| |
| |
| |
| Presented By Instagram |
| |
| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen · Dec 15, 2022 |
| Happy Thursday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,197 words ... 4½ minutes. Edited by Noah Bressner. 💡 Attention Hill staffers ... Axios Pro: Policy is our radical new approach to policy reporting. Secure our year-end special for your office. |
| |
| |
| 1 big thing: Higher rates in '23 |
| Jerome Powell holds a news conference yesterday at Fed headquarters in Washington. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images The Fed made clear yesterday that interest rates will rise in 2023, even if at a slower pace than this year. - Why it matters: That's unwelcome news for jittery Wall Street investors and inflation-weary consumers, Axios managing editor Javier E. David reports.
State of play: Mortgage rates dipped recently but are still close to 7%. The average credit card interest rate is flirting with 20%, according to Bankrate.com. 🔎 Between the lines: Inflation has moderated. But prices are still rising enough to worry the central bank. - With the jury out on whether the economy will slip into a recession (or is already in one), the Fed's task of engineering a soft landing for the economy is increasingly fraught.
- "I wish there were a completely painless way to restore price stability," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters yesterday. "There isn't, and this is the best we can do."
🔮 What's next: The Fed's "dot plot" projection of future rates suggests a rate cut won't be in the cards until 2024 at the earliest. - BlackRock's Rick Rieder said the Fed "is clearly determined to err on the side of not giving up the fight on inflation too early."
Share this story. |
    |
| |
| |
| 2. 😷 Sign of the times: Free COVID tests return |
| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The White House announced this morning that it's relaunching its COVID home testing program as part of preparations for a wintertime surge of cases, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. - The administration suspended the program in September after distributing 600 million tests.
⚡ Officials reopened the COVIDTests.gov website today for a limited round of ordering. - Households can obtain four free at-home tests, which will be mailed for free starting the week of Dec. 19.
🧠 What's happening: COVID cases are rising across the country, driven by new strains capable of thwarting immune defenses. - With mandates largely out of the picture, the administration is sending more free tests by mail and to schools, community health centers and long-term care facilities.
The White House "winter preparedness plan" also envisions working with states to increase sluggish vaccination rates — including pop-up or mobile vaccination sites. - The administration is pre-positioning masks and other protective gear, and making contingencies in case health systems become overwhelmed and need help with staffing.
Share this story. |
| |
| |
| |
| 3. Spike in out-of-pocket health costs |
 Data: CMS. Chart: Axios Visuals Americans' out-of-pocket health spending rose 10.4% in 2021, a growth rate not seen since 1985, CMS says in its annual National Health Expenditures report. - Why it matters: Out-of-pocket spending on copays and deductibles is the way Americans become most acutely aware of health care costs.
💰 What happened: People went back to the doctor after the shutdowns of 2020, driving demand for dentistry, eyeglasses and medical supplies. |
| |
| |
| |
| A message from Instagram |
| Explore 30+ Instagram tools helping teens have positive experiences |
| |
 |
| |
| Instagram's tools can help parents keep their teens safe on social media, help teens see less sensitive content and help them spend less time on our platform. Because teens' experiences on Instagram should be positive and supportive. Explore our tools and set them up today. |
| |
| |
| 4. 📷 1,000 words |
| Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images On the 10th anniversary of the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the White House is lit in the green of the school colors — a symbol adopted by the Sandy Hook Promise gun-violence-prevention group. |
| |
| |
| |
| 5. 🏛️ The Capitol: Today v. yesterday |
| Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — with her recovering husband, Paul, at her side — unveils her official portrait at the Capitol yesterday. - "[S]omewhere in this Congress is a ... woman Speaker-to-be," Pelosi said. "I'm honored to be the first, but it will only be a good accomplishment if I'm not the last."
Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP The House passed legislation to remove from the Capitol a bust (above) of the Supreme Court justice who wrote the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that held African-Americans weren't citizens, AP reports. - The bust of Roger Taney, the fifth chief justice, sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber, where the court met from 1810-60.
The legislation commissions a bust of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, the court's first Black justice, to be placed in the Capitol. |
| |
| |
| |
| 6. 👀 What CEOs read |
| Cover: Workman Fast Company features "Smart Brevity" — our quick-read book showing how anyone can communicate in the Axios style — in a new feature, "The best new business books CEOs read in 2022." - Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert, who bought copies of "Smart Brevity" for his leadership team, tells the magazine: "In these dynamic times, people want clarity, not certainty."
🎁 Give the gift of powerful, crisp communication to your team, boss or favorite rising star. |
| |
| |
| |
| 7. 🗞️ WashPost cuts coming |
| Following leaked video of a tense town hall, Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan confirmed in an email to staff that the company plans to eliminate a single-digit percentage of its workforce early next year. - The clip, tweeted by a Post reporter, shows Ryan refusing to answer frustrated staffers' questions about the coming cuts.
Why it matters: The video reflects The Post's growing business, leadership and cultural challenges, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer reports. The video shows Ryan saying as he walks out: "I'm not going to turn this town hall into a grievance session." - Employees tried to lob questions. "What are you going to do to protect people's jobs? Are they going to be treated like the magazine staffers were?" one person asked, referring to sudden layoffs at The Post's Sunday magazine, which will publish its final issue Dec. 25.
Ryan said in his follow-up email: "[I]n the coming year, we plan to eliminate a number of positions that ... no longer meet the needs of today's readers and consumers." - "We anticipate that the total number of jobs affected will represent a single-digit percentage of our workforce."
- "These are also not net staff reductions ... [W]e will be hiring aggressively in areas that offer the greatest opportunities for growth. We expect that, at this time next year, our newsroom will be as large as it is now — if not larger."
Between the lines: Tensions have been escalating at The Post for months. - Three longtime C-suite executives left this year. Steve Ginsberg, a managing editor, left last month to join The Athletic as executive editor.
- The company isn't expected to turn a profit this year, mostly due to planned investments. The paper hired this year across new focus areas, including democracy, wellness and climate.
The Post has lost subscribers in the past two years, and now has fewer than 3 million paid digital subscriptions. The New York Times has more than 10 million paid digital-only subscribers. |
| |
| |
| |
| 8. ⚽ World Cup final 2 |
| Photo: Peter Cziborra/Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron attends the match in Qatar yesterday that sent France to Sunday's World Cup final vs. Argentina (10 a.m. ET, Fox). 💬 Our thought bubble: Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker tells me this matchup isn't surprising. - "Argentina is ranked third in the world and France is fourth," Kendall says. "What's most surprising is that France will play in its second straight Final despite a rash of injuries, including to Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema."
"They're now one win away from becoming just the third repeat World Cup champions." Photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP Above: A mural of Lionel Messi covers his childhood home in Rosario, Argentina. |
| |
| |
| |
| A message from Instagram |
| Set up supervision on Instagram to help keep your teen safe online |
| |
 |
| |
| Parents have support when it comes to keeping their teens safe on Instagram. They can see who their teen follows, who follows them and any reports their teen shares once supervision on Family Center is set up. Explore Family Center and set it up today. |
| |
| 📬 Thanks for starting your day with us. Please invite your friends to sign up to get their daily essentials — Axios AM, PM and Finish Line. |
 | | Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment