Wake Up to Money Fuel for thought
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Aug 18, 2025 Anna MacDonald, an Investment Manager at Aubrey Capital, Colleen Jackson, Executive Chief of Cloud9 Insight, and Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, discuss critical economic themes. They dive into the emotional impact of the Vivergo bioethanol plant closure and the urgent need for sustainability in the UK. The trio also explores the rising demand for air conditioning in the heatwave and contrasts the UK's robotics adoption with China's advanced tech landscape, highlighting challenges for emerging businesses.
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Credible Guarantees Matter To Ukraine
- Andy Hunder emphasised Ukraine's resilience and resistance to ceding territory.
- He argued security guarantees must be credible given past broken assurances after Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal.
Markets See War Through Commodities And Defence
- Markets reacted to the war via commodity-driven inflation and increased defence spending in Europe.
- Anna MacDonald expects muted market moves but longer-term effects on oil and defence-related sectors.
Trade Deal Reshaped Bioethanol Economics
- The US-UK trade deal removed a 19% tariff and opened a 1.4bn litres quota for US ethanol imports.
- Vivergo and industry actors argue this made the UK plant commercially unviable.