Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bloomberg P and L Podcast. I'm Pim Fox.
Speaker 1: Along with my co host Lisa Abramowitz. Each day we
Speaker 1: bring you the most important, noteworthy, and useful interviews for
Speaker 1: you and your money, whether at the grocery store or
Speaker 1: the trading floor. Find the Bloomberg P L Podcast on iTunes,
Speaker 1: SoundCloud and at Bloomberg dot com. We are broadcasting live
Speaker 1: from the Women for Climate Conference at Columbia University Low
Speaker 1: Library and the City of New York, and we are
Speaker 1: also expecting a press conference scheduled by Federal Reserve Chair
Speaker 1: Janet Yellen following the conclusion of a two day f
Speaker 1: O m C meeting at which it is widely expected
Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates twenty five basis points.
Speaker 1: Here to tell us more. Nriana Coacha Lakota, Bloomberg View
Speaker 1: Columnists also happens to just be the former president of
Speaker 1: the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. Nrianna Cutchlacarta, thank you very much
Speaker 1: for being with us. I want you to just begin,
Speaker 1: maybe by describing what is it like to sit at
Speaker 1: the table at these meetings, and maybe you can tell
Speaker 1: us if you've ever been to any of them. On
Speaker 1: a virtual basis, like by a video because that's the
Speaker 1: sort of essence of one of your columns that I
Speaker 1: want to bring up. Yeah, no, thanks for having me
Speaker 1: on tim. UM. No. The regular meetings are held in Washington. UM.
Speaker 1: We all sit around a large one of the biggest
Speaker 1: tables you've ever seen in your life, and try to
Speaker 1: hash through the policy and economic issues at the time
Speaker 1: to to get to to get to a good decision. UM.
Speaker 1: People are usually really prepared remarks that they've put together
Speaker 1: with the help of their staffs. UM and UH. But
Speaker 1: I think that is there a specific order. It's that
Speaker 1: the order is usually the chair goes last in the
Speaker 1: two different go hounds that we have. So there's an
Speaker 1: discussion the economy where the chair will go last, and
Speaker 1: then the chair typically goes last the discussion of what's
Speaker 1: going to be done with policy. But other than that,
Speaker 1: it's pretty flexible. People will go in different orders depending
Speaker 1: on where they want to be, and it's the secretary
Speaker 1: of the committee will will hash it out. It's nothing
Speaker 1: really predetermined there. On the video conferences, UM, those are
Speaker 1: hald on a more ad hoc basis. UM. Sometimes on
Speaker 1: for emergencies that come up during the course of the
Speaker 1: between the in the regular scheduled meetings, but sometimes just
Speaker 1: because the committee wants to do a deeper dive into
Speaker 1: two two questions before coming together. And I always found
Speaker 1: those very useful when I was on the committee. UM.
Speaker 1: The thing is, you can't get everyone in Washington on
Speaker 1: a on an ad hoc basis, but so then you'll
Speaker 1: you'll end up doing things by by video conference. You know, Marianna,
Speaker 1: I was noticing that you wrote to us ahead of
Speaker 1: this that you will be against the FED raising rates
Speaker 1: by a quarter of a percentage point. UH today Why yeah,
Speaker 1: So I have a thanks for the question, that's UH.
Speaker 1: I think I have a couple of reasons where I
Speaker 1: would be pretty cautious about raising rates at this time time.
Speaker 1: So one is that I continue to think there's more
Speaker 1: slack and labor markets than UH than I think most
Speaker 1: members of the FOMC do UM. And the reason I
Speaker 1: say that is we've continue to see very strong employment
Speaker 1: growth UM. Most economists think that over the longer run,
Speaker 1: employment growth has to settle down something in the low
Speaker 1: hundreds per months hundred thousand per months as opposed to UM.
