What we’re reading (11/15)
“Airbnb Is More Successful Than Ever. Why Is Everyone So Mad At It?” (Washington Post). “Industry observers say some hosts are seeing a booking slowdown, especially in markets that have become overwhelmed by short-term rentals. But despite the host and traveler complaints, overall bookings continue to grow as the company enjoys a banner year.”
“Household Debt Soars At Fastest Pace In 15 Years As Credit Card Use Surges, Fed Report Says” (CNBC). “Households increased debt during the third quarter at the fastest pace in 15 years due to hefty increases in credit card usage and mortgage balances, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. Total debt jumped by $351 billion for the July-to-September period, the largest nominal quarterly increase since 2007, bringing the collective household IOU in the U.S. to a fresh record $16.5 trillion, up 2.2% from the previous quarter and 8.3% from a year ago.”
“Wall Street Bonuses To Plunge As Much As 45% For Bankers - Study” (U.S. News & World Report). “Wall Street investment bankers can expect much smaller bonuses this year as the economy slows, according to projections published on Tuesday by Johnson Associates Inc, a compensation consultant in New York. Bankers who underwrite equity or debt offerings are forecast to receive payouts that are 40% to 45% lower than in 2021, while their counterparts who advise on mergers and acquisitions will get bonuses that are 15% to 20% lower than last year.”
“The Rise Of Influencer Capital: How Social Media, Celebrity Promoters, And Banks Looking For A Quick Buck Transformed The Markets.” (The Intelligencer). “Convincing people to buy something regardless of its underlying value is the job description of our era’s version of the celebrity spokesperson: the influencer. In ‘influencer marketing,’ firms hire — or, on the lower end, offer freebies to — popular social-media users to post about a product or service. These influencers are taking over an increasingly large slice of promotional budgets, with some even dancing off the screen into real-world branded collaborations…Reviewing estimates about the size of the influencer market, The Economist cited numbers between the tens and hundreds of billions of dollars, concluding, ‘Their posts seem frivolous. Their business isn’t.’”
“Why Indecision Makes You Smarter” (BBC). “[R]ecent research suggests that it [indecisiveness] can also have an upside – it protects us from common cognitive errors like confirmation bias, so that when the person does finally come to a judgement, it is generally wiser than those who jumped to a conclusion too quickly. The trick is to learn when to wait, and when to break through the inertia while it’s holding you back.”
