If expected inflation rises the long run phillips curve will

(CTN News) – Amazon and other online retailers are scrambling to make free shipping work. In addition to charging for faster service, they’re raising minimum purchase requirements and shifting more costs to consumers who are struggling. Free delivery is going away, says Ken Morris, managing partner at Cambridge Retail Advisors. According to Morris, many retailers are starting to charge for better seating, luggage transportation, and frequent flyer points. Free shipping raises retailer prices. Despite this, product inflation and soaring shipping costs make the service unsustainable. The company underwrote its package delivery costs with pricey prime subscriptions and fat profits from other businesses. Amazon made other retailers follow, even though they didn’t have Amazon’s advantages. Retail margins are shrinking and shipping rates are skyrocketing for United Parcel Service, FedEx, and the US Postal Service, so e-commerce companies that offer free shipping are … [Read more...] about Amazon, Other Retailers Revisit Free Shipping Amid Rising Costs

Dick Hormann played baseball in Japan, so naturally he wants his Lutheran Lions to approach the game like the Samurai. Dick, 86, is Lutheran’s assistant coach under his son, Scott Hormann. Dick’s in his 57th year coaching across four states, but before that, he was a third baseman on an Army team from 1958-62 at Camp Zama — a post just outside Tokyo. Stationed there as part of the United States’ plan to re-establish rapport with Japan following World War II, Dick’s Army team played the minor league teams associated with Nippon Professional Baseball franchises as well as company teams. If he could, Dick would time-travel his Lions back to those days in Japan, just to show them “the team we need to be.” “Today, kids come up and they see the fence and think it’s all about hitting it over the wall,” Dick said. “But they’ve got to understand the game — and the fact that so far, we’re not getting beat by other teams, we’re getting beat by the game. Look at the Japanese, they are all … [Read more...] about Father/son coaching tandem Dick, Scott Hormann focus on fundamentals with rising Lutheran baseball

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Despite ongoing silent runs on the Regional and Community Banks, it appears that both Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Yellen view the events of the recent past (SVB VB , Signature Bank, First Republic, Credit Suisse, and now Deutsche Bank) as one-off events and not symptomatic of stress in the world’s financial system. The dictionary defines “obtuse” as “annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand.” We can’t think of anything more precise! The chart at the top shows the continued decline in the value of S&P’s Regional Banking ETF through the close of business on Friday (March 24 th ). On Wednesday, the Fed raised interest rates 25 basis points despite liquidity issues in the banking system and the apparent loss of confidence in that system by a significant portion of the public. During his press conference, Powell acknowledged some FOMC concerns over banking issues, said that they had considered a "pause,” … [Read more...] about Obtuse: The Fed & Treasury View Of Banking Issues

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When you think of beauty pageants, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not academia, social responsibility or sustainable finance. Dr Ana Nacvalovaite, Research fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, says otherwise. Aside from being a distinguished academic and renowned expert within her field of work, Ana is also Mrs Great Britain, and will soon be competing in the semi-finals for “Mrs Globe”. At first it may seem like a contradiction, but for Ana, the world of pageants and academia intersect in several ways. “Beauty pageants have given me a platform to promote social and environmental issues that are important to me, such as gender equality, human rights, and sustainability. It has given me a stage to speak” she tells me. “As an academic, I'm passionate about promoting social responsibility and sustainability and all aspects of society. So, my involvement in the beauty pageant has given … [Read more...] about Beauty Pageants And Academia – The Perfect Contradiction?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin One of the things I like about Sony is that every once in a while the company is willing to swing for the fences and release a product that is — different — from everything else out there. Extreme. That’s the case with the Sony SRS-RA5000 , a big, pricey wireless speaker that’s bristling with drivers, sculpted to look like a piece of modern art and optimized to make the most of the 360 Reality Audio format. First Impression Sony knows how to design eye-catching products, and the SRS-RA5000 certainly draws attention. It’s a large (13-inches tall) speaker. All curves, the unit is wrapped in black cloth and dominated by a trio of copper-coloured speaker grills across the top. Maybe they’re rose gold. It depends on the light. Either way, they pop against the black. There are discrete touch controls for music playback on one “side” and for power and connectivity on another. The speaker basically looks like a piece of … [Read more...] about Sony SRS-RA5000 Review: A Sculpted, 7-Driver Speaker That’s Optimized For 360 Reality Audio

