As the war in Ukraine drags on, there is still international motivation to maintain economic pressure on the Putin regime. To do that, the G7 is trying to continue to figure out ways to cut off sources of revenue for the Russian government. Since Russia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters – it was the top exporter before the war – one way to do that is via price caps on Russian oil. These price caps would substantially impede fossil fuel revenues upon which Russia depends to finance its war. On Monday, there were news reports that the G7 has agreed in principle to an oil deal that would severely restrict these revenues.
Details about the deal, including how it would be enforced, are still not widely known. Leaders of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United — as well as India and other countries are debating the plan. India is especially key here, since the country, like China, has been happily buying Russian oil and gas given skyrocketing prices in the international market. The G7 has also announced that it will ban the import of Russian gold. This is a method through which Russia makes tens of billions of dollars. Although there are still plenty of buyers like Switzerland and China, these actions are likely to further isolate Russia from the international financial system.
Business Address Abortion
As a business magazine, we try to be as apolitical as possible. Most multinational companies are the same, although American companies have been decidedly more supportive of social causes (as is apparent with the corporate support of LGBT Pride throughout June). But the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means that abortion is no longer a constitutionally protected right in the United States after 49 years. Some thirteen states will ban the practice almost immediately, while many more will severely restrict it. Because of this massive change, companies across the country are moving quickly to show their support for reproductive rights. Because the court’s decision was leaked several months ago, companies began creating policies back in May in preparation for the eventual verdict. Many of them plan to help employees access services that they cannot obtain in their state. Most companies will be covering travel expenses for employees that have to cross state lines to receive adequate care. The list of companies leading the way is substantial: Starbucks, Tesla, Yelp, Airbnb, Microsoft, Netflix, Patagonia, DoorDash, JPMorgan, Chase, Levi Strauss, Paypal, and Reddit. Other companies like Disney and Meta (formerly Facebook) have joined this list after the verdict was publicly released.
In recent years, companies and organisations have been putting their money where their mouths have been. If a state passed a law that was seen to prohibit the rights of certain citizens, it was quite common for companies to cancel events that might bring significant revenue to the state. We can expect those 13 states that have banned abortion will face considerable blowback from the business community.