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The World
The Labor Department said its producer-price index rose 9.6% in November from a year earlier, the most since records began in 2010. The so-called core PPI, which excludes often volatile food and energy components, climbed 7.7% from a year ago, also the highest on record. The higher-than-expected producer-price numbers suggest that consumer inflation, which hit a nearly four-decade high of 6.8% last month, will stay elevated into 2022 as price pressures persist. (Wall Street Journal)
The Fed is expected to announce a dramatic policy shift today that will clear the way for a first interest rate hike next year. Markets are anticipating the Fed will speed up the wind-down of its bond buying program, changing the end date to March from June. That would free the central bank to start raising interest rates from zero, and Fed officials are expected to release a new forecast showing two to three interest rate hikes in 2022 and another three to four in 2023. (CNBC)
The IMF urged the Bank of England to raise interest rates, warning that demand was too strong in the economy and UK inflation would rise to about 5.5% early next year. In its annual health check on the British economy, the fund accused the BoE’s interest rate setters of allowing inflation to spiral in the UK economy by finding excuses to do nothing at its regular meetings. (Financial Times)
Top U.S. health officials warned that the omicron variant is rapidly spreading and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January. The prevalence of omicron jumped sevenfold in a single week, and at such a pace, the highly mutated variant of the coronavirus could ratchet up pressure on the health system. (Washington Post)
Google told employees that they must comply with vaccine policies or they face losing pay and then losing their job. While much of the tech industry delays return-to-work plans, Google is gearing up to get back into the office and is showing little patience for the unvaccinated. (CNBC)
Kroger is eliminating some Covid-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees. The Cincinnati-based grocery chain told employees it will no longer provide two weeks of paid emergency leave for unvaccinated employees who contract Covid-19, unless local jurisdictions require otherwise. Kroger will also add a $50 monthly surcharge to company health plans for unvaccinated managers and other nonunion employees. (Wall Street Journal)
In the UK, more than a million people are likely to be isolating with Covid-19 on Christmas Day after England’s chief medical officer warned that Omicron was spreading “unbelievably fast.” (The Times)
CDC warns against travel to Italy due to ‘very high’ coronavirus risk. (Washington Post)
UK PM Boris Johnson suffered the biggest rebellion of his premiership as nearly 100 Conservative MPs voted against plans for Covid passes and some openly questioned his future. Almost half of Tory backbenchers voted against new curbs that will require people to show proof of vaccination or a negative test at large indoor venues across England, leaving the prime minister reliant on Labour’s support. The rebellion — far bigger than No 10 and the whips expected — came from all wings of the party, including 13 former cabinet ministers and 26 MPs who were elected in 2019. (The Times)
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has warned that it would be “suicidal” for Beijing to invade Taiwan, amid rising tensions in the region. He also said Taiwan, Japan and the U.S. must strengthen their capabilities and work together to counter security threats. Abe – who remains influential in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan – made the comments in a video address to the Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue. (South China Morning Post)
The UAE is threatening to pull out of a multibillion-dollar deal to buy American-made F-35 aircraft, Reaper drones and other advanced munitions, U.S. officials said, in what would be a significant shake-up between two longtime partners increasingly at odds over China’s role in the Gulf. The Emirati government told U.S. officials that it intended to halt the deal because Abu Dhabi thought security requirements the U.S. had laid out to safeguard the high-tech weaponry from Chinese espionage were too onerous, and the country’s national sovereignty was in jeopardy, officials said. (Wall Street Journal)
Why Pittsburgh is dimming its streetlights: Pittsburgh is becoming the first city in the eastern U.S. to become dark sky compliant, meaning it will switch to LED lightbulbs that reduce light pollution and put the stars in view. (Bloomberg)
Economy
Millennials are supercharging the housing market: For years, conventional wisdom held that millennials, born from 1981 to 1996, would become the generation that largely spurned homeownership. Instead, since 2019, when they surpassed the baby boomers to become the largest living adult generation in the U.S., they have reached a housing milestone, accounting for more than half of all home-purchase loan applications last year. The generation’s growing appetite for homeownership is a major reason why many economists forecast home-buying demand is likely to remain strong for years to come. (Wall Street Journal)
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are preparing to pay out bumper bonuses to their investment bankers following a record year for deal activity on Wall Street. Goldman is considering increasing its bonus pool by about 40-50% compared with the previous year, while at JPMorgan the pool could be as much as 40% larger, according to people briefed on the matter. Investment banks generated record fees thanks to a rush of dealmaking. The value of U.S. deals in the first 11 months of 2021 totaled $2.3tn, an all-time high. (Financial Times)
Investment in companies developing technology to try to combat the climate crisis grew to $87.5 billion in the year leading up to Jun. 30, according to new PwC research. That’s up 210% on the $24.8 billion that was invested in climate tech in the same period the year before, adding that 14 cents of every venture capital dollar now goes to climate tech. But venture capital and private equity companies aren’t necessarily backing the right climate tech companies, according to PwC. The firm focuses on what it says are the five leading technology solutions: solar power, wind power, food waste technology, green hydrogen production, and alternative foods/low greenhouse gas proteins. It says these five received just 25% of the climate tech investment between 2013 and Jun. 2021, despite technologies in these areas representing over 80% of the emissions reduction potential by 2050. The lion’s share of climate tech funding, some $58 billion, went to mobility and transportation companies. (CNBC, PwC State of Climate Tech 2021)
Ranking employees during the performance review process often penalizes women, new research finds. The disparity comes from how men and women react to competition when they know they'll be ranked: men believe they excel in competitive environments, while women often avoid harming others, and perform worse as a result. (Harvard Business Review)
Technology
Toyota Motor will sell 3.5 million electric vehicles globally in 2030 and market 30 different electric models, shedding its laggard image. The company has boosted its sales goal by 75% from its previous target of 2 million, while doubling the number of new electric car models to be marketed by 2030. Toyota's luxury Lexus marque is considered key to accelerating the transition to EVs, as the carmaker indicates strong appetite for rapid change at the top end of the market. Lexus models will be 100% electric by 2035. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Another TV distribution fight is escalating — and could result in a blackout: Google is telling YouTube TV subscribers that its current contract for Disney’s suite of networks is due to expire this week and that they could be removed from the service: ABC-owned TV stations, the ESPN networks, Disney channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels. “If Disney offers us equitable terms, we’ll renew our agreement with them,” YouTube said . “However, if we are unable to reach a deal by Friday, the Disney-owned channels will no longer be available on YouTube TV and we will decrease our monthly price by $15, from $64.99 to $49.99 (while this content remains off our platform).” (Variety)
The Internet Association, once branded as Silicon Valley’s most important trade group in Washington, plans to announce it is dissolving as soon as today. The group was struggling from financial woes after Microsoft pulled its support for the association earlier this year. (Politico)
Apple’s nightmare before Christmas: supply chain crisis delays gift deliveries. Two years of lockdowns, chip shortages and energy cuts have finally caught up with the iPhone maker. For the first time in more than a decade, iPhone and iPad assembly was halted for several days because of supply chain constraints and restrictions on the use of power in China, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told Nikkei. (Nikkei Asia Review)
The iPhone feature to turn on before you die: The new Legacy Contact setting in iOS 15.2 lets you specify who can access your Apple iCloud information after you die. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Car deals will be hard to find this holiday season. (Wall Street Journal)
Japan apparel makers bring production home as overseas costs rise. (Nikkei Asia Review)
CISA tells federal agencies to patch Log4Shell before Christmas. (The Record)
This DAO wants to buy an NBA team. (Protocol)
Podcast: How Jeep is going electric, with CEO Christian Meunier. (The Verge)