My back to work morning train WFH reads:
• The Huge Endeavor to Produce a Tiny Microchip As the global chip shortage continues, we take an inside look at how semiconductors are fabricated. (New York Times)
• The dawn of financial warfare If the dollar’s standing is unassailable, the temptation to weaponise the dollar more often will be enormous. (Financial Times) see also Putin and Xi Exposed the Great Illusion of Capitalism Unless the U.S. and its allies mobilize to save it, the second great age of globalization is coming to a catastrophic close. (Bloomberg)
• Retail Crime Is Hurting Companies and Making Inflation Worse. What Investors Should Know. The upswing has catapulted crime to among the top issues plaguing both mom-and-pop shops and publicly traded retailers this year, as businesses grapple with both large-scale violent theft backed by crime rings, which is growing, as well as petty shoplifting, which occurs far more frequently. Executives now cite crime alongside inflation as the two main issues cutting into profit. The overwhelming majority of goods stolen appear to be for greed rather than need, with both professional and amateur thieves targeting everything from luxury clothing and handbags to power tools, Tide laundry detergent pods, Crest whitening strips, and razor blades in the hopes of flipping it all for a quick buck. (Barron’s)
•The Donut Effect: How the Pandemic Hollowed Out America’s Biggest Cities Thanks to remote work, fewer people are living in downtowns and urban cores. (Slate)
• Corporate landlords are gobbling up U.S. suburbs. These homeowners are fighting back. Using authority that lets them punish homeowners who fail to cut the grass, one predominantly Black neighborhood in North Carolina slows the pace of investor purchases. (Washington Post)
• How Chief Technology Officers Are Investing Big in the Future A survey of more than 3,000 executives across industries provides a crystal ball into how companies are spending today for tomorrow. (Bloomberg)
• The war in data, week six: The aftermath of massacres: Russia’s invasion has cost thousands of lives, forced millions to flee and sent shockwaves through the global economy. (Grid)
• Scepticism as a way of life: The desire for certainty is often foolish and sometimes dangerous. Scepticism undermines it, both in oneself and in others (Aeon)
• Gazing at the ‘Black Sun’: The Transfixing Beauty of Starling Murmurations Each spring and autumn, the skies in southern Denmark come to life with the swirling displays of hundreds of thousands of starlings, an event known locally as “sort sol.” (New York Times)
• This is not a story about Bruce Willis: Meet Maryland landscaper Eric Buarque, who has enjoyed every minute of his time standing in for the Hollywood action hero. (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Jonathan Lavine, co-managing partner of Bain Capital, and Bain Capital Credit’s Cheif Investment Officer. He is co-chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University.
CPI Peaks: Today’s inflation trends and previous inflation spikes
Source: MUFG via Daily Shot
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