Know someone who would like this newsletter? Forward it to them.
The World
A record 4.5MM US workers quit the labor force in March, while the number of job openings hit a new high of 11.5MM, underscoring employers’ struggles to fill positions as inflation ripples through the economy. Government data showed the “Great Resignation” was continuing to gain momentum as the US recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, giving workers additional leverage with businesses. (Financial Times)
China’s independent refiners have been discreetly buying Russian oil at steep discounts as western countries suspend their own purchases and explore potential embargoes because of the war in Ukraine. An official at a Shandong-based independent refinery said it had not publicly reported deals with Russian oil suppliers since the Ukraine war started in order to avoid attracting scrutiny and being hit by US sanctions. (Financial Times)
Facing a wheat crisis, countries race to remake an entire market on the fly: With war in Ukraine upending global grain trade, other countries scramble to fill the gap in supplies, but soaring prices threaten to worsen food insecurity in poor regions. (Wall Street Journal)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated that he will not visit Kyiv because of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s rebuke of German President Steinmeier, even as Scholz’s main political rival makes plans to visit the Ukrainian capital. Steinmeier offered last month to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv. But Zelensky shut the door on Steinmeier, telling him not to come because the German president, who formerly served as foreign minister, had previously fostered close relations between Berlin and Moscow. Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, said in response that Scholz was “playing an offended liverwurst.” (Washington Post)
Scholz has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a special guest to the G7 leaders’ summit next month, as part of efforts to woo New Delhi away from its longstanding alliance with Russia. (Financial Times)
The prime ministers of Finland and Sweden are attending two days of meetings with the German government as the Nordic states consider joining NATO. Finland is expected to apply by the middle of the month, after which Sweden is expected to submit an application. (Deutsche Welle)
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced a years-long delay for the delivery of U.S. howitzers, citing limited American production capacity, in a blow to the island democracy’s military upgrades. A second delivery of Stinger antiaircraft missiles may also be affected. (Washington Post)
In a big shakeup to French politics, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who heads the far-left France Insoumise Party and came a close third in the first round of the presidential election, has struck a deal to join forces with the Green Party. The bloc said it wouldn’t push for France to leave the EU, but it was “ready to disobey European rules.” This is bad news for President Emmanuel Macron, who needs his La République en Marche Party to gain a majority in legislative elections in June in order to pursue his pro-business, pro-EU policy agenda. Mélenchon is currently also courting the Socialist and Communist parties to join his anti-Macron coalition. (GZERO Media)
Hong Kong announced an unexpected loosening of coronavirus social distancing restrictions as the Asian financial center published data showing its first economic contraction since the start of the pandemic. Official data showed Hong Kong’s gross domestic product contracting 4% in 1Q22 compared with the same period of 2021, a much worse performance than the 1.3% reduction estimated by economists. (Financial Times)
Amazon, the second-largest U.S. private employer, told its staff it will pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually for non-life threatening medical treatments including abortions. The decision makes the online retailer the latest company after Citigroup, Yelp and others to respond to Republican-backed state laws curbing abortion access, helping employees bypass them. (Reuters)
‘It feels like a dying reservoir’: After years of severe drought compounded by climate change, the water level in Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir on the Colorado River, has dropped to just 24% of full capacity and is continuing to decline to levels not seen since the reservoir was filled in the 1960s. In an effort to boost the shrinking reservoir, the federal government announced it will hold back a large quantity of water this year to reduce risks of the lake falling below a point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity. (Salt Lake Tribune, Los Angeles Times)
Economy
The Fed is widely expected to raise its fed funds target rate by a half-percentage point today, but investors will be more focused on whether it signals it could get even tougher with future rate hikes. The Fed also is expected to announce the start of a program to wind down its roughly $9 trillion balance sheet by $95 billion a month, starting in June. The 50-basis-point hike would put the fed funds target rate range at 0.75% to 1%. A basis point equals 0.01%. That target rate after this week’s boost would be well off zero, but way below market expectations for a funds rate above 2.8% by year-end. (CNBC)
Mortgage rates are rising, but the hot housing market is slow to cool: As the Fed raise interest rates, experts say there are some signs the market is responding. But there’s a long way to go. (Washington Post)
Salesforce became the latest tech giant to commit to limiting the scope of its non-disclosure agreements, freeing workers up to talk about instances of harassment or discrimination they experience on the job. Salesforce and all California employers are already required to make these changes for workers in the state under California’s Silenced No More Act. But the new policy extends those protections to all Salesforce employees across the country. (Protocol)
Biogen to replace CEO as it ‘substantially’ curbs spending on its Alzheimer’s drug. (STAT News)
For now, higher valuations go to those with higher carbon footprints: As Exxon shares have more than doubled since 2020, and scores of fossil fuel-guzzling energy companies are close to multi-year or all-time highs, we take a look at why valuations for those companies with higher carbon footprints are soaring even as investment in climate software, EV battery tech, and other climate-centric areas booms. (Crunchbase)
Petroleos Mexicanos swung to a first-quarter profit of $6 billion, the highest in at least 18 years, as the company benefited from rallying oil prices and stabilizing crude output. (Bloomberg)
Technology
Apple’s latest antitrust fight is over Apple Pay. The European Commission announced that it believes Apple is violating antitrust rules by refusing to allow rival mobile wallets to offer tap-to-pay functionality on the iPhone. Apple allows developers to access the iPhone’s NFC chip, but not to connect to payment systems in physical stores. That means Apple Pay is the only option on iPhones — and the EU is not happy about it. (Source Code)
The NFT market is collapsing. The sale of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, fell to a daily average of about 19,000 this week, a 92% decline from a peak of about 225,000 in September, according to the data website NonFungible. The number of active wallets in the NFT market fell 88% to about 14,000 last week from a high of 119,000 in November. NFTs are bitcoin-like digital tokens that act like a certificate of ownership that live on a blockchain. Rising interest rates have crushed risky bets across the financial markets—and NFTs are among the most speculative. (Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk, who has agreed to take Twitter private in a $44 billion deal, has told potential investors he could return the social-media company to public ownership after just a few years. Musk said he plans to stage an initial public offering of Twitter in as little as three years of buying it, according to people familiar with the matter. (Wall Street Journal)
Lionsgate signed a multiyear movie output deal with Peacock for all theatrically released Lionsgate films, starting with the studio’s 2022 slate. The agreement with the NBCUniversal streaming platform brings movies exclusively to Peacock and NBCUniversal networks for their Pay 2 window, starting in 2024. (The Hollywood Reporter)
A post-pandemic reality is settling in for the movie industry: Streaming releases are here to stay and the theatrical window has permanently shrunk, even as blockbuster films try to reignite the box office. (Axios)
Smart Links
Airbnb beats estimates with 70% revenue growth as travel rebounds. (CNBC)
Company wants to use carbon dioxide to store renewable power on the grid. (MIT Technology Review)
AI sommelier generates wine reviews without ever opening a bottle. (Scientific American)
Early warning on Alzheimer’s: Investigators used novel mathematical approach to clarify when brain regions begin to disconnect during disease process. (Harvard Gazette)
Shanghai’s lockdown is giving China’s online grocery apps a second chance. (MIT Technology Review)
The MIT Press and Harvard Law School Library launch new series offering high-quality, affordable law textbooks. (MIT News)