The Latest Trending Economic, Environmental and Infrastructure News Curated for You by The Balmoral Group
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Happy Friday!
Fall is in the air at the Seattle, Washington TBG office as the native Vine Maple trees are dazzling folks with their vibrant leaf shades of gold, orange, and cherry reds. Did you know this enchanting woodland landscape plant is a great option for erosion control, while also providing habitat for wildlife and food for pollinators?
Next week is a big week for The Balmoral Group as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary! Please join us as we appreciate our colleagues, clients and team. If you are in the Winter Park FL area next Thursday evening (October 24th), be sure to stop by! RSVP here.
If you find yourself in the Western Washington area and looking for some fall fun, I recommend heading over to Heronswood Garden for their annual Haunted Heronswood festival of fright. This botanical garden, owned by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, provides an illuminated pumpkin trail and spooky spectres in the woodland, while also showcasing exotic and native plants. If you're in the Central Florida area, check out Clermont's Harvest Festival, featuring a charming pumpkin patch, delicious food, and artisan vendors! Happy Spooky Season!
This week, we bring stories about the Nobel Prize winners in economics, federal funding for roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters, soft landing economic predictions, and more! We hope you enjoy the read and let us know what you think! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested. If you’d like to view previous editions please click here, or to subscribe please click here!
Have a great weekend!
Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded this Week
This week, the Nobel Prize in economics was announced for Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson. Their work evaluated the role of institutions in economic growth. They found that in disease prone nations, extractive industries dominated, underpinned by autocratic regimes. Unless Democratic institutions prevailed in these disease prone nations, higher economic growth would be underpinned. Summaries of their work can be found here and here.
FHWA Approves $802M for Roads and Bridges Damaged by Natural Disasters
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provided $802 million to 36 states and two territories to repair and replace roads and bridges that have been damaged by natural disasters. Some of the states receiving the largest investments include $97.5 million for Florida for Hurricane Ian, $56.3 million for Puerto Rico for Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and $49.4 million for Vermont for damage sustained during various severe storms, flooding events, landslides, and mudslides. The full list of projects receiving Federal-aid Highways Funds (ERFA) can be found on FHWA’s website here, while the list of Federally-owned Highways Funds (ERFO) projects can be found here.
JPMorgan Chase Claims “Soft Landing” for U.S. Economy
JPMorgan Chase reported strong results for the U.S. Economy, indicating a potential “soft landing” with lower inflation and healthy growth, as both consumers and large companies remain confident. Despite a 2% decline in profit, the bank exceeded expectations due to robust lending profits, with revenue rising 7%. While deposit balances shrank and expected loan losses in credit cards increased, executives assured that consumers are still on solid footing, though low-income customers face challenges. Overall, the economic outlook appears positive, with JPMorgan raising its net interest income forecast for the year, even as concerns about macroeconomic and political risks linger. Read more here.
US EPA Report Shows 4 Percent Decrease in GHG’s in 2023
This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the most recent annual data collected under its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which collects data from direct emitter and upstream suppliers of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The data show that direct GHG’s from large stationary sources decreased by about 4% from 2022 to 2023. Power plants, which represent the largest stationary source of emissions, saw a decline of 7.2% over the same time period, reflecting the long-term trend of power sources shifting from coal to natural gas. Natural gas and petroleum systems had an increase of 1.4% during the time period, while emissions from other sources decreased by 1.1%. Read more here.
Google’s AI Improving Environmental Monitoring
The AI-powered system called Cloud Score+ is providing more clear and detailed images of ecosystems and locations frequently covered by clouds. From satellite imagery, constant clouds and their shadows can disrupt clear images of some of Earth’s most biodiverse lands such as important rainforests known for notorious cloud cover. With the assistance of Google’s Cloud Score+, AI is implemented into scoring every pixel in a series of satellite images of a region to obtain the highest quality pixels for visualizations of these lands in one cloud-free image. Impacts of climate change, illegal logging and mining, disease outbreak, and more precise monitoring and detecting can be done more with the help of this tool causing joy within the research field. Read more about the story and a quick animation of how it works here, image accredited to Google Research showcasing a cloud-free image of the Himalayas.
Giant Hornet Potentially Spotted in Washington Once Again
On October 3rd, the first sighting in three years of what could potentially be a Northern giant hornet was reported to the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). Northern giant hornets, also called Asian giant hornets, are an invasive pest in Washington that can eradicate entire beehives in a matter of hours, posing extreme risks to native pollinators. WSDA received two reports in 2019 of these invasive hornets, which led to the eradication of four hornet hives by the end of 2021; until now, these were the last reported in the state. According to a spokeswoman for WSDA, Karla Salp, the photos received from a home in Kitsap County, WA looked consistent with a Northern giant hornet, though it would be another week or two to collect and test for confirmation. Read more here and here. Washington readers can also report sightings via WSDA’s website.
World’s 26 Least Developed Countries in Highest Debt Burden Since 2006
According to the World Bank, the least developed countries are facing the worst debt burden since 2006, and this can be attributed in part to their heavy borrowing during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to primary deficits to triple. About half of the 26-low income-economies are caught up in debt distress or are at a high risk of it. The average debt-to-GDP ratio in these countries stands at an all-time high of 72%. In order for these countries to escape from this situation and meet key development goals, there is a need to speed up investment to a pace without precedent. Read more here.
Data Visualization of the Week
EV Adoption Rates Inconsistent Nationwide
As of 2023, roughly 4% of all registered light-duty vehicles are either electric, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid, over double since 2016. However, EV adoption isn’t consistent nationwide, with western states registering electric vehicles at a higher rate, followed by the east coast. Middle and Midwest states are also adopting EVs, but at a slower pace. Overall, hybrid vehicles make up most of the electric adoption, but fully electric vehicles are catching on especially in states like California, Hawaii, Florida, and New Jersey. Read more here.
Click the visual below for more information.
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