Andre Romelle Young's Profile

This is really interesting and a perspective on climate change that I had not previously considered. Perhaps less commercial, I can’t help but think of the geo-political implications of such a port emerging. It is no secret that the Suez and Panama canals are of utmost importance to Western economies, and the US government has gone to great lengths to preserve these routes (http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/08/world/failed-coup-bush-team-noriega-special-report-panama-crisis-disarray-hindered.html?pagewanted=all). Given that, Ruastom would likely need to weigh broader political factors along with climate ones to determine the long-term feasibility of such projects.

I found the idea that nearly the enterprise value of CPGs to be driven by expected future growth to be very interesting. A lot of the strategies the traditional CPGs and Unilver have historically taken have been on the back-end – from procurement to operations to distribution – I’m curious if these companies, particularly with their marketing might, can do more to impact end consumer behavior. They have a keen understanding of order frequency and behavior, and have nudged consumers along the way to buy more, trade up, etc. I wonder if they can’t put those same learnings and capabilities to helping consumers trade off between more and less environmentally friendly behaviors.

Paul, thanks for this. Really interesting dilemma faced by Australia. Am curious how much of the isolationism in this specific context is driven by the results of the UK Brexit vote and the 2016 US elections versus the increasing strength of Australia’s neighbors and the Obama administration’s “Asia Pivot”. I also wonder if this makes sense if the Australian government decides to build the capabilities internally for long-term independence versus a one-time project for potential political reasons.

This is very interesting – did not realize the scale of the NHS as well as the dependence on EU labor. The potential for a provider shortage is very concerning – I’m curious if on the policy level the UK has explored using technologies like telemedicine or virtual providers to provide care for patients in case a deal doesn’t come to fruition, given the lack of contingency planning in place.

This is great. Had no idea the percentage of revenue coming from Mexico. Are there any high level estimates as to the % impact on the broader US economy and KCS specifically if NAFTA is pulled back?

I’m also curious if this would impact all the other big railroad providers (e.g., BNSF, UP) equally or if KCS has unique exposure to Mexico.

Kaye really enjoyed this. I think the biggest risk I see for Jet.com/Walmart is the lack of availability of same-day delivery. I think Walmart should consider buying a same day logistics provider to power deliveries for both Walmart and Jet. I think that Jet will be able to compete against Amazon on categories and price, but Amazon will continue pushing the frontier. For example, Amazon is rolling out Amazon Flex which powers same day delivery directly form Amazon’s fulfillment centers near big cities. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-05/amazon-is-said-to-test-own-delivery-service-to-rival-fedex-ups

Amazon has done a wonderful job the past 12-18 months pushing into the digital age (acquisition of Jet, Bonobos, etc.) Acquiring a logistics provider would help cement its pivot

Faraz, this is really helpful. It’s interesting that United Health Care has used Clayton Christenen’s theory on disruptive innovation by setting up a subsidiary unit in Optum to help accelerate its innovation. As I understand it most of Optum’s revenue is generated from services, not from the payor / insurance side. Do you think that UHG can stand up a similar unit to Optum or Bright Health? Or is that not necessary for UHG to continue to be a key player in the insurance space.