TODAY reveals TIME's people of the year for 2025

After skipping last year, I'm featuring Time's Person of the Year. Watch TODAY announce Architects of AI Named Time’s 2025 Person of the Year.

Time’s editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs joins TODAY with the exclusive announcement that the architects of AI have been selected as the 2025 Time Person of the Year. "Never before has so much power been concentrated in so few individuals," Jacobs says.

I'm repeating what I wrote about the Economics Nobel Prize in Science, peace, economics, and literature winners for Nobel Prize Day 2025.

This award is as much about technology as it is about economics. May it mean that AI be a net benefit for the economy. Right now, it looks like it's doing more destruction than creation.

If the projections are correct, it will be doing both, with 20% of people losing their current jobs while quintupling GDP. Yikes! That's an outcome the residents of Richistan would approve of. As for the rest of us, I'll repeat what I wrote a dozen years ago in Robots are coming for our jobs, "the loss of jobs to robots will be the major effect of the Singularity, not everyone becoming cyborgs or the machines enslaving or killing off humanity." It's not like we weren't warned.

TODAY revealed the rest of TIME's picks earlier in the week, beginning with Leonardo DiCaprio is Named Time 2025 Entertainer of the Year.

TODAY exclusively reveals Time’s picks for 2025 entertainer of the year and CEO of the year.

I'll be writing more about DiCaprio when I blog about his nominations at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards. As for Neal Mohan, I'd heard of him before, but didn't pay much attention to him. Now he has my attention.

I close with A’ja Wilson Named Time’s 2025 Athlete of the Year.

TODAY exclusively reveals Time’s picks for 2025 Athlete of the Year and Breakthrough of the Year: A’ja Wilson and K-Pop Demon Hunters!

I'm recycling what I wrote in Earthquake, eclipse, and other news on 'SNL' last year.

I started following women's basketball when I was attending UCLA, as it was easier to play in the band for women's games than men's games when I was a sophomore. I thought they were more fun even then. I guess that make me an early adopter. I'm pleased to see everyone catch up to me, four plus decades later.

Everyone now includes TIME.

TIME made a good save by naming KPop Demon Hunters Breakthrough of the Year. They could just as easily have been Entertainers of the Year. I'll write about their nominations, too. That could be as early as tomorrow for the Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned.

CNBC explains 'What Project 2025 Has To Do With This Government Shutdown'

I closed Stewart, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at the shutdown and sending troops to Portland by telling my readers "Stay tuned to see if I post something serious" today. Thanks to CNBC, I am. Watch as CNBC explains What Project 2025 Has To Do With This Government Shutdown.

The government may fire thousands of unionized federal workers during the shutdown that began in October. This effort was foreshadowed in Project 2025, what some consider a blueprint for conservative governance. Several authors from the document are now senior-level members of the Trump administration. CNBC spoke with one who believes the federal workforce needs to change. Their efforts could reshape the federal bureaucracy, but do little to alter the country’s financial outlook.

I begin my reaction by recycling the relevant paragraph from CNBC explains the federal government shutdown.

The shutdown looks like another opportunity for Russell Vought to implement more of Project 2025 regarding the federal workforce. Vought did say he wanted to traumatize federal employees and the threat of firing them instead of merely furloughing them would certainly do that, to say nothing of following through and laying them off.

Welcome to more "shock and awful" and..."[the] Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce." Just because Elon Musk and DOGE are no longer in charge doesn't mean it's not still happening.

As for Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump getting on board with this agenda, I'm recycling my remarks from Colbert, 'The Daily Show,' Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at the shutdown: "Hoover Cleveland is finally embracing Project 2025 in public. I didn't believe his denials anyway."

That's a wrap for today, although I expect to write more about the government shutdown. In the meantime, stay tuned for another tale of the Retail Apocalypse tomorrow.

CNBC explains the federal government shutdown

I decided to share something serious about the federal government shutdown today instead of something funny. I'll probably get to the comedy on Sunday, when Saturday Night Live returns. I begin with CNBC explaining Why This Government Shutdown Is Different.

The federal government shuts down when lawmakers in Congress cannot agree on a budget. This has occurred at least 20 times over the past 50 years according to the investment team at Truist. The historical record suggests that there will be minimal impact on markets or the broader economy, barring a prolonged shutdown. But this time could leave a mark on thousands of federal workers who may be permanently fired if a shutdown were to occur.