Speaker 1: The the the numbers we've been seeing which are really
Speaker 1: closer to two hundreds. And so given that we've seen
Speaker 1: that kind of fast employment growth without seeing high inflationary
Speaker 1: pressures or wage pressures, that's really a strong signal that
Speaker 1: we have still a lot of slack left and labor markets,
Speaker 1: and the the committee should be really uh doing what
Speaker 1: it and to facilitate the that that taking up of
Speaker 1: that flat by the economy. Well, but Marianna, aren't you
Speaker 1: a little bit concerned about these incredible enthusiasm that we've
Speaker 1: seen in stock markets and in junk bond markets and
Speaker 1: other areas that you know, frankly have stemmed from this
Speaker 1: low rate environment. I mean, isn't it the FEDS responsibility
Speaker 1: to try to uh inject some discipline into markets that
Speaker 1: may not otherwise be there. I don't see that. I
Speaker 1: never thought that as a FED. Fed's job. It's not
Speaker 1: the job that's Mandy to buy Congress. The job is
Speaker 1: to promote max employment and promote price stability. Uh. Their
Speaker 1: concerns on the financial side, UM, the Dodd Frankine introduced
Speaker 1: a number of changes in the regulatory system. The FED
Speaker 1: has responsibility those through the Board of Governors. Uh if
Speaker 1: if IF a FETE is worried about financial institutions taking
Speaker 1: on too much risk. They have a number of tools
Speaker 1: that are disposal through through their regulatory function where they
Speaker 1: can can start to start to bring pure pressure to
Speaker 1: bear on those institutions. It's not monetary policy is just
Speaker 1: way too blunt and frankly, just too an effective a
Speaker 1: tool to be used in that kind of kind of
Speaker 1: kind of disciplining device. Can you tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about the process of selecting new presidents of the
Speaker 1: Board of Governors as well as those that sit on
Speaker 1: the committee, because I believe we're going to get a
Speaker 1: new president in the Atlanta FED, but then the president
Speaker 1: also has some appointments that could reshape the Federal Reserve. Right.
Speaker 1: We just got announced this week that UM there was
Speaker 1: a new president for the Federals of Bank of Atlanta,
Speaker 1: replacing retiring Dennis Lockhart. Raphbaiel Bostic is going to be
Speaker 1: replaced Dennis um And that appointment process is that the
Speaker 1: Board of Directors and the UH subset of the Board
Speaker 1: of Directors, those who are not bankers UH in Atlanta
Speaker 1: UM name appoint Mr Bostic subject to the approval of
Speaker 1: the Board of Governors in Washington and UH I think
Speaker 1: I think it's notable that you know Mr bostick Is,
Speaker 1: I think brings a great range of experiences both in
Speaker 1: the public sector and an academ um, and he is
Speaker 1: the first African American to be a president of a
Speaker 1: reserve bank in the history of the Federal Reserve. So
Speaker 1: I think a lot of good things coming from this disappointment. Nanna,
Speaker 1: I wanted to I was just gonna quickly say about
Speaker 1: the government. The governor appointments I think of as being
Speaker 1: UM potentially much more consequential because the governor's in Washington
Speaker 1: always vote on every EFFEMC decision and they have this
Speaker 1: larger regulatory function I alluded to earlier. UM Governor Trulo
Speaker 1: Dan trula Is announced he's gonna step away from the
Speaker 1: border governors in early April. That means there's gonna be
Speaker 1: three openings for for President Trump to to fill UM,
Speaker 1: probably in short order, and so that could give him
Speaker 1: a lot of It gives him the opportunity have a
Speaker 1: lot of influence over over the border governors. So Nariana
Speaker 1: just to push all that back a little bit about
Speaker 1: idea that it would be a mistake for the Fed
Speaker 1: to hy quarter percentage point and isn't the market sort
Speaker 1: of acceptance of this pricing it in without a big disruption,
Speaker 1: basically a tacit understood the acknowledgement that it's the right
Speaker 1: thing to do. Oh you know, I markets are sometimes
Speaker 1: overly enthusiastic about about economic events, and sometimes they're not
Speaker 1: as enthusiastics as you would like. You don't make monetary
Speaker 1: policy based on what the stock markets doing. I think
Speaker 1: you make monetary policy based on how you see the
Speaker 1: economy evolving. Um, you know, I continue to see that
Speaker 1: there's the opportunity for strong growth in America without having
Speaker 1: inflationary pressures, and and the ft should be doing what
Speaker 1: it can. I think the facilitate that. Um, that's that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's its job is to promote max employment as long
Speaker 1: as that doesn't prove a danger to price stability. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us. It was really a
Speaker 1: pleasure to speak with you. Marianna Cultural a Quota Bloom
Speaker 1: Review columnist, professor of economics at the University of Rochester,
Speaker 1: and of course, former Minneapolis Fed president. We're broadcasting live
Speaker 1: from the Women for Climate Conference at Columbia University in
Speaker 1: New York City, and I am honored to bring in mural.
