Economics
- Eurozone inflation up more than expected in Maywww.dw.com Eurozone inflation up more than expected in May – DW – 05/31/2024
Inflation in the 20-nation eurozone has risen faster than expected in May. But the European Central Bank is still expected to cut interest rates at a June 6 meeting.
Inflation in the 20-nation eurozone has risen faster than expected in May. But the European Central Bank is still expected to cut interest rates at a June 6 meeting.
Consumer prices in the eurozone rose 2.6% in May year on year compared to 2.4% in April, according to European Union statistics, a figure that surpasses the 2% target aspired to by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Despite the higher-than-expected rise announced by the EU's statistics agency, Eurostat, the ECB is still expected to cut interest rates next week.
The central bank aggressively hiked rates starting in July 2022 as inflation soared after Russia cut gas supplies to Europe amid tensions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and lingering consequences of the coronavirus pandemic continued to clog supply chains of parts and raw materials.
As inflation gradually slows from those peaks, the bank is looking to encourage economic growth once more with rate cuts, though observers say these are likely to be very gradual, particularly in light of the latest figures.
- Student loan debt may prevent retirement security for millions of older workers, research findswww.cnbc.com Student loan debt may prevent retirement security for millions of older workers, research finds
Millions of older Americans' ability to save for retirement may be threatened by unpaid student loan debt, according to new research.
Key Points
- Older workers who are still carrying student loan debt may have a harder time saving toward retirement.
- The bottom 50% of older earners owe the highest average student loan debts, research finds.
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For most Americans, living well in retirement depends on how much they can save in their working years.
But for millions of older individuals, unpaid student loan debts may put that goal out of reach, according to new research from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research.
The research evaluated more than 2.2 million people over age 55 with outstanding student loans, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finance.
- More people make 'no-buy year' pledges as overspending or climate worries catch up with themapnews.com More people make 'no-buy year' pledges as overspending or climate worries catch up with them
The self-imposed rules of a no-buy challenge are simple: participants pledge to stop buying non-essential items, be they unneeded shoes, additional beauty products or other impulse buys for a set amount of time, usually 12 months.
A 35-year-old Brooklyn resident gave up buying new clothes. A 22-year old in San Diego swore off retail therapy at Target. A 26-year old in England banned carbonated drinks from her shopping list.
These three women, who don’t know each other, all started the year resolving to spend money only on necessary purchases, or what is popularly known as engaging in a no-buy challenge. The self-imposed rules of the challenge are simple: participants pledge to stop buying non-essential items, be they unneeded shoes, additional beauty products or other impulse buys for a set amount of time, usually 12 months.
What started several years ago as a blogged-about experiment in budgeting and mindful spending has become a popular trend on social media. A Reddit group where people share their experiences has 51,000 members. The challenge primarily gained popularity on TikTok, where some videos of users seeking to hold themselves accountable get hundreds of thousands of views.
- T-Mobile to buy almost all of U.S Cellular in deal worth $4.4 billion with debtapnews.com T-Mobile to buy almost all of U.S Cellular in deal worth $4.4 billion with debt
T-Mobile is buying U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and certain spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, and further consolidating the industry.
T-Mobile is buying U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and certain spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, and further consolidating the industry.
T-Mobile would get more than 4 million new customers and control of U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and about 30% of spectrum assets across several spectrum bands. T-Mobile will also enter into a new master license agreement on more than 2,000 towers and extend the lease term for the approximately 600 towers where T-Mobile is already a tenant.
- Inflation pressures lingering from pandemic are keeping Fed rate cuts on pauseapnews.com Inflation pressures lingering from pandemic are keeping Fed rate cuts on pause
Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation.
Hopes for interest rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve are steadily fading, with a stream of recent remarks by Fed officials underscoring their intention to keep borrowing costs high as long as needed to curb persistently elevated inflation.
A key reason for the delay in rate cuts is that the inflation pressures that are bedeviling the economy are being driven largely by lingering forces from the pandemic — for items ranging from apartment rents to auto insurance to hospital prices. Though Fed officials say they expect inflation in those areas to eventually cool, they’ve signaled that they’re prepared to wait as long as it takes.
