What we’re reading (11/28)
“Black Friday 2020 Online Shopping Surges 22% To Record $9 Billion, Adobe Says” (CNBC). “Spending online on Black Friday this year surged nearly 22% to hit a new record, according to data from Adobe Analytics, as the Covid pandemic pushed more people to shop from the sofa and avoid crowded stores and malls. Consumers spent $9 billion on the web the day after Thanksgiving, up 21.6% year over year, according to Adobe, which analyzes website transactions from 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers.”
“In Praise Of Janet Yellen The Economist” (New York Times). “[T]he good news about Yellen goes beyond her ridiculously distinguished career in public service. Before she held office, she was a serious researcher. And she was, in particular, one of the leading figures in an intellectual movement that helped save macroeconomics as a useful discipline when that usefulness was under both external and internal assault.”
“What Is MasterClass Actually Selling?” (The Atlantic). “Sometimes an advertisement is so perfectly tailored to a cultural moment that it casts that moment into stark relief, which is how I felt upon first seeing an ad for the mega-best-selling writer James Patterson’s course on MasterClass a few years ago…[i]t didn’t matter that I’d never read a book by Patterson before—I was hooked. What appealed to me was not whatever actionable thriller-writing tips I might glean, but rather the promise of his story, the story of how a writer becomes a mogul. Any hapless, hand-to-mouth mid-lister can provide instructions on outlining a novel. MasterClass dangled something else, a clear-cut path out of the precariat, the magic-bean shortcut to a fairy-tale ending—the secret to ever-elusive success”
“Tesla Could Widen Release Of ‘Self-Driving’ Software In Two Weeks” (Reuters). “Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Friday there will probably be a wider roll out of a new ‘Full Self Driving’ software update in two weeks. In October, Tesla released a beta, or test version, of what it calls a ‘Full Self Driving’ software upgrade to an undisclosed number of “expert, careful” drivers. ‘Probably going to a wider beta in 2 weeks,’ Musk said on Twitter, in a reply to a user asking if the software would be available in Minnesota. Musk had said earlier it was planned that the latest upgrade would be widely released by the end of this year, with the system becoming more robust as it collected more data.”
“Do Businesses Need COVID Liability Protection?” (News-Press NOW). “Since March, more than 1,000 COVID-19 lawsuits have been filed against employers, according to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That’s something Missouri lawmakers and businesses would like to change…Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Parson expanded his call for a special session to include emergency legislation to shield health facilities and businesses from COVID-related lawsuits if those entities follow public health guidelines. In a grim irony, the coronavirus itself might delay this legislation after COVID exposure forced the Senate to go into recess. The issue of COVID liability has proved controversial, although some of Missouri’s neighboring states have passed legal protections. One critic said businesses will do the bear minimum to protect workers and customers if the state grants broad immunity.”
