Chemical shippers push back on rising rail cargo rates
The average shipping cost per railcar has jumped 93% since 2001, according to the American Chemistry Council. Dow Chemical and other shippers are asking for a Surface Transportation Board mandate that would allow shippers to switch railroads mid-journey. The board is considering the request but has not set a deadline for a decision, spokesman Dennis Watson said. Bloomberg
(8/21)
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Plastics M&A could be at peak this year
The current cycle of mergers and acquisitions in the plastics industry has reached its peak this year, according to plastics M&A veteran Thomas Blaige. Valuations for plastics businesses will likely trend down afterward, so businesses considering a sale or buyout should take advantage of the current up cycle, he said. PlasticsNews.com
(8/20)
STEM crisis in U.S. workforce may not be true
The oft-cited shortage of workers science, technology, engineering and math fields may not be real, Peter Sacks writes. He cites a report from Robert Charette that says U.S. schools every year "grant more STEM degrees than there are available jobs." TheFiscalTimes.com
(8/19)
Other News
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Camouflage adapts to surroundings
A temperature-sensitive dye combines with heat-controlling silicon circuits to create a surface that provides camouflage that adjusts to different environments. The development by materials scientist John Rogers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and marine biologist Roger Hanlon at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., mimics the camouflage employed by octopuses, squid and cuttlefish. PopularMechanics.com
(8/18)
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How can CEOs be refocused on the long term?
Too many executives are encouraged to squeeze value out of their companies through share buybacks and other means instead of trying to create lasting value, argue Steve Denning and William Lazonick. "What is clear [is] that the solution to fundamental institutional failure goes beyond passing a few regulations or changing the behavior of a few CEOs," Denning writes. "It involves a whole set of institutions: business firms, institutional investors, legislators, regulators and business schools will need to think and act differently." Forbes
(8/18), Harvard Business Review
(9/2014)
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