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The World
Senate Democrats are considering abandoning central tax elements of their social policy and climate package, as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) continues to oppose any increase in marginal rates for businesses, high-income individuals or capital gains. Biden’s advisers said that they are pursuing a range of ideas that could still raise substantial sums of money from corporations and the rich, including a tax on billionaires’ assets that would resemble a more modest version of the wealth tax championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Biden aides also discussed a new minimum tax on corporations; a plan to beef up tax enforcement through the IRS; a tax on companies issuing stock “buybacks” to company shareholders; and an overhaul of international tax provisions aimed at raising minimum taxes on multinational firms. (Wall Street Journal, Washington Post)
The U.S. nominee for ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, spoke harshly of Beijing at his Senate confirmation hearing, but endorsed Washington's long-standing "One China" policy and so-called strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan as effective. Strategic ambiguity has for decades meant that Taipei cannot be sure whether America will come to its defense if China mounts an attack on the island -- but also that Beijing cannot be sure that it won't. This deters China from taking action in the Taiwan Strait, supporters of the policy say. Burns took a tough line toward the Asian giant, citing its “genocide in Xinjiang” and the need to better support Taiwan and countries such as Australia and Lithuania subjected to “bullying” and “intimidation campaigns.” (Nikkei Asian Review, South China Morning Post)
China was accused of a laundry list of trade felonies and economic bullying during a series of attacks by other nations at the WTO in Geneva, laying bare growing geopolitical rifts and widening schisms in the multilateral trading system. The U.S., EU, Japan, Britain, Australia and Canada took part in the pile-on at China’s first WTO trade policy review since 2018. (South China Morning Post)
Shares in the Chinese digital retail giant Alibaba have risen after Jack Ma, its co-founder, surfaced in Spain. (The Times)
Rahm Emanuel, Biden's pick as the next American ambassador to Japan, said at his confirmation hearing that the next three years of work with Tokyo will have consequences for the American military presence in the Indo-Pacific for decades to come. (Nikkei Asian Review)
The U.S. offered to meet North Korea without preconditions and made clear that Washington has no hostile intent toward Pyongyang, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said as the Security Council met over North Korea's latest missile launch. (Reuters)
In-N-Out burger has become the first restaurant in San Francisco to be temporarily closed for failing to enforce the city’s vaccine mandate. City officials made the move on 14 October after the burger chain said it won’t force staff to check that customers were fully vaccinated before allowing them to dine inside the restaurant. (The Guardian, Los Angeles Times)
Apple will test unvaccinated corporate staff each time they enter offices starting Nov. 1, and asks US staff to report vaccine status by Oct. 24. (Bloomberg)
Putin backs keeping workers at home as Covid deaths soar — Russian workplaces to shut down from October 30 amid rising case numbers and deaths. (Financial Times)
In the UK, further restrictions will need to be imposed if people do not have a booster jab and get serious about face masks, the health secretary warned as he predicted cases could hit 100,000 a day this winter. Sajid Javid has insisted that “life is not back to normal” as he urged people to take precautions such as meeting outdoors and regular lateral flow testing. (The Times)
Morocco has banned flights to and from to the UK because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in Britain. (The Times)
Women in the U.S. remain largely dissatisfied with the treatment of their gender in society, do not think there is gender equality in job opportunities and favor affirmative action programs for women. Conversely, majorities of men are satisfied with the treatment of women in society and think women and men in the U.S. have equal job opportunities. However, well over half of men support affirmative action programs for women. Overall, 53% of Americans, including 44% of women and 61% of men, are very or somewhat satisfied with the treatment of women in society. Less than half of U.S. adults (47%) and women (33%) think men and women have equal job opportunities, but 61% of men say they do. Meanwhile, affirmative action programs for women are favored by majorities of all three groups -- 66% of U.S. adults, 72% of women and 61% of men. (Gallup)
Economy
