What we’re reading (6/10)
“Port Of Seattle Closed Due To ILWU Labor Strife” (CNBC). “The West Coast ports have faced continuous worker slowdowns and stoppages all week where an estimated $5.2 billion of trade is floating off the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland.”
“The Great Decoupling: Macroeconomic Perceptions And COVID-19” (Darren Grant, Working Paper). “The American public’s perceptions of macroeconomic conditions changed dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic, in seemingly-perplexing ways. To document this phenomenon and better understand it, this paper analyzes forty-six years of surveys on the state of the U.S. economy. The effect of inflation on these perceptions did not change during the pandemic, but the effect of unemployment fell significantly. The temporary provision of large income stabilizers generated an unusually mild response to increased unemployment in 2020, then negative real wage growth caused unusual pessimism in 2021-22, despite a tight labor market.”
“Railroads Offer Paid Sick Leave, Better Work Conditions After Yearslong Efficiency Push” (Wall Street Journal). “Major U.S. freight railroads are adopting labor-friendly policies such as paid sick leave and predictable shifts to help address long-running staffing shortages that nearly boiled over into a nationwide strike last year.”
“Turkey Turns To [Checks Notes Incredulously] Former First Republic CEO To Save Economy” (Dealbreaker). “[W]hile Washington looks askance at the NATO member’s cozying up to those who definitely wish the alliance ill, Wall Street stands astonished at Erdogan’s stubborn insistence that rock-bottom interest rates will tame inflation, even in the face of the 85% inflation his country faces as a result. Economically-speaking, things are so bad in Turkey that this otherwise quite desperate-looking pick for central bank governor is treated as tremendous news.”
“A.G. Sulzberger On The Battles Within And Against The New York Times” (The New Yorker). “With the collapse of so many local and second-tier newspapers, with the disappearance of once promising sites like BuzzFeed News, the Times occupies a nearly singular place in American journalism, a fact that makes honest scrutiny of the paper in all its forms even more necessary than ever.”