Yet the policymakers’ willingness to keep their key rate at a two-decade peak — thereby keeping costs painfully high for mortgages, auto loans and other forms of consumer borrowing — carries its own risks.
- 2 Yale researchers are pulling back the curtain on Russia's sanctions-stricken economy — and it's landed them on a list of Putin's enemieswww.businessinsider.com 2 Yale researchers are pulling back the curtain on Russia's sanctions-stricken economy — and it's landed them on a list of Putin's enemies
Russia's economy is in trouble, no matter how much the government tries to distort the facts, two Yale researchers say.
- Class of 2024: Young high school graduates have seen strong wage growth over the pandemic recoverywww.epi.org Class of 2024: Young high school graduates have seen strong wage growth over the pandemic recovery
As with young college graduates, young high school graduates are experiencing a much stronger labor market today than before the pandemic and at any point since 2000. The fast economic recovery from the pandemic shock is a direct result of the aggressive fiscal policy response that matched the scale...
- Tariffs, unions and GM corn: the US, Mexico and Canada try to iron out USMCA trade disputesenglish.elpais.com Tariffs, unions and GM corn: the US, Mexico and Canada try to iron out USMCA trade disputes
Representatives of the three countries are to meet in Arizona to discuss the challenges of North American economic integration against the background of presidential elections and the trade war with China
Representatives of the three countries are to meet in Arizona to discuss the challenges of North American economic integration against the background of presidential elections and the trade war with China
Mexico, the United States and Canada are preparing the ground for the first six-year review of their free trade agreement, the USMCA, which was signed in 2018 and went into effect in 2020, replacing NAFTA. This week, trade representatives from all three countries will meet in Phoenix, Arizona for the fourth meeting of the agreement’s Free Trade Commission. The meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy Raquel Buenrostro, and the Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, Mary Ng, will be held behind closed doors, but a joint statement is expected afterwards.
- Ivan Boesky, Wall Street financier who coined ‘greed is good’, dies aged 87www.theguardian.com Ivan Boesky, Wall Street financier who coined ‘greed is good’, dies aged 87
Known as ‘Ivan The Terrible’, the risk arbitrage maven fell from glory in one of the biggest insider trading scandals of the 1980s
Known as ‘Ivan The Terrible’, the risk arbitrage maven fell from glory in one of the biggest insider trading scandals of the 1980s
Ivan Boesky, the financier who gave birth to the “greed is good” mantra before going to prison in one of the biggest Wall Street insider trading scandals of the 1980s, has died at the age of 87, the New York Times reported on Monday.
Boesky, who partly inspired the Gordon Gekko character in the 1987 movie Wall Street, was considered a genius at risk arbitrage – the business of speculating in takeover stocks – and his wealth was estimated at $280m.
“I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself,” he said in a commencement speech to the University of California, Berkeley business school in 1986.
Just a few months later, the man known on Wall Street as “Ivan the Terrible” was indicted on charges that would send him to disgrace, near-bankruptcy and prison.
- Red Lobster files for bankruptcywww.cnn.com Red Lobster files for bankruptcy | CNN Business
Red Lobster, which brought affordable shrimp and lobster to middle-class America and grew to become the largest seafood restaurant chain in the world, has filed for bankruptcy.
Red Lobster, which brought affordable shrimp and lobster to middle-class America and grew to become the largest seafood restaurant chain in the world, has filed for bankruptcy.
The company said it had more than $1 billion in debt and less than $30 million in cash on hand. It plans to sell its business to its lenders, and in turn, it will receive financing to stay afloat. It expects to continue to close restaurants in the meantime.
Red Lobster, known for its cheddar bay biscuits, crab legs and shrimp dishes, spread around the country during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2016, Beyoncé mentioned Red Lobster in her song “Formation,” describing bringing a romantic partner to Red Lobster, causing sales to surge.
