Why TikTok should worry economists

TikTok is now the most popular website in the world, by one measure, and as such its influence on how young people see and think about themselves is attracting ever more attention. I am an economist, so I would like to focus on a considerably more narrow subject: what TikTok’s videos say about how young people see and think about ...

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Unilever should know that purpose isn’t strategy

  Pugnacious Terry Smith is throwing punches again. The Mauritius-based fund manager has lambasted consumer-goods giant Unilever Plc for its public posturing. It’s not just that autonomous subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s is to stop selling ice-cream in Jewish West Bank settlements and areas of east Jerusalem. “More ludicrous,” Smith says, is the company’s attempt to define the purpose of Hellmann’s ...

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As inflation soars, the Fed needs to keep its head

So much for transitory. US prices rose by 7% in 2021, the highest gain for nearly 40 years. Remember: The Federal Reserve’s target for inflation is 2%, a fact that gets less attention than it used to, back when “hawks” and “doves” were measuring deviations in tenths of a percentage point. It’s an enormous overshoot, and some of it is ...

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FAA issues 1,462 flight limits for 5G, seeks to limit delays

  Bloomberg US aviation regulators say they’ve made progress reducing the risk of flight disruptions from new 5G service that’s set to start January 19, but at the same time they’ve issued almost 1,500 orders limiting flight operations across the country. The Federal Aviation Administration expects to provide information soon on what percentage of aircraft will be subject to the ...

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Boeing’s 737 Max nears return to service in China

  Bloomberg Boeing Co’s 737 Max is poised to resume commercial flights in China as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the matter, a significant milestone for the narrow-body workhorse after it was grounded worldwide in 2019. A so-called operational readiness flight conducted by Hainan Airlines on January 9 is a sign the model could return to ...

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Air France-KLM starts search to replace head of Dutch arm

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM has begun a search to replace the head of its Dutch arm in a move that could give Chief Executive Officer Ben Smith a fresh start in improving relations between its two flag carriers. Shares of the airline group fell as much as 1.8% in Paris on Friday, a day after the group said Pieter Elbers ...

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Instacart’s prepared-food delivery takes on DoorDash

  Bloomberg Instacart Inc. is launching a service offering prepared foods from supermarkets in a bid to capture more customers and better compete in the hot market for meal-delivery. Customers will be able to choose from hundreds of ready-to-eat meals, such as rotisserie chicken, sushi and soups, from grocery stores including Kroger, Publix and Ahold Delhaize’s Stop & Shop. Shoppers ...

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EU defends airline slot rules over Lufthansa row

  Bloomberg The European Union defended its airport slots rule following complaints by some airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG that the requirement forces it to fly empty planes. Lufthansa last week launched an onslaught against the EU’s use-it-or-lose-it rules that stipulate flights must take place or takeoff and landing slots will be forfeited. The carrier, whose units include Swiss, Brussels ...

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Lavrov says Russia won’t wait ‘endlessly’ for security deal

  Bloomberg Russia won’t wait “endlessly” for a security deal with Nato and progress depends on the US, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, keeping up pressure after a week of high-level talks with the West failed to yield noticeable progress. “We’re waiting for written responses from our colleagues” in the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Lavrov told ...

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Sweden to boost military presence on Gotland Island

  Bloomberg Sweden’s armed forces are boosting preparedness in regions including the Baltic island of Gotland, citing Russia’s increased military activity in the area. Military resources will be “reallocated to strengthen operations in several different places” in Sweden, with a “visible” change on Gotland, Michael Claesson, chief of operations at the Swedish military, said in a statement late on Thursday. ...

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