What we’re reading (8/9)
“Layoffs Watch ’23: Non-Swiss Credit Suissers” (Dealbreaker). “Turns out UBS was saving the deepest cuts for the Far East.”
“WeWork Warns It Has ‘Substantial Doubt’ About Whether It Can Keep Going As A Business” (Insider). “The company issued what's known as a ‘going-concern’ warning. Publicly traded companies typically issue these when they're worried, broadly speaking, that they don't have the money to pay their bills over the next year, an S&P Global report on the topic explains.”
“New Lending By Mortgage REITs Has Dried Up” (Wall Street Journal). “Blackstone Mortgage Trust and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, two of the biggest mortgage real-estate investment trusts, have halted loans to any new borrowers. While these firms continued to provide financing related to existing loans, they didn’t originate any new loans during the first half of this year, according to the companies. Starwood Property Trust, another lender in the sector, has greatly decreased its appetite for new lending in recent quarters, securities filings show.”
“Behind All The Talk, This Is What Big Oil Is Actually Doing” (New York Times). “If you’ve been listening to the world’s major energy companies over the past few years, you probably think the clean energy transition is well on its way. But with fossil fuel use and emissions still rising, it is not moving nearly fast enough to address the climate crisis.”
“Why Are The Celtic Nations So Progressive?” (The Path Not Taken). “To an unusual degree, governments in Celtic nations (Ireland, Scotland and Wales) are more progressive than Celtic voters. Relevant measures reflect social justice ideology – recently, the Irish hate speech law has been controversial – yet have a wider basis than social justice ideology, the Welsh government regulating speeding and plastic bag use. This phenomenon is fascinating, shedding light on divisions between elites and voters which occur across the West.”