The shutdown looks like another opportunity for Russell Vought to implement more of Project 2025 regarding the federal workforce. Vought did say he wanted to traumatize federal employees and the threat of firing them instead of merely furloughing them would certainly do that, to say nothing of following through and laying them off.

That's what Vought and others in the administration want from the situation. CNBC explains why Congressional Democrats are doing this in Why Health Care Is At The Center Of The U.S. Govt. Shutdown.

If Congress doesn't extend some Affordable Care Act tax credits, health-care premiums are expected to rise at the end of the year for some Americans. Lawmakers could not agree on extending the credits, partially leading to the current government shutdown.

Unlike most of the unpleasant provisions of the Big Brutal Bill, which won't take effect until after the 2026 midterm elections, ending the ACA subsidies would be felt before the midterms. That would not be good for Congressional Republicans, so enough of them might join the Democrats in voting to restore them. Let's hope.

John Oliver examines mass deportations

I've examined one of Hoover Cleveland's signature issues, tariffs, for the past two days. Thanks to John Oliver, I'm scrutinizing another of his top priorities, Mass Deportations.

October 27th, 2024. Before the 2024 election, John Oliver discusses Donald Trump’s promises to carry out mass deportations, what some of his supporters might not realize about the details of those plans, and – shockingly – how Bill O’Reilly still has a show.

Oliver pretty thoroughly debunks mass deportation's supposed effects on jobs, housing, and crime. I didn't know until I watched that deportations result in lower employment for native-born Americans, not higher employment, although I knew that there are some jobs most people born in this country won't do. I don't have to look any farther than Hoover Cleveland's current and former wives. His two longest marriages were (and still are) to immigrants, while his shortest was to Marla Maples, who was born in the U.S.

Speaking of jobs Americans won't do, I'm surprised so much of the construction workforce consists of undocumented immigrants. Yes, there were a lot of immigrants building the L.A. Subway when I was working there 36 years ago, but they were a minority, so I know there are Americans who were willing to build things. Still, removing more than a million workers, especially when unemployment is already low, is going to reduce the ability to build more homes and apartments, impacting the supply. As for reducing demand, it might make rental properties more affordable, although I'm skeptical it will get the landlords to sell at reduced prices to improve home ownership. My mom owns rental property, and that's not how she would operate.

Finally, just reread and re-watch John Oliver debunks 'Migrant Crime' in the middle of covering the RNC on 'Last Week Tonight', which refutes the idea of immigration leading to more crime, especially when there is less crime overall, especially in cities. Oliver does a better job than I could by myself. Too bad his arguments didn't persuade a plurality of voters. Sigh.

I'll be back with another topical post tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Project 2025's plans for labor and unions, part 7 of MSNBC examines Project 2025, a Labor Day special

Happy Labor Day! Instead of reviewing the history of the holiday for this year's observance, I'm looking ahead at a possible future by resuming MSNBC examines Project 2025, which I promised I would do in July. About time to work the eye again!

I begin with MSNBC's most recent video on the subject, Ali Velshi's Inside Project 2025’s plan to weaken unions and lower workers’ wages.

Project 2025’s chapter on the Department of Labor aims to make union organizing more difficult, give unions less bargaining leverage and repeal long-standing anti-discrimination laws. Fmr. Acting Secretary of Labor under President Obama, Seth Harris says the policies in Project 2025 are fit for “a society where your only goal is for employers to make more money.”

Velshi's listing of all the reversions of labor law to before the New Deal would have made this worth sharing on its own, but Seth Harris's mentions of all the victories of organized labor during the past twelve months, including those by the WGA, UAW, and SAG-AFTRA after strikes, and the Teamsters and UPS contract averting a strike were exactly what I wanted to highlight today, the resurgence of organized labor. Two for one!

Joy Reid had examined the subject earlier last month in Project 2025 Exposed: Child labor and decimated unions promised by Trump’s election.

Donald Trump took a private flight with the head of Project 2025, Kevin Roberts, The Washington Post reports. Jody Calemine, director of advocacy for the AFL-CIO, joins Joy Reid to discuss the potential, destructive impact of Project 2025 on labour unions and the American worker.