Speaker 1: Muriel Bowser. She is the mayor of the District of
Speaker 1: Columbia and she joins us now on the phone. Muriel,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to speak with you, in particular because Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. Is the first US city to establish a
Speaker 1: green bank and only the second in the world. What
Speaker 1: is a green bank? Well, actually, we're working to get
Speaker 1: it established. This is a piece of legislation that I
Speaker 1: am going to introduce to my council UH in the
Speaker 1: upcoming weeks and as you mentioned, will be the first
Speaker 1: city UH US city to do it, and it will
Speaker 1: be a tool, as we see it, to create green jobs.
Speaker 1: We're going to expand solar power. It will help us
Speaker 1: lower energy costs for the government UH and reduce greenhouse
Speaker 1: gas emissions. It would also help us increase our investments
Speaker 1: in clean energy for for the district. So this is
Speaker 1: a financing tool UM that will allow us to more
Speaker 1: quickly get money out into green infrastructure in our city.
Speaker 1: Mayor Bowser, you're the seventh elected mayor of the district.
Speaker 1: You took office in January of twenty and fifteen. What
Speaker 1: if you could speak to the role of affordable housing
Speaker 1: and its relationship to our conference Women for Climate and
Speaker 1: the Effects of Climate Change. Well, we recognize and I
Speaker 1: was with Mayor Hidalgo in Mexico City recently when C
Speaker 1: forty met, and we so appreciate her global leadership and
Speaker 1: what she has put a focus on is the disproportionate
Speaker 1: impact on love climate change on women around the world
Speaker 1: UH as as it relates to housing and drought and
Speaker 1: all other types of issues. Women of color, women who
Speaker 1: live in poverty are bearing the brunt of drastic changes
Speaker 1: in our climate. In our city, we have focused and
Speaker 1: we have been a leader in sustainability, and we recognize
Speaker 1: that mayors play a critical role when many times, and
Speaker 1: not just in our in our nation, but in others,
Speaker 1: there can be uncertainty at the federal level, but mayors
Speaker 1: have the obligation and the ability uh to make quick
Speaker 1: infrastructure decisions and procurement decisions that collectively, if you put
Speaker 1: all the big city mayorts together, in the small ones too,
Speaker 1: will have the type of American policy that fights climate change. Well,
Speaker 1: Mayor Bowser, you know, you raise a good question, which
Speaker 1: is you know even and if maybe perhaps we hear
Speaker 1: a lot about the federal government rolling back some of
Speaker 1: the environmentally protective regulations that President former President Obama put
Speaker 1: in place, and we hear a lot about how the
Speaker 1: e p A is kind of, uh, perhaps going to
Speaker 1: have a curtailed budget. You're implying that basically it won't
Speaker 1: matter if the mayors of big cities are able to
Speaker 1: implement their own, uh sort of climate change friendly or
Speaker 1: sort of environmentally friendly programs. But is that true? I mean,
Speaker 1: is there some kind of effect from the fact that
Speaker 1: the federal government is cutting the money that they devote
Speaker 1: to reducing greenhouse gases. Yeah, I wouldn't say. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say that it doesn't matter, um, because we do, for
Speaker 1: for example, in our city, Uh, we we get money
Speaker 1: from the e p A that funds a lots lots
Speaker 1: of grants in our department. UM. But we do have
Speaker 1: the ability to make up the difference. UM. So it's
Speaker 1: not sustainable to think that cities won't ever needs some
Speaker 1: federal support. But we are able to drive innovation invest
Speaker 1: practices that inform um the commitments that the federal government
Speaker 1: is able to make. We are preparing right now to
Speaker 1: stand in the breach, uh, to to make sure that
Speaker 1: cuts in in federal grants to our to Our department,
