What We're Reading: July 2024

What We're Reading is a roundup of current news and commentary on the challenges and opportunities of aligning business decisions with the long-term health of society. This month, there's really not much getting around the splashy headlines about the U.S. Presidential race. With Joe Biden having exited the race, we turn a special focus on the economic legacy of the Biden-Harris administration. What can be learned by examining the state of business and society in the context of what came before this administration, and what may come next?

The Economy

Biden and Harris Broke the Suffocating "Washington Consensus" on Economics (Phillip Longman, The Washington Monthly) "In describing 'Bidenomics,' the administration often said it was a program to 'grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up-not from top down.' That's so vague that a swing voter might conclude that Bidenomics means taking money from some people and giving it to others, which sounds suspiciously like socialism. Instead, Bidenomics is mostly about rolling back monopoly power so that we can preserve our democracy and compete equally in pursuing the American dream." Does this article offer a persuasive diagnosis of the administration's policies, and of why they failed to translate into a political advantage for President Biden?

A Remarkable Comeback (Jim Tankersley, The New York Times) After the 2016 presidential election, talk of "left-behind" communities became the focal point of much political and societal analysis in the U.S. So, eight years later, the resurgence of these communities has to be cause for celebration, right? Well, perhaps not so fast. This article sifts through recent economic history to determine why a clear political upside from these past few years is so hard to come by.

ESG

Wall Street Starts Calling Time on ESG Labels After Backlash (Saijel Kishan, Bloomberg) Sounds like what we heard at our 2024 Aspen ESG Summit this month: "The red carpet is being formally rolled up for the three letters, ESG… In its place is 'sustainability,' a synonym many banks and money managers are using instead, amid the increasingly politicized debate over climate change and corporate diversity in the US."

US Home Insurers Suffer Worst Loss This Century (Ian Smith, The Financial Times) Semantics aside, the need for companies to stay alert to climate risks could hardly be clearer. "The figures lay bare the underwriting conditions that have sparked a pullback by US insurers from disaster-hit areas, either exiting markets or driving up prices, creating an affordability crisis for many homeowners." Bearing in mind the role that housing costs have played in driving inflation, we can't help but wonder what can break this self-reinforcing spiral: decades of inaction on climate result in higher housing costs which in turn drive inflation higher and reduce space for policy action on climate.

Worker Voice

Apple Agrees to First US Labor Deal (Chris Isidore, CNN Business) As the most recent waves of unionization begin to bear fruit, what does this suggest for the future of worker power?

Robots Sacked, Screenings Shut Down: A New Movement of Luddites Is Rising Up Against AI (Ed Newton-Rex, The Guardian) "Behind the backlash is a range of concerns about AI. Most visceral is its impact on human labour: the chief effect of using AI in many of these situations is that it deprives a person of the opportunity to do the same work. Then there is the fact that AI systems are built by exploiting the work of the very people they're designed to replace, trained on their creative output and without paying them."

Tech

Earnings Derail Stock Rally Over Doubts on AI, Consumer Strength (Natalia Kniazhevich, Carmen Reinicke, and Alexandra Semenova, Bloomberg) Workers aren't the only ones raising concerns about AI. "With Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon.com Inc. all investing heavily in the promise of artificial intelligence technology, investors are increasingly questioning how much it will pay off."

Energy Companies Turn to Robots to Install Solar Panels (Brad Plumer: The New York Times) How can we better balance the "push and pull" between productivity and good jobs? The question may pose a decisive long-term test for the economic policies instituted by President Biden aimed at boosting green jobs.

For more on our work to align business with the long-term good of society, sign up for our publications and visit our website. (Please note, the purpose of this newsletter is to highlight what Aspen BSP staff are reading, and is not intended as advertisement or endorsement of content or viewpoints.)

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