What we’re reading (10/13)
“Dow Closes More Than 800 Points Higher In Volatile Day” (Wall Street Journal). “U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday in a head-spinning reversal, after investors decided that fresh evidence of high inflation wasn’t as bad as it initially appeared. It was the first time that the Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell at least 500 points and rose at least 800 points in a single trading day, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The whipsaw moves were reminiscent of the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, another time of deep uncertainty about the economic outlook.”
“Confirmed: Ads Are Coming To Netflix” (Vanity Fair). “The new plan, which will be available in the US on November 3, will cost $6.99 per month and give subscribers access to most of the broad library of movies and TV shows that they have come to expect from Netflix. In exchange for paying a lower price for the service—less than half the cost of Netflix’s popular Standard plan—subscribers can expect between an average of four to five minutes of ads for every hour of content. ‘We believe that with this launch, we’ll be able to provide a plan and a price for every Netflix fan,’ chief operating officer and chief product officer Greg Peters said during a call with press on Thursday morning, which Vanity Fair participated in.”
“You’re Going Back To The Office. Your Boss Isn’t.” (Vox). “The relationship between rank-and-file office workers and their bosses has never been equal. But remote work is creating a new kind of imbalance between certain people in leadership and their employees, and it’s stirring up resentment at work. Many managers — from middle management to the C-suite, depending on the workplace — are continuing to work remotely, but at the same time are calling their employees back to the office. Employees are getting angry and fighting back in the few ways they can: looking for work someplace else.”
“It’s Time For Employers To Stop Caring So Much About College Degrees” (CNN Business). “Despite the need for revamping our existing talent strategies to keep pace, employers have been slow to move on what we see as the most sustainable way to hire and grow more effective, engaged workforces: hiring for skills, instead of just relying on pedigree. The old set of indicators – the right degree from the right school, the right network to endorse you and the right past employers on your resume – are weak predictors of what actually matters: a candidate’s ability to do the job.”
“Who Had Bernie Madoff In Their Last Game Of ‘Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon’?” (Dealbreaker). “In fact, according to The Oracle of Bacon website (yes, technology has inserted itself even into this extremely stupid game), it’s vanishingly rare to have a Bacon number higher than four: It’s found just over 10,000 actors with fives or sixes, and less than 200 with numbers higher than that—compared to 447,801 with fours or less (including Bacon himself with a Bacon number of zero). Still, even with those statistics—and even taking into account the broader philosophical notion that all people on earth are connectable within six social connections—there’s someone with the surprisingly low Bacon number of one [Bernie Madoff].”
