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The US Labor Market Was Stronger Than We Thought [Joseph Politano, Apricitas Economics]

By Spencer Chen

In Joseph Politano [Apricitas Economics]

February 4, 2023

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• US added more than half a million jobs in January, exceeding consensus forecasts and notching the largest monthly increase in nonfarm payrolls since July.
• Revisions to growth over the last year represent the largest sign of strength in the labor market.
• Employment has now more than fully recovered in all major industry groups except Leisure & Hospitality and Government.
• Wage growth continues to decelerate, with private industry wages growing 5.1% over the year ending in Q4 and average hourly earnings for private-sector workers growing 4.4% over the year ending in January 2023.
• Unemployment rate has sunk to its lowest level since 1969 and prime-age employment rates remain just 0.4% below pre-pandemic peaks.
• Sectors that had demand pulled forward during the early pandemic—tech, transportation, warehousing, homebuilding, and manufacturing—are holding up better than previously thought.
• The share of working-age adults with a job is still slightly below the 80.6% notched just before COVID, significantly below the 81.9% achieved in the late 1990s.
• Comprehensive data on wages and benefits from the Employment Cost Index shows wage growth decelerating significantly over the last two quarters.
• Chair Powell and the FOMC acknowledged the start of disinflationary process at their meeting this week, stressing that they don’t believe they have done enough to contain inflation yet.

Published February 4, 2023
Visit Apricitas Economics to read Joseph Politano’s original post The US Labor Market Was Stronger Than We Thought

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You are now living through Cold War 2 [Noah Smith, Noahpinion]

By Spencer Chen

In Noah Smith [Noahpinion]

February 4, 2023

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• The Spy Balloon of 2023 is a sign that Cold War 2 is already here, and tensions between the U.S. and China are escalating.
• Calls for a return to the engagement strategy of the 1980s-2010s are coming from China and the U.S., but they are unlikely to be successful.
• The events of 2019-22, including the Hong Kong protests and China’s repression of the Uyghurs, will not be forgotten.
• China’s recent overtures have not been matched by more peaceful actions on the ground, and U.S. intelligence officials allege that China is preparing for action against Taiwan.
• China’s neighbors are forming balancing coalitions and seeking increased military cooperation with the U.S.
• The trend may be away from Chimerica, but there will still be plenty of trade between the two countries unless and until a major war breaks out.

Published February 4, 2023
Visit Noahpinion to read Noah Smith’s original post You are now living through Cold War 2

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What Is Scientific Discovery Worth? [Paul M. Sutter, Nautilus]

By Spencer Chen

In [Nautilus]

February 3, 2023

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• Neutrinos have been a mystery for nearly 100 years, and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) was created to try to catch them.
• DUNE is a $1.7 billion project funded mostly by the Department of Energy, and it involves the most powerful neutrino beams ever created, 10,000 tons of ultra-pure liquid argon, and 800,000 tons of excavated rock.
• Neutrinos are everywhere, but they are so small and charge-free that they are difficult to catch and study.
• Other neutrino detectors, such as Super-Kamiokande and IceCube, have been built, but they have only managed to capture a handful of neutrinos.
• DUNE is now running about a decade behind schedule and over budget, and the DOE is questioning whether the project is worth the investment.
• The only way to find out if DUNE will be successful is to build it out and flip it on, but this raises the question of what scientific discovery is worth.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit Nautilus to read Paul M. Sutter’s original post What Is Scientific Discovery Worth?

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TGIF: 99 Spy Balloons [Nellie Bowles, The Free Press]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Free Press]

February 3, 2023

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Create a short summary of the article above using bullet points. Please include some interesting relevant details.

• Trump distances himself from the best thing he did: Operation Warp Speed, which cut through bureaucratic red tape.
• Nikki Haley is about to announce her presidential run.
• Covid emergency era ends in May.
• House GOP to investigate Biden and his family, gain-of-function research, and various China-related issues.
• Chinese spy balloon seen over Billings, Montana.
• Paul Pelosi attacked at home by a lunatic.
• Gawker shuts down for the second time.
• Massachusetts offering prisoners reduced sentences for donating organs.
• Hispanic Democrats want to ban Latinx from state documents.
• AP test in African American History has been the center of the latest education skirmish.
• President of Heritage calling to cut military spending.
• French had a funny response to being told their name is racist.
• Hamilton 68 dashboard for tracking “Russian disinformation” turns out to be a total fraud.
• George Santos (Brazilian drag queen and serial fabulist Kitara Ravanche) resigns from House committees.
• Washington Post publishes an essay about how objectivity in newsgathering is bad.
• Newsroom leaders across the country agree that objectivity has to go.
• The Free Press is offering a sweepstakes prize of a one-on-one Zoom with the editor-in-chief.
• The Supreme Court case of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, where the baker refused to make a same-sex wedding cake, was recently revisited.
• The baker lost the case again, and the article suggests that other bakers should be sought out instead.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Free Press to read Nellie Bowles’s original post TGIF: 99 Spy Balloons

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The NFL is Structurally Broken [Freddie deBoer, Freddie deBoer’s Substack]

By Spencer Chen

In Freddie deBoer

February 3, 2023

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• The image above shows a moment that could have determined the champion of the 2022-2023 NFL season, when Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was tackled in a very awkward fashion, resulting in a high ankle sprain.
• Every team in the league has injury problems, but not all to the same extent.
• The Super Bowl will feature the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, both of whom have had to work through their own set of injuries.
• The Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Tennessee Titans have all had to deal with numerous injuries this season.
• The author argues that the playoffs are not a fair system for determining the best team, but rather a roulette wheel rewarding the team lucky enough to be the most healthy.
• The NFL is still incredibly profitable, but the author is finding it harder and harder to feel invested in the outcome due to the constant injuries.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit Freddie deBoer’s Substack to read Freddie deBoer’s original post The NFL is Structurally Broken

