(^34) Best columns: Business
“For a generation, secretaries of the Treasury—
Democrat and Republican” have used the same
words when Congress has asked about U.S. currency
policy, said Nathan Sheets: “A strong dollar is in
U.S. interests.” In Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s
confirmation hearings, that phrase was notably
absent. Yellen did say that the United States would
not “seek a weaker currency to gain competitive
advantage.” This “keeps the heat on China,” which
the U.S. has accused of manipulating its currency,
and provides important leverage in currency dis-
cussions. But is the change in language actually
meant to “suggest that a strong dollar is not in
U.S. interests?” It’s not really clear. “With President
Joe Biden emphasizing a revival of U.S. manufactur-
ing,” the U.S. has an interest in lowering the price of
goods that the U.S. exports. However, the dollar has
already been on a “declining path” and could well
go lower with plans for stimulus spending “as far as
the eye can see.” The U.S. has to be careful about
giving the world the idea that we are “endorsing—
or even pursuing—dollar weakness.” That risks
creating a self-reinforcing cycle, pushing the dollar
down, inviting questions about the discipline of U.S.
economic policies, and in turn potentially weakening
“U.S. leadership in the global system.”
Yes, employers can require you to get the Covid-19
vaccine, said Forrest Briscoe, and there are sound
public-health reasons for them to do it. “Many hos-
pitals and nursing homes, as well as the U.S. military,
have required flu vaccinations for years,” and states
have immunization requirements for public schools.
With the new coronavirus vaccines, federal agencies
have sided with employers. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Office already said it will permit vac-
cinations as a condition of employment. Two U.S.
cruise lines have announced plans for a Covid-19
vaccine mandate starting this summer, and many
other employers are considering it. But while they
may be needed, vaccine requirements can set danger-
ous precedents. Reassigning vaccine-resisting employ-
ees away from certain jobs “effectively means health
data is being used in making employment decisions.”
This is of particular concern for people of color, who
are often reluctant to accept vaccines in part because
of “a history of being used as medical test subjects
without proper safeguards and consent.” Americans
are justifiably worried about employers’ collection of
health and genetic data, and we shouldn’t wave away
those concerns. Eventually, the pandemic will be
over, and we will still have to “protect privacy and
maintain equitable treatment at work.” Ge
tty
Is the U.S.
talking down
the dollar?
Nathan Sheets
Barron’s
Don’t ignore
privacy in
vaccine rules
Forrest Briscoe
NBCNews.com
Oil companies are under pressure from
“governments looking to curb green-
house gases, investors seeking better
returns, and others simultaneously
wanting both,” said Paul Takahashi
in the Houston Chronicle. Last year
was the worst on record for “the big-
gest six or seven companies collectively
known as Big Oil.” Last week, Exxon
Mobil, BP, and Shell “reported losses
for the year of $22.4 billion, $20.3 bil-
lion, and $21.7 billion, respectively, as
they grappled with a historic oil crash
wrought by the global pandemic,”
and the future looks far from certain.
President Biden has made reversing climate change a tentpole
issue, while General Motors announced recently it will phase out
gas-powered cars by 2035. Even Exxon and Chevron, which have
been “slower to acknowledge the energy transition” than rivals,
are now facing “mounting pressure from investors to change
course.” But some in the business are still resistant, insisting that
2020 was just a “reminder of how volatile the oil industry is.”
Don’t write off the oil business yet, said Grant Smith in Bloomberg
.com, because “crude is staging a remarkable turnaround.” Last
spring, the world was so glutted with oil that there was no place
to store it and prices sank below zero. But futures are now back
above $60 a barrel. One good sign for oil: China’s consumption
is back up to pre-pandemic levels. While Western demand for
“transport fuels—particularly in aviation—remains depressed,”
oil producers say demand is “roaring” for petroleum products
such as plastics “that cater to a society working at home.”
Still, Big Oil may have to consolidate
to survive, said Derek Brower in the
Financial Times. Exxon Mobil was
formed in 1998 during “the brutal
late-1990s crude price collapse.” Two
decades later, reports of the industry
further shrinking with a merger of
Exxon and Chevron is “a measure
of the panic” sweeping through the
sector. Some investors welcome the
prospect of a deal as a “reset” for two
companies already “shedding value
before the crash.” Others see it as
more writing on the wall—a signal
that oil giants are positioning them-
selves to remain “the last man standing” in a shrinking industry.
Even GM realizes “the end of fossil fuels is inevitable,” said Paul
Waldman in The Washington Post. The automaker isn’t shifting
away from gasoline just because “it cares about the planet.” It’s
making the move because the market is screaming too loudly
to ignore. GM is worth just one-tenth as much as Tesla even
though it sells five times as many cars. The question is no longer
whether there will be a “transition away from fossil fuels,” but
how it will happen. Right now, the oil business is split into two
camps, said Julia Horowitz in CNN.com. There is the European
side, with BP, Shell, and Total, which are “trying to pivot away
from oil and gas production and transform their companies.”
And there are the American giants, Exxon and Chevron, “which
have resisted major changes to their business” in the belief that
oil will boom again. Billions are being spent on each bet—and
“both sides can’t be right.”
Energy: Oil recovers as fossil fuel reckoning near
Gas prices have risen as oil demand recovers.
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