All Briefs
2021
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Proposals on Political Activity Achieve Record Support
November 08 | Merel Spierings, Senior Researcher, ESG Center, The Conference Board | Comments (0)This Alert focuses on shareholder proposals during the 2021 proxy season on three subjects: (1) political contributions, which generally seek disclosure of campaign financing policies and practices, (2) “traditional lobbying,” which typically ask for disclosure on companies’ lobbying policies and practices, and (3) a new topic, climate-related lobbying, asking companies to explain how their lobbying efforts align with the Paris Climate Agreement.
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Job Growth Increases, No End in Sight for Labor Shortages
November 05 | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Commentary on October U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report by Gad Levanon, Head of the Labor Market Institute, The Conference Board
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FOMC Meeting Reaction – Fed Begins Taper, Disagrees Over Inflation
November 03 | Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist and Leader, Economy, Strategy & Finance Center, The Conference Board | Comments (0)As expected, the Fed announced the start of tapering of its large-scale asset purchases program (LSAP), and exhibited a more hawkish tone on inflation at its November meeting.
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Are Consumer Expectations Signaling Recession?
November 01 | Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist and Leader, Economy, Strategy & Finance Center, The Conference Board | Lynn Franco, Former Senior Director, Economic Indicators and Surveys, The Conference Board | Comments (0)US consumer expectations as measured by The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index ticked up in October, but this followed three months of declines. Did the declines signal recession in 2022 or just a hiccup related to the Delta variant? We propose the latter.
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September Spending, Income, and Inflation Data Mixed
October 29 | Erik Lundh, Senior Economist, Global, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Comment on Personal Income & Outlays report for September – Erik Lundh, Principal Economist, The Conference Board
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Labor Shortages Give Rise to Rapid Wage Growth
October 29 | Michael Papadopoulos, Former Associate Economist, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Employment Cost Index report for the 3rd Quarter 2021
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Q3 2021 GDP Growth Slows on Delta Impact
October 28 | Erik Lundh, Senior Economist, Global, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Comment on US GDP report for Q3 2021 – Erik Lundh, Principal Economist, The Conference Board
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Environmental Shareholder Proposals Increasingly Focus on Climate, Compromise Harder to Reach
October 22 | Merel Spierings, Senior Researcher, ESG Center, The Conference Board | Comments (0)As we’re approaching the 26th Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, we’ve taken a closer look at climate and other environmental shareholder proposals in 2021 – and what we might expect next year.
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September retail sales continued to rise as Delta wave ebbs
October 15 | Erik Lundh, Senior Economist, Global, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Retail spending in September rose $4.6 billion to $625.4 billion for the month – up 0.7 percent from the previous month and up 13.9 percent from a year earlier. These improvements were not merely a function of rising prices: adjusted for inflation, sales were up 0.3 percent month-over-month and 8.1 percent year-over-year. As the severity of the Delta wave continues to abate, these data suggest that American consumers still have an appetite to spend as we enter the last quarter of the year.