the weekly rundown: Recent Episodes
twr team
the weekly rundown is a brief sunday morning newsletter putting the previous week's political & business news into context and helping you understand why they matter. we’ll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories.
readers, as we mark the end of 2021, we’re announcing that TWR is closing up shop. our last two quarters haven’t seen the reader growth or engagement that we aimed for, so it seems like an appropriate time to wrap things up. we’ve enjoyed our ride together immensely, and are incredibly proud of the issues we put out and you all read. so, for all three of us, thank you for your support, and we’re sure your inboxes won’t miss our 7am wakeup calls on sundays. as we end 2021 and our run, enjoy our top three story picks of the year: https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/5-down-with-the-monarchy-amazon-unionization (down with the monarchy), our soapbox rant against the british royalty https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/32-facebook-really-is-evil-australia-goes-nuclear#big%20idea:%20Facebook%20is%20worse%20than%20you%20thought%20it%20was... (Facebook really is evil), our soapbox rant against Facebook and before you think we just ranted this year, https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/34-capitol-hill-drama-auf-wiedersehen-angela-1#story%20to%20watch:%20auf%20wiedersehen%20Angela (auf wiedersehen Angela), our ode to Angela Merkel
readers, as we wrap up the third quarter of TWR, we’re reevaluating how we produce this newsletter and how we can make all of you happier. if you have any suggestions, please reach out - sooner than later! if you’d be interested in joining our team as a writer, editor, or narrator, please also shoot us an email. big idea: dems botch their big spending billhttps://www.npr.org/2021/12/16/1064927774/democrats-forced-to-regroup-as-bidens-signature-spending-bill-stalls (Joe finally admitted late this week) that his big $2 trillion social policy and climate change bill would not pass by the end of the year, possibly dooming his signature “Build Back Better” campaign promise. for the past several months, Joe and senate leadership have insisted that the bill would be passed before christmas, but alas, the Grinch has stolen it. and when we say Grinch, we mean Joe Manchin of course, the most conservative dem in the senate. Manchin is taking issue with the overall price tag of the bill, and specifically seems to be targeting https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/12/16/senate-democrats-manchin-biden-spending/ (the child tax credit). that $600 per month per child check to most families costs a lot, and was originally passed as a temporary COVID stimulus measure, which progressive democrats wanted to make permanent. this impasse comes even after days of private negotiations between the two Joes, though to be honest we’re surprised either of them have the intact mental capacity for such prolonged thought… dems need unanimous support within their party in the senate to pass anything, so expect to see continued drama over this, immigration, and election rights well into the new year story to watch: rising interest rates here, but not across the pondthe Fed https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-officials-project-three-rate-rises-next-year-and-accelerate-wind-down-of-stimulus-11639594785 (announced this week) that it plans on hiking interest rates three times next year, beginning in march. they are also more rapidly than previously anticipated ending stimulus measures they began at the start of the pandemic. this all comes amid better than expected jobs growth and higher than expected spikes in the cost of consumer goods and inflation. generally speaking, raising interest rates tends to slow down the economy and inflation. of note, the Fed chair only announced his reversal on interest rates after he was reappointed to another term by Joe, which gave him some capital to spend on this politically unpopular move. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-investors-should-care-about-the-powell-pivot-11639474493?mod=series_inflation (more likely though), the Fed is realizing that the pandemic permanently shrunk the american labor force, which will force it to maintain higher interest rates than in the past, even if there’s the same level of economic growth. just after the Fed made its announcement, the European Central Bank (the Fed’s equivalent in the eurozone) came out and said they https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecb-boosts-bond-purchases-as-it-phases-out-pandemic-stimulus-11639659416 (would not be raising interest rates) at all next year, and would be continuing its stimulus measures. this would probably be an appropriate time to mention what the Bank of England has going on, but ever since Brexit, we just can’t seem to care at all what the british are up to… anyways, while europe and the US are in different phases of their recoveries, it’s clear that the world’s top economists can’t agree on the next appropriate steps. some parts of the eurozone are facing inflation rates not seen since in generations, yet interest rates will still remain low. this week’s image: the show must go on(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/dec/17/twenty-photographs-of-the-week#img-1 (The Guardian)) the interior of a theater in kentucky was spared destruction by deadly tornadoes, while its outside was…not so lucky what we’re reading:...
part of our team is traveling this week, so if you’re listening to the audio version of the newsletter, you’re probably noticing a different, more suave, more...distinguished voice. don’t worry, our usual nasally midwestern half-asleep narrator will be back next week, but in the meantime...enjoy. we’re looking for narrators, authors, and editors to join our team, so reach out if you’d like to join in the fun. big idea: yeah yeah, inflation inflationwe get it dude, inflation is on the rise. do we really need to spend like four issues on this? prices of consumer goods https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-inflation-consumer-price-index-november-2021-11639088867 (rose by almost 7% year-over-year) last month, the largest rise in inflation in almost forty years. new car prices continue to have a huge effect on that number, with the chip shortage crippling the industry. restaurant prices have also increased by about 8% since last november, reflecting rising wages across the hospitality sector. what’s confusing the heck out of businesses and economists is the asymmetry in demand for goods versus services. it makes sense to some degree - COVID is making it more difficult for people to travel and play, so inflation in service industries remain low. instead of spending money on services, people are spending money on buying more goods (aka trying to fill the heart-shaped hole in their chests with junk), resulting in crazy high inflation in things like the consumer price index. this goods-services dynamic is the opposite of the typical economic recovery, which is why everyone is a little confused. the big question is how long this role reversal will last, and if full employment can be reached before inflation gets out of control. in the meantime though, continue enjoying those low airline ticket prices, but really - you’ll still be overpaying for 28” of legroom. story to watch: Starbucks is unionizinga Starbucks in buffalo https://www.vox.com/recode/22825850/starbucks-union-first-organizing-vote-nlrb (voted to unionize thursday), the first corporate-owned location in the US to do so. this occurred despite a well-publicized and funded anti-union push by the company over the past few months. one other buffalo location voted against unionizing, and a third location voted in favor, but is facing a recount. union organizers are hoping this will inspire viral collective action not only at other Starbucks locations, but across the unskilled sector. the number of americans in unions has halved since just the 1980’s, and the failure to unionize an Amazon warehouse earlier this year was a big loss as well. however, this small Starbucks win will definitely put some wind behind unions’ sails, especially when considering americans are quitting their jobs in droves and unions have the best public image since the 1960’s. we always knew being a Starbucks barista must suck, but apparently misspelling everyone’s names just isn’t a big enough perk to keep them around… this week’s image: screaming or laughing?(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/dec/10/twenty-photographs-of-the-week (The Guardian)) finally, a good use of dogs - comforting children as they get COVID shots this week’s number: pro-Trump counties have 3x COVID mortality ratesan https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/05/1059828993/data-vaccine-misinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate (analysis this week) found that people living in counties which voted heavily for You-Know-Who in 2020 had about three times the COVID mortality rate than people living in counties which voted heavily for Joe. that rate doubled to 6x for the reddest tenth of counties compared to the bluest tenth of counties. in short - You-Know-Who supporters are less likely to get vaccinated, and more likely to die from COVID. this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise - 60% of republicans remain unvaccinated (compared to less than 20% of independents and democrats), and most deaths since the...
listen, we know supermarkets are crazy these days because of all your last-minute christmas shopping, but seriously - there should be a minimum age required to use self-checkout lanes. we love the idea of not having to interact with another human being to purchase items, especially when those items happen to be six pints of ice cream and a single spoon, we just can’t stand waiting for the otherwise nice 60-year-old grandma in front of us figure out how to use a barcode scanner. big idea: oxford school shootinga school shooting just a few miles away from where we live took place earlier this week, ending with https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2021/12/01/oxford-high-school-shooting-update-michigan-avondale/8819241002/ (four dead children) and a teenage suspect being charged with murder and terrorism as an adult. it’s surreal driving around town with christmas parades cancelled and flags lowered, but also, unfortunately, a normal occurrence here in ‘murica. if it seems a bit more traumatic than usual, it’s because https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2021/12/02/oxford-high-school-shooting-deadliest-us/8819763002/ (it’s the deadliest school shooting since 2018), and the deadliest ever in michigan. while some of the injured are still in the hospital, families are already beginning to question who’s at fault here, other than the terrorist himself. the school itself had safety concerns about the boy, and https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2021/12/03/oxford-high-school-shooting-suspect-ethan-crumbley-warning-signs/8853333002/ (repeatedly assured parents) that oxford high was safe for their children to attend. the suspect’s parents were arrested and are being charged with involuntary manslaughter for purchasing the gun used in the massacre for their son, and apparently resisting the school’s attempts to get psychiatric help for him. the suspect’s parents fled oxford for detroit, where they were arrested while hiding in a warehouse. oh, the irony of reverse white flight... in any case, the true responsible parties here are politicians who stand in the way of common sense gun control, most of whom these days are republican. the last time any new gun control laws were passed nationally were in the 1990’s, when the brady bill mandated background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases. now, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t point out that while an even-then-somehow-ancient Joe Biden shepherded the bill through his committee, a young whippersnapper named https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/09/joe-biden/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-brady-bill-five-ti/ (Bernie Sanders voted against) that common sense gun control measure... this week’s image: mayday, mayday
(https://twitter.com/AFPphoto/status/1466029319038328835/photo/1 (AFP)) some old guy just casually saunters past a sinking ship off the coast of istanbul. ahh, what it would be like to be this jaded by life... this week’s number: 210k jobs added in novemberthe november jobs report was released this week, and man are we (and economists) a little weirded out. on the one hand, half the number of new jobs were created compared to what was expected - https://www.crainsdetroit.com/economy/one-weirdest-reports-us-payrolls-growth-slowed-november-while-jobless-rate-fell (210,000 versus the projected 550,000). on the other hand, the unemployment rate still dropped to 4.2%, and the percentage of americans actively working or looking for work also increased. it’s that last finding which economists are especially excited about. as we talked about in https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/36-dems-shoot-each-other-in-the-foot-rethinking-china#this%20week%E2%80%99s%20number:%201%20in%204%20americans%20quit%20their%20job%20this%20year (issue 36), many are concerned that the country’s workforce participation rate will never reach pre-pandemic highs due to deaths, early retirements, and more...
readers, we’re honestly surprised we managed to hoist ourselves out of bed to write this issue following turkey day. we mean seriously, with black friday sales sucking this year, there was even less of a reason not to just succumb to the usual post-prandial thanksgiving day food coma. alas, we realized we had to stick it out, if only for our canadian readers who, https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/07/world/canadian-thanksgiving-2019-trnd/index.html (for some reason), celebrate thanksgiving in october. big idea: time to learn how to say “omicron”https://www.wsj.com/articles/dutch-authorities-isolate-61-covid-19-cases-among-travelers-from-south-africa-11638007221?mod=hp_lead_pos1 (a new COVID variant) is making the rounds in people, the stock markets, and the media, so we’re here to tell you we’re confused over the hubbub too. the W.H.O. categorized this omicron variant, first discovered in south africa, a “variant of concern”, an award also given to the delta variant which has wreaked havoc for the past year. fewer than a hundred cases in south africa have been identified and a handful of cases have also been found in the UK and hong kong. within about 48 hours of the new cases being announced, the EU, US, canada, and other nations already banned travelers from south africa and other southern african nations. stock indexes fell sharply on friday as investors worried that omicron could dampen an already unsteady economic recovery. scientists and the W.H.O. honestly know very little about the variant, other than it is quite different from your normal COVID strain - which could potentially make it more virulent, more contagious, more fatal, and/or more resistant to existing vaccines. at this point in the pandemic, health experts are more likely to overreact than underreact to threats. it will likely take weeks, if not months, to figure out how bad this variant really is. in the meantime though, go get vaccinated dummies, and wear a mask like it’s https://media.giphy.com/media/IJJDeKvvG8m9W/source.gif (the 1300’s in europe again). this week’s image: Alvin, the squirrel(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/11/photos-of-the-week-apple-crisp-squirrel-tea-floating-pumpkin/620825/#img14 (The Atlantic)) a turkish squirrel steals a sip of turkish tea (in turkey, in case you were wondering). this week’s number: weekly unemployment claims fall to 199kthe number of people filing for unemployment benefits https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/24/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-just-199000-the-lowest-level-since-1969.html (fell to a 52-year low of 199,000) people last week. that’s incredibly astonishing, especially when considering the population has skyrocketed from 200 million then to almost 330 million today, and it follows eight straight weeks of declining unemployment claims. so what’s the bottom line? the economy is strong, despite rising inflation due to supply chain issues. it’s clear that the Fed is much more concerned about reaching full employment than inflation, a constant tension they face when setting monetary policy. on our end, we think it’s high time - the Fed’s maniacal obsession with inflation over the past two decades (along with a crippled governmental response to the recession) has led to rising inequality, slow growth, and valuing wealth over earned income. what we’re reading: “What the CEO Wants You to Know”a quick read by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Charan_(consultant) (our favorite consultant) who also shares a name with a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Charan] (bollywood actor) (making Google searches super confusing), this book boils down the basics of business finance with insights on how to deliver and perform for your company. the book popularized the idea of business acumen - an intuition leaders gain from understanding the fundamentals of their organization. even if you have little interest in business, this will still help you get inside the head of your typical corporate executive. what do they focus...
well readers, we’re back after a whirlwind of travel last week spanning washington, new york, north carolina, and michigan. we’re also sick as dogs, from something other than COVID, so please excuse the raspier voice than normal, and we hope the fog in our brains didn’t result in an overly muddled issue. in any case, it’s great to be back, and an early happy thanksgiving to all our non-canadian readers. big idea: Joe’s on a rollJoe had his first good week in a while, kicking things off on monday by https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/15/biden-signing-1-trillion-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-into-law.html' (signing the trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill), then holding a https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59301167' (relatively successful virtual summit) with china’s president later in the week, and capping things off watching his signature climate and social policy bill https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1056833510/the-house-passes-a-2-trillion-spending-bill-but-braces-for-changes-in-the-senate (get passed through the House last night). not everything is happy go lucky, of course - inflation is still breaking records, and his approval ratings are in the dumps - but Joe is probably hoping to have turned a corner this week. we talked thru the infrastructure bill in https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/39-dems-lose-big-time-then-win#big%20idea:%20dems%20bungle%20election%20day,%20but%20bring%20home%20infrastructure (issue 39), so we’ll focus on the other two news items. first, Joe and china’s president Xi managed to significantly de-escalate tensions between the two countries during a virtual meeting - the first time a Zoom call has ever been productive. we’ve extensively covered the issues dividing china and the US in previous issues, and no huge breakthroughs occurred this week. but, the consensus is that it’s fantastic news that the world’s two superpowers can talk without hurling insults at each other like schoolyard children. however, most americans probably care much more about the $2 trillion climate and social policy bill which the house passed friday. now that Joe’s got some momentum, he’ll probably push conservative dems in the senate to negotiate quickly and approve an amended version of the bill sooner rather than later. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/10/28/biden-spending-plan-what-is-in-it/ (the current draft includes) half a trillion to address climate change, paid parental leave, universal preK, and Medicare drug reforms. we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope https://media.giphy.com/media/YlJLLMN9cSiryfOwyS/source.gif (the Grinch) doesn’t steal christmas... story to watch: the end of conglomeratescorporate conglomerates have taken a beating in the past week, with https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/business/general-electric-break-up.html (GE), https://www.wsj.com/articles/toshiba-like-ge-plans-to-split-into-three-parts-11636700609 (Toshiba), and https://www.wsj.com/articles/johnson-johnson-plans-to-split-into-two-public-companies-11636715700 (Johnson & Johnson) announcing plans to split their companies up. is this finally the end of the 1990’s wall street darling - the corporate conglomerate? for years, manufacturing, retail, and tech companies have pursued scale by competing in multiple industries at once. GE famously used to have business units covering everything from broadcast TV to mortgages to jet engines to MRI machines. it seems like shareholders finally understand that bigger isn’t inherently better. while it may make sense for a company like Amazon to be vertically integrated and own everything in their supply chain, it makes little sense for a company like Toshiba to build everything from trains to hard drives. in short, companies perform better when their leadership can focus on delivering a few core competencies. while three companies announcing their breakups in such quick succession is unusual, it’s part of a much longer trend. over the past few years,...
