What we’re reading (4/11)
“Investors Turn Cautious On Consumer Debt” (Wall Street Journal). “Buyers of bonds backed by subprime car loans or credit cards are demanding the highest premiums over interest-rate benchmarks since mid-2020. Meanwhile, investors have punished shares of some financial-technology companies that helped fuel a recent surge in consumer borrowing, such as Affirm Holdings and Upstart Holdings.”
“You Get The Government You Pay For” (City Journal). “No one likes to see employees of a dysfunctional government handsomely rewarded. But the idea [of capping government employee pay] is extraordinarily bad. Limiting spending on upper-level staff is a penny-wise, pound-foolish method of controlling government spending that is sure to produce worse and more wasteful government, one that will remain in thrall to special interests such as government contractors and industry lobbyists.”
“Always Buy High Uncertainty. Certainty In The Stock Market Is Very Expensive” (Ken Fisher, Real Clear Markets). “The old adage that stocks hate uncertainty is true—but only partially. Stocks hate high and rising uncertainty. High but falling uncertainty, however, is the absolutely best stock market fuel anyone could ever ask for. And that is dead ahead now.”
“Welp, Maybe This Is How We Get Truck Guys To Buy Electric Vehicles” (Slate). “The electric resurrection of the Hummer, first announced in 2020, has produced a vehicle that does not emit the carbon pollution that overheats the planet, nor many of the other toxins that routinely kill thousands of Americans—and millions worldwide—who inhale befouled air. But in many ways it still pushes the boundaries of absurdity. The vehicle weighs more than 4.5 tons, a bulk closer to that of a small bulldozer than the sort of cars that were typically seen on American streets a decade or so ago. The huge Ultium battery that powers the vehicle is nearly 3,000 pounds, about the same weight as two grand pianos. The wheels look like they could traverse Mars.”
“A 4-Year Degree Isn’t Quite The Job Requirement It Used To Be” (New York Times). “In the last few years, major American companies in every industry have pledged to change their hiring habits by opening the door to higher-wage jobs with career paths to people without four-year college degrees...[m]ore than 100 companies have made commitments, including the Business Roundtable’s Multiple Pathways program and OneTen, which is focused on hiring and promoting Black workers without college degrees to good jobs.”