As I wrote in PBS NewsHour explains 'Why several states are pushing to loosen child labor restrictions' on World Day Against Child Labor and the posts I linked to there, "I think relaxing child labor laws is not a good way to deal with a labor shortage. I prefer raising wages and improving working conditions so more adults will return to the workforce." I also suggested increased legal immigration as a solution to labor shortages, but that goes against the recommendations I included in U.S. birth rates resume falling while life expectancy increases for World Population Day 2024 and repeated in John Oliver debunks 'Migrant Crime' in the middle of covering the RNC on 'Last Week Tonight': "MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 5 lists even more extreme positions beyond restricting immigration: 'Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in 'camps' and 'End birth right citizenship.' Yikes, especially the second, which attacks the currently accepted idea of who is an American and will affect citizens and others here legally, not just undocumented immigrants." I think the revisions (reversions) in federal labor law in Project 2025 would be make exactly the wrong choice.

I conclude with Velshi examining Inside Project 2025: ‘Schedule F’s’ direct threat to public servants.

Olivia Troye, a longtime civil servant across various government agencies and administrations, first saw Project 2025’s drafted ‘Schedule F’ plan to purge government of nonpartisan experts in favor of political loyalists back in 2020 while working in the Trump Administration.
Project 2025 isn’t just about the ultra-conservative policies that Donald Trump and his allies are preparing for a possible second term in office. It’s also about how they’re going to implement those policies. A goal is to rid the government of the “Deep State” and a former Trump executive order called “Schedule F” would play a huge role. Troye joins Ali Velshi to clarify the dangers of Project 2025 and Schedule F for the United States government and the ways they could affect American life.

I usually see Schedule F portrayed as a good government issue, but it's also a labor issue, even though it's directed at management, not rank-and-file civil servants. It would remove civil service protection from middle management and the bottom level of top management, which definitely affects their job security and working conditions along with making the rest of Project 2025, including its erosion of worker rights, more easy to implement. Remember, in their own way, the civil servants that would be impacted by Schedule F work for a living; unlike their equivalents in the corporate world, they're not getting rich by higher salaries and investments in their employer to compensate for being at-will employees.

By the way, Kamala Harris is speaking in Detroit for Labor Day as I type this. I might visit that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

'Last Week Tonight' examines food delivery apps

I haven't featured John Oliver on this blog since John Oliver examines student loans for Wayback Wednesday. That was more than a month ago, so I'm making up for lost time by sharing the most viewed video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver this year since the one I embedded in Boeing gets the John Oliver treatment on 'Last Week Tonight', Food Delivery Apps.

John Oliver discusses food delivery apps, how they are both helping and harming restaurants and workers, and why starting an orphanage definitely should not be your side hustle.

Welcome to a lasting effect of the pandemic for good and ill. As I first wrote four years ago, "Note that Stephanie Ruhle segued into retail and the transition from brick-and-mortar job losses into job opportunities in online ordering and delivery. The response to the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating existing trends." Using food delivery apps is one of them. Now we have to adjust to the new normal that includes them, such as making sure we tip adequately.

Stay tuned for this election cycle's version of marching music for the Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia Presidential Primaries, followed by the late night talk show hosts on Michael Cohen's testimony at Trump's hush money trial.

Five, now six, days of the UAW strike

Now that Talk Like A Pirate Day is over, it's time to return to the UAW strike. I begin with WTOL asking Five days of the UAW strike: How did it reach this point?

UAW President Shawn Fain says if there's no deal by the end of the week, more plants will walk out on Friday.

The preview image alone shows the timeline, which is why I featured this video.

WDIV has more from metro Detroit in UAW ramps up pressure as strike hits day 5 in Metro Detroit.

The UAW and the Detroit Big Three are having what's been characterized as around-the-clock discussions, but there has been no update from the automakers.

At least the Canadian Auto Workers have reached an agreement. The reporter on location seemed pretty pessimistic about the UAW reaching agreements with the Big Three any time soon.

The location reporter in Fox 2 Detroit's UAW strike effect could send massive waves through economy sounded more optimistic despite the dire possible effects of a prolonged strike.

As UAW members continue protesting outside three plants in the U.S., Michigan's economy could be derailed if the strike lasts for several weeks.

