My Two-for-Tuesday morning train WFH reads:
• The U.S. Economy’s Prospects Looked Bright, Until the Delta Variant Surged GDP grew at a 6.5% annual rate in the second quarter, but slower growth is expected in coming months. (Wall Street Journal). see also Growth Is Strong, but the Obstacles to Full Recovery Are Big The new G.D.P. numbers paint a vivid picture of a nation still struggling to complete an economic readjustment. (New York Times)
• GDP Growth Under Trump Was the Worst Since Hoover The pandemic was partly to blame, and there are some measures that make his record look better. But it was not a stellar performance. (Bloomberg)
• When Valuation Matters Lesson: the price you pay for something tends to matter. It just doesn’t matter within a set or predictable timeframe. It could matter overnight, take months to matter, or even years. No one knows. But when investors pay an extraordinarily high price for something (on the lofty expectation that staggering growth rates of the present will continue into the future), that is often a recipe for future disappointment. (Compound)
• The Memo: Thinking About Macro Howard Marks doesn’t make bets on economic predictions. That’s especially true now when the biggest wildcard is inflation – a phenomenon no one fully understands. But just because something is unknowable doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. That’s why his latest memo to a topic he largely disavows: macro forecasting. (Oaktree)
• The Anti-vaccine Con Job Is Becoming Untenable Why targets of deliberate deception often hesitate to admit they’ve been deceived (The Atlantic) see also The Costs of Selling Covid Fear Covid vaccines are incredibly effective. The media’s overhyping of new research from the CDC is making people think otherwise. (Medium)
• Before Florida COVID surge, major media outlets lionized DeSantis Now, as the Delta variant spreads, DeSantis’ bravado has collided with reality. On Saturday, Florida recorded a record 21,683 coronavirus cases, a 12.1% increase over the previous record set on January 7. Florida has “about 6.5% of the U.S. population” but “accounts for about 21.4% of the country’s new cases.”(Popular Information)
• Electric Cars Are An Inherently Anti-American Concept But we can use that knowledge to transform the way we market and adopt EVs. (Jalopnik) see also Yes, you can still get electric vehicle tax credits — here’s a guide. What about leases and used cars? Here are the ins and outs to consider if you’re going to take advantage of the program (Marketwatch)
• A Heat Wave Has Triggered a ‘Massive Melting Event’ in Greenland Greenland’s ice sheet melted enough in one day to cover all of Florida in two inches of water. (Vice)
• They Spurned the Vaccine. Now They Want You to Know They Regret It. People who once rejected the vaccine or simply waited too long are now grappling with the consequences, often in raw, public ways. (New York Times) see also How Covid vaccine incentives failed America America has a long history of requiring vaccinations. Why so much resistance when it comes to Covid? Anti-vaxxers can’t stop ruining things for the rest of America (MSNBC)
• Jessica Springsteen: America’s Rising Equestrian Star The 29-year-old has become one of the world’s top riders at a remarkably young age in a sport that skews older (Wall Street Journal)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Dr. Charity Dean. Dean was the director of the California Department of Public Health in 2020. She is a lead character in Michael Lewis’ book The Premonition: A Pandemic Story; Lewis called her “one of the people who saw the real danger of the virus before the rest of the country did.” She is co-founder of The Public Health Company.
Covid Resilience Ranking: The Best and Worst Places to Be in 2021
Source: Bloomberg