part of our team is travelling this week, so if you’re listening to the audio version of the newsletter, you’re probably noticing a different, more suave, more...distinguished voice this week. don’t worry, our usual nasally midwestern half-asleep narrator will be back next week, but in the meantime...enjoy ;)
okay, so we’re not going to lie - we’re not 100% sure this will land in your inbox at 7am instead of at 8am (or possibly 6am). we’ve been on this earth for more than 80 years (collectively, though we do write like a grumpy 80 year old man at times), and we still have no idea how daylight saving time works. so, we guess the point of this is to say: we hope you enjoy, regardless of what time it is or should be. big idea: dems bungle election day, but bring home infrastructuredems https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/03/us/politics/democrat-losses-2022.html (failed miserably in off-year elections) tuesday, losing the virginia governor’s race, barely holding onto the new jersey governorship, and losing dozens of local races across solidly blue areas. let’s be clear - the dems running in these races were highly qualified, good candidates, and were often incumbents. voter turnout https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/us/politics/democrats-turnout-virginia.html (was also record-high) in some places. yet, dems still lost across the board. progressives can’t even say that it’s all the moderates’ fault, as a socialist https://www.wsj.com/articles/buffalo-n-y-mayor-race-an-incumbents-write-in-votes-vs-a-socialist-11635961515 (lost to a write-in candidate) for mayor in buffalo. what caused the losses? well, Joe’s approval ratings are in the dumps, dems have spent literally months arguing about an infrastructure bill and a climate policy bill, and the economy is good, but not great, with rising inflation. the pandemic stubbornly continues to impact people’s daily lives, which definitely hurts the democrat’s base enthusiasm. so, we guess people are just...tired and frustrated, and that translates electorally to voting out the ruling party. the good news is that Joe seems to be paying attention, and pushed house progressives https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1050012853/the-house-has-passed-the-1-trillion-infrastructure-plan-sending-it-to-bidens-des (to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill) which has been waiting for their approval for weeks now. Joe will make a big deal out of signing it, and that’ll buy some time for him to figure out how to pass the climate bill through the senate sometime soon. who knows, maybe america will remember why they elected a slightly-senile, aviator-wearing grandpa in time for midterms next year. this week’s image: volcanic eruptions(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/11/photos-of-the-week-goth-weekend-dark-moon-dead-sea/620621/#img31 (The Atlantic)) a home is covered in ash on the canary islands, where a volcano has been apparently erupting since september this week’s number: 1.5 million additional retirees due to COVIDhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-pushed-many-americans-to-retire-the-economy-needs-them-back-11635691340 (an analysis by the Fed) found that 1.5 million more americans retired than expected since the pandemic started last year. as we have https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/c/36-dems-shoot-each-other-in-the-foot-rethinking-china#this%20week%E2%80%99s%20number:%201%20in%204%20americans%20quit%20their%20job%20this%20year (previously talked about), this is contributing to a falling percentage of americans actually working and contributing value to the economy. the big question economists are asking is if these retirements are temporary - will older workers reenter the workforce to ease shortages when the pandemic flames out and working conditions improve? we guess we can do our part and stop making fun of our older coworkers’ lack of tech literacy... of particular concern are poorer old people who retired at faster rates than rich old people. many retired early because they worked in high-risk service industries, fearing for their health. however, they also typically don’t have enough saved for retirement - which will lead to more people on welfare in the future. what we’re making: chocolate chip sconeslisten, we know these look more like blobs of dough than...
readers, we’re just going to say this once: it’s halloween tonight, so gird yourselves accordingly. go buy up all the eggs and toilet paper you can get your hands onto - not because there’s a COVID shortage, but so those neighborhood youths can’t attack you again. don’t say we didn’t try to save you... big idea: Joe flees for italy while dems fail to do anything (again)for the second time this month, https://www.vox.com/2021/10/30/22752444/progressives-infrastructure-bill-manchin-sinema (dems failed to pass) massive infrastructure or climate bills. again, bickering between the progressive and moderate ends of the party prevented any work from getting done. Joe unveiled a $1.75 trillion climate bill earlier this week, which conservative dems in the senate (namely Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema) refused to back publicly, despite them negotiating on the package for months. because of that, house progressives refused to vote on another $1 trillion infrastructure bill, fearing that if they vote for the infrastructure bill, the climate policy bill will never actually pass. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/29/biden-agenda-stalled-again-chaos-517711 (Joe could’ve forced everyone’s hand) by publicly backing both bills and telling house dems to fall in line, but he didn’t...and left the US for the G-20 summit after everything fell apart. there’s still time before the end of the year for dems to pull it together, and the odds for success are much higher now that the outline of a climate policy bill has been announced. however, the devil (and Sinema) are in the details, so there’s a very real possibility dems will be running in the midterms next year with no accomplishments to point to. story to watch: college enrollment is in the dumpsfor the second year running, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/10/26/college-enrollments-continue-drop-fall (college enrollment declined substantially). since 2019 undergraduate enrollment has dropped by 6.5%, with this year’s drop being nearly identical in scale to last year’s. colleges are surprised, to say the least - they figured the recovery from COVID would boost enrollment, not dent it further. the drop is almost exclusively felt by community colleges and smaller four year universities at the lower end of the market. of note, enrollment among black students fell the most dramatically, at 5.1% this year alone. so, what’s happening? basically the job market is so hot right now that high school students and older professionals who are switching careers don’t think they need a degree to get a job - and they’re right, at least in the short-term. the problem will come in the long-term, after the next recession, or when automation or outsourcing takes out a few more million jobs. these poorly trained workers won’t have many career options at that point, and will either have to settle for a lifetime of low paying jobs, or go back to college later in life. this week’s image: silence of the lambsImage caption (https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/10/photos-of-the-week-funeral-fair-sinking-house-giant-duck/620542/#img16 (The Atlantic)) shepherds drive thousands of lambs through the streets of madrid, part of an agreement for free passage through the city dating back to 1418. baa-utiful. this week’s number: 32% of TV casts were majority-minority last yearUCLA https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-lifestyle-arts-and-entertainment-tv-7e84ebf8ce7d10bf5ca4819b5e76b440 (released an annual report) on the state of diversity in hollywood, and found that 32% of TV casts were majority-minority, an all-time high. perhaps more importantly, it also found that these diverse shows had the highest engagement on social media compared to more white or male centric shows. of course, there are major areas of improvement for hollywood - latinos and indigenous peoples are drastically underrepresented, and the report shed little light on the anti-arab and islamophobic storylines often
look, after we wrote this issue we realized like half of it has to do with the climate crisis, but don’t blame us - it’s called a crisis for a reason, okay? we promise, we won’t be as doom and gloom next week, apart from the usual warning to be on the lookout for halloween shenanigans. we’re like 94% sure it’s not a coincidence that our house gets egged every october 31st... big idea: woe is me, supply chain issues aboundnearly two years into the nightmare that is COVID, supply chain issues continue to...plague us. there are shortages of everything from computer chips to glass bottles, delays in everything from christmas toys to school bus pickups, and not enough employees in industries from trucking to...well, unloading trucks. thank god none of our writing team say...works in logistics...and spends most of his time in a warehouse shipping goods… anyways, we’re pointing out things you’ve probably already noticed because the problem is getting worse, not better. despite Joe announcing last week that a couple of the busiest ports in the US would begin running 24/7, the backlog of ships waiting to unload in california https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/20/supply-chain-crisis-california-ports-cargo-ships (just set a historic record). more than 100 huge container ships are anchored off the coast of LA. LA’s port sees 40% of all our imports and 30% of all exports, and has seen shipping volumes increase by a quarter since last year. so, just remember that when Costco is out of your favorite toilet paper, it’s probably stuck on some ship in the pacific, and you should probably start using a bidet anyways. story to watch: the climate summit is almost herea climate summit https://www.wsj.com/articles/your-cheat-sheet-to-the-u-n-climate-change-conference-in-glasgow-11634690099 (starts next week in glasgow, scotland), where the goal is to come up with a plan to make the world carbon neutral by 2050. this is the follow-up to the paris climate agreement, where countries agreed to limit warming to two degrees celsius. glasgow is viewed as where nations need to come up with solid plans to back up their promises made in paris. the main showdown will be between developing and developed economies, with poorer nations asking for $100 billion to subsidize their shift away from fossil fuels. expect some of us rich people to don tophats and monocles and pretend that the third world should come up with the money on their own. plenty of companies and NGOs are putting together press releases in preparation for the talks. australia has been ranked the https://apnews.com/article/climate-australia-environment-united-nations-climate-change-c3580aae0043f24ced93093a6ec51450 (worst rich country for the climate), https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-debates-abandoning-some-of-its-biggest-oil-and-gas-projects-11634739779 (Exxon is considering) giving up on some oil projects, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/10/19/zero-carbon-fuel-shipping-amazon-ikea/ (Amazon and Ikea are promising their shipping) will be carbon neutral by 2040, and even the british Royal Mint is planning on https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/20/royal-mint-electronic-waste-precious-metals/ (recycling gold from cell phones) into new coins. we knew we should’ve kept that old cracked https://youtu.be/HYfwXa4bx_0?t=63 (Nokia 3310)... this week’s image: chamber of secrets commerce(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/oct/22/twenty-photographs-of-the-week#img-6 (The Guardian)) protestors storm the chamber of commerce in DC to argue that big business is responsible for climate change denial and inaction. prominent dems are arguing they weren’t protesting, just...https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-loyal-trump-claims-capitol-riot-looked-more-normal-tourist-n1267163 (touring the building). this week’s number: Uber & Lyft increase emissions by 20%we all know Uber sucks, but turns out both Uber and Lyft suck when it comes to...
readers, we took a different approach to our hottake this week - less funny, more personal. it’s our thoughts on the role of american muslims in today’s divisive politics. we’re no experts, so take everything we say with a grain (or two) of salt, but we do hope it’s food for thought. big idea: dems fall to friendly fireamid continuing negotiations over a climate change and social welfare bill, dems are apparently starting to shoot each other in the foot. good ol’ Bernie decided that the best way to convince Joe Manchin, the party’s most conservative senator, to back the $3.5 trillion bill was to publicly attack him in an op-ed published in Manchin’s hometown newspaper. this is after a Bernie-allied group promised to aggressively go after Kyrsten Sinema, the second most conservative dem senator, which apparently includes following her into the bathroom to harass her. listen, we’re not masters of negotiation here, but common sense dictates maybe try not to piss off people you’re trying to win over. then again, Bernie did lose two consecutive presidential elections, so maybe he’s really not that smart after all. story to watch: corporations rethink chinabig news from two different tech giants this week - first, Apple announced that it had pulled a popular Quran reading app from its App Store in china, and second, Microsoft announced that it will be pulling LinkedIn from the country. both events demonstrate the complexity surrounding business in china, and how american companies are having to rethink their presence in the world’s largest consumer market. Apple, which has a long and storied history of caving into demands of the chinese government and staying silent on chinese human rights issues, pulled a Quran reading app used by over a million people in china after the government asked it to do so. a Bible app was also pulled by its publisher this week. Microsoft tried for years to satisfy chinese censors by limiting the content available on LinkedIn, but has apparently thrown in the towel by removing the platform. it was the only western social media network available in china, and will now be replaced by a simpler job hunting tool. well, we’re standing here on our soap box wondering when american corporations will realize there are fundamental issues with doing business in an authoritarian regime which routinely tramples on human rights. we understand and believe that corporations are designed to maximize profits, but these huge multinationals need to take a side - money or human rights? now, please excuse us while we go watch TikTok on our iPhone. this week’s image: one lucky canadian meteorite(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/world/canada/meteorite-bed.html (NYT)) a canadian grandma escaped death when a meteorite hit her house, went through her roof, and crash landed on her bed just inches away from where she was sleeping. the chances of that happening this year? one in one hundred billion, but who believes scientists anymore? this week’s number: 1 in 4 americans quit their job this yeara new study found that an astounding quarter of all american workers quit their job so far this year, a few percentage points higher than even 2020, and several points higher than the pre-pandemic boom years. there are any number of reasons people quit, from work-life balance, to unfriendly workplaces, to realizing you work for a soul-sucking conglomerate which is destroying the world. what’s surprising employers is who is quitting their jobs - it’s not entry level or young people, but employees with five to ten years of tenure, women, and those over 30. resignations from these groups can be particularly damaging to companies because of the amount of institutional knowledge that is lost with just one departure. some economists are already predicting that the US labor force participation rate (the percentage of americans working) will never again reach pre-pandemic highs of 60%+. they cite many people choosing to retire...
readers, we’re sorry for a glitch that led to some of you receiving last week’s issue twice. it won’t happen again...we hope. you’d think that immediately after issuing a mea culpa we wouldn’t have the courage to ask you to refer a friend, and you’re right. we won’t. we’ll just point out your unique subscriber referral link is at the bottom of this email <3 big idea: an unsteady economic recoveryin case you thought you understood the economy, we’re here to break the news to you - you don’t, we don’t either. the september jobs report had anemic numbers despite a host of positive news over the past month. wages are skyrocketing, college seniors are being bombarded with job offers, COVID cases are decreasing, hiring in the hospitality sector is stabilizing, and schools have largely reopened. despite all that, fewer than half the expected number of new jobs were created last month, and the number of people participating in the workforce fell in key demographics, like black men. we’re also seeing all sorts of labor strikes and walkouts, from food to hollywood, and supply chain issues continue to weigh on manufacturing and consumer goods. listen, we haven’t been this confused since the end of “Inception”. so what’s our point here? well, last month’s jobs report could be largely explained by local governments failing to find enough people to drive buses and clean schools, or...it could be something else. the only thing which is clear is the unclarity surrounding our recovery from COVID. like anyone who has gotten it can tell you, you never really know when you’ll be back up to 100% again. story to watch: china strikes at taiwanchina raised the temperature in eastern asia this week as it sent dozens of aircraft into airspace near taiwan continuously for days on end. the taiwanese airforce was overwhelmed by this show of strength. this record-breaking testing of taiwan’s defenses coincides with china celebrating its independence day. this also comes amid newly substantiated reports that last year the US has begun training taiwanse forces for the first time ever, an escalation of our involvement in the island’s defenses. taiwan, which historically has been part of china, broke off 70 years ago when the mainland became communist. it has studiously threaded the needle between autonomy and independence, knowing that a chinese invasion would be devastating. what has changed in recent years is the calculation that such an invasion would likely result in a communist victory. chinese forces are now better equipped and trained than taiwan’s, and the island is increasingly seen as the main cause of tensions between china and the US, rather than an sideshow. Joe and china’s president Xi Jingping will be speaking with each other by the end of the year, so fingers crossed that our thanksgiving turkey isn’t radioactive. this week’s image: nobel laureate (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58827292 (BBC)) does a photo of books really count as a notable image? anyways, join us as we celebrate the latest nobel prize in literature winner, Abdulrazak Gurnah, who has contributed more to post-colonial black literature than perhaps anyone else alive. this week’s number: train capacity could increase by 50%we know what you’re thinking - trains are awesome, and we should dedicate an entire issue to them. alas, the world is cruel to us ferroequinologists, and we have to pretend that not everyone is as into trains as they should be. anyways, train capacity within the US could increase by 50% if trains became fully autonomous. we keep hearing about autonomous driving, but in many ways, pushing the envelope on train technology would not only benefit society more, but would also be easier to do. the reality is that the US has the world’s largest rail network, and it regularly carries nearly a third of all freight traffic nationwide. it’s four or five times more environmentally friendly than trucks, and of course, is way cooler. after...
