What we’re reading (5/18)
“Will US Inflation Lead To Recession?” (Project Syndicate). “Rapid consumer price inflation in the United States is masking signs of an economic slowdown that could threaten the longevity of current growth. While nominal personal consumption spending grew by 3.4% between October 2021 and March 2022 (the most recent month for which data are available), accounting for higher prices shows that personal consumption spending was flat overall. And inflation-adjusted retail sales look even worse, having been flat since March 2021.”
“Cautionary Tales From Cryptoland” (Harvard Business Review). “My overwhelming feeling is that Web3 projects seem to be a solution in search of a problem. It often seems like project creators knew they wanted to incorporate blockchains somehow and then went casting around for some problem they could try to solve with a blockchain without much thought as to whether it was the right technology to address it, or even if the problem was something that could or should be solved with technology at all.”
“Wave Of Layoffs At Startups Foretell A Slow Summer For Venture Investing” (Forbes). “‘It just dried up overnight,’ venture investor Dharmesh Thakker told Forbes. It’s left many founders in a state of shock, said Thakker, a general partner at Battery Ventures in Menlo Park, California. It’s also left many startup employees without jobs. So far this month, more than 5,400 workers have been let go, according to data from Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks tech employment.”
“Melvin Capital To Close Funds, Return Cash To Investors” (Wall Street Journal). “Melvin Capital plans to close its funds and return the cash to its investors, capping a stunning reversal for a firm that lost big on the surge in meme stocks last year and on wagers on growth stocks this year. In a letter to investors that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gabe Plotkin, Melvin’s founder, wrote that he reached his decision after conferring with Melvin’s board of directors during a monthslong process of reassessing his business.”
“‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli has been released from prison early and sent to a halfway house” (Insider). “Shkreli posted a selfie on his Facebook page Wednesday with the caption: ‘Getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.’ He was likely referencing his 2017 suspension from the platform for harassing a journalist.”