Unlike the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, talks are taking place and progress toward an agreement is happening every day, so I think the strike will end before suppliers start to close, although not before more UAW members go out on strike. Stay tuned.

UAW goes on strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers

I wrote "the threat of an auto workers strike is a local story with national implications" on Labor Day. That strike has begun, as WDIV reported UAW launches historic strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers.

For the first time in history, the United Auto Workers union has called for a simultaneous strike at each of Detroit’s Big Three automakers after the groups failed to come to an agreement before this year’s contract deadline.

Two things impressed me, the resolve of the strikers and the big show the automakers made that they have been negotiating and making what they see as good offers. The first compares well with SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes; the writers and actors have shown great resolve on the picket lines. The second is a welcome contrast to the studios, who have made only token efforts to offer acceptable contracts. The automakers want to keep making cars and trucks while keeping their workforce satisfied. The studios seem to want to starve the writers and actors into submission. You can tell which industry's management I like better.

CNBC Television compared the UAW strike to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in UAW members go on strike at three key auto plants after deal deadline passes.

CNBC's Phil LeBeau joins 'Squawk Box' with the latest news.

Phil LeBeau noted the strikers' resolve as well along with the popular support for the strike. Both of those bode well for the UAW. They also discussed the transition to EVs, which is going more slowly than hoped, and how the strike is likely to impede that technological change even more. I'm not happy about that, as I'm in favor of EVs. However, sustainability is a balancing act, which is why I wrote "May people not suffer so that the planet and profit thrive" on Labor Day. Here's to maintaining that balance.

There will be no negotiations until Monday, so I plan on returning to the strike next week. Until then, stay tuned for more posts about News and Documentary Emmy Awards over the weekend.

PBS NewsHour explains 'Why several states are pushing to loosen child labor restrictions' on World Day Against Child Labor

Today is Loving Day, but I don't think I can top my favorite post from last year, so I'm moving on to another day being observed today, World Day Against Child Labor.

June 12 is set aside to focus on ending child labor. The World Day Against Child Labor is held annually on June 12 as an international day to raise awareness and prompt action to stop child labor in all of its forms. Supporters of the day work year round to see that children everywhere are not working in fields or factories, or even worse places. It is estimated that between 215 million and 220 million children are working full time instead of being in school or on a playground.

The United Nations estimates that almost 75 million victims of child labor are aged 5-11 years. Forty-two million children (28%) are 12-14 years old; 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.

More than half of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labor such as working in hazardous environments – slavery, or other types of forced labor, illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict.
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The World Day Against Child Labor is an International Labor Organization (ILO)-sanctioned holiday first launched in 2002. ILO has worked on finding, reporting, and ending child labor since 1919. The ILO believes that exploiting childhood constitutes evil.

Unfortunately, child labor is making a comeback and is in the news, as PBS NewsHour reported Why several states are pushing to loosen child labor restrictions earlier this month.

The U.S. government found child labor violations involving over 3,800 minors in 2022. At the same time, some states say there is too much regulation of child labor. Katherine Walts, director of the Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago, and Dan Bowling, a distinguished fellow at Duke University School of Law, join Ali Rogin to discuss the state of child labor laws.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from John Oliver on 'Biden & The Border' and FiveThirtyEight on immigration for the end of Title 42.

An apparent short-term solution [to the current labor shortage] is allowing more child labor; I expressed my disapproval in Fox News didn't have to apologize, so 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' did it for them.

I think relaxing child labor laws is not a good way to deal with a labor shortage. I prefer raising wages and improving working conditions so more adults will return to the workforce. Instead, Iowa has joined Arkansas and several other states in permitting teens to work more. I find that worrisome and a reversal of a century of progress.

That's a clear set of choices — increased legal immigration, improved wages and work conditions, or more child labor. I'm with Professor Mayda that the choices should be made clear to voters, whether French or American. I may disapprove of the eventual choice, but at least the voters will have made their decision consciously and explicitly instead of blundering into it. Also, everyone will know what their priorities really are.

I set this up as a clear set of choices — improving working conditions and wages for adults, allowing more immigration, or loosening labor laws for minors. It turns out that the choice isn't as clear-cut, as NBC News reported Government looking into child migrant worker allegations at U.S. companies: NBC News investigation just last week.