loyal readers, it’s the end of an era. our favorite blond-haired celebrity is free from over a decade of scrutiny and limited freedom. and before you say anything, no we’re not talking about #freebritney. the leader of free europe, the bastion of democracy in the era of You-Know-Who, the german chancellor with a PhD in freaking quantum chemistry, Angela Merkel oversaw elections this week to choose her replacement. we’ll dig into the details, but for now - shame on you for thinking we’d ever talk about britney spears on TWR. big idea: drama on the hillall sorts of drama has been unfolding this week on capitol hill, with Joe scrambling to fund the government, extend the federal debt ceiling, pass an infrastructure bill, and pass the biggest expansion of welfare benefits since the 1960’s. phew, let us catch our breath for a second. what’s happening boils down to dems not being able to overcome the difference between the moderate and progressive sides of the party, while the republicans laugh on the sidelines. in the next few weeks, the government will both run out of money to spend and out of debt it can issue. dems need to pass a budget and a debt ceiling extension to solve these problems. dems are hoping to attach an expansion of welfare benefits to the budget, since they won’t need 60 votes in the senate to do so, the only chance this year for a partisan bill to pass. moderates and progressives can’t decide which bill should pass first (the budget or the infrastructure bill), or what the total cost should be. there’s many other sideshows going on, and quite a few details we’ve glossed over, but expect continuing drama on capitol hill for the next month. we don’t know when C-SPAN started running soap operas, but we’re loving it. story to watch: auf wiedersehen Angelawe don’t do love poems on TWR, and even if we wanted to, we couldn’t without embarrassing ourselves - but if we could, and if we did, man would we write an ode to Angela Merkel, the outgoing chancellor of germany. one of the longest ruling european politicians in the modern era, she arose from humble beginnings as a physicist in communist east germany to the head of a unified germany. she led with substance, not style, competency not charisma, and gravitas not grandiosity. since 2005, Merkel has handled a series of problems, from the global recession, to the euro debt crisis, to the rise of neo-Nazism amid the syrian refugee crisis, to COVID-19. during the presidency of You-Know-Who, she took on the mantle of leader of the free world without hesitation, becoming liberal democracy’s foremost cheerleader. if only american politicians had Merkel’s principles, savvy, and courage. we’re just getting started here, so check out this week’s hottakes on why we love Angela, and why her reign is coming to an end this week’s image: decked out cat(The Atlantic) one groovy looking cowboy cat joins pro-democracy protests in thailand. and we thought our cat always looked judgey... this week’s number: 62% of restaurant workers have been emotionally abuseda recent report found that 62% of restaurant workers have been emotionally abused or disrespected by customers, and 15% have been sexually harassed while on the job. this comes amid a huge struggle within the hospitality industry to recruit and retain enough workers while customers seem to be behaving worse than ever. employees have been verbally and physically assaulted for upholding minor rules, like mask or vaccine mandates or table reservations. higher wages can’t solve the problem of jerk customers, so the next time you go out - maybe tip well and turn that frown upside down ;) what we’re reading: “Nudge: The Final Edition”an updated version of the groundbreaking book “Nudge”, first published in 2008 by our favorite nobel prize winner in economics, this is an absolute must read. the first edition brought into public consciousness the idea of behavioral economics - that people are not totally...
we’re excited this week to welcome our first TWR contributor, Aziz! we’ll spare you the details - yes, he’s a nice guy, yes, and he’s single - but because of what must be some major childhood trauma, he’s really into canadian politics. so, despite basically no one in the US even thinking about canada this week, he’s bringing us the lowdown on what happened on monday in the great white north. big idea: canada exists, and had electionsJustin Trudeau, canada’s prime minister and latest heartthrob named Justin, called for early elections last month, betting he could increase his party’s share of seats in parliament. canadians voted Monday, and decisively said…”eh?”, delivering an almost identical minority parliament to that before the election. kabul fell to the taliban just hours before calling for elections last month (not a great look) and amid growing concerns over a fourth wave of COVID, Trudeau was and is in the middle of a self-inflicted political nightmare. despite holding onto power for at least the next year or two, his brand was seriously damaged for this miscalculation. how long does Trudeau want to remain at the helm of his Liberal party and will we start to see some leadership rumblings within his caucus? now we know what you’re thinking - what aboot the losers? Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole pushed his party to the center, but still lost. the knives are being sharpened from within his caucus, with many socially conservative members furious with the sudden shift. the progressive party, the NDP, and the uppity french party, the Bloc Quebecois, will likely help Trudeau with key votes, so their leaders are generally assumed to be safe despite technically losing two elections in a row. but really - no one outside quebec really cares about the Bloc Quebecois anyways. our contributor Aziz is just getting started here, so if you want to learn more about canadian politics or how Trudeau’s fortunes turned so quickly - check out his piece on this week’s hottakes story to watch: booster seats shots are herethe CDC and FDA approved third booster shots for the Pfizer vaccine this week. the agencies disappointed Joe by making them available only to those older than 65, nursing home residents, and younger people who work in high risk environments (like health care employees, teachers, and other frontline workers). Joe had hoped the booster shots would be available to pretty much everyone, but there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to back that up. people should get the shots six months after their last vaccine dose, which will be the next couple of months for most eligible patients. Walgreens and CVS are already preparing to ramp up their vaccine availability, with plans to offer the flu vaccine at the same time. of note, the CDC is not making the third shot required for anyone - people who just receive two shots will be considered fully vaccinated. pundits across the political spectrum are applauding the CDC’s move amid continued strains on the healthcare system. ICUs and hospitals across the south are still overwhelmed, and some companies are resorting to hiring nurses from the philippines to fill staffing shortages. this week’s image: <3 merkel(The Guardian) Angela Merkel, our celebrity crush, is preparing to step down after nearly 16 years as germany’s chancellor. we’ll spend next issue celebrating her reign, but for now - enjoy this compilation of her famous pantsuits and...unique hand gesture. this week’s number: $9.2 billion in suspicious Medicare payments in 2017an investigation by DHS, the governmental agency which oversees Medicare, found that the program made $9.2 billion in suspicious payments to insurers in 2017, the latest year which we have data for. UnitedHealth was called out for receiving about 40% of that sum, a staggering percentage considering they only insure about 20% of the private Medicare market. the payments are suspicious, or at the very least controversial, because insurers use...
we’re visiting our little brother this week and we couldn’t help but notice his attire when he picked us up from the airport. it’s almost as though he was trying to instigate us with a bright green Spartans shirt, knowing that we went to Michigan. alas, younger siblings are the worst, but they usually do take our recommendations to heart. don’t believe us? refer them to TWR and see what happens. big idea: Facebook is worse than you thought it was...we all know Facebook is evil, but chances are you didn’t think it was as bad as it actually is. leaked company documents obtained by WSJ demonstrate not only how toxic Facebook-owned Instagram is to teenagers’ mental health, but also how the entire company routinely breaks its own moderation rules if someone famous is involved. the reporting is already resulting in senators calling for additional hearings with Facebook leadership because of just how damning it is. the internal data on Instagram users is particularly worrying. the company found that teens routinely and consistently blamed Instagram for anxiety and depression, and 40% of users said they felt “unattractive” after using the app. this is despite public and repeated denials by Zuckerberg & co that the company didn’t know this sort of stuff. it was also revealed that Facebook has an internal list of 5.8 million users who can basically get away with posting anything without consequences. one example cited was the soccer superstar Neymar posting nude pictures of a woman without her consent, and the photos staying online for more than 24 hours. hey, we hate telling you we told you so...but there’s a reason we abandoned Facebook and Instagram years ago. story to watch: australia buys some ‘murican nuclear submarinesthe US announced wednesday that it would be selling top secret nuclear submarine technology to the land down under. this is technology and expertise the US has only ever shared with the UK before, so it’s a pretty huge deal. the agreement will no doubt mean bookoo bucks for the US, along with sending a strong message to the chinese that the US still views itself as a pacific power. the deal made france all angry because the australians originally had a contract with them to build some old-fashioned diesel subs. nuclear submarines can travel longer, deeper, and more quietly than the old tech, explaining the switch. but really, making the french mad is just a plus. of note, the subs are only powered by nuclear reactors - there aren’t any nukes on board. this will shift the balance of power in the region. this is the first real move the US has made in a decade-long “pivot to Asia”. it puts australia firmly on the side of america, despite its proximity to china, and is making europe’s pro-business stance with china increasingly untenable. both china and the US are trying to cage each other out in different parts of the world, and while europe has successfully kept both happy for the past few decades, that detente seems to be ending. the chinese response has been limited to economic warfare, perhaps signaling they do not want to further raise the temperature. they applied to join the free-trade pact formerly known as the TPP, which is currently made up of a group of dependable US allies. this week’s image: art is trash...or trash is art?(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/sep/17/twenty-photographs-of-the-week (The Guardian)) an art display in indonesia includes 4,444 plastic bottles which were dumped as litter in a local river. one dude’s trash really can be another guy’s treasure. this week’s number: 216 million potential climate migrants by 2050a newly published report found that under the worst case scenarios for climate change, up to 216 million people may be forced to move homes due to shifting weather patterns by 2050. even assuming the best possible conditions, 44 million will still likely have to move. the vast majority of these migrants currently live in north &
we're in florida this week, and we're not ashamed to say this is our first time visiting the wrinkly elbow joint of america. who knew there was a state where alligators were the most sentient inhabitants? it's not that we're surprised that there's a state where there are more swamps than people, but having to keep our windshield wipers constantly on due to the humidity is still crazy. anyways, we'll be back to civilization by monday, but until then - enjoy our in-depth hottake on Jacob Zuma, the "florida man" of south africa. big idea: nanny Joe is here to rescue us allJoe unveiled his https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-require-all-federal-workers-government-contractors-to-be-vaccinated-against-covid-19-11631195011?mod=hp_lead_pos1&mod=article_inline (newest plan to beat COVID) thursday, which basically boils down to...get vaccinated and quit the shenanigans. the highlights include requiring either vaccination or weekly testing for all employees who work for large businesses, all government contractors, and nearly all federal employees. that’ll cover an estimated 100 million people, or two-thirds of america’s working population. this comes amid the delta-spike in cases, with 1,500 people dying daily from COVID and https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1036023973/covid-19-unvaccinated-deaths-11-times-more-likely (a new CDC study) which found unvaccinated people are eleven times more likely to die from COVID than vaccinated smartie pants. it also comes after months of Dems essentially begging Joe to screw his critics and go full nanny state. what finally changed Joe's mind? more than likely, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/10/biden-pandemic-vaccination-effort-511157 (his dropping poll numbers) combined with a fully FDA-approved vaccine. his team finally realized that his critics were going to compare any move he made to an overbearing, interfering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_state (nanny state), so why not take actually effective policy steps to end the pandemic? states with higher vaccination rates clearly have fewer outbreaks and deaths, and it is time to replicate that success nationally. we'll have to wait and see though, if you're crazy enough to refuse the vaccine, you're probably crazy enough to quit your job over it too. story to watch: TikTok beats YouTube in minutes usedhttps://www.appannie.com/en/insights/market-data/evolution-of-social-media-report/ (a new report) adds to the growing evidence that TikTok is the new social media app to beat. Android users in the US and UK spent more average time on TikTok per month than YouTube. in 2020, TikTok beat Facebook’s Messenger app to become https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58155103 (the most downloaded app) of the year, and now earns more money than YouTube per user. that’s phenomenal performance for an app which is barely five years old, especially when considering TikToks are three minutes long at most. because YouTube has more than double the number of users (two billion versus 700 million), it still has more time spent on its platform. to put things in perspective, 44% of all time on smartphones is spent on social media apps, so TikTok is at the very top of the app game. like all the other massive social media platforms, this crown will no doubt shed more light on the shadiness of TikTok. its corporate owner is ByteDance, a chinese company which claims there is a firewall between the communist party and the https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqbmk/tiktok-data-collection (massive amounts of data it collects) on TikTok users. there are also growing concerns that TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm is https://medium.com/dataseries/how-tiktok-is-addictive-1e53dec10867 (incredibly addictive) and essentially autoplays it into our youths’ hearts. this week’s image: Lee finally surrenders(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/09/photos-of-the-week-depleted-lake-wayward-cow-alligator-reef/620027/ (The Atlantic)) a statue of Robert E Lee is...
we were asked by our brother to recommend a new smartphone to buy - and we were stumped. on the one hand, we love our latest galaxy #android4life but that’s a pretty major life decision, up there with whether to buy or rent your first home or deciding if you’re team iron man or captain america. luckily, referring a friend to subscribe to TWR isn’t a huge deal at all! it’s free, and you’ll earn some swell prizes. big idea: most abortions are outlawed in texaswe’re delving into a hot button social issue this week, which is unusual - really, who wants to hear three brown guys’ opinions on abortion anyways? but, this is big news so here we go: a 5-4 late-night supreme court ruling https://www.npr.org/2021/09/03/1033733918/the-supreme-court-heads-toward-reversing-abortion-rights (upheld a law banning most abortions in texas). this is no doubt the conservative court’s first step towards dismantling the right to a safe, elective abortion. the supreme court originally enshrined that right into law nearly 50 years ago in a case called Roe v Wade, and conservatives have been attempting to erase that precedent for decades. the texas law, which is already being replicated by state legislatures around the south, seems to have done just that. the law https://www.vox.com/2021/8/31/22650303/supreme-court-abortion-texas-sb8-jackson-roe-wade-greg-abbott (effectively bans all abortions) after six weeks of pregancy, which accounts for 85% of all abortions in texas. Roe v Wade permitted abortion up until 22 weeks. the law was purposefully written to avoid court battles by leaving enforcement up to citizens rather than state authorities. instead of the state AG suing abortion clinics, an anti-abortion activist could round up a gang of friends to sue clinics instead, resulting in a potentially crippling number of lawsuits. there’s a ton more to unpack here, from how the supreme court issued this ruling, to how John Roberts has effectively lost control of the court, to how big business is reacting to the ruling. you can read all that, and more, on this week’s hottake. story to watch: Ikea pivots to sustainabilitya year after https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/business/ikea-buy-back-furniture.html (introducing a furniture buyback program) in most of the countries in which it operates, Ikea is https://gizmodo.com/ikea-s-offering-to-buy-back-your-old-furniture-if-it-ca-1847584219 (piloting a similar resale operation) here in the US. it’s part of Ikea’s efforts to become a more sustainable business, with the hope being consumers sell used furniture back to Ikea for store credit instead of just throwing out that $10 lamp. Ikea is hoping customers will be okay with returning products for up to 50% back, and that other customers will be willing to buy those same products for a slight markup. this is a remarkable turnaround for a business which is almost defined by the disposable nature of its products, an incredibly environmentally-unfriendly practice. we’ll see how Ikea’s pilot goes, but other businesses known for their expendable products, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/20/gap-partners-with-secondhand-clothing-retailer-thredup.html (like fast fashion brand Gap), are getting into the secondhand market too. we guess if you’re willing to buy a used t-shirt, a used mattress isn’t a huge stretch either... this week’s image: raccoons gone wild(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2021/sep/03/comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2021-finalists (The Guardian)) a finalist for this year’s comedy wildlife awards, a raccoon in france is caught trying to jump through a window. even the raccoons in france are just a little off, huh? this week’s number: 235k jobs added last monthemployers https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/03/jobs-report-august-2021.html (added just 235,000 jobs) in august, well below expectations of over 700,000. the overall unemployment is 5.2%, while the...
