FEI Weekly

September 20, 2019

Climate advantage, CPA exam horror stories and millennial retirement fears

Climate Change as a Competitive Advantage

Slate

A “climate strike” will take place in more than 1,000 locations in the US on Friday, with major rallies in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami, in addition to more than 4,500 strikes are planned across 150 countries. Although the conventional wisdom about climate change is that it will limit economic growth -- with estimates that global temperature increases will chop 7.2 percent off per capita GDP by 2100 creating the loss of entire industries -- there will also be winners. People, places, and firms that wind up, whether by design or by coincidence, in a position to profit from the crisis and the ways we respond to it.

CPA Exam From Hell… and Canada

CBC

Over 400 Canadian accounting students faced technical difficulties that wreaked havoc with their writing of what's been called a famously difficult exam. On Day 2 of the final step to becoming a chartered professional accountant called the Common Final Examination, test takers faced a disastrous delay of more than five hours before the exam began — which itself takes five hours to complete. In addition, there was no indication of when the test would get underway so people didn't want to risk leaving and missing the exam's start even though there was no food services were available at the testing center, only a vending machine.

The Tech Unicorn Lives

Fortune

Airbnb said on Thursday that it would file for an initial public offering in 2020, marking what will be another in a string of huge Wall Street debuts for tech companies. The news of Airbnb's IPO plans follow mixed IPOs by fellow tech unicorns. While Zoom and Pinterest's have reported strong quarters since their IPOs and are trading at a premium, shares of Uber and Lyft have steadily fallen since their public premieres, fueled by huge quarterly losses. Overall, 2019 has been a good year for IPOs with the stronger performers outweighing the biggest losers.

Millennials Need a Hug and an IRA

Yahoo Finance

Most millennials think they’ll be working until they die. On Twitter, the hashtag “#MillennialRetirementPlans” recently started trending, prompting a flurry of 20- and 30-somethings to proclaim their outlook on retirement. They have a point, with a recent study finding that 1 in 3 Americans had less than $5,000 in retirement savings, while 21% had nothing saved for their retirement at all. With health care costs on the rise, the student loan debt crisis topping $1.5 trillion, and the Social Security trust fund set to run out of money in 2035, most millennials feel that the possibility of retirement is just out of reach.

How to Own the Room During Your PowerPoint

Harvard Business Review

As a speaker, it’s dispiriting when you feel you’re trying to convey important information and your audience has obviously lost interest. Phones come out, and attendees surreptitiously text underneath the table. Instead of leaning forward and nodding along with your points, they begin slouching or tapping their feet. But your only chance at being heard is finding a way —somehow — to re-engage them. There are four strategies that have helped me regain control of the room.