With 578 restaurants across 44 states and Canada, Red Lobster serves 64 million customers a year, and it brings in $2 billion in annual sales, the company said in its bankruptcy filing. One in five lobster tails purchased in North America is bought by Red Lobster.
But recent mismanagement, competition, inflation and other factors brought down Red Lobster, analysts and former Red Lobster employees say.
Years of underinvestment in Red Lobster’s marketing, food quality, service and restaurant upgrades hurt the chain’s ability to compete with growing fast-casual and quick-service chains.
- Economic damage from climate change six times worse than thought – reportwww.theguardian.com Economic damage from climate change six times worse than thought – report
A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product, researchers have found
A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product, researchers have found
The economic damage wrought by climate change is six times worse than previously thought, with global heating set to shrink wealth at a rate consistent with the level of financial losses of a continuing permanent war, research has found.
A 1C increase in global temperature leads to a 12% decline in world gross domestic product (GDP), the researchers found, a far higher estimate than that of previous analyses. The world has already warmed by more than 1C (1.8F) since pre-industrial times and many climate scientists predict a 3C (5.4F) rise will occur by the end of this century due to the ongoing burning of fossil fuels, a scenario that the new working paper, yet to be peer-reviewed, states will come with an enormous economic cost.
- Consumers are so demoralized by inflation and high rates they've given up on saving for the American Dream and are spending money instead, economist saysfortune.com Consumers are so demoralized by inflation and high rates they've given up on saving for the American Dream and are spending money instead, economist says
"This positive spending is not a reflection of some sort of internalized secret sense of confidence that consumers have."
An economist offered an explanation for a paradox that has emerged in recent data showing that spending has remained robust even as consumers report feeling pessimistic.
Joanne Hsu, who is the director of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, told CNBC on Friday that she thinks Americans have abandoned plans to save money as they see their financial goals look less attainable and are spending money instead.
“This positive spending is not a reflection of some sort of internalized secret sense of confidence that consumers have,” he explained. “And instead my interpretation is that consumers see that a lot of aspirational goals that we talk about as part of the American Dream—homeownership, paying for college, paying for college for your kids, having a comfortable retirement—with high prices and high interest rates right now, those aspirational goals just feel increasingly out of reach.”
- GameStop shares fall 20% after it files to sell additional stock, says first quarter sales droppedwww.cnbc.com GameStop shares fall 20% after it files to sell additional stock, says first quarter sales dropped
GameStop said it plans to sell securities and reported preliminary results that showed a drop in first-quarter sales.
GameStop shares tumbled 19.7% Friday after the video game retailer said it plans to sell additional shares and reported preliminary results that showed a drop in first-quarter sales.
In a new regulatory filing, the video game retailer said it will sell up to 45 million class A common shares in an at-the-market offering. The sale comes after GameStop shares surged earlier this week in a brief revival of the meme stock trade.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, GameStop said it now expects net first-quarter sales in the range of $872 million to $892 million, down from around $1.24 billion in the same quarter last year. Two analysts polled by FactSet said they expected a first-quarter revenue of around $1 billion.
- Red Lobster could file for bankruptcy this month following the closure of 50+ stores: WSJwww.businessinsider.com Red Lobster could file for bankruptcy this month following the closure of 50+ stores: WSJ
Red Lobster could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Orlando in May. The company's financial missteps include its Endless Shrimp promotion.
- Red Lobster could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next week, per The Wall Street Journal.
- The restaurant chain, burdened with hundreds of millions in debt, recently shut down 52 stores.
- Red Lobster blamed some of its financial struggles on an all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion.
***
Restaurant chain Red Lobster could file for bankruptcy protection as early as next week, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
People familiar with the matter told the Journal that the company, overwhelmed with hundreds of millions in debt, plans to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in Orlando before Memorial Day. \ \ Bloomberg previously reported in April that the restaurant company was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
- 81% of young people say a 4-day workweek would boost productivity, new CNBC/Generation Lab survey reportswww.cnbc.com 81% of young people say a 4-day workweek would boost productivity, new CNBC/Generation Lab survey reports
A new survey from CNBC/Generation Lab found that an overwhelming 81% of young adults believe a four-day workweek would boost their company's productivity.