amid the haze of dehydration brought on by the unforgiving august sun, we began to ponder life’s big questions. which came first, racoons’ bandit masks or their reputation for banditry? why does hollywood keep casting british actors despite their terrible american accents? what the heck are carbon tariffs and why should I care? well, we don’t have answers to the first two, but we did a deep dive on that last question in our weekly wednesday segment, hottakes. check it out before racoons steal your internet too. big idea: afghanistan falls aparta suicide bomber https://www.npr.org/2021/08/26/1031428645/the-attacks-outside-kabul-airport-pushes-the-u-s-exit-into-deeper-disarray (ripped through a crowd) at kabul’s airport this week, killing nearly 200 afghan civilians and american soldiers. Joe’s argument that afghanistan is no longer a haven for terrorists is kaput - but the withdrawal continues. Joe resisted pressure to extend the withdrawal date beyond august. for once, we have a ‘murican foreign policy decision based on logic, not fear. in response to the attack, https://www.npr.org/2021/08/27/1031649747/kabul-airport-explosions-afghanistan-dead-evacuations (a drone strike) took place in eastern afghanistan, reportedly killing the planner of the operation. notably, the attack was organized by an offshoot of IS, perhaps the taliban’s most potent rival in the region. more than 100k people have been airlifted out of kabul in recent days, https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-afghanistan-united-nations-957bdc5ded58a337572313d27be13e73 (with the massive operation already slowing pace). the europeans have more or less completed their evacuation, and the americans are not far behind. the taliban have increasingly cut off access to the airport to native afghans, who are now attempting to flee the country via its porous borders with iran and pakistan. the taliban https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/27/exclusive-taliban-plans-inclusive-caretaker-govt-in-afghanistan (continues its PR offensive with the west), condemning the suicide bombing, allowing female civil servants to continue working, and https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/us/politics/us-taliban-partnership.html (meeting with american leaders), including the CIA director. 75% of the afghan government’s budget comes from foreign aid, so the taliban are more than willing to play ball. story to watch: another tesla competitor is going publicRivian, an EV startup based in michigan and california, https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2021/08/27/rivian-stock-valuation-ipo-truck/5618382001/ (filed paperwork for an IPO) late this week. it’s clearly trying to capitalize on a booming stock market and the frenzy over electric vehicles. in many ways, Rivian is the anti-Tesla - it’s notoriously secretive, initially plans on making money with delivery vans instead of consumer products, and has major corporate investors like Amazon. the company is aiming for an $80 billion valuation, well above the market caps of GM ($72 billion) and Ford ($53 billion), and almost double the $43 billion valuation https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-closest-imitator-is-just-starting-its-journey-11627304469?mod=article_inline (another EV startup, Lucid,) earned in july this comes amid other big moves in the EV market. Waymo, Google’s play in the auto industry, https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/2/22364317/waymo-ceo-john-krafcik-stepping-down-self-driving-cars-google-alphabet (recently replaced its CEO) to speed commercialization efforts, a https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/mobility/2021/08/27/geely-ev-brand-zeekr-raises-500-million-investors/5622720001/ (chinese EV company raised $500 million) in a funding round, and Ford is https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2021/08/24/ford-f-150-lightning-ford-electric/8254023002/ (doubling production) of its EV truck amid higher than expected demand. who knew EVs could prove to be so...electric. this week’s image: bear gone...
we’re continuing our new, wednesday deep dive articles called hottakes on our website at https://www.theweeklyrundown.us/ (theweeklyrundown.us). we’re continuing our discussion of the origins of the arab-israeli conflict - this week, how a protest over the Wailing Wall led to the end of an uneasy peace after the british had taken over palestine. big idea: afghanistan fell...alreadywell, that was quick readers. last week we cited US intelligence reports that kabul would fall to the taliban within 30 days, and it fell within 30 minutes of our issue’s publication. remind us again, why do we trust the US intelligence services? anyways, afghanistan is in total chaos, with https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/20/taliban-un-report-afghanistan-door-to-door-revenge (tens of thousands attempting to flee) the country via land and air, its former (and cowardly) president in exile in the UAE, women afraid to venture outside their homes, https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-kabul-taliban-d036db0b190acba68087f3d46ffae146 (helicopters ferrying americans) from around kabul to the airport, https://www.npr.org/2021/08/21/1029449432/taliban-afghanistan-us-weapons-captured (billions of dollars) of abandoned american military equipment being seized by the taliban, or really anyone who happens to be walking by. this has turned out to be a huge mess for ol’ Joe, who was counting on at least a month to evacuate the thousands of american diplomats and contractors still in afghanistan. instead of an orderly sulk out the back door, he got a stampede at the kabul airport, live streamed for the world to see. Joe didn’t exactly handle things well once the taliban took kabul either, taking days to speak to the nation, and even then, mostly blaming others instead of taking responsibility for the loss of the capital. it’s entirely unclear what’s going to happen now. no one really knows if the taliban will stick to its promises to not aid terrorists anymore and allow women in the public sphere. the afghan people have protested in a number of cities against the taliban takeover, and there are reports that https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/anti-taliban-fighters-claim-victories-as-first-stirrings-of-armed-resistance-emerge/2021/08/20/24b433fc-01da-11ec-87e0-7e07bd9ce270_story.html (opposition leaders are regrouping) in traditionally anti-taliban ethnic areas. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-americans-think-about-the-end-of-the-afghanistan-war-and-bidens-handling-of-it-so-far/ (Joe’s approval numbers) have hit an all-time low, and polling shows americans don’t know what the heck to think of the situation either. this was a quick, but not altogether surprising, end to the american occupation of afghanistan, where it’s pretty clear the afghan people have lost the most. story to watch: will ‘murica learn from afghanistan?we know, we know, talking about afghanistan for both our big idea & story to watch is cheating, but it’s the end of a generation-long war - what lessons (if any) ‘murica draws from this conflict is incredibly important. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/16/kabul-afghanistan-collapse-intel-failures-505101 (the intelligence failures) from the start to end of this whole quandary were and are staggering, yet it’s unclear if any heads will roll in Joe’s administration. the state and defense departments are already publicly pointing figures at the CIA and the rest of our alphabet soup of spy agencies, even though there’s plenty of blame to be spread around the whole bureaucracy. it’s alarmingly clear that we had literally no idea what was happening on the ground in much of afghanistan, let alone kabul itself. the taliban took over afghanistan quicker than NATO forces did after 9/11, which means the https://www.wsj.com/articles/intelligence-reports-from-afghanistan-missed-one-key-element-speed-11629056759 (taliban had spent years) negotiating and strategizing with local leaders to take control. this...
dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this email newsletter with its newly revamped website and expanded blog called hottakes. sorry guys, it’s summer and love is in the air. for real though, our new weekly deep dive into topics of import is going strong, and we’re continuing to look into the origins of the arab-israeli conflict. this week - how the british made conflicting promises to the arabs, zionists, and french after WWI. we’d say that’s surprising, but the english are https://giphy.com/gifs/dovLKmIW1t2cE (pretty) https://gph.is/2RBKRbS (dumb). big idea: afghanistan is falling to the talibanthe taliban https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-taliban-f600d6faf28e9c2ccb454ad176987b19 (has taken control of the majority) of afghanistan, winning a stunning series of battles over this past week, just three weeks after the US military withdrew from the country. taliban forces took over the second and third largest afghan cities, most international border crossings, and are just seven miles south of kabul. american intelligence agencies predict they could militarily take control of the capital within a month. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2021/08/13/this-got-bungled-bidens-two-tragic-afghanistan-missteps-493975 (Joe is scrambling) - no one expected afghanistan to fall so quickly. the US embassy is being evacuated, with sensitive documents being destroyed. the US is trying to convince the taliban to spare our embassy when their inevitable attack on kabul begins. the afghan government is reportedly trying to reach https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/12/afghanistan-offer-power-sharing-taliban-official (a last-ditch power sharing agreement). so far, there is no indication that Joe will backtrack and send american troops back in. the taliban has a clear military strategy. they’re funneling refugees into kabul to overwhelm the government, and are systematically surrounding the city to increase pressure. the government...doesn’t really know what they’re doing, despite https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/13/afghan-army-pentagon-504469 ($88 billion spent on training) them over the past 20 years. reports indicate villages have surrendered to the taliban when https://www.vox.com/22618215/afghanistan-news-taliban-advance (as few as 10 militants show up). there’s no sugar coating this - afghanistan will fall to taliban rule as inevitably as Mitch McConnell is slowly turning into a turtle. the taliban’s end game is unclear though - do they intend to take kabul by force, or are they betting they can force the government into surrender? story to watch: the SEC’s flexingearlier this month, the SEC approved a NASDAQ proposal on corporate board diversity, and last week, the SEC chair said the commission is working on disclosure rules for carbon emissions. along with reports that the https://www.wsj.com/articles/private-equity-may-face-return-of-attention-getting-sec-finesunder-gensler-11614081601 (SEC will start monitoring private equity) more closely, it’s clear that the investment regulation commission is stepping up. the diversity proposal will require all companies which want to sell stocks on the NASDAQ to https://www.vox.com/recode/22248351/corporate-board-diversity-nasdaq-black-lives-matter (report the diversity of their corporate boards), and explain themselves if they don’t have any women or minorities in these leadership positions. the environmental disclosures being discussed would require corporations https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-accounting-for-companies-looms-with-all-its-complexities-11628608324 (to publish climate-related risks) and how much carbon they emit. the SEC is clearly empowered under Joe and has been given a mandate - rein in the excesses of the markets and big business, and move the ball forward on important societal issues. who knew such a boring sounding commission could put out such exciting news? this week’s image: school...
as part of our plans for world media domination, we’re incredibly excited to unveil our revamped website - https://theweeklyrundown.us/ (theweeklyrundown.us) - and a new weekly blog, hottakes! unlike twitter and your average newspaper’s oped section, we’re planning on doing some actual research here before proclaiming that Sesame Street is just a cover for a secret FBI sting operation targeting furries. expect lengthier articles published each wednesday directly to our website instead of emailed out, sometimes related to the news, sometimes not. we figured we’d start out with a super chill topic no one ever has opinions on - the origins of the arab israeli conflict . big idea: progressives cry themselves to sleepprogressives https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/03/shontel-brown-beats-nina-turner-in-key-ohio-primary-502365 (lost a special primary election) for a house seat in ohio this week. this followed similar defeats against moderate dems in recent weeks in new mexico, louisiana, virginia, and new york city. these losses came despite progressive luminaries like uncle Bernie and AOC endorsing and stumping for their losing candidates. most of these defeats weren’t even that close, with the ohio election ending in a six-point margin. what’s particularly interesting is that these winning ‘moderate’ candidates are fairly left of center and https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/566242-five-takeaways-from-the-ohio-special-primaries (embraced progressive talking points), like a $15 minimum wage, a permanent child tax credit, and medicare for all. what separated them from their progressive counterparts was mostly their tamer rhetoric, less flashy style, and unwillingness to insult the democratic party or Joe. turns out hating on a https://gph.is/g/4VXOz26 (septuagenarian with aviators) just comes off as elder abuse, not campaigning. progressives seem intent on looking down at the democratic base of black and minority voters and working class whites instead of earning their votes. they keep blaming money and advertising for their losses, despite their chosen candidate in ohio https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/04/nina-turners-loss-ohio-means-biden-doesnt-need-keep-caving-left/ (outraising her moderate opponent) by more than a 2:1 margin. we’ll see if progressives learn anything from their defeats in time for 2022’s big redistricting fights. story to watch: Apple spies on iCloud usersApple is receiving considerable flak https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-child-abuse-apple-inc-7fe2a09427d663cda8addfeeffc40196 (over its plan to begin scanning images) uploaded to its iCloud service (including those taken on iPhones and iPads) for child pornography. if these illegal images are found on a user’s account by its algorithms, a human will verify the results and notify law enforcement. Facebook-owned WhatsApp https://www.wsj.com/articles/whatsapp-rejects-apples-approach-on-exploitative-images-of-children-11628273991?mod=hp_lista_pos5 (has already criticized the move) - who knew Facebook could ever be so right? privacy advocates are disappointed because it essentially ends Apple’s promises of end-to-end encryption and that “https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/05/apple-privacy-billboard-vegas-ces/ (what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone)”. this method could be weaponized by authoritarian regimes around the world which https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-privacy-censorship.html (Apple has happily complied with in the past), like china. governments could order Apple to use its algorithms to target images of political dissent. https://www.wired.com/story/apple-csam-detection-icloud-photos-encryption-privacy/ (experts analyzing) Apple’s technical setup for this think it’s a way to view images, even if they’re encrypted. the question here really is do the ends justify the means? can corporations decide which crimes are so heinous they’ll use your supposedly private...
we've always felt that it's creepy when facebook reminds us when we've been friends with someone for 10 years. we don't really mind that they know that fact, just that they've reminded us of how old we are. we hope us reminding you that TWR is now 25 issues in doesn’t make you feel old, but we do hope this special occasion encourages you to refer a friend. we still have groovy thank you gifts available, so grab some before they change this fall! big idea: roll up that sleeve...if you haven’t alreadythe https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/ (CDC revised its astonishingly confusing) mask guidelines this week, recommending that everyone in high risk areas, including vaccinated individuals, wear masks. this dramatic shift came as new data revealed the delta variant is as infectious as chickenpox, may result in worse illnesses, and vaccinated people who catch it can still spread it (even though they won’t really get sick from it). that’s a lot to unpack, but it’s clear that both public and private sector employers are requiring their employees to get vaccinated as a result. Walmart, Disney, Ford, Google, Morgan Stanley, the federal government, and the military https://www.wsj.com/articles/walmart-to-require-masks-for-store-workers-in-high-risk-counties-11627655572 (have all announced) that some or all of its workers must get vaccinated and/or face weekly COVID testing. https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2021/07/30/michigan-state-university-require-vaccines-fall/5434683001/ (some large public universities) have also followed suit, and school districts in blue states may follow. employers and Joe are trying to walk a fine line. heavy-handed tactics will likely only push dummies who refuse to get vaccinated even further away from reason, but the reality is the US is losing this latest battle against COVID. european and canadian vaccination rates https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations (are higher than ours). even bhutan (one of the poorest countries in the world) managed to vaccinate 90% of its adult population https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/28/bhutan-covid-vaccination/ (in a week), and those nurses literally had to climb mountains to get it done. story to watch: scarjo sues DisneyScarlett Johansson, star of the Marvel-produced flop “Black Widow”, https://variety.com/2021/film/news/scarlett-johansson-sues-disney-black-widow-1235030582/ (is suing Disney for releasing her film) on Disney+ at the same time as its theatrical release. she allegedly lost up to $50 million in bonuses because Disney+ took away from box office totals, which hollywood bonuses are tied to. it’s hard to have sympathy for either party here. Johansson already made $20 million off the movie, and Disney’s stock is https://www.google.com/search?q=disney+stock&oq=disney+stock&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i131i433i512j0i433i512j0i131i433i512j0i433i512j0i512l5.1088j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 (trading near all time highs). it’s more than likely this dispute will end in private arbitration or a negotiated settlement, but for the time being it’s fun imagining why a super-spy needs lawyers to fight her battles. however, this lawsuit is likely a bellwether for the larger entertainment industry, including the likes of Netflix and Amazon. how should stars be compensated now that people don’t buy movie tickets and companies don’t pay for TV advertising? Warner Bros solved this problem by spending a whopping $250 million on actor payoffs when it moved its 2021 movie lineup to HBO Max, and will likely continue to shower cash on talent starring in https://www.wsj.com/articles/warner-bros-to-make-10-movies-exclusively-for-hbo-max-streaming-service-11626977733 (upcoming movies to be released directly) onto that streaming platform. Disney clearly just doesn’t want to spend that much on paying actors, though to be fair, all they're doing is playing make-believe. this week’s image: baby tiger...