Speaker 1: for example, are made up mayor bowser. Municipalities tend to
Speaker 1: have their own culture and their own dynamic in a
Speaker 1: variety of areas, whether that's culture or in politics. And
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if you could describe the special situation that
Speaker 1: you're in as the mayor of the district with the
Speaker 1: federal government right there. I'm wondering if you could tell
Speaker 1: us about that relationship and how you believe maybe you
Speaker 1: do that uh it can be improved in change to
Speaker 1: help the people of the district. Uh. Well, we are
Speaker 1: proud of our status as the nation's capital and host
Speaker 1: too many federal government agencies, the White House and the
Speaker 1: Capital included. We're a little different in the federal structure
Speaker 1: and that we operate as a city, accounty, and a
Speaker 1: state all at once. Um. So there are many functions,
Speaker 1: for example, that I have that other mayors don't have
Speaker 1: because we we function as a state, uh in many regards. UH.
Speaker 1: For example, had of meeting just the other day with
Speaker 1: the President where we focused on the federal workforce in
Speaker 1: their implement weather policy. So there's just some kind of
Speaker 1: practical things like that, uh, that that define our relationship
Speaker 1: with the federal government. Uh, special events, people coming to
Speaker 1: the nation's capital to exercise their First Amendment rights or
Speaker 1: other ways. Um that we that we work with the
Speaker 1: federal government. I want to thank you very much for
Speaker 1: joining us. Muriel Bowser, Mayor Bowser the District of Columbia,
Speaker 1: and she can be thank you for covering this special event.
Speaker 1: Thank you at Mayor Bowser. What we're gonna learn this
Speaker 1: afternoon of course, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg Television. We'll be covering
Speaker 1: it on Bloomberg dot com. Uh. The press conference following
Speaker 1: the rate decision is reportedly to be one of the
Speaker 1: most important signals of what the Federal Reserves timeline will
Speaker 1: be for when they will raise rates yet again, if
Speaker 1: I guess the world has not fall into well, let's
Speaker 1: let's let's get a sense of what Mark Stefanski is thinking.
Speaker 1: He's chairman and CEO of Third Federal Savings and Loan
Speaker 1: Bank in Cleveland. Mark, what are you hoping the Federal
Speaker 1: Reserve will do today? Well, there's Uh, it's a double
Speaker 1: edged sword because if they do raise the race, that
Speaker 1: that will help all the banks because the interest uh,
Speaker 1: the spreads will be better. Um. So the consider um
Speaker 1: it's not so great. But if you think about things,
Speaker 1: uh in terms of what's happened in the past. You know,
Speaker 1: I grew up in an era where interest rates at
Speaker 1: seven eight nine percent for a mortgage were pretty good,
Speaker 1: and so um, we just moved over We just over
Speaker 1: four for more thirty year fixed rate mortgages exactly, which
Speaker 1: still is pretty good if you compare that over the
Speaker 1: history of the last fifty six years. Even so, it's
Speaker 1: still a good deal for the consumer. But Mark, how concerned,
Speaker 1: argued that the economy is not ready for it, and
Speaker 1: that a not the rate hike I mean, basis points,
Speaker 1: we're talking a quarter of percentage point that's probably priced
Speaker 1: into the market pretty fully throughout the curve. But what
Speaker 1: about you know, sort of what they might suggest afterwards,
Speaker 1: what are you hoping they indicate as far as their
Speaker 1: pace of rate hikes this year and what that could
Speaker 1: do to risk assets. Well, I'm very concerned of a
Speaker 1: fast moving rate hike. Um. I don't think the world
Speaker 1: that kind etomy can handle something like that. I think
Speaker 1: the world economy is very very fragile, and if it wasn't,
Speaker 1: then we would have seen uh significant moves UH years ago.
