Business
“No inventions; no innovations,” a History of US Steel. Fascinating and informative.
The M.B.A.s Who Can’t Find Jobs. “One Harvard M.B.A. living in Boston said he couch-surfs in New York to network for jobs there in person. A graduate from the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business said she is getting rent help from her parents as she works at a hotel restaurant and sells her clothing and jewelry online to cover groceries and utilities. “I had no idea, a year later, I’d still be searching for full-time employment,” said 32-year-old AJ Edelman, who decided to pursue a Yale M.B.A. to ease his transition from a skeleton-racing career into a management role in technology. Hundreds of applications later, he estimated, he is still looking.“
10 years in, GM CEO Mary Barra has built her legacy on change and crisis. 2024 will bring new tests. Stock prices are not a true reflection of a leader’s performance in the SHORT term. If a CEO has been in power since 2016 and the stock price is lower than than it was when she took over, then questions must be asked. The debacle regarding EVs does not help. Barra made bold claims about GM’s ambition to be an EV powrhouse. Instead, reality kicked in quickly and GM had to walk back some of the outlandish statements. She might have earned her position and the long tenure she had, but it may be time for another leader to take over and get GM to a brighter destination.
Spotify Dominates Audio Streaming, but Where Are the Profits? When I look at Spotify, I have no idea how the company will perform in the future. The premise is that once Spotify establishes a dominant share; which you can argue it has to some extent, it can gain pricing power and be profitable. Spotify has been a household name for years and attracted millions of users, both paid and free, as well thousands of advertisers and content creators. Yet, profitability is elusive. If Spotify can’t produce profits after years in business, what makes investors believe that it will in the future? For good measure, the missteps regarding podcasts didn’t help. Sure, any business bet has its risks, but is the current CEO still the right one to take Spotify to the next level?
A lot of things in 2024 will hinge on what the Feds does with interest rates. Some expect them to lower the rates soon while others are less optimistic. What we do know is that the Feds will not move for rate cuts unless they are satisfied with what they see in terms of inflation and right now it doesn’t look too good. The Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea are causing delays with ocean freights and disrupting global supply chain. Meanwhile, insurance premium keeps rising, levying significant impact on companies’ top and bottom line. Those impacted by more expensive insurance charges will pass on these expenses to consumers by raising prices. Obviously, higher prices are the last thing that proponents of rate cuts want as they increase inflation and prompt the Feds to move even for more rate hikes, let alone rate cuts.
Other Stuff I Find Interesting
Loyal to Their Soccer Team, and to Their Burger Van. Football matches matter a lot to mom-and-pop food stalls in the UK. Even when teams try to build fancy eateries inside the stadium for more revenue, the stalls have advantages in terms of prices and the feeling of familiarity. Fans have been buying food from these shops for years. If the quality continues and the price is very competitive, why change? I think every consumer, all else equal, all subconsciously roots for the smaller guys.
Active vs Passive Learning. Once again, I agree with Morgan here. You learn some principles and the basics at school, but the real application and learning happens when you can connect the dots. The dots only come about when you widen your reading and exposure to other areas outside of your “expertise”.
Nebraska’s ‘brain drain’ deepens, loss of college grads now among nation’s worst. The fact that a lot of local people choose to stay and many that left and came back shows that Omaha has its appeal. I have been living here for 7.5 years and I can tell you that the city is inexpensive to live and doesn’t have a lot of the traffic trouble that the big cities have. Sure, there are plenty that can be improved, but in terms of building a family, it’s not a bad place at all. The challenge is that it’s hard to keep young people from leaving. It’s not only about jobs. Many people like to experiment and see what’s out there. You can’t stop that. But I talked to a few folks that came back here to raise a family. So, the local government needs to do better at creating good paying jobs and promoting the appeal of Omaha or Nebraska as a whole.
Mexican Whiskey Is on the Rise, Powered by Ancient Corn. “Of the 59 varieties of native corn in Mexico, nal t’eel is one of the oldest, having emerged in the Yucatán Peninsula some 4,000 years ago. It grows quickly, largely unbothered by heavy rains or drought — so robust that the Mayans called it “rooster corn. In 2020 nal t’eel was thrown a lifeline of sorts by Gran Maizal, a distillery outside the Yucatán city of Merida. Working with local farmers, the company uses nal t’eel and two other indigenous varieties of corn to make whiskey. There are now more than a dozen distilleries across Mexico making whiskey, most of them using corn native to their region. About half of them export, or are preparing to export, to the United States, among them Abasolo, Sierra Norte and Maíz Nation. (Because the category is so new and still quite small, there are no sales figures available.)“
Taiwan’s Doubts About America Are Growing. That Could Be Dangerous. Everyone only looks out for their interests and so does the US. Taiwan would be foolish to think that the most powerful country in the world cares about Taiwanese people from the goodness of its heart. A certain level of skepticism is palpable. But it is IN the US interest to support Taiwan in its fight for independence from China due to the country’s pivotal role in the global chip industry. TSMC manufactures more than half of the global chips and most of the most advanced editions. The US is the biggest beneficiary and therefore should act to protect its own interests.
Stats
The most expensive Big Mac is in Massachussets at a tad over $8
Citi Bank spent $12 billion on its tech stacks in 2023, more than revenue of a lot of other firms
The median price has jumped more than 40% since 2019
Minh Quang Duong 
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