we hit up four parties last weekend, and we realized how much we missed...well, actual human interaction. let's not kid ourselves folks - before COVID, we just made excuses to stay home, but now we're all social butterflies. who knew it would just take a global pandemic to get us out of our cocoons? if you got another hot party invite, email us! big idea: the olympics are...happening...the 2020 olympics https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/world/asia/tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony.html (started this week) - we won’t harp on the fact that it is 2021. we wouldn’t blame you if you thought these olympics would never happen after they were delayed by a year (costing nearly https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tokyo-olympics-staggering-price-tag-and-where-it-stands-in-history-11627049612 ($3 billion)), the chair of the organizing committee was https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57924885 (forced to resign) after making sexist remarks, tokyo being in the midst of a COVID lockdown resulting in no spectators at events, and 55% of the japanese public wishing the games just wouldn’t happen. now, we don’t really believe in omens, but none of that can be good luck. closer to home, Comcast-owned NBC is still hoping people tune in to watch everything. they spent more than $1.1 billion on the rights to exclusively broadcast all the events in the US on its networks and its streaming platforms, NBC Olympics and Peacock. Peacock’s launch last summer was supposed to coincide with the tokyo 2020 games, which obviously didn’t happen. NBC is betting big that the postponed games will still generate subscriptions and interest in its service, which https://www.wsj.com/articles/nbcuniversal-bets-olympics-can-vault-peacock-ahead-in-streaming-contest-11627048801 (with fewer than 10 million) paying subscribers, is running far behind rivals like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max. story to watch: crisis in south africareader S.K. reached out and asked us to explain https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/22/south-africa-unrest-death-toll-jumps-to-more-than-300 (the turmoil in south africa), where earlier this month former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned and as a result riots broke out, costing over 300 lives and $1 billion in damages. Zuma resigned in 2018 amid corruption allegations, and he was imprisoned for not cooperating with that investigation. this whole episode is seen as a test of the rule of law in south africa, which became a democracy less than 30 years ago. it is clear that Zuma https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57860998 (is guilty of corruption), but he still controls parts of the state security apparatus, which makes quelling this violence all the more difficult. police largely refused to stop the rioting, prompting the government to send in 25,000 troops, the largest deployment since the end of apartheid. while the rioting stopped in recent days, the economic damage is immense, with one province’s entire supply chain essentially destroyed. it is also clear that Zuma instigated the riots as a message to the government, in hopes they would end his prosecution. that’s not to say that south africans https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/jacob-zuma-south-africa-looting-riots-kwazulu-natal (don’t have reason to be upset) - unemployment among young people is 75% and the country is in the midst of a third COVID lockdown. unfortunately though, we should probably expect more violence as https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/africa/zuma-corruption-trial-adjourned-intl/index.html (Zuma’s trial resumes next month) and a conviction seems inevitable. whether the government can maintain rule of law by both imprisoning Zuma and maintaining order on the streets is the billion dollar question. this week’s image: peace for eid(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57926873 (BBC)) a girl in nigeria celebrates eid-ul-adha on tuesday. if only we had her flair... this week’s number: food’s real cost is 3x the price taga...
readers, know it took all our self-control not to spend this entire issue talking about how https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/world/europe/england-european-championships-racism.html (soccer’s racist) and https://youtu.be/FdsY3amsd6w?t=34 (penalty kicks are stupid). our better angels won out, especially when we remembered we’re sponsoring a local soccer team and all the hate mail we got when we bashed college sports in https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/p/18-daddy-bezoss-taxes-rich-college-athletes (issue 18). if you’d like to hear that soccer rant anyways, kick us an email! big idea: uncle sam rolls out child tax creditas part of Joe’s march stimulus package, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/child-tax-credit-payments-one-of-the-best-forms-of-government-spending-economist.html (35 million families began receiving up to $300) per month, per child this week. this is the biggest anti-poverty step the US has taken in decades, with 90% of families expected to benefit and childhood poverty expected to drop by half. we know uncle sam is usually that creepy uncle who spies on you, but this eid he remembered to bring some cash to buy your love. the stimulus bill only funded the program until december. dems are hoping that once americans get used to seeing those monthly checks, they’ll demand their GOP congressmen renew the tax credits indefinitely. the chances of that are fairly good right now - nothing riles up republicans like democrats claiming to be pro-family. it’s policies like these which could encourage americans to have more babies, something we discussed in https://theweeklyrundown.letterdrop.com/p/12-americas-baby-shortage-big-tech-is-winning-1#big%20idea:%20census%20says%20america%20needs%20more%20babies (issue 12). this is also https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/upshot/child-tax-credit-spending.html' (a bit of a social experiment). policymakers are hoping that providing this money on a monthly basis (instead of in a lump sum when you file your taxes) will stabilize living situations and encourage parents to spend on their kids. this $110 billion is the last big bucket of stimulus money to slosh around in our economy, so expect some knock-on effects. grocery stores like Target and clothing retailers like Nike have said they expect the cash https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/12/child-tax-credit-payments-may-boost-retail-sales-as-soon-as-this-month.html (to boost back-to-school sales). story to watch: carbon tariffs are the hot new carbon taxin preparation for the next climate summit this november in glasgow, https://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-to-propose-sweeping-economic-plan-to-combat-climate-change-11626251377 (china, the EU, and senate dems all released) longterm green infrastructure plans this week. the european and american plans both include proposals for implementing carbon tariffs, a newish concept which will likely play a big role in future trade wars. the idea is for the US & EU to impose import taxes (tariffs) on high-carbon products (like steel, cement, and fertilizer) produced overseas. production of these items are moving to developing nations which don’t force companies to abide by pollution or carbon controls. by imposing a tariff, the US & EU would be leveling the playing field for domestic companies which do follow those laws and have higher costs as a result. passing and implementing such a system https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/climate/carbon-border-tax.html (would be incredibly complex) and take the better part of a decade, but could theoretically reduce carbon emissions instead of just shifting them to poorer countries. the hope among some environmentalists is just the threat of such tariffs will be enough for third world countries to move more quickly on regulating carbon markets. this week’s image: photojournalist killed(https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/07/16/1016852885/reuters-photographer-photojournalist-danish-siddiqui-killed-in-afghanistan (NPR)) pulitzer-prize...
we were walking down the street the other night, and all of a sudden - twohttp://gph.is/16f1EgU ( youths) were blocking our path! before we knew it, our phone, laptop, and wallet had been stolen (don’t worry, no one was hurt). we only wish we could’ve told our muggers thank you for wearing facemasks. have something you wish you could tell us? email us today! big idea: is inflation here to stay?no, you’re not going crazy - that bag of skittles https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22549250/inflation-consumer-prices-lumber-used-cars-gas (cost more than it did last year), and that box of cereal https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/07/06/1012409112/beware-of-shrinkflation-inflations-devious-cousin (magically shrunk overnight). everyone is talking about inflation, and we figured we could break that down this week. the big fear is that these price hikes will become an unfortunate cycle. people think that their money will be worth less next quarter, so they choose to spend their money now, increasing demand for goods. that increase in demand results in higher prices, which makes people think their money is worth less. it’s an inflationary cycle which the US was stuck in for the 1970’s (something else we can hate hippies for). we’re already seeing signs of this as https://www.wsj.com/articles/supermarkets-are-stockpiling-inventory-as-food-costs-rise-11625572980 (grocery stores report higher than normal inventories) as they hoard nonperishable items which may go up in price. the question is whether we can compare now to the 70’s, and there are https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/business/economy/inflation-redux.html (similarities but also differences). yes, there has been an influx of cash into the economy from the stimulus bills and wages are increasing, but part of the reason the 70’s were so bad was because the fed was afraid to raise interest rates and there was a hangover from WWII price controls. for now though, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-debated-how-to-begin-pulling-back-on-stimulus-at-june-meeting-11625680801 (the fed is signaling) that they could start pulling back on stimulus measures and low interest rates as early as next year. inflation is a bit of a mind game - if consumers think their dollar will be worth the same tomorrow as it is today, it will be! story to watch: cracks in OPEC+OPEC+, the cartel which controls the oil sector, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/06/opec-saudi-arabia-and-uae-infighting-threatens-future-of-oil-group.html (had an acrimonious meeting last week), ending with no agreement on future oil production. OPEC+ drastically cut the rate of pumping oil out of the ground last year when COVID hit, and now the question is how fast to undo those cuts. oil has been trading at higher prices, and hit a nearly seven-year record after the cartel meeting broke up. the UAE is challenging saudi’s and russia’s leadership roles in the group, and wants to raise production levels more quickly than planned. the UAE has cut its production by a third for the past year, much more than other cartel members, and isn’t happy with the status quo. they want to pump as much oil as possible while the world is still hooked on fossil fuels. they plan to use those massive profits https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-opec-deadlock-one-petro-state-looks-to-non-oil-future-11625659872 (to diversify their economy) - plans put on hold because of the cartel. if talks don’t resume soon, expect oil prices to rise further as supply is artificially constrained. there’s also a non-zero chance this disagreement will split apart OPEC+, with russia choosing to go its own way. it’s hard to figure out which murderous, earth-destroying dictator to root for in this story, huh? this week’s image: aliens do exist(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/07/photos-of-the-week-giant-alice-tiny-cow-wooden-swimmer/619389/ (The Atlantic)) an alien roller skates down the street in Roswell during the UFO Festival this week’s number: DOJ...
our intrepid, impossibly consistent, and annoyingly OCD editor is partying it up in dubai this weekend, so don’t be surprised by any spelling or grammar mistakes this week. if you’re bored this independence day, feel free to email us a complaint anyways. big idea: america gives up on afghanistanas we discussed in https://theweeklyrundown.us/p/10-end-to-endless-wars-the-sports-betting-era (issue 10), Joe is desperately trying to untangle the US from the war in afghanistan, and that took a huge step forward this week. the last remaining american and coalition forces unceremoniously, and (literally) under the cover of dark https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/07/02/bagram-afghanistan-biden-war/ (left the country). apart from about a thousand american and turkish troops left to guard the american embassy and international airport in kabul, this is the first time in nearly two decades afghanistan is without western troops. this is despite the taliban controlling nearly 20% of the country’s military districts, including border crossings in the north, and little progress on a peace deal after years of negotiations. experts put the chances of the afghan government remaining in control of kabul at just https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012680801/u-s-military-has-withdrawn-from-largest-base-in-afghanistan-handed-over-control (50% over the next few months). it’s clear Joe and his team planned all this out to be as low key as possible. the troops completed their withdrawal just before a holiday weekend in the states when nobody would be paying attention, and the administration has released few other details on their future policy for the region. Joe knows there are no good options for anyone involved, and is coldly calculating that most americans won’t care if afghanistan https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/world/asia/vulnerable-afghans-forming-militias.html (devolves into a civil war). story to watch: Facebook wins big in courtFacebook notched a huge win in court this week, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/28/facebook-ftc-antitrust-suit-496877 (with a federal judge throwing out landmark cases against it). the cases, which argued Facebook was a monopoly and should be split up, were filed last year by 46 states and the FTC. the judge has given the FTC some time to refile with new evidence, but the states’ case was dismissed entirely for waiting too long after Facebook bought WhatsApp and Instagram. while we have no doubt that the FTC, https://theweeklyrundown.us/p/19-happy-juneteenth-big-techs-scared-1#story%20to%20watch:%20the%20FTC%20has%20a%20new%20boss (under new aggressive leadership), will try their darndest to take Facebook down, it’s unclear that the courts will agree with the popular sentiment that these big tech companies are monopolies. the cleaner and faster way to rein in big tech is for congress to act, not for the court system. current antitrust laws date back nearly a century, when the monopolies we were worried about traded oil and ran railroads. the internet age has made those laws obsolete, and the only way to update them is through legislation. various House committees https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-facebook-pressure-falls-short-as-major-antitrust-measures-advance-in-house-committee-11624505607?mod=article_inline (approved a number of bills last week) to curb big tech’s power, but it’ll take time and political capital for them to become law. many of the bills have bipartisan support in the House, but the Senate will be the real challenge to watch this week’s image: mud fight!
(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/07/photos-of-the-week-heat-wave-paddy-day-big-buddha/619345/#img30 (The Atlantic)) farmers near kathmandu celebrate the beginning of the farming season with a huge mud fight this week’s number: wages rise 3.6%the june jobs report was released friday, showing not only did https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/02/jobs-report-june-2021.html (wages rise by 3.6%) year-over-year, but...
we were with our niece recently, and she started playing with Frozen flashcards (one of her fav toys, despite her being terrified of the movie itself). we commented that our favorite character was the snowman, and she immediately corrected us by saying “his name is Olaffff!!” please, be like our niece and correct us when we’re wrong via email. big idea: building collapses near miamia twelve-story apartment building collapsed near miami on thursday, killing at least four, with over 150 additional people missing. search and rescue teams are battling heavy rain and a https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2021/06/26/florida-condo-collapse-fire-rescue/117234252/ (structural fire). hopes are dimming, as it is https://www.bbc.com/news/world-32485586 (exceedingly rare) to find survivors of such events after a few days. the billion dollar question is why the building collapsed. https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-miami-area-condo-collapse/2021/06/26/1010542570/florida-condo-structural-damage-engineers-report-surfside-miami (severe damage) to its concrete supports and foundations from sea water and salt air were discovered in 2018, and never fixed. the property also seems to have been https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/06/24/building-collapse-miami-structure-had-been-sinking-into-earth/7778631002/ (sinking into the ground faster) than neighboring areas since the 1990s. while it’s far too soon to blame climate change for this disaster, we should expect similar stories in the years to come because of warming temperatures. miami is discussing https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/us/miami-fl-seawall-hurricanes.html (building a twenty foot high sea wall) to protect itself from rising seas and worse hurricanes along some of its most valuable beachfront land. https://www.npr.org/2021/06/23/1009062465/more-than-half-of-u-s-buildings-are-in-places-prone-to-disaster-study-finds (a recent study found) that a whopping 60% of all buildings in the US are located in weather-related disaster hotspots. this type of risky construction is only on the rise, despite additional wildfires (on the west coast), tornados (in the plains), and hurricanes & flooding (on the east coast). time for everyone to pack up and move to the midwest, huh? local governments, which are responsible for zoning laws, are the least likely to prevent irresponsible building because they are the most dependent on property taxes and new development. miami-dade county is already facing scrutiny over its inspection practices after this week’s tragic accident. story to watch: fake reviews online are everywherewith Amazon’s prime days this week https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/23/amazons-prime-day-results-were-more-muted-than-usual-this-year.html (ending below expectations), we’re taking a look at a related story - fake online reviews. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2021/06/25/amazon-and-google-probed-over-fake-reviews/?sh=7faac3e3b812 (the UK is launching investigations) of both Google and Amazon for failing to remove fake reviews. Amazon recently https://www.tomsguide.com/news/amazons-removal-of-aukey-ravpower-and-other-brands-is-only-the-beginning (removed a number of its top third-party sellers), including Aukey and Mpow, for paying customers for positive reviews. this is a huge problem which no one wants to talk about, especially Amazon. analysts estimate 20 to 70% of some products’ reviews could be fake or paid for. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fake-reviews-and-inflated-ratings-are-still-a-problem-for-amazon-11623587313 (a study found that Amazon) typically takes 100 days to remove a bad actor from its marketplace, but that’s plenty of time for sellers to make a ton of money. turns out flying to space is easier than managing online comments, huh daddy Bezos? fake reviews aren’t going away any time soon, so readers are advised to take time and read through reviews, rather than rely on the average star ratings. sites like...
we were eating korean bbq the other night with a group of besties (and one acquaintance), and all of a sudden - bang! turns out some dude shot at our restaurant’s window, then ran off into the night. normally this is where we’d put a cheesy transition in asking for readers to refer a friend and earn yummy prizes, but we can’t think of one this week...we just really wanted to tell this story. got a problem with that? email us your comments 😉 ! big idea: juneteenth is officialwe’d say we purposefully planned our nineteenth issue to come out around juneteenth, but let’s be real here - we’re not that smart. Joe signed a bipartisan bill https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-sign-juneteenth-bill-creating-holiday-marking-us-slaverys-end-2021-06-17/ (to make it a federal holiday), the first new one in about 40 years. saturday celebrated the US emancipation, marking when slaves in texas were freed by union soldiers, two months after the civil war ended. last year, hundreds of national companies began recognizing juneteenth amid the BLM movement. republicans largely backed the measure since it is mostly performative, especially when considering the backdrop of state republicans across the nation moving to restrict what history can be taught in schools. as usual, conservatives want to embrace a nostalgic view of ‘murica which glosses over the genocide of native americans and the enslavement of black americans. activists who pushed for decades for the establishment of juneteenth as a holiday have moved onto bigger targets, like passing a new voting rights act through the senate, https://apnews.com/article/or-state-wire-race-and-ethnicity-lifestyle-juneteenth-963c58a1a19ba501f5677343b9c786e0 (ending prison labor) (the last form of legal forced labor), and establishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing (a famous black folk song) as the national hymn. story to watch: the FTC has a new bosshttps://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57501579 (Lina Khan was named the new head) of the Federal Trade Commission, the agency most responsible for policing large national businesses in the US. she has promised to be radically transformative, pushing antitrust and consumer protection laws to their limits to go after big tech, including breaking up companies like Amazon. if she has the backing of other FTC commissioners, she will be able to block mergers and acquisitions, and sue companies to undo previous mergers. in related news, https://www.vox.com/recode/22529779/antitrust-bills-house-big-tech (several bills were introduced last week) to limit the power of big tech, some with bipartisan support. don’t expect big tech to go down without a fight though. they’ve already come swinging at Lina Khan, demanding she recuse herself from any FTC decisions relating to tech companies, and reverting to the https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/technology/china-big-tech.html (sinophobic talking point) that big Chinese tech companies will take over the world if the American tech sector is regulated. this week’s image: baby university(https://twitter.com/JTroyLittleton/status/1390759834866241536/photo/1 (Twitter)) a professor bought a crib for his office so one of his students can bring her baby into lab when she can’t find a sitter. this week’s number: the average vehicle age is 12 years oldthe average age of an american vehicle https://www.wsj.com/articles/average-u-s-vehicle-age-hits-record-12-years-11623680640 (hit an all time high of 12 years in 2020), as the quality of cars improve, people become more willing to stick with cars for longer, and as new cars become increasingly unaffordable. the average new car sold for more than $38,000 last month, also a record high. this trend is only likely to continue into the future, as cars receive software updates online, further lengthening their lifespan, and as EVs take over. electric cars...