Speaker 1: But UM, I still think that we have a fragile economy.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of momentum with the current
Speaker 1: administration in Washington. I think the optimism is there. I
Speaker 1: think the consumer confidence is UH in a good place.
Speaker 1: But we have to show that we're making gains on
Speaker 1: the job circuit and the economy really is growing. Mark,
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could give people a little background
Speaker 1: about Third Federal savings and loan in your career, and
Speaker 1: also maybe just give us an example of one of
Speaker 1: your customers, and perhaps that would illustrate how things have changed. Sure. UM, well,
Speaker 1: my parents started Third Federal back in the midst of
Speaker 1: the depression. I'm a second generation CEO, chairman of the board,
Speaker 1: and I've been at this job for the last thirty
Speaker 1: plus years. Um. We do business in twenty six states
Speaker 1: right now, and we're the largest mortgage lender in Ohio
Speaker 1: and we have stores in Ohio and in Florida. UM.
Speaker 1: Where what a typical UH customers thinking right now? I
Speaker 1: think two things are happening. One with the rate hikes
Speaker 1: UH that have occurred. I think UH because the consumers
Speaker 1: in general are concerned that rates are going to jump
Speaker 1: and jump too high. And priced them out of the
Speaker 1: market for a mortgage. So you see a lot of
Speaker 1: people jumping in. But for the first time, and I
Speaker 1: think about ten years, we're looking at UH seasonality. And
Speaker 1: what I mean by that is traditionally this time of
Speaker 1: the year, especially in Ohio, you see a lot of
Speaker 1: people coming to the table buying homes and we haven't
Speaker 1: seen that in the last ten years. It has not
Speaker 1: been cyclical until this year. This is the first year
Speaker 1: since two thousand uh seven eight something like that that
Speaker 1: we've actually seen. What do you what does that mean? Well?
Speaker 1: I think I think it's two things. That The first
Speaker 1: thing is is that there the consumer confidence is UH
Speaker 1: is back. UM. How long that will last? It's it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's up in the air, depending on
Speaker 1: the policies I think, and the administrative things that come
Speaker 1: out of Washington, and regulatory relief is one of them. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think UM people are very optimistic, so they're
Speaker 1: willing to take that risk. Well, and Mark, I wonder
Speaker 1: if I want to break in there, because there was
Speaker 1: some data that was highlighted highlighted by David Schowell. Any
Speaker 1: manager that growth in loans and leases at commercial banks
Speaker 1: has pretty much come to a stop. It's kind of
Speaker 1: flatlined in the past few months. And I thought this
Speaker 1: was compelling. That flies in the face of the narrative
Speaker 1: that we've heard about how animal spirits are returning. How
Speaker 1: do you interpret this data? Well, I can't speak to
Speaker 1: commercial real estate, but I can tell you that insid
Speaker 1: commercial loans and leases, right commercial. I can't speak to
Speaker 1: commercial loans and leases because we just specialize in home ending.
Speaker 1: That's all we do. Uh, we make more home loans
Speaker 1: and like I said, and anyone in Ohio, and that's
Speaker 1: all we do. We don't do credit cards, and we
Speaker 1: don't do commercial lending. But the consumer, the person on
Speaker 1: the street who's buying a house, is more confident today
Speaker 1: than they've been in the last ten years. And just
Speaker 1: to show that, last last week, our applications were up
Speaker 1: thirty percent over last year at this time and that's
Speaker 1: the first time it's yeah, it's the first time we
Speaker 1: ever had a jump. And then preapprovals, which is people
Speaker 1: anticipating they're going to get into the housing market, anticipating
Speaker 1: they're going to buy a house, they're up about from
Speaker 1: last year. So again, the seasonality is back, which is normal,
Speaker 1: and the consumer confidence seems to be there, at least
Speaker 1: in the housing sector. Well, thanks very much, Marcus Stefanski,
Speaker 1: great great insight there, Chief executive Generate Second Generation Bank,
Speaker 1: our third Federal Savings and Loan in Ohio. Up Women
Speaker 1: for Climate Conference. We are here at the Women for
Speaker 1: Climate Conference at Columbia University in the city of New York,
Speaker 1: and I'm very glad to be here. Lisa Bramwitz. When
Speaker 1: when I think of Laureal, I confess I think cosmetics,
Speaker 1: I think lipstick, I think uh okay, but I don't
Speaker 1: necessarily think about sustainability and climate change. But here is
Speaker 1: we're going to introduce someone who's going to disabuse me
Speaker 1: of my ignorance. Alexandra Pault is the chief sustainability officer
Speaker 1: of Laureal, and she has graciously come in and jetted
Speaker 1: here from Paris via Poland via Toronto to finally arrive
Speaker 1: this morning here with us. Thank you very much for
Speaker 1: being here. Good morning. Thanks, that's a long that's a
Speaker 1: long trip to make. And so what message do you bring,
Speaker 1: uh that you've been doing this you said twenty years.
