Moving at the blinding speed of bureaucracy, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has finally adopted a rule that requires manufacturers to report on their use of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Schadenfreude is the act of deriving pleasure from observing the misfortunes of others. It helps to explain our enjoyment of tragedy, comedy and reality TV. It's also a convenient emotion to access when we read about economies that are in worse shape than ours. We would be well-advised, however, not to submit to the urge to feel superior to the slow-motion train wreck that is the European Union. What's happening in that dysfunctional coalition promises to have severe consequences for U.S. exporters.
There was a bit of good economic news last week, with the announcement that U.S. retail sales rose 0.8 percent in July. That was the biggest gain since February, and well above the 0.3 percent that economists had predicted. So is the economy finally recovering?
Over the last five years, the word "hedge" has become something of a dirty word. Think hedge funds - those massive, unregulated accumulations of capital that played a key role in bringing about the Great Recession. The idea of protecting oneself against adverse economic conditions seemed sound, but it quickly mutated into a bewildering flurry of transactions that ended up creating more risk than they were designed to mitigate. What's more, the original concept behind hedge funds became watered down to the point that many today aren't really "hedging" against anything. They're simply a means for investors to park their money with a trusted fund manager who might or might not repay that trust in the form of steady returns - all with minimal regulatory oversight.
Nearly all major ocean carriers have announced plans to stop providing chassis to U.S. truckers at key shipping locations. But it's far from clear how that decision will play out.