it was a crazy busy week, with Joe and auntie Kamala abroad, all those cicadas scaring the living daylights out of our east coast readers, and that French dude getting https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57402753 (slapped in the face). so, we’ll be skipping our usual “what we’re reading” section today - it’s not like any of you have actually been buying our recommended books anyways 😉 big idea: surprise - rich people don’t pay taxeshttps://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax (ProPublica got a hold of fifteen years) of tax returns from thousands of america’s richest people, and they told us what everyone already knew - rich people don’t pay anywhere near their fair share of income taxes. the average ‘murican pays a 14% tax rate, while the richest 25 americans pay a tax rate of...3.4%. daddy Bezos claimed to be so poor in 2011 that he claimed a child tax credit of $4000, which was designed to help low and middle class americans with the costs of raising families - despite his wealth increasing by $18 billion that year. these fat cats sidestep income tax by using their stock holdings and other investments as collateral for loans. they then pay for their extravagant lifestyles (and/or more investments) with that borrowed money, and - wait for it - deduct the interest on their loans from their taxes. nothing we’ve mentioned so far is illegal, and that’s really the problem here. expect this to https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/12/clamour-for-wealth-tax-grows-after-revelations-about-super-richs-affairs (amp up calls for a wealth tax) from progressives in DC, among other tax reform ideas. republicans, as always, are focused on the wrong issue - they want to know who leaked these tax reports, probably because they’re afraid http://gph.is/1QNSJKg (their donors) will be the next targets. story to watch: college athletes are gonna be $$$the https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/sports/ncaa-college-athlete-name-image-likeness.html (senate held hearings this week) on potential federal legislation to allow college athletes to prostitute themselves to big business to license their names and likenesses. in a nutshell, that means that kid who got into UMich with a 2.9 high school GPA because he knew how to throw an inflated orange ball at an elevated metal hoop can become a TikTok influencer and sell branded CBD oil from a local dispensary. well...it’s clear what we think about this. colleges shouldn’t be in the business of athletics, and all these NCAA teams should be spun off into independent amateur leagues (like how hockey and baseball work). https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2015/11/23/running-up-the-bills/ (universities lose tens of millions of dollars a year) on their athletics programs, and now it looks like the student-athletes will be able to get in on the scam too. it’s unlikely any federal legislation will be passed soon, but expect movement by the end of this month from state legislatures and the NCAA. some states have already legalized college athletes putting themselves up on OnlyFans, and universities are pushing for a uniform set of rules for everyone to play by. this week’s image: terrorist attack in canada(https://apnews.com/article/muslim-family-targeted-deadly-attack-ontario-49ff25093050f6972b7f5d7061010798 (AP)) a mother talks to her daughter at the site of the fatal terrorist attack against muslims in london, canada this week. three generations of a single family were killed when a radical extremist drove over five people crossing the street. while the perpetrator has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, no terrorism charges have been filed. canadian muslims are rightfully outraged, as https://theconversation.com/was-the-london-attack-against-a-muslim-family-terrorism-legally-its-not-that-simple-162496 (no terrorism charges were ever filed) against the quebec city mosque...
loyal readers, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been putting out weekly issues for four months now! we want to hear from you (#notdesperate) in our first reader poll! it’s quick, cute, and will really help us out. https://forms.gle/J4uiyV66rrm6oQ4F8 (please tell us how we’re doing in three rapid-fire questions today). big idea: arabs and israelis...compromising?
it looks like https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002742419/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-may-be-on-his-way-out-what-happens-nex (Benjamin Netanyahu is out as israeli PM), assuming he doesn’t pull any last minute shenanigans this week. as we discussed in https://theweeklyrundown.us/p/14-israel-lights-the-fuse-cdc-drops-mask-rec#big%20idea:%20israel%20lights%20the%20fuse%20&%20attacks%20gaza (issue 14), the recent gaza war was caused in large part by him trying to keep power. what’s fascinating is how Netanyahu will be forced out. eight parties ranging from ultranationalist/racist to socialist/hippie are forming a coalition with no goal other than to kick Netanyahu out. this will be the first time in israeli history that the palestinian arab party will be included in the governing coalition. let’s just make this clear - the arabs are joining forces with https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/31/naftali-bennett-who-is-israels-new-potential-prime-minister (a party which wants to annex the west bank) and refuses to recognize a palestinian state. to put that in ‘murican terms, it would be as if Bernie and Mitch got together to force He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out, only to replace him with...http://gph.is/1KoCOWH (Ted Cruz). is that worth the compromise? would our politicians even have the courage to compromise? readers can decide for themselves, but we’d like to applaud the palestinians for using what little power they have in israel to give the boot to a guy who has systematically destroyed any chance of a two-state solution while creating an https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution (apartheid state within israel). story to watch: killer robots are here
a UN report of violence in libya last year appears to document https://thebulletin.org/2021/05/was-a-flying-killer-robot-used-in-libya-quite-possibly/ (the first use of killer robots), as if 2020 could’ve gotten any worse. the UN thinks a fully autonomous turkish drone destroyed a russian tank in libya, possibly also killing a rebel. please give us a second while we go make sure our bunker is stocked with enough toilet paper to last WWIII. while human-operated drones have been around for decades, some countries have been putting AI into them to remove the human element altogether. militaries release the drones into the wild, assuming its programming will find the appropriate targets. some are equipped with multiple missiles while others are just https://www.npr.org/2021/06/01/1002196245/a-u-n-report-suggests-libya-saw-the-first-battlefield-killing-by-an-autonomous-d (kamikaze), blowing up on impact. turkey, china, the US, and israel are https://www.wsj.com/articles/armed-low-cost-drones-made-by-turkey-reshape-battlefields-and-geopolitics-11622727370 (leaders in the field), exporting billions of dollars worth of drones (both the human-operated and killer robot variety) in recent years. turkey and china got into the game when we refused to export our weapons to them, so they’ve cornered the low-end of the market. the leading turkish drone manufacturer (which built the one cited in the UN report) uses off-the-shelf tech available to consumers. next up - baklava delivery by drone. this week’s image: when in oklahoma
(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/jun/04/20-photographs-of-the-week (The Guardian)) a horse decides he’s part of a bike club during tulsa’s parade commemorating the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre (race massacre) 100 years ago this week’s number: 559k jobs...
we were on the phone recently, setting up an appointment with a nurse. she asked us what our preferred pronouns were, and by mistake we said “him/her”. after a moment of awkwardness, we caught ourselves, but we sure were glad we had the chance to correct ourselves. feel like TWR needs to correct something? email us! big idea: the death of big oil is herehttps://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/26/big-oil-exxon-climate-491104 (some great news wednesday) signaled the end of big oil’s power. first, Shell, the world’s largest oil trader, lost a legal case in the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, forcing it to cut emissions by 45% by 2030. second, ExxonMobile lost a shareholder vote, with two climate activists elected to its board. while both these events come with some caveats, they still form a narrative that has been building over the past decade - big oil is dead. neither society nor shareholders are interested in supporting petroleum companies that have no plans to transition to green energy. now let’s get to the caveats. the Shell case, while significant, will be in appeals for years. it’ll also be https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/29/climate/fossil-fuel-courts-exxon-shell-chevron.html (virtually impossible) for a dutch court to enforce Shell’s actions outside of europe. if the decision is upheld, instead of slowing their oil extraction, Shell may decide to simply sell parts of its operations - which wouldn’t really reduce emissions overall. the ExxonMobile shareholder vote is important because https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-giants-are-dealt-devastating-blows-on-climate-change-as-pressures-intensify-11622065455 (the world’s largest hedge fund), BlackRock, voted for the climate activists to join the board. how much impact two treehuggers can have on a board of twelve is up for debate, but at least ExxonMobile will know it can’t continue business as usual. story to watch: the west is facing a terrible summeramid news that https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/world/climate-temperatures-increase-wmo-intl/index.html (the world is likely to hit the 1.5 degree) temperature threshold in the next five years, the western US https://www.npr.org/2021/05/06/993172298/deepening-drought-holds-ominous-signs-for-wildfire-threat-in-the-west (is facing the driest summer) in recorded history. lower than normal snowmelts and the lack of summer rains last year has resulted in critically low levels of water in dams around the grand canyon. scientists calculate that about half of these declines are caused solely by climate change. water levels are getting so low in these dams that there is a possibility the hydroelectric turbines may shut down, resulting in widespread power shortages across the west. the federal government is predicting it will have to https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/weather/lake-mead-colorado-river-shortage/index.html (declare a water emergency) for the first time ever this august. this would severely restrict water supplies from the colorado river to arizona and nevada farms, but would not affect cities or california - so dirty hippies won’t have a reason to skip showers. hotter, drier weather will also result in a fiery summer. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/06/993172298/deepening-drought-holds-ominous-signs-for-wildfire-threat-in-the-west (4 million acres) burned last year, another broken record. maybe it’s time for humans to admit we’re not supposed to live in the godforsaken deserts of the southwest, and leave them to http://gph.is/2nz7UlZ (wile coyote). this week’s image: russian spiderman
(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/05/photos-of-the-week-meerkat-serenade-golden-skull-hypoxic-tent/619021/#img32 (The Atlantic)) spiderman dances on the st. petersburg subway. just off camera - batman sulks. this week’s number: 2.7% of workers test positive for mary J
data released by Quest, which performs drug tests for employers, shows that...
hi friends. a couple of you noticed we didn’t include our usual blurb at the top of last week’s issue - there was just so much to cover, we totally forgot to write one up! we know you’d never forget about us though, or about our subscriber referral program! we baked another batch of chocolate chip cookies this weekend, so get yours today by referring three friends.
big idea: israel wins the battle, loses the warhttps://www.npr.org/2021/05/20/998644377/israels-cabinet-announces-unilateral-cease-fire-in-gaza-conflict (a ceasefire appears to be holding) after 11 days of israel bombing the heavens out of gaza. after nearly 250 people died, a hundred thousand people displaced, six hospitals damaged, and half of gaza left without clean water, israel decided it had destroyed enough. the ceasefire is tenuous at best, with israel continuing to attack people praying at al-aqsa mosque in jerusalem, israeli drones constantly flying overhead in gaza, and https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/world/middleeast/israel-ceasefire-gaza-hamas.html (72% of israelis thinking the war) should continue. so what’s changed after all this bloodshed? on the ground, nothing really. the blockade of gaza will continue, settlers will keep on expanding their occupation of jerusalem and the west bank, netanyahu will hold onto power, the US will refuse to engage with hamas because they’re labeled terrorists, and arab nations will wish the palestine issue would just disappear. however, it is clear that israel lost the PR war for the first time ever. media outlets (while still skewing heavily pro-israeli) did cover palestinian losses extensively, especially after the AP’s press office in gaza was destroyed by israel. https://www.vox.com/22436208/palestinians-gaza-israel-tiktok-social-media (social media in particular) became unwelcome terrority for israeli propaganda, with TikTok videos of destruction in gaza gaining millions of likes. progressive activists drew parallels between the black lives matter movement and the plight of the palestinians. we hope this latest war on gaza has fundamentally shifted the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window (overton window) for political action here in the US. a https://www.pewforum.org/2021/05/11/jewish-americans-in-2020/ (Pew poll last week) found that less than half of young jewish americans are “emotionally attached” to israel, compared to two-thirds of older ones. https://news.gallup.com/poll/340331/americans-favor-israel-warming-palestinians.aspx (a February Gallup poll) found that 53% of dems think the US should pressure israel to make peace with palestine, a record-high. Joe, who has moved to the left on domestic issues, is out of step with the current democratic party on foreign affairs. who knew a septuagenarian could have such old-fashioned views? story to watch: Ford unveils electric F-150Ford unveiled its second commercially available electric vehicle on wednesday, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/business/ford-electric-vehicle-f-150.html (the F-150 Lightning truck). built on a slightly modified version of the gas truck’s platform, the Lightning promises up to 300 miles of range, 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, and the ability to act as a generator for your home, all starting at less than $40k. Ford is betting people want a normal looking truck (not a https://gph.is/g/ZxqWer7 (spaceship)) with a low price. the F-series is the best selling vehicle in the world, ever, and Ford thinks it can not only convince existing fans to switch to electric, but also attract new customers. it’s making a concerted effort to go after businesses, which buy huge numbers of trucks annually. who knew the maker of the https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a6700/top-automotive-engineering-failures-ford-pinto-fuel-tanks/ (Pinto) could make something so exciting? this week’s image: polish soccer fans
(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/may/21/20-photographs-of-the-week (The Guardian)) polish
big idea: israel lights the fuse & attacks gazaisrael is https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996502574/israel-in-turmoil-violence-spreads-to-streets-and-occupied-west-bank (several days into an aerial bombardment) of gaza after attacking muslims praying in al-aqsa mosque in jerusalem late last week. protests and near-lynchings have also broken out across israel in cities where arabs and jews historically lived side-by-side in relative calm. as usual, the violence is hugely asymmetric - over a hundred palestinians have been killed, including dozens of children, and only eight israelis. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/15/997148399/israeli-airstrike-flattens-building-home-to-ap-and-other-media-in-gaza-city (israel has targeted) press offices, apartment buildings, and health clinics, and has caused water and power services to be severely curtailed. the current violence is also linked to both israel’s and palestine’s https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/12/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-palestinians-netanyahu.html (recent election attempts). palestine’s elections were called off after it became clear hamas would overwhelmingly win, which has led hamas to saber-rattle more than usual to save face. israel’s march election led to a defeat of prime minister’s Netanyahu’s coalition. he was set to leave office this week before violence broke out, and it’s now increasingly unlikely that he will anytime soon due to the crisis he caused. so, where’s the US in all of this? Joe said before the election he had no interest in resolving the arab-israeli conflict, and that military aid to israel (totalling $4 billion a year) shouldn’t be conditional on good behavior. he has so far stuck to these unreasonable promises, despite https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/opinion/bernie-sanders-israel-palestine-gaza.html (Bernie) (and even https://www.wsj.com/articles/democratic-divide-over-israel-puts-pressure-on-biden-11621081311 (some moderate dems)) arguing that US money should come with strings attached. it’s clear that Joe sees nuclear negotiations with iran, where he needs israeli cooperation, as a higher priority. we also want to note https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/technology/israel-palestine-misinformation-lies-social-media.html (how important disinformation) has been on the israeli side. the military and prime minister’s office have both put out misleading tweets and videos in recent days not just as a tactic to confuse hamas, but also to inflame tensions and spread lies about palestinians. this is the future of warfare - not just bombs and soldiers, but WhatsApp forwards and tweet storms. time to warn your crazy auntie about that sketch group she’s a member of. story to watch: CDC drops mask recommendationthe CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html (revised its recommendations) on thursday, saying fully vaccinated adults mostly don’t need to wear masks and can stop social distancing. this comes as vaccines have been found to cut viral transmission and are highly protective against COVID variants. states and companies https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-businesses-arent-budging-on-face-masks-for-now-11621013596 (were sent scrambling this week) as people demanded local rules change to reflect the new guidelines. while Starbucks, Costco, and Trader Joe’s announced masks would essentially become optional in their stores, GM and Kroger have decided to stick with mask mandates. without vaccine passports (which we discussed in https://theweeklyrundown.us/p/8-free-cookies-covid-passports-are-a-terrible-idea-inflation (issue 8)), businesses have no other option but to take people at their word that they are vaccinated. experts worry common folk will take this as news that the pandemic is over, despite only 36% of americans being fully vaccinated. it seems that the CDC is gambling more people will get vaccinated if they see there are actual benefits in doing so. states are still desperate to boost vaccination...
