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The World
Two top Federal Reserve officials warned that failing to raise the US debt ceiling would have catastrophic consequences as Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill to increase the borrowing limit and stave off a government shutdown. John Williams, president of the NY Fed, said the US central bank would be unable to mitigate the impact of a potential default on the government’s debt: “If you actually crossed that line and got to a place where the government wasn’t paying off its obligations, I think it would create a very negative dynamic not only in the US but around the world.” Fed Governor Lael Brainard also urged lawmakers to act: “Congress knows what it needs to do . . . It needs to step up.” (Financial Times)
North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile in the second such launch this month, with the projectile believed to have splashed into waters outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. South Korea's military said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile at around 6:40 a.m. into the sea off its east coast from an inland location. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he instructed government officials to ensure the safety of marine and air traffic and prepare for contingencies. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Over 120 ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers plan to back former party policy chief Fumio Kishida in the LDP presidential election, putting him ahead of the pack in with 30% parliamentary support. A divided party makes a runoff likely for Wednesday’s election. (Nikkei/TV Tokyo Survey)
What Germany’s Election Results Mean for U.S. Foreign Policy: In Germany, even with the chancellorship and the coalition up for grabs, the results provide some important clues about the future of Germany’s foreign policy. The transatlantic defense alliance is likely to encounter some trouble in the coming years, but more cooperation on new challenges like China might be on the menu. In the United States, supporters of the traditional transatlantic relationship, centered on NATO, may be disappointed by the coalition that is likely to emerge. But for those interested in a new transatlantic alliance, focused on the United States and Europe countering China together, the outcome could be good news. (Politico)
UK fuel prices reached their highest level in eight years after more panic buying left some retailers reporting 90% of their stations had run dry. As queues of drivers waited hours at forecourts across the country and businesses were urged to let employees work from home, the RAC revealed that the average price of a litre of petrol across the UK increased from 135.87p on Friday to 136.59p on Sunday. (The Times)
The political divide over vaccinations is so large that almost every reliably blue state now has a higher vaccination rate than almost every reliably red state. (New York Times)
L.A. police, fire agencies are hotbeds of vaccine opposition — and coronavirus outbreaks: Los Angeles County health officials have identified hundreds of coronavirus outbreaks — and more than 2,500 cases — at police and fire agencies since the start of the pandemic. More than half, however, were in just two agencies: the L.A. Police Department and the L.A. Fire Department — where members are actively fighting public health measures to control such spread. (Los Angeles Times)
Harvard Business School moved classes for all first-year and some second-year MBA students online for a week, following a spike in Covid-19 cases the school attributed to off-campus social gatherings. (Harvard Crimson)
Schools with mask mandates see fewer Covid-19 outbreaks. (Slate)
Pfizer testing oral pill for prevention of COVID. (Axios)
Surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations spurred by the delta variant slammed U.S. hospitals and health systems in August. Hospital margins in the month were below pre-pandemic levels from 2019. Most volume metrics were also down compared to pre-COVID-19, but up from historic lows notched in the first eight months of 2020 when pandemic mitigation measures hampered demand. However, average length of stay increased compared to 2019 and 2020, as hospitals saw a rise in high-acuity cases requiring longer stays. Meanwhile, expenses continued to rise, while revenues increased for a sixth consecutive month. (Healthcare Dive)
A California moratorium guaranteeing insurance in wildfire-threatened areas lapsed Saturday, putting 347,000 homes in Pasadena and other Los Angeles foothills communities at the mercy of the market. As many as 2.4 million homes are at risk of losing protection in 2021 as yearlong grace periods expire — though new disasters may extend their shields. In all, 18% of the state’s households could effectively lose protection. (Los Angeles Times)
Oregon has a new plan to protect homes from wildfire. Homebuilders are pushing back: Bradshaw and her husband built their home with concrete siding, a cement porch, no gutters or air vents on the metal roof, and no vegetation near the house. Those are all key fireproofing measures that experts recommend. "We were shocked," Bradshaw said. "Having seen what the fire did, we really didn't expect it to be standing." (NPR)
Economy
Angela Merkel's departure from German government may result in a massive influx of private investment. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, clinched a narrow victory in Germany's federal elections. It now will seek to form a coalition government by year-end with the Greens and the Free Democrats. Everyone in that potential coalition agrees that Germany needs to boost public spending, which has been around net zero for more than a decade. Particularly when it comes to areas like digitizing and greening the country's economy. (Pro Rata)
