What lessons can Électricité du Liban learn from EDZ to provide 24/7 Electricity — atiejelmouallem.com
Over the last decade, Électricité du Liban transfers averaged 3.8% of Lebanon’s gross domestic product (GDP) per year and accounted for around half of the overall fiscal deficit. The means that the more electricity Électricité du Liban produces the greater the public debt it loads on to Lebanese people. However, this doesn’t mean that Lebanese should get used to living with staggering electricity cuts.
Electricity is what makes humans feel civilised and gives dignity to our lives. It is one of the most essential attributes of modern life. Without electricity, we are engulfed in the dark abyss of Neverland. Our options of progress and development are linked with the availability of electricity. Failure of EDL to provide electricity also is reminiscent of the post-war failure of the state formed after the Taif Agreement. It also reminds the Lebanese of the period of the Civil war.
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UN poverty expert says Government fails population – Extreme Poverty and Human Rights — www.srpoverty.org
Highlights:
– Lebanon is not a failed State yet, but it is a failing State, with a government failing its population,” the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, said at the end of a 12-day visit to the country.
– While the population is trying to survive day-to-day, the Government wastes precious time evading accountability and scapegoating refugees from the comfort of their offices,” he said.
– Unfortunately, I heard no credible poverty alleviation plan from the Government that does not rely on international donors and non-governmental organizations.
– De Schutter said dependence on international aid is not sustainable and in fact it weakens State institutions.
– The dereliction of responsibility at top levels of political leadership is astonishing. While I met with dedicated officials at lower levels of Government, I was shocked by the disconnect between the political establishment and the reality of those in poverty on the ground.
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Broken Supply Chains Threaten Ruin at a Growing Number of Small Firms – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– Covid was tough enough to figure out in terms of consumer behavior, increased leverage,” said Lisa Donahue, global co-head of restructuring at AlixPartners. “And then you add stress on the supply chain, coupled with inflation — that makes it really complicated,” she said. “If you have high leverage and other fixed costs to start with, you’re going to find yourself getting pushed a lot closer to the edge.”
– One silver lining to the distressed drought is that investors who specialize in troubled companies have plenty of idle cash looking for something to rescue, and there’s no shortage of turnaround consultants.
– No one expects supply chains to untangle any time soon. Donahue at AlixPartners hears that normal could be anywhere from 18 to 24 months away.
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India, China, BRICs: How Top Emerging Economies Fared Over 20 Years
Highlights:
– Jim O’Neill chief economist of Goldman Sachs Group Inc launched a project built around a simple premise: the economic heft of Brazil, Russia, India and China was set to grow massively. The result was Global Economic Paper Number 66: “Building Better Global Economic BRICs,” published on Nov. 30, 2001.
– The central thesis: The global economy would in the following decades be driven by the growth of these emerging markets which had large populations to harness. It argued global policymaking forums such as the Group of Seven should be re-organized to incorporate BRIC representatives.
– I got China very right, and Brazil and Russia very right in the first decade, but the second decade for Brazil and Russia has been close to a disaster,” says O’Neill.
– Brazil started to slow due to consumer debt and weak business confidence. Oil price volatility weighed on Russia. India was rattled by the 2013 Taper Tantrum, when the Federal Reserve signaled a winding back of its bond buying program. By August 2013, Brazil and India had been lumped into the Fragile Five grouping, coined by Morgan Stanley, to capture the economies vulnerable to investor outflows (joined by Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey). China continued to power ahead, fueled by a massive borrowing binge that Beijing’s policy makers are still grappling with the legacy of even today.
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Living at AlJurf
Find Out More About Living at AlJurf
AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm.
Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards.
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Global Wealth Surges as China Overtakes U.S. to Grab Top Spot – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– Net worth worldwide rose to $514 trillion in 2020, from $156 trillion in 2000, according to the study. China accounted for almost one-third of the increase. Its wealth skyrocketed to $120 trillion from a mere $7 trillion in 2000, the year before it joined the World Trade Organization, speeding its economic ascent.
– As computed by McKinsey, 68% of global net worth is stored in real estate. The balance is held in such things as infrastructure, machinery and equipment and, to a much lesser extent, so-called intangibles like intellectual property and patents.
– Financial assets are not counted in the global wealth calculations because they are effectively offset by liabilities: A corporate bond held by an individual investor, for instance, represents an I.O.U. by that company.
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India Is Said to Take Forward-Looking Steps on Digital Currency – Bloomberg
Highlights:
– India has had a hot-and-cold relationship with digital currencies in the past few years. In 2018, it effectively banned crypto transactions after a string of frauds following Modi’s sudden decision to eliminate 80% of the nation’s currencies, but the Supreme Court struck down the restriction in March 2020.
– The Reserve Bank of India remains a critic, but is now working on a digital currency. The government may bring in a crypto bill for the cabinet’s approval.
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Why Are Private Jets in Short Supply? Billionaire Demand Surging on Cheap Debt – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– The world’s truly wealthy seem to be traveling again and wanting to do things,” said Paul Welch, founder of MillionPlus.com, an online marketplace for luxury property, yachts and jets.
– Bombardier’s Global 5500 has a top speed of 594 miles per hour and can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Moscow. Available for about $45 million, the twin-engine jet can easily touch down on tricky airfields and accommodate a dozen or so passengers.
– Few areas though are showing such strong demand as new private aircraft, driven partly by Covid-19.
– With interest rates hovering near record lows, the ultra-rich are also frequently turning to credit to fund purchases.
– The loans, usually borrowed against homes or stakes in public or private companies, provide the wealthy with cash to pay for their lifestyles without having to sell assets.
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