we were taking a walk with our niece and nephew, and after answering our nephew’s question, he responded “was talking to sister, not uncle!”. while we’re uncertain how we feel about a two year old talking back to us, rest assured that this message is directed to you, not our niece. what’s the message, you ask? refer a friend today and win groovy prizes, like a coffee mug, a hoodie, or cookies! we promise, no sass included.
big idea: vaccine diplomacyas india continues to set https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/08/india/tamil-nadu-covid-intl-hnk/index.html (records for daily new infections) amid continuing oxygen shortages, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/biden-says-plans-back-wto-waiver-vaccines-2021-05-05/ (Joe announced he would support) lifting international patent protections on COVID vaccines. this is a major development which big pharma had lobbied successfully against until now. they worry competitors will use the technology not just during the current pandemic, but for future products, essentially stealing Pfizer & Moderna’s R&D. it’s unclear if Joe will be able to get this done. it requires international agreement, and germany (where Pfizer’s research partner is based) https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/552459-eu-leaders-criticize-biden-push-to-waive-covid-19-patents-not-a (is refusing to sign on). lifting these patents would theoretically allow for manufacturers around the world to quickly ramp up production of already approved vaccines. this comes amid major supply issues from india & china’s manufacturers, which https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/world/india-serum-institute-covid19.html (haven’t been able to meet) domestic needs (despite exporting millions of doses earlier in the year in PR moves). however, the reality is these manufacturers don’t have the expertise, supplies, or factory capacity to make Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines anytime soon. it would likely take them a year or more to make them at scale. germany argues that it would be more efficient to simply export those vaccines from existing plants here and in europe. germany also feels that Joe is just grandstanding against china. they feel he knows waiving patents won’t do anything in the short-term, and wants to make the US look like the good guy since we haven’t exported many doses yet. who knew big pharma and https://media.giphy.com/media/ovdh7odWsjwys/giphy.gif (European socialists) could be on the same side of an argument? story to watch: latest jobs report is...confusing
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/business/biden-republicans-jobs.html (the jobs report) revealed only 266,000 new jobs were created in april, well below expectations of a million new jobs. nobody really knows why the report was so bad, which has led to republicans and democrats falling back into their typical political talking points. republicans are complaining that generous unemployment benefits are keeping people from working, leading some governors to cut them off for their residents. democrats are complaining that low wages, poor worker safety, and a lack of affordable child care are keeping workers at home. economists also point to more americans https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/07/jobs-report-labor-shortage-analysis/ (switching career paths), and supply issues with stuff like computer chips and lumber which can slow down business growth & hiring. the truth is probably a little bit of all these factors contributed to the poor report - but don’t tell progressive twitter, they’ll get https://media.giphy.com/media/AFjfPUJ0mjWJG/giphy.gif (triggered). this week’s image: skiing robot
(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/05/photos-robots-are-everywhere/618823/ (The Atlantic)) a robot skis down a beijing slope. you ask why, we ask why not? this week’s number: Trump mentions on social media drop by 90%
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was named in the news again this week, as Facebook...
our chocolate chip cookies for subscriber referrals have turned out to be so popular, we’re making another batch! reader G.H. even asked for extra cookies instead of stickers :drool emoji: we were happy to oblige, but we can’t keep baking cookies forever - refer three friends and get yours before we change prizes!
big idea: census says america needs more babieshttps://www.wsj.com/articles/south-and-mountain-west-gain-political-power-from-population-growth-11619465263 (the first results) of the 2020 census were released this week, which dictates how house seats, electoral college votes, and federal spending are allocated the midwest and northeast did surprisingly well, losing fewer house seats than expected to the south and west, with minnesota not losing a seat by just 26 residents. dems will https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-us-census-data-will-show-which-states-gain-or-lose-house-seats-2021-04-26/ (lose 2-4 reliably blue) house seats as a result. however, the bigger story is that the US population https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/us/us-census-numbers.html (grew by only 7.4% since 2010), the second slowest rate of growth ever. this was caused both by reduced immigration and lower birth rates. fewer new americans means slower economic growth, which means fewer new americans...it’s a vicious cycle much of europe and china are already trapped in. who knew babies didn’t just mean two years of no sleep and dirty diapers? demographers believe the US is already locked into lower birth rates (as typically happens in most developed economies, with only the US bucking that trend until now), so Joe wants to make things easier for families, with https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56910884 (proposals unveiled wednesday) to provide free childcare & pre-K. even low immigration numbers will be tough to increase. mexico, our largest source of immigrants, has a growing middle class, resulting in fewer immigrants. we’ll also get out our soapbox and scream into the abyss for an https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/55/why-435/ (expanded house), which could reduce https://gph.is/g/Z2QGdND (gerrymandering's) impact and increase the electoral college’s proportionality story to watch: big tech is winning
this week, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google reported https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/tech-giants-q1-earnings-showed-dominance-amzn-aapl-googl-fb-msft.html (massive revenue and profit jumps) so far this year. Google’s YouTube will bring in more money than all of Netflix, the iPhone brings in more money for Apple than all of Microsoft’s products, Amazon’s ad business alone brought in seven times Twitter’s revenues, and Facebook’s Instagram generated more money than https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/27/microsoft-linkedin-topped-3-billion-in-ad-revenue-in-last-year.html (Snap), Pinterest, LinkedIn, and https://www.theinformation.com/articles/tiktoks-u-s-revenues-expected-to-hit-500-million-this-year (TikTok) - combined. big tech didn’t simply survive the pandemic - it thrived and grew beyond anyone’s expectations. while there was an increasing drumbeat to rein in their monopolistic control thru much of last year, it seems that that momentum has been lost. the bigger these companies get, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/technology/big-tech-pandemic-economy.html (the easier it is) for them to keep power. while the EU announced https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/eu-says-apples-app-store-breaches-competition-rules.html (an antitrust case) against Apple’s App Store this week, it’s clear big tech is winning the overall war. it’s also clear consumers https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/10/survey-americans-think-big-tech-isnt-so-bad-after-all/ (don’t seem to care) about their lack of choice, as long as it means your organic, locally-sourced goat’s milk can be delivered in two hours with Amazon Prime. this week’s image: moonlit babysitting...
we’ve always felt that celebrity endorsements are lame. from Ronaldo hawking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4zYt4roWWM (weird japanese face strengtheners) to Muhammad Ali putting his face on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRRyrfYv6QI (cockroach traps), it feels like celebrities are just selling out. don’t worry, TWR will never have celebrity endorsers - but we do need subscriber referrals! refer a friend today, and get cookies and swag mailed straight to your door.
big idea: murderer found guilty of...murderDerek Chauvin was https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56818766 (found guilty) of murdering George Floyd. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/21/chauvin-verdict-poll-majority-approve-guilty-finding/7316788002/ (71% of americans) support the verdict, including majorities of both parties. will this be a milestone in the new civil rights era or a moment quickly forgotten? we’ll come to know soon with the trials of https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/21/989465546/whats-next-in-the-trials-of-4-former-police-officers-over-george-floyds-murder (three other officers) involved in Floyd’s death, the inquest into the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3rAhT2lm8A (killing of a columbus girl), and if the senate passes a https://www.npr.org/2021/03/03/973111306/house-approves-police-reform-bill-named-after-george-floyd (police reform bill). notably, even fellow cops blew the whistle and testified against Chauvin, which likely would not have happened even a year ago. whistleblower cops (who arguably are the “good” ones) are https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/what-police-departments-do-whistle-blowers/613687/ (typically punished) and pushed out of forces as retribution. so, are hearts & minds changing? maybe, but don’t forget that policy sometimes forces culture to change rather than vice versa. americans were by and large not ready for the civil, voting, or housing rights acts in the ‘60s, but LBJ pushed them through anyways as a way to shift societal norms. finally, lost in much of the coverage was https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/us/keith-ellison-chauvin-trial.html (the role) of Keith Ellison, the state AG who led the prosecution. we can’t help but point out he is a proud Wayne State alum (as is yours truly), and broke barriers by being the first muslim elected to congress. we hope Keith’s win will encourage other prosecutors to go after killer cops. story to watch: change is afoot in soccer
we literally cannot believe we’re talking about the business of sports two weeks in a row, but here we go: the foreign kind of football was up in arms this week when the richest dozen european soccer teams decided https://www.wsj.com/articles/soccer-super-league-fails-chelsea-man-city-manchester-united-liverpool-uefa-champions-league-11619008216 (to form their own league). fans, players, and coaches revolted, with the teams backtracking and apologizing within 48 hours. the super league idea is dead - for now. as always, we just have to follow the money. the billionaire owners of these soccer clubs realized they could make a ton more money with a ‘murican style league. advertising revenues would skyrocket because games would be more popular, and player salaries would plummet because competitive pressures would decrease. we predict the https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/podcasts/the-daily/super-league-football-soccer-premier-league.html (americanization of soccer) will continue, as it has since the ‘90s. the owners will eventually come up with a more open super league idea, with better marketing & lobbying efforts beforehand, and finally get their wish. this week’s image: slap fight
(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/04/winners-2021-sony-world-photography-awards/618662/#img16 (The Atlantic)) white boys slap each other, competitively, in a russian tournament
this week’s number: americans emit 17.6 tons of CO2 per capita...
loyal subscribers will know that this is a big week for TWR - it’s our big 1-0! we hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as we have. as a birthday gift, consider referring us to a friend and earn neat groovy dope cool prizes! we’re delivering our first batch of chocolate chip cookies to readers this week! they’re homemade with sea salt, browned butter, and toasted sugar 🤤
big idea: Joe commits to leaving afghanistanhttps://youtu.be/iQDEOcF9IS8?t=10 (Joe announced) he would withdraw all american troops from afghanistan by 9/11. this goes well beyond his promises during the campaign, when he would only commit to withdrawing most troops by the end of his first term (not year). we predict pakistan, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/world/asia/pakistan-afghanistan-withdrawal.html (the taliban’s biggest sponsor), will push them to make significant concessions at the ongoing peace talks, and the US will convince the afghan government to do the same if they want to live past september. whether that’ll work, or if any such agreement will be lasting, is anyone’s guess. the taliban knows the afghan government will not go down without a bloody fight in cities like kabul. for americans, it’s doubtful that the https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47391821 ($50 billion we spend annually) in afghanistan will be redirected towards domestic projects. troops will be stationed in nearby countries and contractors in afghanistan in case things fall apart (like in iraq). longer term, the US will continue drone strikes in afghanistan, as in yemen, somalia, and pakistan. well, we guess that’s the closest we’ll get to ending our endless wars... for afghans, their country is in shambles after generations of war stretching back https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Afghan_War (200 years). women and ethnic minorities will likely lose what https://giwps.georgetown.edu/country/afghanistan/ (little progress) they’ve made under either a peace agreement or taliban rule. this is an incredibly impoverished yet independent nation with over 20 separate militias or terror groups, a 50% literacy rate, and deep ethnic and tribal divides. so, why did Joe decide to https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/pentagon-biden-team-overrode-afghanistan-481556 (overrule the military) and withdraw now? maybe he realized there’s little difference between 3500 and 0 troops on the ground, maybe he got tired of dealing with afghanistan and a global pandemic, maybe he saw al-qaeda had moved camp into the gulf and northern africa, or maybe he truly was sick of people dying overseas for little reason. story to watch: NFL signs deal with bookiesthe NFL signed https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31264425/nfl-partner-bookmakers-caesars-entertainment-draftkings-fanduel (a billion-dollar, 5-year deal) with a casino and two online bookies, FanDuel and DraftKings, kicking off the sports gambling era in the US. it had been illegal for most of the US for decades up until a supreme court ruling in 2018. historically, all the professional leagues opposed sports betting because of a scandalous history of match fixing, biased referee calls, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_shaving (point shaving). after the supreme court ruling though, they all jumped in, eager to make a quick buck off of gambling addicts, with the NFL being the last league to strike a deal. we shouldn’t be too surprised though - the NFL has been making billions off of players’ concussions for years. about half of the states have legalized some form of sports gambling, with most of the others on their way. leagues and networks will start incorporating ads for their preferred bookie into games, with ESPN already trialing https://frontofficesports.com/xfl-espn-abc-betting-lines/ (a live ticker) for the over/under of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFL_(2020) (XFL) matches. this week’s image: light upon...
the weather’s warming up and flowers are blooming, so we all know what that means - spring cleaning! TWR is cleaning up our act too, and switching email providers. don’t worry, you’ll automatically keep receiving our sunday issues, and we’ll send you a welcome email tomorrow to make sure. just be sure to move that sender into your priority or main inbox.
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big idea: china’s digital currency is taking off
china appears to be https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-creates-its-own-digital-currency-a-first-for-major-economy-11617634118 (expanding its pilot of a government-run digital currency), called eCNY. first launched a year ago, 100,000 chinese citizens have been paying for their bubble tea with an app run by the central bank. instead of paying with cash yuans from their wallets, people pay with virtual yuans from their phones. one cash yuan is exactly equal to one virtual yuan in value, and theoretically could be exchanged.
china is the first major economic power to start such a currency, well ahead of rivals. the US has just done basic research and is years away from a pilot of this scale.
arguably, china’s effort isn’t quite cryptocurrency - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/technology/china-national-digital-currency.html (it doesn’t use blockchain) for security and isn’t decentralized at all. every transaction goes through china’s central bank for verification. like cash, the eCNY essentially eliminates middlemen in financial transactions, like debit/credit card processors and private banks or credit unions.
there are some china-specific reasons for why they’re in such a rush to launch a virtual currency, but their pilot highlights a danger of such efforts. their central bank can track every single transaction through the eCNY app, a level of surveillance unparalleled in history. government digital currencies will be convenient, but cannot come at the cost of privacy.
story to watch: yellen for global minimum tax
treasury secretary https://www.wsj.com/articles/treasurys-yellen-to-call-for-global-minimum-corporate-tax-rate-11617633701 (Janet Yellen called for a corporate minimum tax) rate among G-20 nations of 21%. Joe wants to raise the business tax rate to 28% in the US to fund his infrastructure plans (after https://time.com/4140185/j-k-rowling-donald-trump-voldemort/ (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) cut it from 40% to 21%).
negotiations have been ongoing for years among the world’s biggest economies, but Janet coming out in favor of them are a big boost. countries have been engaged in a ‘race to the bottom’ for decades, trying to entice companies to pack up and move headquarters with lower tax rates. the only short-term beneficiaries to such schemes are the tax haven countries with the lowest rates - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland_as_a_tax_haven (ireland) has just a 12.5% business tax. where do you think those leprechauns get all their gold from?
we’ll see what happens here, but it’s unlikely countries will agree to a number as high as 21%. everyone’s finally realizing that cutting corporate taxes hurts everyone in the long-term as the tax base is eroded.
this week’s image: easter at the white house
(https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2021/04/photos-of-the-week-plastic-lake-van-cat-burning-judas/618557/#img23 (The Atlantic)) a bunny was caught attempting to impersonate the white house press secretary on easter monday. Joe apparently didn’t notice any difference.
this week’s number: 114% increase in michigan hospitalizations...