Speaker 1: I can't believe that, but that's another story. But you've
Speaker 1: been doing this company. They're probably good creams anyway, tell
Speaker 1: us what message you bring about Loreal sustainability and what
Speaker 1: people can take away that they may not know. Yes,
Speaker 1: UM at Loreal women gender equality is one of our
Speaker 1: core commitments, of course, and that for many years more
Speaker 1: than sixty of our brands are led by women. Almost
Speaker 1: half of our board the female So we are really
Speaker 1: committed to gender equality and that for a very long time.
Speaker 1: And we are also committed to fighting climate change. This
Speaker 1: is a core orientation of our company and that has
Speaker 1: resulted in already a sixty seven percent reduction of common
Speaker 1: emissions UM around the world. We had an goal of
Speaker 1: target of minors in two thousand twenty and we reached
Speaker 1: minus sixty seven percent in two south sixteen. Well, what
Speaker 1: were some of the sources the biggest sources of greenhouse
Speaker 1: gas emissions at Loyale. Well, uh, that's at the consumer level. Actually,
Speaker 1: when you look at the life cycle of a product,
Speaker 1: it's when you use hot water during a shower to
Speaker 1: wash your hair. That's the biggest source of carbon emission.
Speaker 1: But in our value chain that we can directly UM control,
Speaker 1: it's through the sourcing of raw materials, packaging, UM it
Speaker 1: is suppliers, it's production and distribution, and so we have
Speaker 1: worked on all our value change. So how much more
Speaker 1: expensive is it to be sustainably sustainability minded and and
Speaker 1: sort of to go to fair trade types of suppliers
Speaker 1: and other types of measures that you've taken. Well, um, actually,
Speaker 1: we think that it's not more expensive. And we have
Speaker 1: demonstrated that decoupling carbon emissions from growth is completely possible
Speaker 1: because we during the time where we have reduced by
Speaker 1: sixty seven also put our production group by almost exactly.
Speaker 1: So we showed that you can the couple growth from
Speaker 1: your carbon emission, production increase from carbon emissions. And of
Speaker 1: course when you work on your carbon emissions, the first
Speaker 1: source of what you're doing is working on energy efficiency.
Speaker 1: When you work on energy efficiency, you are saving money.
Speaker 1: That's very clear. And so one third of our savings
Speaker 1: and carbon emissions came from energy savings. So and then
Speaker 1: there is another point. We think we really are convinced
Speaker 1: that without these commitments to sustainability, we are not going
Speaker 1: to be a performing company in company in the twenty
Speaker 1: one century, and Loreal is around for more than one
Speaker 1: years and we want to be around for another quite
Speaker 1: a while of time, and so we have to adapt
Speaker 1: to this changing world because otherwise we are not going
Speaker 1: to be successful. The combination of brands that fall under loreal,
Speaker 1: if we were to align them up, they go everywhere,
Speaker 1: for professional brands to consumer brands, luxury George ARMANI you
Speaker 1: name it. Maybe lean everything right now as far as
Speaker 1: the packaging goes, that is such an integral part of
Speaker 1: the relationship with the customer has with the product. Has
Speaker 1: The popularity and the emergence of a climate aware customer
Speaker 1: made it easier for you to rethink the packaging, to
Speaker 1: lower the amount of waste, to get rid of things
Speaker 1: that are not essential to the product. But maybe for
Speaker 1: a previous time, we're okay, but the needs to change
Speaker 1: needs to be updated. Well. This is a very complicated
Speaker 1: question because what you ask is basically, is the consumer
Speaker 1: willing um too to change with change with us and
Speaker 1: um the question the answer is is as it's complete,
Speaker 1: it's complex. Some consumers are it's not the new normal yet.
