How one of America’s last piano manufacturers stays alive
thehustle.co · 8 minPiano-building was once one of the country’s largest industries. Today, only two companies remain in business.
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LEGO Uses 5 Words in Its Job Descriptions to Attract the Right Type of People. It's a Stroke of Genius
Inc. Magazine · 4 minIf you lead a company that makes one of the most beloved toys in the world--like, say, LEGO--you probably think a lot about the specific type of person you want working for you. Presumably, you want people who are creative and have a strong sense of play.
The Quest to Find Twitter’s Elusive Bot Team
WIRED UK · 8 minIt’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m staring at a picture of a tanned woman in a swimsuit that doesn’t quite cover her nipples. This is an unexpected twist in my quest to track down and understand the daily challenges faced by the people who moderate spam on Twitter.
Solar Roofs, Miyawaki Forests: The Officer Who Transformed Ahmedabad Railway Station
thebetterindia.com · 6 minIn 2015, the Indian Railways announced its plans to improve cleanliness on-board and on stations, for which it constituted the ‘Environment and Housekeeping Management Directorate’, the wing to incorporate these changes.
The Sneaky Genius of Apple’s AirPods Empire
Bloomberg · 1 minAR/VR headsets are a small market by Apple standards, but Tim Cook’s massive headphones division shows just how big the company can make a niche product.
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Corporate greed, not wages, is behind inflation. It’s time for price controls
The Guardian · 3 minOn Wednesday, policymakers at the Federal Reserve – America’s central bank – continued their battle against inflation with a third straight supersize interest-rate increase. And they warned that they’re not done. They’ll continue to raise borrowing costs until inflation is tamed.
I Just Sold My Business for a Boatload of Money, but My Family Still Thinks I’m a Lazy Leech
Slate · 11 minNext month is my brother’s wedding and I am so excited, but I am not looking forward to dealing with my mother’s family. More specifically, two of her sisters. For some reason, they have never been happy with my life decisions or accomplishments.
Confused about the housing market? Here's what's happening now – and what could happen next
CNBC · 4 minThe slowdown in the otherwise red-hot housing boom has been stunningly swift. The U.S. housing market surged during the pandemic as homebound people sought new places to live, boosted by record-low interest rates.
A reckoning has begun for corporate debt monsters
The Economist · 4 minThe Citrix fiasco is an egregious example of a broader shift in corporate-debt markets. Having rediscovered their inner inflation-busting Paul Volcker, Western central banks are pushing interest rates to levels not seen in 15 years and shrinking their balance-sheets.
‘The emperor has no clothes’: Why China’s reputation for economic management is coming undone
MarketWatch · 7 minAs governments in the U.S. and Europe mishandled one calamity after another — from the 2008 financial crisis to botched efforts to contain COVID-19 — even champions of liberal democracy looked on with envy as China’s policy makers navigated the same troubled waters with apparent ease.
HBO Max and Warner Bros. Discovery seem to be on fire, and that’s on purpose
The Verge · 7 minThe plan is to make a lot of money as cheaply as possible.
An Economist Studied Popular Finance Tips. Some Might Be Leading You Astray
NPR · 10 minA Yale professor of finance read through 50 popular finance books to see how they square with traditional economic theory.
A tidal wave of returns hits the e-commerce industry
The Economist · 3 minGetting a package delivered is easy. Sending it back is not. Repacking, printing labels and shipping it back up to the seller is an increasingly familiar experience for online shoppers.
Seven-year loans and $781 payments: The personal finance of car buying has crossed the line
The Globe and Mail · 3 minWe’ve reached the end of the road for turning the purchase of a car, SUV or truck into affordable monthly payments. A pile-up of factors has increased the cost of financing a vehicle to a point where the average monthly loan payment hit a record $781 in July, according to the analytics company J.
China’s property market is in freefall. What does this mean for the world economy?
The Guardian · 4 minThe property sector in the Chinese economy has always been something of a puzzle. At its peak, it accounted for a quarter of the nation’s economic output, broadly measured.
A soft landing? More like a crash landing, say economists, who warn Bank of Canada’s rapid rate hikes will likely trigger a recession
Toronto Star · 3 minEconomists are growing increasingly concerned that the Bank of Canada’s aggressive campaign to raise interest rates will plunge the economy into a recession.
Detroit is once again betting on the car industry to rescue it
The Economist · 5 minJournalists visiting Detroit on September 14th and 15th were given two quite different views of its future.
We’re heading into a much different world. Investors in stocks, bonds and real estate aren’t going to like it
The Globe and Mail · 3 minIn my opinion, financial markets are too optimistic about inflation and interest rates in the long run and the effect they will have on economic growth.
‘Gifs Are Cringe’: How Giphy’s Multimillion-Dollar Business Fell Out of Fashion
The Guardian · 6 minIt is rare for a multimillion-dollar company to explicitly state that its business is dying because it is simply too uncool to live.
Medium’s new CEO on the company’s journalism mistakes, bundle economics, and life after Ev Williams
Nieman Journalism Lab · 7 minSometimes as a reporter you write a piece that is critical of a company and the company decides not to talk to you again for a long while, or ever again. Other times you write a critical piece and the CEO sends you a note that says hey, we should talk.
Vast corporate profits are delaying an American recession
The Economist · 2 minThe past few weeks have put pricing power in the spotlight in America. According to data published on August 25th, post-tax corporate profits reached 12.1% of gdp in the second quarter, their highest since at least the 1940s (see chart).
The Canadian tech boom is fizzling out as more startups cut jobs, fight to survive
The Globe and Mail · 13 minAlayaCare had some promising acquisition candidates lined up at the start of 2022, including one worth about $10-million that Adrian Schauer, chief executive officer of the Montreal tech startup, had already budgeted for. Then, one of Canada’s fastest-growing startups had a rude awakening.
Rishi Sunak said it was fairytale economics. That was one thing he got right
The Guardian · 5 minBritain is on the cusp of a financial crisis. On Friday, the prime minister, Liz Truss, and the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, comically parading false claims of their toughness, elected for the softest of economic options.
The Restaurant Industry Is Broken
torontolife.com · 3 minStaff are overworked and underpaid, costs are soaring, kitchen culture is toxic, and burnout is rampant. We talked to 27 industry insiders about how to fix everything.
Will China’s economy ever overtake America’s?
The Economist · 2 minIn the longer term, China’s ageing population will mean further difficulties. The workforce could shrink by 15% over the next 15 years, according to some estimates.