business – Reinhard von Hennigs website

World Bank’s Projection of the 2021 Global Economy

How much will the global economy grow in 2021? The World Bank released its growth estimate of a 4.3% increase for 2021. However, due to the coronavirus, it may be a little lower than this, the world bank indicated. They stated that it could be as low as 1.6%. But ever 1.6% could still be very good comparing where we are right now to where we were last year. I do believe that the number will be positive, especially with the vaccine on the horizon. If the vaccine can offset some of the impacts of the pandemic, we may be in the 1%, 2%, or even 4% range.

On a side note, there is just too much of an unknown to accurately predict how the economy will turn out. The world bank acknowledges this as well. With personal experience, when I have seen the economy being on hold and the public's fear is high, humans still want to interact, conduct business, and spend money. I still don’t know how effective the vaccine is and how long it’ll take for most people to get it, but once people do start getting the vaccine, the likelihood of people spending more money and conducting more business after is high which will be a boost for the economy for the year to come. What are your projections for the upcoming year? Let me know, I would love to hear from you.

#329, January 2021, World Bank, economy, COVID, business, vaccine.

Shortage of CO2

Did you know that there is a shortage of CO2? No, this is not about global warming, this is about the fizz in the glass. Because we are driving less, because there is less ethanol production, because so many things are changing because of COVID, there is also a reduction in the production of CO2. I didn’t know until recently that companies who are reselling the Carbon Dioxide byproduct, are selling less ethanol or other products that produce CO2, therefore, CO2 is in short supply and high demand. Brewers are now paying up to 25% more than they used to pay for CO2 a year ago.

The sudden increase in prices for CO2 products and the decrease of CO2 also means that cans of carbonated drinks like soda could become more scarce. You may not be shopping as much, I know I’m not shopping as much, but I heard reports that the variety of flavors from carbonated drinks are also limited. So, what are my takeaways from this CO2 shortage? If you are operating your product from a byproduct, make sure that the byproduct is still available if the main product is no longer being produced. In other words, what could a company have done better to secure their supply? My second takeaway is that if you are operating with a byproduct, what could an alternate business model be for you to stay successful. Both are the initial questions that come to mind when I realize that my very own water bubbling machine at home is becoming harder and harder to be refilled.

#326, January 2021, CO2, beer, soda, carbonation, byproduct.