Numerous issues are being hashed out at the Bloomberg Equality Summit to look into how the economy is developing, including the potential that the war in Ukraine may last for quite some time, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (March 22).
At the Summit, Visa CEO Al Kelly said the Ukrainian war is likely to drag on for a while due to Russia underestimating the opposition. Kelly added that the situation is not likely to be something that goes on for “two or three weeks,” and that Visa would be “into it for the long term.”
Many business leaders gathered at the Summit to look into what has changed in the last few years and how to measure those changes, including those related to COVID, protests and other such things.
The pandemic created problems across the board due to the economic issues with supply chains and people shifting their modes of operation to more digital means. Furthermore, protests have come with more calls for economic and racial equality.
Meanwhile, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said the company plans to offer more private label brands for sustainability, following the Oak line which the company debuted in spring 2021.
The company has been debuting more ways to boost representation of Black vendors on its supply chain, dedicating 15% of its shelf space to Black brands in November 2020.
The Bloomberg report also quoted Sharon Bowen, chair of the New York Stock Exchange, who said it’s frustrating that wide swathes of issues like environmental, social and governance issues are all lumped into the term ESG. She said they’re “very different” and some companies only focus on certain parts of it.
“For them, it’s deciding on what’s really important to their investor, what’s important to the employees,” which is constantly evolving, Bowen said, according to the report. “I don’t view these on political terms. It’s more what’s best for communities, what’s best for employees and how do we retain talent.”
On March 16, PYMNTS wrote that the Federal Reserve was likely to raise interest rates for the first time since 2018 as a 40-year inflation spike was going on.
See also: Inflation, Interest Rates Straining Consumers’ Brand Loyalty
The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said there might be further increases in the next few months if inflation doesn’t fall soon. Events like the Russian war in Ukraine, along with new COVID cases in China, have made the outcomes less certain.
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