44 inflation (again), Starbucks unionizes

the weekly rundown

part of our team is traveling this week, so if you’re listening to the audio version of the newsletter, you’re probably noticing a different, more suave, more...distinguished voice. don’t worry, our usual nasally midwestern half-asleep narrator will be back next week, but in the meantime...enjoy. we’re looking for narrators, authors, and editors to join our team, so reach out if you’d like to join in the fun.

big idea: yeah yeah, inflation inflation

1. we get it dude, inflation is on the rise. do we really need to spend like four issues on this? prices of consumer goods rose by almost 7% year-over-year last month, the largest rise in inflation in almost forty years. new car prices continue to have a huge effect on that number, with the chip shortage crippling the industry. restaurant prices have also increased by about 8% since last november, reflecting rising wages across the hospitality sector.
2. what’s confusing the heck out of businesses and economists is the asymmetry in demand for goods versus services. it makes sense to some degree - COVID is making it more difficult for people to travel and play, so inflation in service industries remain low. instead of spending money on services, people are spending money on buying more goods (aka trying to fill the heart-shaped hole in their chests with junk), resulting in crazy high inflation in things like the consumer price index.
3. this goods-services dynamic is the opposite of the typical economic recovery, which is why everyone is a little confused. the big question is how long this role reversal will last, and if full employment can be reached before inflation gets out of control. in the meantime though, continue enjoying those low airline ticket prices, but really - you’ll still be overpaying for 28” of legroom.

story to watch: Starbucks is unionizing

1. a Starbucks in buffalo voted to unionize thursday, the first corporate-owned location in the US to do so. this occurred despite a well-publicized and funded anti-union push by the company over the past few months. one other buffalo location voted against unionizing, and a third location voted in favor, but is facing a recount. union organizers are hoping this will inspire viral collective action not only at other Starbucks locations, but across the unskilled sector.
2. the number of americans in unions has halved since just the 1980’s, and the failure to unionize an Amazon warehouse earlier this year was a big loss as well. however, this small Starbucks win will definitely put some wind behind unions’ sails, especially when considering americans are quitting their jobs in droves and unions have the best public image since the 1960’s. we always knew being a Starbucks barista must suck, but apparently misspelling everyone’s names just isn’t a big enough perk to keep them around…

this week’s image: screaming or laughing?

• (The Guardian) finally, a good use of dogs - comforting children as they get COVID shots

this week’s number: pro-Trump counties have 3x COVID mortality rates

1. an analysis this week found that people living in counties which voted heavily for You-Know-Who in 2020 had about three times the COVID mortality rate than people living in counties which voted heavily for Joe. that rate doubled to 6x for the reddest tenth of counties compared to the bluest tenth of counties. in short - You-Know-Who supporters are less likely to get vaccinated, and more likely to die from COVID.
2. this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise - 60% of republicans remain unvaccinated (compared to less than 20% of independents and democrats), and most deaths since the vaccine rollout have been among the dummy unvaccinated population.

what we’re cooking: poached fresh halibut

1. we know, we know, we typically stick to satisfying our sweet tooths at home, but we finally got around to making (now-cancelled) Alison Roman’s tomato poached fish recipe. what can we say, she may be racist, but her recipes aren’t.
2. we used halibut as the fish, and amped up the spice quite a bit, but the chile oil and crispy fried garlic and shallots were a revelation. some fresh parsley sprinkled on top made for the perfect winter dish - warm, satisfying, and made with mostly pantry ingredients.

and, in case you missed it:

• the UAE is adopting a monday to friday workweek, giving up on the facade that they secretly want to be white people
• GM is investing $3 billion into its michigan plants in its shift to EVs, weeks after Ford announced EV investments which entirely bypassed the state
• Joe announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 beijing Olympics, along with australia, canada, and the UK
• people in delaware drove past a huge highway sign misspelling their state’s name for days before realizing something was up, proving once and for all that no one cares about delaware

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, Ahmed, and Ghanem. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!