RefBan

Referral Banners

Yashi

Friday, May 9, 2014

Weathering the economic storm

View this email in your browser

A group of scientists, in conjunction with the federal government, released a new assessment this week on the state of climate change in the US, and the news is not good. "Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present", says the report. Average global temperatures have increased more than 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, and the world is likely to see between 3 and 10 degrees of warming by 2100. In April, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached the 400 parts per million threshold for the first time in human history.

The US is already seeing the effects: summers are hotter, winters are rainier, and storms are more intense. All of those things have an impact on the economy. Danny Vinik went looking for estimates of the cost of climate change on global output and found it's probably going to cost 1-3% of global GDP over the next century, although the cost will vary wildly from region to region. Africa is likely to fare worse, while Eastern Europe may even see a benefit.

"You can't outdrive a storm on a flooded highway, and you can't jet away after a storm if airport runways are flooded" writes John Upton of the US's $4 trillion transportation system, which is already being affected by climate change. The problems associated with Hurricane Sandy in New York — flooded streets, closed airports, unusable rail systems, and a $32 billion price tag — are virtually certain to become more common, especially in coastal cities. Hurricane risk is increasing, says MIT climate scientist Kerry Emanuel, even if the increased damage from the small amount of big storms that make landfall in the US isn't yet statistically significant.

Paul Krugman suggests the US needs to take quick, unilateral action, like it did when it regulated overfishing as fish populations collapsed in 1980s. "Fighting climate change isn't really all that different from saving fisheries; if we ever get around to doing the obvious, it will be easier and more successful than anyone now expects", he says. One thing the US could do that would have a huge positive impact, Krugman has suggested previously, is directly regulate electricity production to cut down on coal emissions.

Following the release of the climate report, President Obama announced a series of executive actions that are meant to promote solar energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, including a $2 billion investment in making Federal buildings more energy efficient. Congress, however, is likely to continue stalling on climate action.

Kevin Grier points out that even if the US could get its act together it wouldn't make a huge difference globally. Rebounding American fisheries didn't do a lot for the global fish population, which is still declining dramatically. "Our fish stocks are rebounding, and our carbon emissions are falling, but much of the rest of the world is moving in the wrong direction on both issues", he writes. Welcome to the world's most threatening examples of the tragedy of the commons. — Shane Ferro

On to today's links:

Oxpeckers
A correction isn't enough: Margaret Sullivan on Buffett vs Nocera - NYT

Standoffs
Amazon holds polite and productive meetings with publishers - The Awl

Regulations
The most successful anti-doping cases come from investigation, not testing - ProPublica

Alpha
Hedge funds are buying lots of student loan ABS - IFRE
Sell-side research and research paid for by the company being analyzed are equally (in)accurate - Jonathan Weil

Think of the Children
Teens who can write about money - NYT

Metaphors
A golden bull piƱata stuffed with 1,000 dollar bills - Hand and Eye

Trend Stories
Anecdotally, young bankers are decamping for the tech industry - Bloomberg

Please Update Your Records
"Modern art is much more Bitcoin than Leonardo" - Izabella Kaminska
The Chinese economy isn't as big or as wealthy as America's - Jim Pethokoukis

Burn Unit
"Self-help for the reader who worries he isn't counterintuitive enough at parties" - Nick Summers

Deals
"Apple is an iPhone company. Everything else it does is window dressing" - Kevin Roose
Publicis-Omnicom fails: "The idea for a merger started as a joke" - WSJ

Charts
The world overwhelmingly prefers terrible coffee - Quartz
3% of Americans still prefer to pay for things by check (and other details about our daily transactions) - BI
Spurious correlation of the day: Maine's divorce rate vs US consumption of margarine - BI

Housing
1 in 3 US home sales in the first quarter were all cash - WSJ

Click here to sign up for the email.

unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

 
Tweet
Share
Read Later

Business Today: Battle for control destroyed $35-billion Omnicom-Publicis merger

Click to View in Browser
05/9/2014
Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between
Battle for control destroyed $35-billion Omnicom-Publicis merger
LONDON/NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - The $35-billion merger of U.S.-based Omnicom and France's Publicis collapsed on Friday after a battle for control destroyed plans to create the world's largest advertising agency.
Dow ends at record high; Apple drags on S&P 500, Nasdaq
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow ended at a record high on Friday, boosted by IBM, while a rebound in high-growth momentum names helped the broader market.
U.S. Postal Service loss hits $1.9 billion; package volume up
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States Postal Service ended its second quarter with a net loss of $1.9 billion as first-class mail volume continued to tumble and lawmakers remained at odds over providing any financial relief, the agency said on Friday.
Oracle wins copyright ruling against Google over Android
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp won a legal victory against Google Inc on Friday as a U.S. appeals court decided Oracle could copyright parts of the Java programming language, which Google used to design its Android smartphone operating system.
Former e-commerce exec pleads guilty in eBay insider case
(Reuters) - A former executive at an e-commerce company that was acquired in 2011 by online retailer eBay Inc pleaded guilty on Friday to insider trading in connection with the takeover.
Chrysler recalls 780,477 minivans for possible overheating switch
DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit said on Friday it was recalling an estimated 780,477 minivans after reports of overheating, including some fires, in third-row power window vent switches.
Alcatel focused on revamp, CEO says of Nokia tie-up talk
PARIS (Reuters) - Alcatel Lucent is focused on its cost saving and repositioning plan and not on industry consolidation, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview after rumors this week of a tie-up with Finland's Nokia.
Global business tax clamp-down could sting U.S.: IRS official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tighter enforcement of corporate tax laws by other countries could be a problem for the United States if it means businesses pay more tax to foreign governments and cross-border disputes increase, a senior U.S. tax official said on Friday.
U.S. judge says Wal-Mart should face lawsuit over alleged Mexico bribery
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge said Wal-Mart Stores Inc does not deserve dismissal of a lawsuit claiming it defrauded shareholders by concealing suspected corruption at its Mexico operations, even after learning that a damaging media report detailing alleged bribery was being prepared.
Heineken says it is investing 500 million euros a year in Africa
ABUJA (Reuters) - Heineken plans capital expenditure of 500 million euros ($690 million) a year in Africa over the next few years to maintain sales growth, a senior executive at the world's third largest brewer told Reuters on Friday.
Related Video
Ukraine vote sparks war fears
Breakingviews: Apple showing its age
Economic News
Fed could ditch flawed 'dots' rates forecasts: Fisher
Treasury says debt payments could be prioritized in default scenario
SUBSCRIBE TO OTHER REUTERS NEWSLETTERS
Counterparties
A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today  
 Money
The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today  
» MORE NEWSLETTERS
- 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details
Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters.
Unsubscribe from this newsletter.
Follow us on Twitter facebook Friend us on Facebook Forward this newsletter to a friend Forward to a friend

Yashi

Chitika