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The World
Omicron starts to slow U.S. economy as consumer spending flags: Signs are mounting that the U.S. economy is losing some steam as the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus spreads rapidly through parts of the country. The number of diners seated at restaurants nationwide was down 15% in the week ended Dec. 22 from the same period in 2019, a steeper decline than in late November, data from reservations site OpenTable show. U.S. hotel occupancy was at 53.8% for the week ended Dec. 18, slightly below the previous week’s level. (Wall Street Journal)
UK daily Covid infections hit a record 120,000, with London seeing a 44% jump in a week. (The Times)
People infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant were up to 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital than those with Delta, according to a study by England’s public health body, which warned that the strain’s high degree of infectiousness could still heap pressure on hospitals. Estimates from the UK Health Security Agency showed that people with Omicron were 50 to 70% less likely to require an overnight stay in hospital, and were also less likely to go to an accident and emergency department. (Financial Times)
Biden signs Xinjiang forced-labour bill into law: Ban on imports from Xinjiang will go into effect in June, with disruptions to the global supply chain likely. The law creates a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods sourced wholly or in part in Xinjiang are tainted by the use of forced labour in their production. (South China Morning Post)
U.S. semiconductor giant Intel apologized after setting off a social-media backlash with a letter asking suppliers to avoid sourcing from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has conducted a campaign of forcible assimilation against religious minorities. (Wall Street Journal)
Russian mercenaries have deployed to separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine in recent weeks to bolster defenses against Ukrainian government forces as tensions between Moscow and the West rise, four sources have told Reuters. In recent weeks, Russia has moved tens of thousands of regular troops to staging posts closer to Ukraine and followed up by demanding urgent security guarantees from the West designed, Moscow says, to prevent Ukraine and other neighboring countries being used as a base to attack it. Meanwhile, negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE agreed to restore a full ceasefire between the Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters)
President Joe Biden has yet to agree to a time and place of fresh talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. Psaki also refuted criticism leveled by Putin that the U.S. and its allies have been the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine border escalation. (Reuters)
The Port of Los Angeles predicts it will break a new cargo record in 2021. The port said it would process about 10.7 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) this year, a 13% increase from its 2018 record. Additionally, exports have actually been declining in 33 of the last 37 months. (ABC News)
Economic Confidence in U.S. Matches Early Pandemic Low: More than four in five U.S. adults rate current economic conditions in the country as only fair (40%) or poor (42%), and 67% say the economy is getting worse. The latest decline in confidence is owing largely to a six-point increase since November in the percentage of Americans rating the economy as poor. The result is a -33 index reading, which reflects steady ticks downward since July as supply chain issues and the effects of inflation have increasingly plagued the U.S. While the -33 readings in 2020 and today are the worst since the Great Recession, they are far from the lowest on record, -72 in October 2008. (Gallup)
Federal Reserve policymakers are finishing a year that has been colored by surprisingly high inflation with yet another piece of bad news: The price measure they follow most closely touched its highest level since 1982. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which is the one the Fed officially targets when it aims for 2% annual inflation on average over time, climbed 5.7% in November from a year earlier. Part of the jump owed to gasoline prices — they were up sharply in November but have moderated this month — but a so-called core index that strips out food and fuel prices also increased sharply, to 4.7%. (New York Times)
Economy
M&A Likely to Remain Strong in 2022 as Covid-19 Looms Over Business Plans: Companies are gearing up for another banner year for deal making. Mergers and acquisitions hit a record in 2021, fueled by low interest rates, a surge in private-equity fundraising and companies’ efforts to respond to broader shifts in their industries. The total value of global M&A transactions through Dec. 21 was $5.7 trillion, up 64% from the same period a year before. The total number of deals, meanwhile, rose 22% during that period, to 59,748. (Wall Street Journal)
