BUSINESS NEWS FEBRUARY 21ST, 2016
GM TO RECONSIDER INVESTMENT IN BRAZIL
The economic and political situations in Brazil are precarious, with the South American country reaching its worst recession in 25 years. Confidence in Brazilian government has dropped considerably amid plans to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. General Motors President Dan Ammann said he hopes to see both political and economic advancement in what was once one of the top five automobile markets in the world. Otherwise, Ammann added, GM would reconsider the planned $1.6 billion investment. This may be difficult as the recession in Brazil hit the auto industry particularly hard, dropping car production nearly 30%.
DISTRACTED EURO ZONE MAY BE SURPRISED BY MARKET STORM
A tumultuous start to the year for stocks set off an alert that a storm was coming. However, amid massive immigration and convincing Britain to remain part of the European Union, the euro zone may be unprepared for what is to come. Concerns over non-performing loans and a lack of profit due to official negative interest rates, coupled with new EU regulations that would put the brunt of a bank bailout on the shareholders are worrying the market. Despite these worries, financial ministers have said that there is no reason to worry at this point, adding that the euro zone is much more stable than it was in 2010.
YELP CEO: SAN FRANCISCO NEEDS TO LOWER COST OF HOUSING
In an open letter, Yelp employee Talia Jane described the struggles of living in San Francisco with low wages. After taxes, Jane calculated her hourly wage at just $8.15 per hour. She posted her letter to Medium and added that she was later let go. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman acknowledged Jane’s point, saying that he has often spoken out against the high cost of living in San Francisco. He went on to add that Talia Jane was not let go as a result of her letter.
VOLKSWAGEN REQUESTED TO MAKE ELECTRIC CARS IN U.S.
Volkswagen is currently embroiled in talks to fix over half a million diesel fueled automobiles that emit up to 40 times the legal amount of pollution. An unsourced paper said that the Environmental Protection Agency is asking the German auto manufacturer to start making electric cars in its Tennessee plant. The two parties have been involved in talks for the last five months and as of today, no solution has been presented. Both Volkswagen and the EPA declined to comment. Hans Dieter Poetsch, chairman of Volkswagen’s supervisory board, promised that the company would do everything within its power to fix this problem.