Speaker 1: It's not the new normal yet. And basically what we
Speaker 1: see in studies around the world is that consumers very
Speaker 1: often say we are very interesting in sustainability. We want
Speaker 1: a brand that is committed, but when they go to
Speaker 1: the shops, they don't think about sustainability in the moment
Speaker 1: that they have the pleasure of buying a beauty product.
Speaker 1: So what we are trying to do is to make
Speaker 1: more and more sustainable products that consumers still want to buy.
Speaker 1: So we are not making compromise on performance and desirability,
Speaker 1: and very often it's possible. So bigger is not always
Speaker 1: more beautiful. That's already that, and now we have introduced,
Speaker 1: for example, we're starting to introduce a lot of recycled
Speaker 1: material in our packaging, which doesn't change the outside uh vision.
Speaker 1: And then our consumers more and more coming up that
Speaker 1: are completely into this new model of a sustainable lifestyle,
Speaker 1: that the new good life is going to be a
Speaker 1: sustainable life, and I think they will become more and
Speaker 1: more and more, and Loreal is going to be prepared
Speaker 1: to respond to that market. You know. I find it interesting,
Speaker 1: especially given the new US administration stands and some of
Speaker 1: the environmental rules that we've had in place and some
Speaker 1: of the agreements, and I do think it's interesting that
Speaker 1: in corporate America it seems like, I mean, you've been
Speaker 1: working on this for for more than two decades. You know,
Speaker 1: what's the next front for corporate sustainability from your point
Speaker 1: of view, especially given what's going on and this sort
Speaker 1: of backlash on a political level that we're starting to see. Well,
Speaker 1: I see also a lot of encouragement around the world,
Speaker 1: you know, because I think what is clear is UM,
Speaker 1: we cannot go back on that path UM. It seems
Speaker 1: quite too dangerous for the majority of people around the world.
Speaker 1: And I think for a corporate and for everybody, what
Speaker 1: is now at stake is scale, impact and scale. So
Speaker 1: UM we have to make this the new normal altogether.
Speaker 1: And so that means consumers, citizens, corporations, local governments and
Speaker 1: also natural governments as possible. But this UM is really
Speaker 1: something that you can slow down, but you will not
Speaker 1: be able to stop it. Also because people think nowadays
Speaker 1: when you look into UM consumer studies that are working
Speaker 1: with people who show a little bit way that the
Speaker 1: good life, what people understand by the good life, is
Speaker 1: a more sustainable lifestyle. So people do not feel they
Speaker 1: are not going to feel attracted by the frenetic um
Speaker 1: use of natural resources without respect. They feel guilty about it,
Speaker 1: they don't feel comfortable, and this is going to come
Speaker 1: more and more and more so the sense of history.
Speaker 1: Will will won't be able to stop it will just
Speaker 1: there's just some people who might slow it down. It's
Speaker 1: a fascinating topic. Thank you very much for being with Yeah,
Speaker 1: we really appreciate Alexandra Palt she sustainability officer at Loreal
Speaker 1: based in Paris, but tracked all the way here to
Speaker 1: New York City. Thank you so much. We really appreciate
Speaker 1: your time. Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg pien L podcast.
Speaker 1: You can subscribe and listen to interviews at iTunes, SoundCloud,
Speaker 1: or whatever podcast platform you prefer. I'm Pim Fox. I'm
Speaker 1: out there on Twitter at pim Fox. I'm out there
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Lisa Abramo. It's one before the podcast.
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