Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Automakers to Trump: Don’t Force Us to Build Electric Vehicles
November 12th, 2016Ok, Trump should also get rid of the fossil fuel subsidies. Via: Electrek: Not even two days after Donald Trump’s election, automakers have started their lobbying effort to weaken the requirements for fuel consumption reduction. The current goal is for a fleet average of more than 50 mpg by 2025, which would require automakers to […]
Toyota To Sell Battery Powered EVs by 2020 After Finally Realizing Fuel Cell Program Was a Disaster
November 7th, 2016Well, better to have just one lost decade than two lost decades. Good job, Toyota. Via: Electrek: The news comes as Toyota is having difficulties selling the Mirai, its hydrogen cars, in the US. Despite cutting the price on several occasions, with now a lease at only $350 (down from $500) in California, the Japanese […]
Energy Giant Shell Says Oil Demand Could Peak in Just Five Years
November 6th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s second-biggest energy company by market value, thinks demand for oil could peak in as little as five years, a rare statement in an industry that commonly forecasts decades of growth. “We’ve long been of the opinion that demand will peak before supply,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry […]
‘Spookier Than a Deranged-Looking Bozo’
October 28th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: Forget scary clowns. For finance professionals, Corporate America’s credit cycle and the U.S. economic outlook — not to mention Brexit-induced stresses and debt dynamics in Asia — are all spookier than a deranged-looking Bozo. With Halloween just around the corner, we asked top analysts around the world for charts about things that go […]
About Half a Million Solar Panels Were Installed Every Day Around the World in 2015
October 26th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — *grin* Via: IEA: The International Energy Agency said today that it was significantly increasing its five-year growth forecast for renewables thanks to strong policy support in key countries and sharp cost reductions. Renewables have surpassed coal last year to become the largest source of installed […]
The Pentagon’s ‘Terminator Conundrum’
October 25th, 2016Almost unnoticed outside of defense circles… I’ve been posting about this on here since 2002. 😐 Via: New York Times: Almost unnoticed outside defense circles, the Pentagon has put artificial intelligence at the center of its strategy to maintain the United States’ position as the world’s dominant military power. It is spending billions of dollars […]
Self Driving Truck Makes First Commercial Delivery
October 25th, 2016Via: New York Times: The futurists of Silicon Valley may not have seen this one coming: The first commercial delivery made by a self-driving truck was 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer. On Tuesday, Otto, the Uber-owned self-driving vehicle operation, announced the completion of its first commercial delivery, having delivered its beer load from Fort Collins, […]
Obamacare Premiums to Soar 22% On Average
October 24th, 2016Via: CNN: Obamacare premiums are set to skyrocket an average of 22% for the benchmark silver plan in 2017, according to a government report released Monday. The price hike is the latest blow to Obamacare. Insurers are raising prices and downsizing their presence on the exchanges as they try to stem losses from sicker-than-anticipated customers. […]
Batteries May Trip ‘Death Spiral’ in $3.4 Trillion Credit Market
October 23rd, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Bloomberg: Battery technologies starting to disrupt the electricity and automobile industries may also emerge as a trillion-dollar threat to credit markets, according to Fitch Ratings. A quarter of outstanding global corporate debt, or as much as $3.4 trillion, is linked to the utility- and […]
AT&T Announces Purchase of Time Warner for Nearly $86 Billion
October 22nd, 2016E-Corp! Via: BBC: The US telecoms giant AT&T has announced that it will buy entertainment group Time Warner for nearly $86bn (£70bn). The deal was agreed at a meeting of the two boards on Saturday but will still need to be approved by regulators. Correspondents say it is the biggest deal in the world this […]