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits held below pre-pandemic levels last week, while consumer spending increased solidly, putting the economy on track for a strong finish to 2021. But price pressures continued to build up, with a measure of underlying inflation recording its largest annual increase since 1989 in November. (Reuters)
Franco-Italian call for investment intensifies debate over EU budget rules: A pitch from France and Italy to revamp the EU’s budget rules so that they spur investments and drive long-term growth is likely to face a frosty reception among more fiscally conservative member states as the debate over the bloc’s fiscal outlook intensifies. (Financial Times)
Global oil's comeback year presages more strength in 2022: Global oil demand roared back in 2021 as the world began to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and overall world consumption potentially could hit a new record in 2022 - despite efforts to bring down fossil fuel consumption to mitigate climate change. Gasoline and diesel use surged this year as consumers resumed travel and business activity picked up. For 2022, crude consumption is expected to reach 99.53 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 96.2 million bpd this year. That would be a hair short of 2019's daily consumption of 99.55 million barrels. (Reuters)
Wall Street grapples with return-to-office conundrum as Omicron explodes: Canceled holiday parties, booster-shot recommendations and advisories to work from home are the new normal for Wall Street companies reacting to the fast-spreading Omicron COVID-19 variant ripping through New York and other financial centers. With the fourth wave of the pandemic now in full force, financial firms are once again grappling with when they can realistically get back to business-as-usual, and how to communicate to staff and retain workers amid the uncertainty. (Reuters)
Technology
The latest survey by talent marketplace Gloat suggests that the Great Resignation will likely follow us into 2022: Almost half of the respondents (48.1%) said they currently are, or will be, looking for a new job in the next three months. In addition, 42.8% of workers said they are looking for new roles outside of their current companies. Nearly 66% of people who are looking for roles outside of their current companies said “better opportunities” is the main reason. 54% said they feel their organization doesn't take their future or aspirations into account enough. Almost 62% of workers surveyed said they now “believe it is very important for their work to align with their values, passions, and interests.” (Protocol Workplace)
The ‘most serious’ security breach ever is unfolding right now. Here’s what you need to know. Much of the Internet, from Amazon’s cloud to connected TVs, is riddled with the log4j vulnerability, and has been for years. (Washington Post)
Crypto[dot]com CMO on How Company Went from App to Global Brand: Marketing focus shifts to storytelling, education after building brand awareness through partnerships in 2021. Anyone who types in Crypto.com on their search bar will see Matt Damon’s face appear as the webpage loads. “Fortune Favurs the Brave,” the site displays in bold font. Steven Kalifowitz, the chief marketing officer of Crypto[dot]com, told Blockworks in an interview that the tagline captures the mentality of the company and the industry more broadly. (Blockworks)
At Twitter and Salesforce, Bret Taylor Steps Into the Limelight: Promotions to co-CEO of Salesforce and chairman of Twitter have turned the Silicon Valley entrepreneur into one of tech’s highest-profile executives. Bret Taylor has been involved with some of the tech industry’s most notable innovations—from Google Maps to Facebook’s “like” button—and founded companies that sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. But until recently, the 41-year-old Oakland, Calif., native was largely unknown outside Silicon Valley. Then, within a couple of days at the end of last month, Taylor was named to help run two of tech’s most prominent companies, as board chairman of Twitter and co-chief executive of Salesforce. “It was an unusual week in my life,” Mr. Taylor said in an interview. The promotions catapult the engineer-by-training into the spotlight as one of Silicon Valley’s highest-profile executives, and leave him bridging companies on opposite ends of the tech spectrum: Twitter caters to buzz-hungry internet scrollers. Salesforce core software helps corporate sales teams manage their customers. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Christmas comes on time as US parcel deliveries beat Covid snarls. (Financial Times)
New ways to work anywhere in the world. (Wall Street Journal)
Indonesian toll roads draw interest of foreign pension funds. (Financial Times)
Podcast: How to have difficult conversations at work. (Stanford Business School)
‘Womenomics’ author and former Goldman Sachs vice chair Kathy Matsui seeks to bring ESG to Japan startups. (Bloomberg)