What we’re reading (6/7)
“Higher Interest Rates Would Be Good For The Country, Treasury Secretary Yellen Says” (CNBC). “U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion spending proposal would be positive for the country, even if it leads to a rise in interest rates. During an interview with Bloomberg News, the former Federal Reserve chair said the president’s plans would total about $400 billion each year — a level of spending she argued was not enough to create an inflation over-run.”
“Major US airlines are going on a hiring spree after slashing tens of thousands of jobs” (Business Insider). “Airlines are in need of more staff as air travel makes a comeback after a turbulent year. One year after slashing thousands of employees' jobs due to COVID-19 cutting flight demand, top airline companies in the US are going on a hiring spree. American, Delta, United, and Southwest have all announced they are hiring pilots and other positions before the end of the year.”
“Jeff Bezos Is Going To Space On First Crewed Flight Of Rocket” (CNN Business). “Jeff Bezos will be flying to space on the first crewed flight of the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin. The flight is scheduled for July 20th, just 15 days after he is set to resign as CEO of Amazon. Blue Origin said Bezos' younger brother, Mark Bezos, will also join the flight.”
“Options Traders Bet On Return Of $100 Oil” (Wall Street Journal). “Traders have alighted on what some believe to be a one-way bet in the world’s most important commodity market: oil prices going to $100 a barrel. They have scooped up call options tied to Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude-oil prices reaching $100 by the end of next year. Oil prices haven’t topped that milestone since 2014, when a gush of U.S. crude depressed energy markets.”
“I’m Not Scared To Reenter Society. I’m Just Not Sure I Want To.” (The Atlantic). “Quarantine has given us all time and solitude to think—a risk for any individual, and a threat to any status quo. People have gotten to have the experience—some of them for the first time in their life—of being left alone, a luxury usually unavailable even to the wealthy. Relieved of the deforming crush of financial fear, and of the world’s battering demands and expectations, people’s personalities have started to assume their true shape. And a lot of them don’t want to return to wasting their days in purgatorial commutes, to the fluorescent lights and dress codes and middle-school politics of the office. Service personnel are apparently ungrateful for the opportunity to get paid not enough to live on by employers who have demonstrated they don’t care whether their workers live or die.”