Young adults are throwing their support behind calls for a four-day workweek.
A new national survey from CNBC/Generation Lab of 1,033 people aged 18 to 34 found that an overwhelming 81% of respondents believe a four-day workweek would boost their company’s productivity, while 19% said productivity would decline.
Those results from the “Youth & Money in the USA” survey come amid discussions around the potential benefits of switching from the standard five-day U.S. workweek to a four-day cadence without a pay cut.
Some companies have begun testing the arrangement, and say it has mitigated employee burnout and strengthened business performance.
- The U.S. is now Germany’s biggest trading partner — taking over from Chinawww.cnbc.com The U.S. is now Germany’s biggest trading partner — taking over from China
After years of China being Germany’s main trading partner, the U.S. quietly overtook that spot in the first quarter of the year, data calculations show.
KEY POINTS
- After years of China being Germany’s main trading partner, the U.S. looks like it’s quietly taking that top spot as the year progresses.
- Combined exports and imports between Germany and the U.S. totaled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) between January and March of 2024, while trade with China came to just below 60 billion euros.
- Germany has adapted its China strategy, urging companies to “de-risk” from the country last year.
- What do Americans think about inflation?www.brookings.edu What do Americans think about inflation? | Brookings
Many indicators suggest that the U.S. economy is thriving, yet Americans continue to have a negative overall economic outlook. Stubbornly high inflation has played a significant role in this negative sentiment among consumers, even as wage growth has caught up with the rate of inflation. In a new st...
- Minimum wages in Europe: How do salaries compare across the continent?www.euronews.com Minimum wages in Europe: How do salaries compare across the continent?
The proportion of workers earning just the minimum wage is higher than 10% in a number of countries across Europe. Euronews Business takes a closer look at the data.
The proportion of workers earning just the minimum wage is higher than 10% in a number of countries across Europe. Euronews Business takes a closer look at the data.
This year marks a significant step towards improving working and living conditions in the EU member states because the EU's new minimum wages directive has to come into law by 15 November of this year.
No minimum wage in 5 EU countries
Twenty-two of the 27 EU member states have a national minimum wage. Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden do not. Cyprus introduced one early last year.
- Redfin agrees to pay $9.25 million to settle real estate broker commission lawsuitsapnews.com Redfin agrees to pay $9.25 million to settle real estate broker commission lawsuits
Redfin has agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle federal lawsuits that claim U.S. homeowners were saddled with artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their home as a result of longstanding real estate industry practices.
Redfin has agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle federal lawsuits that claim U.S. homeowners were saddled with artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their home as a result of longstanding real estate industry practices.
The online brokerage and real estate services company disclosed the proposed settlement Monday in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The settlement, which Redfin agreed to Friday, would resolve pending class action lawsuits filed in federal court in the Western District of Missouri, and also shield the company, its subsidiaries and agents from similar cases around the country, according to the filing.
- Has pay kept up with inflation?www.brookings.edu Has pay kept up with inflation? | Brookings
An interactive shows changes in real pay using different pay measures and two inflation measures, PCE and CPI.
- Majority of Americans over 50 worry they won't have enough money for retirement: Studywww.usatoday.com Majority of Americans over 50 worry they won't have enough money for retirement: Study
One of the survey’s biggest findings is that 61% of those 50 and up are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement.
An increasing number of people are worried that they won’t have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, and men aren’t as financially secure as they once were, according to an annual survey from AARP.
The AARP Financial Security Trends Survey, conducted in January and released in April, included interviews with more than 8,300 Americans over 30 across every state in the country. Conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, the survey aims to analyze the financial experiences and attitudes among Americans.
One of the survey’s biggest findings is that 61% of those 50 and up are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement, Indira Venkat, senior vice president of research at AARP, told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
And if you break those numbers down even more, one in five of people who have not retired have no savings at all, Venkat said.
- UK growth set to be slowest of richest nations in 2025, says OECDwww.bbc.com UK growth set to be slowest of richest nations in 2025, says OECD
The UK economy will remain “sluggish” due to the impact of interest rate rises, the OECD says.