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This Is Not 1943 [George Packer, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 3, 2023

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• Vladimir Putin visited Stalingrad to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
• Putin’s purpose was to connect the past war to the present one, and to rouse Russian pride and warn his enemies of their coming doom.
• Putin’s actions are compared to those of Adolf Hitler in 1938, when he annexed Austria and the Sudetenland.
• Putin’s lies are compared to Hitler’s, and the article suggests that Putin is using propaganda as projection to immunize himself from having a more plausible charge flung at him.
• The article suggests that Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine is part of their long reckoning with their crimes.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read George Packer’s original post This Is Not 1943

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The Stubborn Pathology of Police Culture [David A. Graham, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 3, 2023

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• Reverend Earle Fisher preached at Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal on Sunday, two days after the release of video footage of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by five police officers.
• Fisher connected a passage in the Gospel of Mark to the present day, critiquing the crowd for not asking why there are so many sick people.
• Despite the quick response from Memphis officials, Memphians worry about whether policing in Memphis can and will change more fundamentally.
• Memphis is both underpoliced and overpoliced, with activists pressing for reform of the troubled police department and a sharp rise in violent crime.
• Five officers have been charged with second-degree murder, two officers have been suspended, and two sheriff’s deputies and three firefighters have been fired.
• Memphis activists are celebrating the swift response, but they are also pushing for more fundamental changes to the police department.
• Bishop Marvin Frank Thomas Sr. said that it’s not the color of the officers, but the culture of the police department that needs to change.
• The article discusses the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who was killed by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.
• The officers were part of the SCORPION unit, a specialized police unit that was supposed to be a marquee crime-fighting initiative.
• The unit has been disbanded, but many people are skeptical that it will stay that way.
• The article also discusses the current police chief, C. J. Davis, who is the first Black female police chief in the city’s history.
• Critics say that Davis is a puppet of the mayor and that she has no power to make real changes to the police department.
• The article also discusses the protests that have taken place in response to Nichols’ death, as well as the people who have visited the spot where he was killed.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read David A. Graham’s original post The Stubborn Pathology of Police Culture

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The Economy Is Still Very, Very Weird [Derek Thompson, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 3, 2023

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– The US economy has been in a state of “weirdness” since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
– This has been characterized by a “yo-yo economy” of historic highs and lows in various industries.
– Examples include gas prices, durable goods, used cars, savings, housing, tech, and microchips.
– The pandemic has caused a mismatch between supply and demand, with companies struggling to anticipate and satisfy consumer preferences.
– The legacy of the yo-yo economy could be profound, with the Biden administration embracing policies to make America stronger, richer, greener, and less reliant on supply chains.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Derek Thompson’s original post The Economy Is Still Very, Very Weird

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The Slow-Motion Murder of Mikheil Saakashvili [Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 3, 2023

248 views

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• Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president, has been in prison for 16 months and has lost 90 pounds.
• He has traces of arsenic, mercury, and other toxins in his hair and nail clippings, and has mild brain damage and seizures.
• He is on a strange medical regimen that includes 14 different drugs, some of which are not approved for sale in the US.
• Saakashvili was notable for pushing his country in the direction of Western liberal democracy and breaking the power of the post-Soviet mafia.
• Putin loathed him and his political program, and reportedly once said Saakashvili should be “hung by his balls.”
• Saakashvili was arrested on trumped-up charges, and his supporters believe this is the real reason for his slow torment.
• The ruling Georgian Dream party has said that Saakashvili is in prison because he would cause trouble for them if he were free.
• The party has also imprisoned Nika Gvaramia, the director of an independent television station, and put pressure on judges.
• The European Union has formally recognized Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership but spurned Georgia.
• The quantity of what appears to be sanctions-busting cargo flowing through Georgia to Russia has surged in the first half of 2022.
• Saakashvili’s lawyer and family are asking the government to release him on humanitarian grounds and let him transfer to a hospital in Europe or the US.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Anne Applebaum’s original post The Slow-Motion Murder of Mikheil Saakashvili

 

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Who Will Replace Dianne Feinstein? [Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 3, 2023

277 views

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• Senator Dianne Feinstein has not yet announced whether she is retiring, but the race to replace her has already begun.
• The 2024 contest will be the first wide-open Democratic Senate primary in California since 1992, when Feinstein was first elected to the seat.
• The field is quickly getting crowded with U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee expected to join.
• The contest will offer voters a choice between three distinct eras of Democratic thinking: Porter, Schiff, and Lee.
• A Democrat is almost guaranteed to win the Senate seat in 2024, as California hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1988.
• Female candidates have often had an advantage in California Democratic primaries due to women accounting for close to 60% of Democratic voters.
• Porter and Schiff have similar voting records, but Porter is seen as a more committed progressive and crusading champion.
• Lee may further hinder Porter’s ability to consolidate liberal voters due to her uncompromising liberal profile.
• Geography is also a factor, as candidates from Northern California have often beaten those from the south in statewide Democratic primaries.
• All candidates will need to expand beyond the MSNBC/Democratic Twitter base to reach millions of voters who are not paying attention now.
• Most California experts give Schiff a slight edge, but all expect a dynamic and unpredictable contest.

Published February 3, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Ronald Brownstein’s original post Who Will Replace Dianne Feinstein?

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