NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The planned strike of fast-food workers in 100 cities on Thursday has stirred the debate about the minimum wage, which is among the lowest in all OECD countries. America is a much richer country today than 30 years ago, although the inflation-adjusted wages of nonsupervisory workers in retail trade have fallen almost 30 percent since the 70s. Underpaid jobs seem to be the new normal, many economists are warning.
LONDON | By Barclays analysts | Although there is a train of thought that the sharp acceleration in US crude oil supply growth will sooner or later result in a turning point for oil prices and a possible price collapse, our analysis suggests 2014 is too early for that.
SAO PAULO | By Benjamin Cole at Marcus Nunes’ Historinhas | It is an old trick question: What state has not one but two of the 12 regional banks of the United States Federal Reserve System? Is it New York state, the nation’s financial, commercial and manufacturing powerhouse when the Fed was founded in 1913? Answer: Missouri.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has been getting free advertising for media all around the world since he unveiled his last idea: getting automated devices to deliver packages to their customers. The plan, which won’t materialize before 4-5 years, still needs a lot of work. It will open the door to a different use of the highly controversial drones, currently used by the U.S. army for selected killings in the Middle East, among others. Critics insist the online giant may just be putting on a great farce. In the video above, the fears of the Taiwanese animation company TomoNews, which has been critiziced for the use of clichés, too.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Despite the rain of deals, sales on the Thanksgiving weekend went down in the U.S. for the first time in seven years, according to the National Retail Association. More people went shopping, but they spent less money. Some shops have used promotions to attract reluctant consumers to spend more, although that dangerously squeezed their margins. So here’s a different, more nuanced picture of the U.S. economic recovery: gasoline prices are down, stocks and home values are rising, but consumers still feel under pressure from things like unemployment.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | According to Lars Christensen, central bankers around the world talk about monetary policy as being “unconventional” when they undertake “quantitative easing” to expand the money base. This term frustrates me a great deal as there is nothing unconventional about the fact that the central bank is changing the money base.
By David Brunat | LATAM CORRESPONDENT | There are more SIM cards in Costa Rica than people in the country. In 2012, the Central American nation had a penetration of 116% in active mobile phone lines. No wonder why Latin America is becoming the new El Dorado for leading telecoms and device manufacturers.
BEIJING | By Zhu Yishi at Caixin | The war between the country’s two Internet giants, Tencent Holding and Alibaba Group, in the mobile Internet arena has escalated. The Internet giants enter the mobile Internet industry with different strengths but a similar determination to come out on top.
SAO PAOLO | By Mike Konczal via Marcus Nunes’ Historinhas | Should we endure a mini-recessio, i.e. more bubbles, with lower employment and output, to fight a thing called “financial instability”? I had no idea that Sweden has gone all-in on raising interest rates to fight “financial instability.” (Alas poor Lars Svensson!) Simon Wren-Lewis has details, Krugman has more, and Peter Orszag had a great column about how New Zealand is instead using regulations to fight worries about the financial system.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Black Friday is not about retailers getting rid of their goods stock nor the savviest customers obtaining the best bargains. This buying frenzy that has spread from the U.S. to many other countries is more of a retail theater in which buyers ‘feel’ they are paying a low price and brands design their products with the discount built in. They don’t make a river of money. Still, this is the busiest shopping day of the year. If you need to run errands, buckle up.