The UK economy will see the slowest growth of the largest developed nations next year, according to forecasts.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that UK gross domestic product - a key measure of economic health - will rise by 1% in 2025.
This is below the rest of the G7 nations, which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
The OECD, which is a globally recognised think tank, said the UK economy would be “sluggish” this year.
The organisation blamed the after-effects of a succession of interest rate rises in the UK for the lethargic performance.
- Stuff You Should Know: Greedflation is Realomny.fm Greedflation Is Real - Stuff You Should Know
One of the things we rely on is for the companies who make the stuff we need to not stick it to us, the customer. But it’s become painfully clear that’s just what happened during the pandemic and that it’s still happening today. What can we do about it?
I thought this was a very centrist view of "greedflation" from SYSK. It's great to see this recognition of this problem become more mainstream.
- Europe's economy shows signs of life with 0.3% growth in 1st quarter as inflation, energy woes easeapnews.com Europe's economy shows signs of life with 0.3% growth in 1st quarter as inflation, energy woes ease
Europe’s economy perked up slightly at the start of the year, recording 0.3% growth in the January-March quarter as the inflation burden on consumers eased and the stagnating German economy, the continent’s biggest, started to show modest signs of life.
Europe’s economy perked up slightly at the start of the year, recording 0.3% growth in the January-March quarter compared to the last three months of 2023 as the inflation burden on consumers eased and the stagnating German economy, the continent’s biggest, started to show modest signs of life.
The 20-country eurozone recorded its strongest performance since the third quarter of 2022 and improved on shrinkage of 0.1% in each of the last two quarters of 2023, according to official figures released Tuesday by the European Union’s statistical agency Eurostat.
The economy had been held back by high inflation that has sapped consumer purchasing power, and by an energy price spike related to Russia cutting off most supplies of natural gas.
- Japanese yen strengthens sharply after hitting 160 against dollar for the first time since 1990www.cnbc.com Japanese yen strengthens sharply after hitting 160 against dollar for the first time since 1990
The Japanese yen weakened to 160 against the U.S. dollar in Monday morning trading in Asia.
KEY POINTS
- The Japanese yen weakened to 160 against the U.S. dollar in Monday morning trading in Asia.
- The yen has traded around 150 or weaker against the dollar since the Bank of Japan ended its negative interest rate regime in March.
- Japanese authorities have repeatedly warned against “excessive” moves in the yen, but have made no official announcements about bolstering the currency.
- All the data so far is showing inflation isn't going away, and is making things tough on the Fedwww.cnbc.com All the data so far is showing inflation isn't going away, and is making things tough on the Fed
The last batch of inflation news that Federal Reserve officials will see before their meeting next week is in, and none of it is very good.
Key Points
- Commerce Department indexes that the Fed relies on heavily for inflation signals showed prices continuing to climb at a rate still considerably higher than the 2% annual goal.
- The stubborn inflation data raised several ominous specters, namely that the Fed may have to keep rates elevated for longer or even have to hike at some point.
- Thus far, the economy has managed to avoid broader damage from the inflation problem, though there are some notable cracks.
- The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be on the Verge of Collapsetime.com Residential Solar Is In Trouble
Complicated financial products helped the U.S. rooftop-solar-power industry grow, but now put it at risk of implosion.
A decade ago, someone knocking on your door to sell you solar panels would have been selling you solar panels. Now, they are probably selling you a financial product—likely a lease or a loan.
Mary Ann Jones, 83, didn’t realize this had happened to her until she received a call last year from GoodLeap, a financial technology company, saying she owed $52,564.28 for a solar panel loan that expires when she’s 106, and costs more than she originally paid for her house.
In 2022, she says, a door-to-door salesman from the company Solgen Construction showed up at her house on the outskirts of Fresno, Calif., pushing what he claimed was a government program affiliated with her utility to get her free solar panels. At one point, he had her touch his tablet device, she says, but he never said she was signing a contract with Solgen or a loan document with GoodLeap. Unbeknownst to Jones, the salesman used "yoursolarguyujosh\@gmail.com" as her purported email address—that of course, was not her email address. She’s on a fixed income of $960 a month, and cannot afford the loan she says she was tricked into signing up for; she’s now fighting both Solgen and Goodleap in court.
