My back-to-work morning train WFH reads:
• The Metaverse Real Estate Boom Turns Into a Bust: The metaverse is in the midst of a real estate meltdown. Sales volumes and average prices for virtual land have plunged this year, part of a broader slide in crypto and non-fungible token prices. Soaring interest in virtual property spawned an industry that mirrors traditional commercial real estate—buyers develop land by adding virtual storefronts, and then sell or rent it to companies looking to set up shop as a marketing strategy or to sell things like clothing for online avatars. (The Information)
• US Inflation Peak in Sight But Debate Rages Over What Comes Next: Fed hopes to tame inflation without too much economic pain; Skeptics say it will take a recession to bring prices down (Bloomberg) see also Lessons From the ’80s, When Volcker Reigned and Rates Were High When inflation was soaring 40 years ago and the economy slowed, short-term investing was perilous. But people with patience and long horizons came out fine. (New York Times)
• Corporate Stagflation Means Rising Sales With Flat Volumes It’s growth, but not healthy growth, and it doesn’t really help the economy. (Businessweek)
• Mexico: A development puzzle The country should be a champion, but it’s spinning its wheels. Why? (Noahpinion)
• You, Too, Can Strike It Rich on YouTube! A cottage industry is persuading people to spend thousands to create video businesses on YouTube. Disclaimer: It is harder than it looks. (New York Times)
• The Big Business of Burying Carbon: The porous rock beneath the Gulf Coast launched the petroleum age. Now entrepreneurs want to turn it into a gigantic sponge for storing CO2 (Wired)
• Sneakerhead Accused of Running Huge Air Jordan Ponzi Scheme: Zadeh Kicks promised the hottest sneakers at discount prices. Buyers say they never got their shoes and are out millions of dollars (Bloomberg)
• How Universal Are Our Emotions? Psychologists have argued that affect is profoundly shaped by culture. They shouldn’t feel so confident (New Yorker)
• Discovered in the deep: the snail with iron armour. The first in a new Guardian series on the remarkable new species being found in the oceans introduces the bizarre scaly-foot snail, or sea pangolin – a creature with a special trick (The Guardian)
• The Perils of Audience Capture: How influencers become brainwashed by their audiences: We often talk of “captive audiences,” regarding the performer as hypnotizing their viewers. But just as often, it’s the viewers hypnotizing the performer. This disease, of which Perry is but one victim of many, is known as audience capture, and it’s essential to understanding influencers in particular and the online ecosystem in general. (The Prism)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Anat Admati, Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She is also the director of the Corporations and Society Initiative, and a senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, She was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and is the co-author of The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It.
Nearly half of U.S. mortgage payers own at least 50 percent equity
Source: Statista
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