‘Salomon Sisters’: Wall Street is about to get a new investment bank, one that very deliberately shatters the glass ceiling. The firm, Independence Point Advisors, will be both owned and managed by women and minorities -- a rarity in an industry long dominated by White men. Lazard Ltd. is finalizing terms of a minority investment in Independence Point, as well as a partnership that will extend from mergers and acquisitions to advice on corporate governance. Independence Point is the brainchild of Anne Clarke Wolff, who most recently was chairman of Bank of America Corp.’s massive corporate and investment bank division. Early on, the joke was that a women-run firm should be called Salomon Sisters, a wry twist on the testosterone-fueled Salomon Brothers of old, and it remains the code name for Independence Point in New York’s tight-knit crowd of bankers and financial headhunters. (Bloomberg)
There’s another gender pay gap: Stock options. (Wall Street Journal)
One of Silicon Valley’s most popular tax breaks for early-stage startup investors—the Qualified Small Business Stock provision—is being targeted by Democrats on Capitol Hill. As investors watch and wait to see what Washington does, some worry about the proposed tax change and its impact on jobs and innovation. (Crunchbase)
Ford fortified its electric vehicle bet with four new factories in Tennessee and Kentucky. The combined $11.4 billion investment aims to create 11,000 new jobs. (Wall Street Journal)
The real stakes of Apple’s battle over remote work: Inside the unexpected fight that’s dividing the most valuable company in the world. This fight will have bigger ramifications later on. That this battle is happening at Apple signals a major shift for the company. For the most part, until now, it’s managed to avoid the internal conflicts that have seized other tech companies like Google. Now Apple will need to reckon with internal employee activists who are learning to pressure their employer about issues beyond remote work, like pay parity and gender discrimination. Even when the question of remote work is eventually settled, its employees are now emboldened to push for other demands — and so Apple will likely continue to grapple with this challenge. (Recode)
Workers are putting on pants to return to the office only to be on Zoom all day. Pandemic-era safety procedures have created a new dynamic at work, in which many employees say they’re operating at work the same way they were at home. (Washington Post)
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is going deeper into traditional financial services, allowing users to deposit paychecks directly into their online accounts. U.S. customers will be able to use the direct deposit service for any percentage of their paycheck. They can hold their money in dollars or immediately transfer it into cryptocurrencies like bitcoin with no fees. (CNBC)
The China ban on cryptocurrency transactions is also a boon for decentralized exchanges such as dYdX and Uniswap, which use blockchain technology to allow for peer-to-peer trading without the use of a financial intermediary like a bank or broker. Since these platforms are often unregulated and don’t need to follow anti-money laundering rules, they’re available for people to access from regions where centralized crypto exchanges don’t operate. Since the China ban, decentralized exchanges have seen a flood of users. dYdX’s trading volume is currently up 145% at more than $8 billion, more than double that of Coinbase. (The Information)
Technology
Facebook announced a $50 million fund that it says will help it develop the metaverse more responsibly. It’s officially called the XR Programs and Research Fund, and the company says it’ll be invested into “programs and external research” over the course of two years. The announcement also gives Facebook’s definition of the sometimes nebulous word “metaverse.” The company describes it as “virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people” that you’re not physically with, spread out over a variety of products and services. (The Verge)
YouTube TV—a streaming version of cable—is in one of those boring fights with NBCUniversal over money, the kind of dispute that has punctuated the cable TV business for many years. If the two sides can’t reach a deal by Thursday, YouTube TV will drop NBCUniversal’s bunch of channels, which include Bravo, USA, SyFy, CNBC, E! And MSNBC. Okay, sounds like a standard issue cable industry dispute. Usually these fights get resolved at the last minute as both sides reach some kind of compromise that involves consumers paying more money, eventually. But Google is trying something new. If there’s no deal, and NBCU’s channels disappear from its service, YouTube TV says it will cut its price by $10 a month to $54.99. (The Information)
London is buying heaps of facial recognition tech: The UK’s biggest police force is set to significantly expand its facial recognition capabilities before the end of this year. New technology will enable London’s Metropolitan Police to process historic images from CCTV feeds, social media and other sources in a bid to track down suspects. In the coming months the Met will start using Retrospective Facial Recognition, as part of a £3 million, four-year deal with Japanese tech firm NEC Corporation. (Wired UK)
Spotify began its first global brand campaign designed to court marketers as the audiostreaming giant tries to expand the revenue it collects from advertising. The company is also changing the name of its advertising business to Spotify Advertising from Spotify for Brands in an attempt to attract small and medium-size businesses beyond the major brands it has traditionally focused on. And it is trying to attract more podcast publishers and creators to its ad marketplace, after saying earlier this year that its advertising growth has been hindered by limited inventory. (Wall Street Journal)
Cloudflare announces Email Routing and Email Security DNS Wizard, built on top of Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and others to prevent phishing, spoofing. (Wired)
Smart Links
TikTok says it passed 1 billion monthly active users globally. (TikTok)
LinkedIn is testing a new, paid ticketed events service. (TechCrunch)
Facebook pauses work on Instagram kids app after widespread criticism. (The Verge)
CAA to buy rival talent agency ICM in Hollywood shake-up. (Los Angeles Times)
Wells Fargo to pay $37m over foreign exchange fraud allegations. (Financial Times)
Crypto-trading hamster outperforms Warren Buffet, Cathie Wood, and the S&P 500. (Fortune)
Bitcoin miners align with fossil fuel firms, alarming environmentalists. (NBC News)