarts, Bullies, Bush, Cabinets, Democracy, Institutions, Legacy, Liars, Policy, President, Relationships, Scandal-free, U.S.
The Guardian (August 24)
“Something big is slowly stirring in the undergrowth of British politics. Fact by fact, announcement by announcement, the case for Britain to remain in the European Union’s single market and customs union is growing stronger and more irresistible by the day. Such an outcome is most definitely not this government’s policy. But, this autumn, something will have to give.”
Tags: Customs union, EU, Government, Irresistible, Outcome, Policy, Politics, Single market, UK
The Week (May 3)
“The takeaway from Trump’s first 100 days in office isn’t a list of accomplishments or failures but rather a nugget of hard-won knowledge about the president himself: He is so comprehensively ignorant of policy and history, so thoroughly lacking in a core of settled beliefs or convictions, that the Oval Office might as well be unoccupied.”
Bloomberg (December 24)
“Some climate activists worry that Donald Trump’s presidential election will be the death knell for the global environment. That’s almost certainly untrue. Whatever Trump’s attitude toward climate science and energy policy, two big outside factors will be much more important — technological progress and policy in developing nations.
Tags: Activists, Climate, Developing nations, Election, Energy, Environment, Policy, Science, Technological progress, Trump
