20 June 2018 FT — Articles to Read

20 June 2018

Question: According to MSN:Lifestyle, what can you and can you not steal from hotels, planes & cruise ships?

Corporate America denounces migrant separations – Pg. 2

–          US business leaders condemned the Trump administration’s policy of forcibly separating children from Migrant families crossing the country’s southern border illegally, … (Prof Note: Why is there a need by Corporate America and/or individuals to express an opinion publicly? (rhetorical question).  Is not our vote(s) our opinion?  Is expressing an opinion in an open and public forum, could it harm one later if the winds of culture and ethics change direction?  Just thoughts I ponder.  No stated opinion here!)

US tax reforms said to drain more dollars globally than Fed – Pg. 3

–          US companies repatriating profits drained more dollars from global markets in the first quarter than did the Federal Reserve’s actions to shrink its balance sheet, ….

–          The Fed reduced its stockpile of bonds, amassed under quantitative easing, by an annual $160bn in the first three months of the year as it continued its crisis-era stimulus

–          …foreign earnings held by companies broad fell at a much steeper annual rate of $633bn in the same period, after rising by $235bn in 2017

–          The Trump administration’s tax changes impose a one-off levy on past profits held offshore and are intended to make companies bring cash stashed overseas back to the US.  As well as the one-off effect of repatriation, the new law reduces incentives for multinationals to overpay for goods they import from foreign subsidiaries.  Transferring profits to overseas subsidiaries has been a common form of tax avoidance

–          The Fed’s actions to phase out and reverse quantitative easing have worried emerging markets investors for years – notable in the “taper tantrum” of 2013 when Ben Bernanke, Fed chair at the time, outlined initial plans to halt asset purchases

–          Now, after 10 years of stimulus that quadrupled the size of its balance sheet, the central bank is gradually reversing the process by letting bonds mature rather than reinvesting them

Millennials seek to slake thirst for authenticity – Pg. 13

–          A wind of change is ripping through the consumer industries.  For decades, big meant better, consumers trusted brands they knew and convenience food was a novelty.  No longer

–          Millennial consumers – those aged 22 to 37, …are in general more healthy-conscious than their parents were at the same age.  They are drinking less alcohol, at least in developed markets

–          They are more environmentally aware – 61% feel they can make a difference to the world through their choices…

–          One of those preferences, for millennials who can afford it, is food that is healthy, fresher and has natural ingredients.  Sales for food claiming to be organic grew 10% last year in the US

Answer: Cannot Steal: Full-sized products, bathrobes, bed linen, headphones, books, proper cutlery, wine that is not given to you, mugs and glassware, plant pots; Can Steal: slippers, postcards, all the snacks, plastic tumblers, welcome flowers