The plunge in interest rates is wreaking havoc on funds. In the Netherlands, the government has come under pressure to change retirement system rules so schemes can effectively shrink deficit. One of the Netherland’s biggest industry-sector funds plans to cut the pensions by up to 10%. Millions more around the world are facing the same retirement insecurity.

Prodded by their own governments into slashing emissions and getting out of coal, European companies are a step ahead of their US counter parts. “There’s definitely a trend here,” said Peter Henry, managing director at HW Anderson Ltd. in New York. “There are opportunities for them to apply similar strategies that have worked in Europe.”

In a recent UBS survey of wealthy investors and entrepreneurs, U.S. investors reported having 21% of their portfolios in cash, on average. Over the last 40 years, the dollar has done more declining than appreciating. If you’re earning 1% or 2% on your cash and the dollar starts to fall, you will see your purchasing power erode very quickly.

The idea of investing in private pension insurance should be suppressed, because new contracts are hardly worthwhile. Classic private annuity policies offer new customers only a maximum guaranteed interest of 0.9 percent. Negative interest is to blame. Pension insurers are now increasingly investing in equities, real estate and renewable energies.

The European Central Bank should consider issuing a public digital currency, an EU draft document said. In its most ambitious version, the project could allow consumers to use electronic cash, which would be directly deposited at the ECB, without the need for bank accounts, financial intermediaries or clearing counterparties.

The Swiss National Bank's new system means less of banks’ reserves get hit. But it gives the central bank more room to push rates even further below zero, if the economic situation deteriorates or the franc starts to appreciate. Banks are finally realizing that negative rates are going to be around for a long time.

At Sydbank A/S, EO Karen Frosig says she’s going to need to pass on negative rates to a record number of retail depositors. She also said she may need to cut the rate on their accounts below the central bank’s benchmark of minus 0.75%. In Denmark, the central bank uses negative rates for the sole purpose of defending the krone’s peg to the euro.

Germany gets 23.5% of its energy from wind. But in the first half of 2019, only 35 wind turbines were added — an 82% drop compared with 2018. Last year was bad, too: Just 743 turbines were added, compared with 1,792 in 2017. Local opponents of the wind farms often go to court to stall new developments or even have existing towers dismantled.

Report released by the Rocky Mountain Institute. Public policy, manufacturing, research and development, and economies of scale will drive battery performance higher while pushing costs as low as $87/kWh by 2025 (currently $187/kWh). These changes are already contributing to cancellations of planned natural-gas power generation.

The market for green bonds has exploded, with global sales increasing by more than 300% in the past five years to reach $162 billion this year. The Bloomberg Barclays Euro Green Bond Index shows a total return of 18% since 2014. Investors appear entirely unwilling to forgo wealth to invest in environmentally sustainable projects.

The European Central Bank has been buying the debt as part of its asset repurchase program. Hungary and France’s central banks have each created funds dedicated to ecological investments. The Bank for International Settlements started an open-ended fund for central bank investments in green bonds last month.

“The nuclear sector has to get back on track. It’s a question of energy sovereignty...” Le Maire told a news conference, after unveiling a government-backed audit of setbacks at EDF’s Flamanville 3 nuclear project in France. It has also had to hike its cost estimates for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant it is building in Britai