Her case is not uncommon. Solar customers across the country say that salespeople obscure the specific terms of the financial agreements and cloud the value of the products they peddle. Related court cases are starting to pile up. “I have been practicing consumer law for over a decade, and I’ve never seen anything like what we are seeing in the solar industry right now,” says Kristin Kemnitzer, who represents Jones and says her firm gets “multiple” calls every week from potential clients with similar stories.
- Key Fed inflation measure rose 2.8% in March from a year ago, more than expectedwww.cnbc.com Key Fed inflation measure rose 2.8% in March from a year ago, more than expected
The core personal consumption expenditures price index was expected to increase 2.7% from a year ago in March, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate.
Inflation showed little signs of letting up in March, with a key barometer the Federal Reserve watches closely showing that price pressures remain elevated.
The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased 2.8% from a year ago in March, the same as in February, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That was above the 2.7% estimate from the Dow Jones consensus.
Including food and energy, the all-items PCE price gauge increased 2.7%, compared to the 2.6% estimate.
On a monthly basis, both measures increased 0.3%, as expected and equaling the increase from February.
Markets showed little reaction to the data, with Wall Street poised to open higher. Treasury yields fell, with the benchmark 10-year note at 4.67%, down about 0.4 percentage point on the session. Futures traders grew slightly more optimistic about two potential rate cuts this year, raising the probability to 44%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch gauge.
- Boeing to pay $443 million to airlines for its Max 9 grounding as losses and problems mountwww.cnn.com Boeing to pay $443 million to airlines for its Max 9 grounding as losses and problems mount | CNN Business
Boeing reported a slight smaller loss in the first quarter compared to the same time a year ago and warned investors and employees it will have to cut back production further to deal with quality and safety issues on its production line.
Boeing reported a slightly smaller loss in the first quarter compared to the same time a year ago, but said fixing the problems that got attention after the Alaska Air incident will push back its financial recovery and cost it $443 million in compensation to its airline customers.
Boeing reported a core operating loss of $388 million, or $1.13 a share, from the $440 million it lost on that basis a year earlier. That was significantly less than analysts’ forecast of $1.63 a share in the quarter. But the improvement came from outside its key commercial airplanes unit, where losses from operations nearly doubled to $1.1 billion.
Revenue tumbled $1.4 billion, or 8% to $16.6 billion, as the problems at the airplane maker resulted in a sharp drop in deliveries of jets to its airline customers. The company gets most of its money from sales of commercial planes only upon deliveries to customers.
The slightly better than expected financial results don’t make up for a company struggling with questions from Congress, regulators and the traveling public about the quality and safety of its aircraft. It is not only scrambling to repair its badly damaged reputation but also to satisfy airline customers being hurt by not receiving the aircraft they had been promised. Boeing said it is taking the necessary steps to fix the quality issues. But those fixes will continue to cause additional losses and missed delivery targets in the months ahead.
- Starbucks resumes bargaining with union after two sides thaw relationshipwww.cnbc.com Starbucks resumes bargaining with union after two sides thaw relationship
In February, Starbucks and Workers United said they found a "constructive path forward," marking a major strategic pivot for the coffee giant.
KEY POINTS
- Starbucks and the Workers United union will resume bargaining, ending a long stalemate.
- In February, the two sides said they found a “constructive path forward,” marking a major strategic pivot for the coffee giant.
- Labor laws do not require that the employer and union reach a collective bargaining agreement, only that both bargain in good faith.
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Starbucks and the union that represents its baristas will resume contract negotiations on Wednesday, ending an extended stalemate.
The two sides’ return to the bargaining table follows their February announcement that they found a “constructive path forward” during mediation discussions related to litigation over the union’s use of Starbucks’ branding. It marked a major pivot for Starbucks, which had spent the previous two years battling Workers United and the broader movement to unionize its cafes.