Russian carriers have been able to scrounge enough spare parts to maintain robust domestic service across their vast country. S ince the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine, GA Telesis, a Florida-based aircraft-parts distributor, has been getting a lot of suspicious requests. They’re from shadowy companies formed over the past year in the United Arab Emirates and former Soviet republics like Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Mindful of sanctions against Russia, GA Telesis asks for proof that the parts are for a particular airline and plane. When confronted with those questions, company founder Abdol Moabery says, they vanish. “We have a robust compliance department,” Moabery tells Forbes, “but not everybody does.” When the U.S. and Europe first imposed economic sanctions in the wake of the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a year ago, aviation experts expected that Russian airlines would be reduced to cannibalizing parts to keep a dwindling number of planes in the air. … [Read more...] about How Russian Airlines Have Been Able To Skirt Sanctions And Keep Flying

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When Brentford FC manager Thomas Frank finally broke his silence about the potential for star striker Ivan Toney to be hit with a lengthy ban he didn’t hold back. Toney pleaded guilty to 232 alleged breaches of rules related to gambling earlier this month and there is speculation the Football Association will deliver a severe punishment. Anti-gambling charities have highlighted the irony in Toney being reprimanded for indulging in a pastime soccer actively promotes. “If you force young people to endorse addictive products, don’t be surprised if they use them,” one organization, The Big Step, tweeted alongside a picture of Toney wearing different shirts emblazoned with gambling logos and player of the month trophies sponsored by betting firms. Amongst the images was a photo of Toney in the current Brentford FC home shirt which carries the ‘Hollywood Bets’ logo. And, when handling the topic of Toney’s ban, it … [Read more...] about Brentford FC Coach Thomas Frank’s Gambling Blindspot

One of the ways that gig companies have been able for years to define their workers as independent contractors is by exploiting the allure of individualism. The contractor has their freedom, the thinking goes, so why would they exchange that for a full-time job with benefits? “These words have gained a strange kind of prestige from downwardly mobile, college-educated tech workers,” said John Patrick Leary, the author of Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism . It was part of what Reddit’s founder, Alexis Ohanian, has called “hustle porn,” cheerleading multiple jobs and their backbreaking exertions, giving a cheerful spin to the full 30% of Americans who do something else for pay in addition to their full-time jobs, according to an NPR/Marist survey. Hustling and nimbleness and the like implied, however, that there is a slinky joy in picking up gear at a studio and dropping it off across town or selling CBD oil part time. Once called drably “another job,” these … [Read more...] about The lie of the hustle

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Brands are taking advantage of the national attention on both men’s and women’s basketball athletes during March Madness, but their strategies differ. Some had campaigns ready to go before the tournaments began, while others have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to see which programs and athletes emerge as this year’s biggest stories. Last year, Doug Edert and his signature mustache cashed in when Saint Peter's made history by becoming the first 15 seed to advance to the Elite Eight. Entering March in 2022, Edert had around 1,500 followers on Instagram and was rarely posting. A year later, he has more than 148,000 followers and has worked with national brands like Buffalo Wild Wings and Barstool Sports. Edert’s mustache is again a focus this year as it adorns special edition Pringles cans. The ““March Mustache Collection” also features Duke’s Dariq Whitehead and Virginia’s Ben Vander Plas. Fans are asked to show off … [Read more...] about How Brands Are Using The NCAA Tournament To Strike New NIL Deals