42 covid is back, weekly unemployment numbers

readers, we’re honestly surprised we managed to hoist ourselves out of bed to write this issue following turkey day. we mean seriously, with black friday sales sucking this year, there was even less of a reason not to just succumb to the usual post-prandial thanksgiving day food coma. alas, we realized we had to stick it out, if only for our canadian readers who, for some reason, celebrate thanksgiving in october.

big idea: time to learn how to say “omicron”

1. a new COVID variant is making the rounds in people, the stock markets, and the media, so we’re here to tell you we’re confused over the hubbub too. the W.H.O. categorized this omicron variant, first discovered in south africa, a “variant of concern”, an award also given to the delta variant which has wreaked havoc for the past year. fewer than a hundred cases in south africa have been identified and a handful of cases have also been found in the UK and hong kong.
2. within about 48 hours of the new cases being announced, the EU, US, canada, and other nations already banned travelers from south africa and other southern african nations. stock indexes fell sharply on friday as investors worried that omicron could dampen an already unsteady economic recovery.
3. scientists and the W.H.O. honestly know very little about the variant, other than it is quite different from your normal COVID strain - which could potentially make it more virulent, more contagious, more fatal, and/or more resistant to existing vaccines. at this point in the pandemic, health experts are more likely to overreact than underreact to threats. 
4. it will likely take weeks, if not months, to figure out how bad this variant really is. in the meantime though, go get vaccinated dummies, and wear a mask like it’s the 1300’s in europe again.

this week’s image: Alvin, the squirrel

• (The Atlantic) a turkish squirrel steals a sip of turkish tea (in turkey, in case you were wondering).

this week’s number: weekly unemployment claims fall to 199k

1. the number of people filing for unemployment benefits fell to a 52-year low of 199,000 people last week. that’s incredibly astonishing, especially when considering the population has skyrocketed from 200 million then to almost 330 million today, and it follows eight straight weeks of declining unemployment claims.
2. so what’s the bottom line? the economy is strong, despite rising inflation due to supply chain issues. it’s clear that the Fed is much more concerned about reaching full employment than inflation, a constant tension they face when setting monetary policy. on our end, we think it’s high time - the Fed’s maniacal obsession with inflation over the past two decades (along with a crippled governmental response to the recession) has led to rising inequality, slow growth, and valuing wealth over earned income.

what we’re reading: “What the CEO Wants You to Know”

1. a quick read by our favorite consultant who also shares a name with a bollywood actor (making Google searches super confusing), this book boils down the basics of business finance with insights on how to deliver and perform for your company. the book popularized the idea of business acumen - an intuition leaders gain from understanding the fundamentals of their organization.
2. even if you have little interest in business, this will still help you get inside the head of your typical corporate executive. what do they focus on, how do they view money and talent, and why do they seemingly always want to boil complex ideas down to their basic components? dumbledore says that understanding is the first step towards acceptance, but in this case it might just make you hate the 1% a little bit more.

and, in case you missed it:

• Sweden’s parliament elected its first female prime minister, then immediately sacked her a few hours later
• a classic gas-powered muscle car, the Dodge Challenger is going the way of the dodo, with an EV planned to replace it
• a governing coalition has been finalized in germany, spelling the end of our celebrity crush’s (Angela Merkel) reign of power
• an organized gang of dozens of thieves robbed a Nordstrom’s in broad daylight in california. time to defund the police?
• a flamingo in canada escaped a zoo this week, and instead of making a run for it - decided to visit Tim Horton’s

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