Roughly 500 company-owned Starbucks in the U.S. have voted to unionize under Workers United since the first elections in December 2021, according to a tally from the National Labor Relations Board, as of Monday. But none of those locations, which make up a small fraction of total U.S. footprint, have come close to a collective bargaining agreement.
- "The Everything War" describes how Amazon causes price inflation
Amazon's grown so large that it's causing price inflation online, writes Wall Street Journal reporter Dana Mattioli in "The Everything War," out Tuesday.
Why it matters: The book chronicles the Seattle company's rise from scrappy underdog to a massive conglomerate — and suggests that it has hurt other businesses and consumers.
The big picture: The book echoes the allegations in the antitrust lawsuit the Federal Trade Commission filed against the retail giant last year, and offers an inside look at how that price inflation happens. (Amazon disputes the portrayal.)
Flashback: For a long time, Amazon was a source of disinflation, a place where you could get the lowest prices around, per the book.
- For years, the company undercut the competition to build market share — it didn't need to make money in its retail business thanks to the steady stream of profits coming from its cloud computing arm.
- FTC commissioner Lina Khan criticized this strategy as "predatory pricing," in a now-famous paper she wrote when she was a student at Yale Law School.
Once it achieved scale — Amazon now makes up about 40% of all online retail — the company started raising prices on the products it sells directly.
- It also started charging the businesses that sell products on the site's marketplace "monopoly rent," says Mattioli, who spoke to Axios ahead of the book's publication.
- A look at small businesses in the U.S.www.pewresearch.org A look at small businesses in the U.S.
Among the roughly 6 million small business firms with employees, 49% have just one to four workers.
- From San José to Silicon Valley: Costa Rica is emerging as a hotbed for US chipsenglish.elpais.com From San José to Silicon Valley: Costa Rica is emerging as a hotbed for US chips
Nurtured by Washington, multinationals and universities, the small Central American country is on its way to becoming a hub for integrated circuits
Nurtured by Washington, multinationals and universities, the small Central American country is on its way to becoming a hub for integrated circuits
In April 2014, news agencies reported this piece of breaking news from the multinational technology giant Intel: “Chipmaker Intel is closing its assembly and test operation in Costa Rica and eliminating 1,500 jobs (...) It will move its operations from its site in Heredia, where it has been present since 1997, to existing sites in China, Malaysia and Vietnam.” Intel’s operations in the Central American country would subsequently be confined to global services and research and development. But 10 years later, the situation has gone into reverse mode, something not even Intel itself could have predicted.
All efforts are now focused on making Costa Rica a semiconductor industry ecosystem that will attract investment and train young people in technology. This may help mitigate the U.S. government’s current concerns over its enormous dependency on Asian countries for the production of integrated circuits that are essential to digital devices and connectivity; a reliance that Washington believes threatens its national security.
As trade wars between the U.S. and China got underway, not to mention the effects of the pandemic on digitalization and global logistics chains, Costa Rica saw Intel’s manufacturing plant reopen in 2021, an initial sign that the wind was about to change. Now, the development of semiconductors on Costa Rican soil is nurtured by promises of investment and ambitions that go beyond Intel.
- Express files for bankruptcy, plans to close nearly 100 stores as investor group looks to save the brandwww.cnbc.com Express files for bankruptcy, plans to close nearly 100 stores as investor group looks to save the brand
Longtime mall retailer Express filed for bankruptcy and plans to close nearly 100 stores as an investor group looks to save it from extinction.
- Express filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as an investor group led by brand management firm WHP Global looks to acquire most of its assets.
- The longtime mall retailer has failed to stay on trend and keep up with shifting consumer demand, which has led sales to plummet in recent years.
- Express, whose portfolio includes its namesake banner, UpWest and Bonobos, said operations will continue as normal but 95 Express stores and all UpWest stores will close.
- How Chinese firms are using Mexico as a backdoor to the USwww.bbc.com How Chinese firms are using Mexico as a backdoor to the US
Chinese firms are racing to set up factories in Mexico to bypass US tariffs and sanctions.