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big idea: government mandated covid passports are a terrible idea
with more countries https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/28/vaccine-passports-for-work/ (adopting nationalized registries) of vaccinated residents, and providing those people with ‘covid passports’ allowing freer movement, debate as to if ‘murica should follow suit is heating up.
Joe has made it clear that the federal government https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/why-vaccine-passports-may-be-inevitable-in-next-phase-of-covid-19 (won’t impose) passports, but several states are in the process of rolling out systems similar to those overseas. if the goal of such initiatives is to boost vaccination numbers, they’re a terrible idea.
let’s examine the problems:
it’s unlikely passports entice hesitant groups to get vaccinated. heavy handed government schemes will likely harden anti-vaxxer sentiment, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777686 (as in israel). those crazies don’t need another reason to think bill gates is trying to infect them with 5G trackers.
the analogy of schools and workplaces requiring vaccinations (like chickenpox or yellow fever) is a false one. covid vaccines were authorized under an emergency use protocol, which means they https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-14/could-covid-19-vaccines-be-mandated-federal-law-nee (cannot be mandated) by employers, and lack years of data on their long-term efficacy.
passports would exacerbate inequities due to unequal access to vaccine appointments among minorities. it’s clear https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/12/976172586/little-difference-in-vaccine-hesitancy-among-white-and-black-americans-poll-find (minorities want vaccines) as much as whites, but can’t get them.
the privacy and autonomy issue can’t be ignored. as mandated school vaccines have demonstrated, it’s nearly impossible to differentiate between who has a personal objection to vaccines and who cannot medically receive one.
while we do think private companies (like airlines) should be able to create industry-run passports, it’s clear that government should stay out of the whole ‘show me your papers’ thing. consumers should have the choice to take their money to businesses with or without passport requirements, rather than a problematic legal mandate. the government’s role should be limited to setting & enforcing standards for private sector initiatives.
story to watch: inflation is heating up the economy
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-prices-are-inflating-around-the-world-11616932846 (real estate) and https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/31/higher-commodity-costs-lead-to-price-hikes-from-kimberly-clark.html (commodity prices) are increasing, raising the specter of inflation. the federal reserve aims for a 2% annual inflation rate, and the post-covid recovery may heat up the economy so we overshoot that target.
existing home sales in the US are at 14-year highs (pre-great recession levels), likely due to low mortgage rates, stimulus money, and urban flight. commodity costs (the raw materials needed to create consumer goods) are increasing for many reasons, and will result in higher prices for everything from diapers to peanut butter. bad time to be a https://gph.is/2CB7FOv (parent),...
our team has a complicated relationship with the social medias. it’s not that they’re not fun to use, it’s just that they’re...you know, destroying democracy and https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html (causing genocides). anyways, TWR is now on twitter! https://twitter.com/faisalc93 (@faisalc93) & https://twitter.com/ahmedhcheema (@ahmedhcheema), we’d love to hear from you!
big idea: crisis in the canal
https://graphics.reuters.com/EGYPT-SUEZCANAL/SHIP/jznvngokdpl/ (Reuters)
a quarter-mile long, ten-story deep ship https://www.wsj.com/articles/suez-canal-blockage-forces-operators-to-reroute-ships-11616756859 (ran aground in the suez canal) Tuesday, blocking all traffic in the longest such stoppage ever. hundreds of ships are waiting around the canal for it to reopen. the latest digging efforts failed, but officials are hoping high tides today and tomorrow will refloat the monster-sized boat. we’re sure https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/giant-ship-stuck-in-the-suez-canal-opens-torrent-of-memes-and-jokes-on-the-internet/articleshow/81704421.cms (Ross’s pivot skills) from “Friends” would help.
the suez halves the travel time between europe and asia, with the only other route involving weeks of travel along the pirate-infested coast of africa. the canal carries a whopping 10% of all global trade, with an estimated https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/25/suez-canal-blockage-is-delaying-an-estimated-400-million-an-hour-in-goods.html ($400 million of goods) delayed per hour it is closed. oil prices shot up 4% on friday as a result.
this is a huge black-eye for egypt’s latest dictator, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose economic plans centered around https://www.wsj.com/articles/egypt-expanded-the-suez-canal-it-wasnt-enough-11616765965 (an $8 billion expansion) of the canal. the suez only accounts for 1.5% of egypt’s GDP, but is a critical source of foreign currency. the canal has long been a symbol of the end of colonialism in the region, with the UK and france losing a war in the ‘50s over control of it.
this whole episode highlights just how critical a few canals and channels are to our globalized economy. the panama canal carries 5% of global trade, the strait of malacca between malaysia and indonesia carries a staggering 40%, and the strait of hormuz between iran and the arabian peninsula transports 25% of all crude oil. these numbers help explain https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981668318/chinese-ship-deployment-roils-south-china-sea (china’s shenanigans) in the south china sea, and https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-tanker/iran-tells-south-korea-not-to-politicise-seized-vessel-demands-release-of-funds-idUSKBN29F0LF (iran’s) in the persian gulf.
story to watch: the heat’s on Tesla
Tesla had a terrible week - it was caught https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/25/tesla-elon-musk-anti-union-tweet-must-be-deleted-nlrb.html (threatening and firing) workers who tried to unionize its plant in california, Consumer Reports called out its https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-privacy-idUSKBN2BF2MM (privacy-invading) in-car cameras, the government is https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/business/teslas-autopilot-safety-investigations.html (investigating 23 accidents) involving Autopilot, and investors are increasingly viewing EV stocks as a https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/979155522/boom-or-bubble-skeptics-take-aim-at-buzzy-electric-vehicle-market (bubble, not a boom). we don’t think smoking some pot will help solve these problems, Elon.
the regulatory and consumer honeymoon of Tesla is over. it’s finally being viewed as just another corporation - motivated by profit, hiding dirty secrets, and dodging the law. while its union-busting tactics are egregious even compared to Amazon, the story around Autopilot is worse.
despite Tesla claiming it makes the safest cars...
every year at our work, we choose who gives us performance reviews. out of curiosity, we tried typing in our CEO’s name, and lo and behold - despite being 739 degrees separated in the hierarchy, we could ask him for an eval! well, now we’re asking you to give us your feedback. email us your comments.
big idea: light at the end of the tunnel
it’s been a solid week covid-wise, and ‘muricans are growing confident that a semblance of normality will return soon. more than https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/18/biden-100-million-covid-vaccinations-476956 (100 million vaccine doses) have been given (40+ days sooner than promised by Joe), https://abcnews.go.com/Health/map-shows-states-offer-covid-19-vaccines/story?id=76487043 (two states) have expanded vaccine eligibility to all adults, and the https://apnews.com/article/cdc-changes-school-guidelines-allow-desks-closer-72584a00c039546f02eceb3715063e35 (CDC revised its guidelines) making it easier for schools to reopen. things are going so well that Joe is loaning canada & mexico https://apnews.com/article/biden-plans-to-send-astrazeneca-vaccine-canada-mexico-5776131b02e3350e5613aa2aaeac8ee7 (four million vaccines). Trudeau, https://www.cbc.ca/2017/sorry-can-we-talk-about-why-canadians-apologize-so-much-1.3939997 (like any true canadian), has already apologized for no reason for the inconvenience.
not everything is peachy yet - infections are falling nationwide, but rising in locales like https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/michigan-coronavirus-cases.html (michigan) and https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/west-virginia-coronavirus-cases.html (west virginia). remember, it takes two weeks after your second shot for the vaccine to work its magic, so no beach parties just yet.
internationally, the picture is more complicated. europe abruptly halted and then restarted its vaccination campaigns after the oxford vaccine (which isn’t being used here) may have caused some https://www.vox.com/22334719/astrazeneca-vaccine-blood-clot-numbers-covid-19-europe-eu-germany (fatal blood clots). because of their slow vaccination efforts, parts of france and italy are re-entering a lockdown. europe was https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/20/world/europe/europe-vaccine-rollout-astrazeneca.html (largely unwilling) to partner its public health systems with private pharmaceutical companies to the same degree as ‘murica, resulting in the botched rollout. you don’t hear progressives singing the praises of european-style healthcare these days, huh?
so, you can’t blame us for being hopeful about the situation here in the states. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations (we’re sixth in the world) at 12% of ‘muricans being fully vaccinated, and 23% receiving at least their first shot.
story to watch: global gasoline demand has peaked
the International Energy Association https://www.wsj.com/articles/never-mind-peak-oil-global-forecaster-calls-peak-gasoline-11615988228 (has predicted that global demand) for gasoline peaked in 2019, with demand never again reaching pre-covid levels. this is due to covid permanently reducing the need for commutes (Ford and British Airways announced work-at-home policies this week) and because governments are encouraging the adoption of EVs. these two factors will offset the rise in demand in developing countries.
the report comes out even as traders begin to speculate that https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-iea-oil-idUKKBN2B9140 (oil prices will rise) as the economy recovers, especially in the US. however, considering that a whopping 40% of the crude oil drilled today goes towards increasingly-unpopular gasoline, that doesn’t seem as likely. the IEA does predict that overall demand for oil will increase modestly in the future, again because of developing countries and also due to rising jet fuel demand.
this will have widespread geopolitical ramifications, not the...
we moved into a new house recently, and immediately got into an argument with our younger siblings over who could claim the basement as their own. we won (http://gph.is/2EAZENq (#oldersibling)), but our siblings definitely made their displeasure clear. please, let us know if we’re displeasing you! email us your complaints and suggestions.
big idea: the queen is dead, long live the republic
well maybe she’s not dead just yet, but the British monarchy should be. https://www.cbs.com/shows/oprah-with-meghan-and-harry-a-cbs-primetime-special/video/i6UW_WTQjLrEeOoObMmlwrFLTTypvuZm/cbs-presents-oprah-with-meghan-and-harry-a-primetime-special/ (Oprah’s interview last Sunday) is still in the headlines, and we’d like to take the opportunity to talk about how stupid monarchy is. it’s past time for the UK and its commonwealth (s/o to our canadian readers) to ditch their queen & establish a republic.
first, consider how morally bankrupt the idea of hereditary leadership is. we don’t care who your daddy is - you don’t deserve to be the head of state unless your citizens select you in a fair way. let’s be clear - the queen is only the head of the UK because her great-great-great-grandpa was the most vicious and powerful warlord of his day.
second, consider how reprehensible the specific institution of the british monarchy is. don’t forget that the crown oversaw the rape and plunder of colonies and https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/british-royal-family-slavery-reparations.html (profited off of slavery for half a millenium).
finally, consider how damaging the monarchy currently is to the UK. to this day it does not have a written constitution in part because no one is willing to answer the question of what power the queen actually has. because she is unelected, she refuses to take political positions, even when something patently undemocratic occurs, like Boris Johnson’s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_British_prorogation_controversy (attempt to shut down Parliament) in 2019.
so yeah, that was a rant, but it’s always worth reminding people of how worthless monarchies are. the queen isn’t just a powerless and maybe slightly racist old lady. she’s the living embodiment of an unjust society which refuses to take a clear-eyed look at its history.
story to watch: big labor has its mojo back
the house passed the https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/us/politics/house-labor-rights-bill.html (PRO act) this week, the most significant pro-union legislation in years. that, combined with Joe and even a https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/03/12/amazon-union-not-helping-working-class-economy-column/6947823002/ (leading senate republican) vocally supporting the unionization effort at an Alabama Amazon warehouse, it’s clear that the labor movement has had a great week.
to put things in perspective, the percentage of ‘muricans in labor unions has dropped from 30% of the workforce after WWII to just 10% today. studies show unions lead to higher wages and safer workplaces, regardless of gender or race.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1366191901196644354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1366191901196644354%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2021%2F03%2F01%2F972410944%2Fbiden-backs-amazon-warehouse-workers-union-drive (Joe’s video) is the most pro-union statement a president https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/01/biden-amazon-union-video-472315 (has ever made), and with Amazon being the second largest private employer in the US, any unionization efforts there are a huge win. looks like https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/im-jeff-bezos-and-im-your-dad-now (daddy Bezos) may be losing control.
the PRO act would repeal state anti-union laws, allow gig workers to unionize, and imposes penalties on union-busting by businesses. it’s unlikely to pass the...
plus: grandma knock-out, February jobs report, “Show Your Work!”
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plus: bitcoin energy usage, Baarack the sheep, “Nothing to Envy” | we were debating GM’s new logo and realized that all these car companies used blue logos (VW, BMW, Ford, Subaru, and Volvo). why not try to be different, huh GM? we hope this newsletter is different from the rest of your inbox. if not, please email us your suggestions!
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hello world!
hi, is this working? can you hear us? oh, this isn’t a podcast? ok great, we don’t know any influencers to interview anyways.
welcome to the weekly rundown, a sunday morning newsletter. our goal is to briefly put the previous week’s political & business news into context, helping you better understand why they matter. we'll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories in t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶y̶l̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ an engaging, irreverent style.
we’ve set internal metrics for success, which we’ll revisit each quarter - so as long as you’re happy and we’re growing, we’ll keep chugging along.
we’re excited to have you along for the ride.
big idea: what’s next for the GOP?
the senate voted to acquit Donald. with https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/19/which-republicans-think-election-was-stolen-those-who-hate-democrats-dont-mind-white-nationalists/ (70% of republicans believing) that Donald won the election, https://civiqs.com/reports/2020/9/2/report-americans-pessimistic-on-time-frame-for-coronavirus-recovery (56% believing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon (QAnon) is at least partly true, and https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/after-the-ballots-are-counted-conspiracies-political-violence-and-american-exceptionalism/ (39% believing) political violence is justified, the GOP has become the party of conspiracists, not conservatives.
while https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-the-gop-is-to-rise-from-the-ashes-it-has-to-burn-first/2021/02/01/bcc82e24-64c2-11eb-8468-21bc48f07fe5_story.html (some think) the GOP is https://www.npr.org/2021/02/01/962246187/spurred-by-the-capitol-riot-thousands-of-republicans-drop-their-party (on a death march) or will https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-third-party-insight-idUSKBN2AC053 (splinter into a third party), the republican fever is unlikely to break soon, or be fatal. what is likely is the https://www.npr.org/2021/01/16/957281673/republicans-wonder-how-and-if-they-can-pull-the-party-back-together (disintegration) of their coalition, leaving only anti-establishment types (who are https://www.vox.com/2015/12/10/9886222/conspiracy-theories-right-wing (more likely) to believe in conspiracies) to support them.
these shifts will result in republicans keeping portions of their base, but losing ground in https://www.brookings.edu/research/bidens-victory-came-from-the-suburbs/ (suburbs). they’ll be relegated to minority status in the house (like after WWI, they were in the minority for basically https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_States_Congresses#/media/File:Combined--Control_of_the_U.S._House_of_Representatives_-_Control_of_the_U.S._Senate.png (62 years straight)). they’ll do well in the senate (given the number of rural states) and in local races (because of https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/politics/gerrymander-census-democrats-republicans.html (gerrymandering) and a https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/opinion/stacey-abrams-georgia-election.html (weak democratic machine) in pink areas).
this is not the first time in ‘murican history that a party has been defined byhttps://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/30/heres-what-happens-to-a-conspiracy-driven-party-463944 ( conspiracies) or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner (open rebellion), and it won’t be the last. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/nixon-trump-rebranding-rehabilitation/2021/01/22/603ecca4-5c29-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html (like Richard Nixon), Donald will be rehabilitated into the mainstream of the GOP (http://gph.is/1K0f4pc (such as it is)) and will hasten the shrinking of its base.
story to watch:...
the weekly rundown is a brief sunday morning newsletter putting the previous week's political & business news into context and helping you understand why they matter. we’ll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories in an engaging and irreverent way.
Thank you for subscribing. https://theweeklyrundown.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-weekly-rundown?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyNjU5ODMwMiwicG9zdF9pZCI6MzI1MjYxODgsImlhdCI6MTYxODY5NDkwMCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTI3NDU0NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.tCYBpMfTup4Y2y6-tLgM8Yb46cxCji_9SrlE8l9IOgQ&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=share&action=share (Share this episode).