4, August 2019
US: Is Boeing too big to fail? 0
The grounding of the 737 MAX for more than four months after two deadly accidents has tarnished Boeing’s reputation, but it still has the confidence of US policymakers.
This is despite the fact that one of the MAX flight systems, the MCAS, has been cited in both accidents.
Is this an indication that the American aerospace giant is too big to fail?
President Donald Trump, whose mantra is “America first,” certainly criticized Boeing early in his administration over the presidential plane, Air Force One, but he has been largely silent about the recent woes.
The wave of negative press about the flaws that caused the deaths of 346 people did not prompt legislators to summon Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg before Congress to inflict on him the kind of humiliation Wall Street bankers were subject to following the global financial crisis.
“Boeing is one of the engines of the US economy, it’s way too big and too important for the United States,” said Michel Merluzeau, an expert at Air Insight Research.
– Political ties –
If American politicians were to attack the manufacturer, they would be shooting themselves in the foot, Merluzeau said, because “there are many jobs involved, a very, very numerous supply chain and it cannot be replaced with Facebook or Google that don’t produce anything tangible.”
Founded 103 years ago, Boeing employs more than 150,000 people around the world, the vast majority in the United States.
In addition to direct jobs, its subcontractors — like General Electric (GE), United Technologies and Spirit Aerosystems — are large US industrial employers.
The location of Boeing plants resembles a political campaign map, with facilities in Republican strongholds like Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, and Democratic areas like California and Washington, as well as states that helped Trump win the election: Pennsylvania and Arizona.
And Muilenburg has shown political savvy in his picks for the company’s board of directors, naming Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, and Caroline Kennedy, ally of former president Barack Obama and daughter of former president John F. Kennedy.
– Air Force One –
Boeing is a dominant player not just in civilian aircraft but in the defense and space industries, and is a major supplier to the Pentagon.
The company produced the famous B-17 and B-29 bombers of World War II and the B-52 used the Vietnam War. Today it produces a variety of aircraft including the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, Apache attack helicopters, the B-1 bomber and combat drones.
It also is part of SpaceX, which will manage travel to the International Space Station.
And Boeing manufactures the presidential plane, the iconic Air Force One.
But Boeing also “can be used as a strategic tool,” said Arthur Wheaton, a professor at Cornell University in New York.
Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft are part of trade negotiations with Beijing, according to a source, since that can be a fast way to reduce the US trade deficit.
US civilian aircraft exports fell 12 percent to $20.4 billion in May, due to the MAX crisis, which affected the GDP, according to government data.
AFP
14, August 2019
African Americans lack proper access to US banks 0
Many black people in the United States have difficulty saving money partly because they lack access to traditional banking services, contributing to the growing racial wealth gap in the US, a new study has found.
Many African Americans depend on more expensive alternative financial services like check-cashing counters since there are fewer banks in non-white neighborhoods, according to the study published on Tuesday by McKinsey & Co.
Increasing access to basic banking services, like checking and savings accounts, could save individual black Americans up to $40,000 over their lifetime, the report found.
“Black families are being underserved and overcharged by institutions that can provide the best channels for saving,” said the report authored by McKinsey partners Shelley Stewart and Jason Wright.
In majority-white communities, there are an average of 41 banks and financial institutions for every 100,000 people, compared with 27 in neighborhoods that are majority non-white, the study said.
However, more expensive alternative financial services like payday lending are more readily available in black neighborhoods, the report said.
Additionally, banks in black communities typically require higher account balances to avoid service fees, the study said.
The US racial wealth gap has expanded significantly over the last two decades, with the wealth of the average white family growing 10 times higher than the average wealth of a black family, according to government data.
The white household had a net worth of $171,000 while average black and Hispanic households had a median net worth of $17,600 and $20,700 respectively.
“When you bridge that gap, the money is not just going to black pockets, it’s going to everyone’s pockets,” Wright told Reuters.
America’s racial income inequality and corporate greed has become a focus of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
Critics say the tax policies of US President Donald Trump has funneled vast amounts of money to the wealthiest Americans while offering only modest benefits to lower income taxpayers.
Source: Presstv