The reclining armchairs and plush leather sofas coming off the production line at Man Wah Furniture's factory in Monterrey are 100% "Made in Mexico".
They're destined for large retailers in the US, like Costco and Walmart. But the company is from China, its Mexican manufacturing plant built with Chinese capital.
The triangular relationship between the US, China and Mexico is behind the buzzword in Mexican business: nearshoring.
Man Wah is one of scores of Chinese companies to relocate to industrial parks in northern Mexico in recent years, to bring production closer to the US market. As well as saving on shipping, their final product is considered completely Mexican - meaning Chinese firms can avoid the US tariffs and sanctions imposed on Chinese goods amid the continuing trade war between the two countries.
As the company's general manager, Yu Ken Wei, shows me around its vast site, he says the move to Mexico has made economic and logistical sense.
- What if we ended all taxes on individuals, and just charged the cost of society to the corporations?
This idea has been kicking around in my head for a while, and I'm hoping some Lemmy geniuses can poke holes/ flesh it out with me.
Every person I've ever heard of works for and gets paid by some form of company. So instead of the company paying the workers and then those workers getting taxed, why not just tax it all to the corporations to begin with? Instead of hundreds of millions of individuals to think about, the IRS (in US) could just focus on a few million companies.
We the people democratically decide what we think is needed for a functioning society, and charge it to the corporations.
I'd say each company should be responsible for paying the same percentage of the bill as percentage of total "profits" they made. Like, if Apple makes 10% of all the combined profits of all the companies this quarter, they are responsible for paying 10% of the bill. Highest paid employee can make 10x what the lowest paid employee (including contracted and foreign workers) makes; more than that gets included in the calculation as part of the company's "profits". (So that CEO can still get paid absurd amounts of money, but the company will still pay taxes on most of it)
What if we created some sort of secure opinion/voting app where people go to cast their vote on whatever people think needs to be voted on. Should there be UBI? Should it be a token, living, or thriving wage? (Personally, I'd go with thriving and tie it to inflation) Single payer healthcare? All education paid for? Stop funding genocide? No more polluting the planet, or at least force companies to pay to clean up their own messes? When and where are companies allowed to market to us? Where should the threshold of agreement be to enact changes, 40% 50%+1 60%? Etc etc
Then we elect people who agree to simply enact what the people democratically agree on... And if the people don't agree, they'll stay away from it or leave it to the states. And hopefully someday we could build it out so that state and local governments work this way too.
I think we get bogged down on the 2 or 3 things we disagree on and allow that to mean we never get the things we DO agree on. Let's get the things we agree on first, and then continue debating the things we disagree on.
Also I think this would be a long term plan. 12 years would give us 2 full election cycles here in the US and would give zoomers time to grow up, settle, and start to really vote (hopefully with this new system).
Anyway, like I said, let's poke holes and figure out solutions. Thanks
- A tight labor market and state minimum wage increases boosted low-end wage growth between 2019 and 2023www.epi.org A tight labor market and state minimum wage increases boosted low-end wage growth between 2019 and 2023
The labor market recovery from the pandemic recession has been tremendous and low-wage workers have been key recipients of those gains, with dramatically fast real wage growth between 2019 and 2023 as we found in our recent report. These gains were due in part to several large spending bills passed ...
- US rate setter tells BBC 'no hurry' to cut interest rateswww.bbc.com US rate setter tells BBC 'no hurry' to cut interest rates
A key member of the US central bank, Raphael Bostic, tells the BBC rates might only ease "at the end of 2024".
A key member of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, has told the BBC that inflation is only coming down "very, very slowly" and "let's not be in a hurry" on interest rate cuts.
Raphael Bostic, the President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, told BBC News that US interest rates will have to be kept at a "restrictive level" and might only ease "at the end of 2024".
Expectations of a delay to US interest rate cuts has sent reverberations around the world economy in recent weeks, impacting government borrowing costs, including in the UK.
At the beginning of the year, markets expected a series of rate cuts in the US and across Europe.