EuroWire November 2016

Transatlantic Cable

in the post-war period. But, in late August, economists at J P Morgan Chase & Co said the probability that the country would enter a recession in the ensuing 12 months had climbed to 37 per cent, the highest for the current expansion cycle. Mr Timiraos on 2 nd September wrote that economists at Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting rm, reported USA third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) running at a 3.4 per cent gain. Economists at Goldman Sachs were projecting a 2.8 per cent gain; J P Morgan economists, a 2 per cent increase. † The voters who would be heading to the polls on Election Day (8 th November) were roughly evenly divided in their attitude toward the economy.

The USA economy

With neither an impending slowdown nor a strong upturn in the cards, a raucous presidential campaign is in economic stasis 5 th September – Labor Day, the traditional end of summer in the USA – marked as well the commencement of the nal stretch of the presidential campaign. Writing a few days earlier in the Wall Street Journal , Nick Timiraos considered the most recent important economic report: in August, American employers added 151,000 jobs and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 per cent. In his view, such news imparted no obvious bene t to either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as they entered the last phase of the race. The jobs report indicated neither an impending slowdown that might boost Mr Trump, the Republican nominee; nor the strong upturn that would free Mrs Clinton, the Democratic contender, to more tightly embrace the economic record of President Barack Obama. (“US Economic Data Not Seen Helping Either Candidate for President,” 2 nd September) To be sure, Mr Timiraos noted, the economy is generally sturdy and the worst-case economic fears for Democrats this year had not materialised. Hiring in May slowed sharply, but that proved an aberration. Growth over the next three months averaged 232,000 jobs, close to the highest level of the year. On the campaign trail, Mrs Clinton conducted a careful balancing act, praising the administration’s policies while also acknowledging economic anxieties. In August, in Philadelphia, she reminded her audience that Mr Obama had saved the economy from the worst nancial crisis since the 1930s, rescued the auto industry, and imposed tougher rules on Wall Street to prevent a rerun of the recession of 2008. But at other events, in Iowa, Ohio and Michigan, her remarks on the economy omitted mention of Mr Obama and focused instead on stubborn problems like income inequality. Also in August, in Warren, Michigan, she said: “The tide is not rising fast enough, and it’s certainly not lifting all boats.” For his part, Mr Trump declined to bother with ne distinctions. His economic adviser David Malpass said in a statement that immigration – both legal and illegal – has “destroyed upward mobility, consumer purchasing power, and the tax base of state, local and federal governments.” † Providing context, the Wall Street Journal observed that the USA expansion, now in its eighth year, is the fourth-longest

Image: www.bigstockphoto.com Photographer Zsolt Ercsel

Automotive

Ford’s Dagenham Centre in Essex: redeeming the reputation of diesel, rede ning what it means to be ‘green’

In the matter of fuel economy and tailpipe emissions, today’s diesel vehicles may be as eco-friendly as their gasoline-fuelled counterparts; but persuading car buyers of that is uphill work. Ford Motor Co, which launched its EcoBlue diesel engine in April, takes a two-pronged approach to the public relations e ort. The carmaker says it is prepared to demonstrate that its new engine is as e cient to manufacture as it is to run, with energy and water use at the company’s Dagenham Diesel Centre in Essex, UK, shaved by an impressive 50 per cent. Writing in New Atlas (formerly Gizmag ), the Liverpool-based tech writer Stu Robarts reviewed the high-technology engineering and manufacturing facility at Dagenham, operated by Ford of Britain. The largest Ford diesel engine facility anywhere had been dedicated to the company’s TDCi diesel engine. Now, a newly installed production line is turning out 350,000 EcoBlue engines per year, with that total set to rise to 500,000 when a second phase of production begins in 2017. Mr Roberts was told that water consumption per engine at the plant will be among the lowest at any Ford facility, for a savings of 3.9 million gallons per year as compared with usage in 2011. The ‘minimum quantity lubrication’ (MQL) machining tools in use on the new line will reportedly account for almost 3.6 million

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November 2016