Ecommerce sites have become contributors to rising inflation, bucking a years-long trend and heralding the prospect of higher prices and fewer discounts on a wide range of products this holiday season. Online retailers such as Amazon had been pushing down prices for years, challenging bricks-and-mortar rivals to follow. That trend has reversed over the past 15 months, according to an Adobe report that tracks data from billions of online transactions. “You used to have this thing that was a deflationary influence,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights. “Suddenly it’s a cause of inflation rather than alleviating it.” Prices on U.S. retail websites were up 3.3% YoY in September, in contrast to the 2-5% annual declines seen at this point in most previous years. (Financial Times)
Emboldened Bitcoin bulls shoot for moon after smashing record: Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, hit a new all-time high above $66,000, marking a full recovery from a months-long slump and extending the year’s gains to nearly 130%. The cryptocurrency pushed past the previous price record of $64,889 set in April and was changing hands at $66,685 as of 11:44 a.m. ET yesterday. The largest cryptocurrency appears to have gotten a push from the launch of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first exchange-traded fund approved by the U.S. SEC to invest in bitcoin futures. (Bloomberg, Coindesk)
China told McDonald’s to expand a digital renminbi payments system at restaurants across the country before the Beijing Winter Olympics, as the country prepares to launch the world’s first major e-currency. (Financial Times)
Andreessen Horowitz's investment team has grown to 70 in the past four years, up by 170%, outpacing Sequoia, Accel, Lightspeed, and others. (The Information)
Coal is experiencing a resurgence in the U.S.: By the end of this year, coal production will ramp up by 22%, the first year-on-year uptick since 2014. (Gizmodo)
U.S. inflation hits cars, meats, lodging: While the price of used cars and trucks rose by almost a quarter between September 2020 and September 2021, the price increase for beef steaks and bacon was around 20%. Lodging away from home was hit with a 17.5 percent price increase. Meat was one of the food items most affected by inflation, becoming on the whole more than 10% more expensive over the course of a year. Eggs’ price increase even exceeded 12%, while fruits and veg rose by 3%, fats by 7% and eating out by almost 5%. (Statista)
Technology
The path to the metaverse is expected to go through videogames: Tech companies aiming to build the new virtual communities known as metaverses will first have to master all aspects of videogaming and potentially pursue acquisitions, according to Michael Wolf, CEO of consulting firm Activate Inc. Metaverses are emerging as possibly the next dominant innovation altering how people interact online and in person, and “videogames are morphing into metaverse platforms,” Wolf said. (Wall Street Journal)
TikTok's algorithm makes it easy for flashback items to resurface and quickly go viral both on its platform and eventually on other social networks. After years of high-rise jeans taking over women's fashion, low-rise jeans and mini-skirts — reminiscent of the early 2000s — have made a comeback on runways this year. Legacy brands like The Gap and Abercrombie and Fitch are seeing sales soar, thanks to flagship items like classic brand hoodies and 90's straight jeans, which have been heralded as hot fashion items on TikTok. (Axios)
Netflix workers staged a protest over the company's handling of anti-transgender comments made by Dave Chappelle in his latest comedy special for the service. The move comes amid growing controversy over Netflix's handling of the situation, which has also included the firing of one transgender employee for allegedly leaking company information. (Axios)
Alphabet’s Wing said that Walgreens will use its new drones to make deliveries from a store in Texas, in the first use of such vehicles in a major U.S. metro area. Wing said it will launch the effort at a Dallas-Fort Worth area Walgreens store in its parking lot, serving parts of the city of Frisco and town of Little Elm. Prior to this, drone delivery projects have been in smaller U.S. towns. (Reuters)
Teslas in Tunnels: Elon Musk’s Boring Company won approval from local officials to build a network of vehicle tunnels underneath Las Vegas. The “Vegas Loop” will allow passengers to hitch rides in Teslas to and from the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport. (The Verge)
Smart Links
Biogen sells just $300,000 worth of contentious Alzheimer’s drug in 3Q21. (Financial Times)
Complaints about spam texts were up 146% last year. Now, the FCC wants to take action. (WBUR)
Social media executives will be prosecuted for hatred and abuse online, says Boris Johnson. (The Times)
Enter the Zuckerverse? Social media churns with new names for Facebook. (Reuters)
Tesla breaks earnings record as China boosts production and demand. (Nikkei Asian Review)
VC investment soars for fertility services even as birthrate drops. (Crunchbase)
Amherst College ends legacy admissions. (Higher Ed Dive)