NBC News has learned that the Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and White House officials are examining companies that allegedly hired Guatemalan children in at least 11 states, according to two U.S. officials. NBC News’ Julia Ainsley has details.

Sure, exploit some of the most vulnerable, unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. It figures. It also makes it worse.

There are more videos on the topic, which is not going away, so I might revisit it. Stay tuned.

Examinations of Disney v. DeSantis from CNBC, Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Finance

I told my readers to "stay tuned" yesterday, "as I plan on updating the Disney-DeSantis feud as tomorrow's Sunday entertainment feature." It's tomorrow, so I'm following through on my program note with the financial channels' examination of the conflict, beginning with CNBC's Disney V. DeSantis: Why Florida’s Governor Took On America’s Media Giant.

The political feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney has been heating up for the last few months. In April 2023, Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis, accusing the governor of waging a ‘targeted campaign of government retaliation.” DeSantis, who’s preparing for a 2024 presidential campaign on the GOP ticket, says he isn’t backing down. So how did this all begin? And who will come out on top, once it’s all done?

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from last week.

[DeSantis is] "making himself look even worse while getting liberals to side with a big corporation. Nice trick, but not the one he's trying to pull."

Another trick he's pulling is continuing the trend that I saw developing more than a decade ago and summarized in DeSantis to sign replacement for Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government.

Aren't Republicans supposed to be the business-friendly party? Well, they were, but this split has been building for a decade since I wrote about how Newt Gingrich threw big business under the bus while campaigning against Mitt Romney. Ten years later, the rift between Republicans and big business has opened up wide enough for everyone to see. Who knows? Maybe the Republican Party or at least DeSantis will fall into it. Break out the popcorn.

At the time, I thought DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party hadn't fallen into the rift between them and big business. Now, I think they haven't just fallen, but jumped into the widening and deepening chasm. That calls for more popcorn.
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[The] observation that Republican primary voters are more interested in cultural issues than economic issues fits the shift in “the Republican Party’s base moving from country club to country” as CNN quoted Tom Davis, a former Republican representative from northern Virginia, in 2017. That's what I've been seeing since 2012.

[M]ajor U.S. political parties don't have consistent ideologies. They do, however, have consistent core interest groups and Gingrich is throwing one of them, the northeastern business interests, which have been with the GOP since it formed out of the remains of the Whigs in the 1850s, under the bus. That ended up being smart in the short run, given that he was angling for the votes of Southern populists, who don't care much for the northeastern business interests and haven't since before the founding of the republic.

DeSantis is hoping that will work in his favor.

Based on the polling data CNBC showed and the interviews with DeSantis supporters in Florida, it has so far. It remains to be seen how well it will continue to work now that Ron DeSantis is officially running for President against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, and, should he actually get the nomination, in the general election.

Follow over the jump for videos by The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! Finance on the subject.

John Oliver on 'Biden & The Border' and FiveThirtyEight on immigration for the end of Title 42

The public health emergencies in response to the pandemic end today. One of those emergency responses is Title 42, which turned away undocumented immigrants, including legal asylum seekers, at the border as a public health measure. That ends today, too. I'm sharing two examinations of this situation, beginning with John Oliver's Biden & The Border from April 30, 2023.

John Oliver discusses the things Biden has promised to fix about our southern border, what he has and hasn’t done, and a magnificent pile of gators.

The anecdote that people working in the White House expressed relief when the courts blocked the lifting of Title 42 reminds me that a major reason Democratic leaners do not identify with the Democratic Party is frustration with the party’s leaders over inability to accomplish campaign promises and other Democratic agenda times. This story serves as an example of that and adds an extra layer of insufficient commitment to lifting the restrictions as well.

I also found comparing the asylum appointment app to Ticketmaster to be appropriately apt and insulting. I like it better than what first came to my mind, trying to get into the virtual queue for a hot new ride at Disney World through Genie+. I think more people have had bad experiences with Ticketmaster.

That was the comedic examination of the issue. Now for a serious one from FiveThirtyEight, Where The Immigration Debate Stands Today | FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.

Title 42 is expiring on Thursday night, a pandemic-era rule allowing the U.S. government to turn away asylum seekers at the border as a public health measure. This comes at a time when apprehensions at the border are already at record highs and Americans give President Biden some of his lowest ratings on his handling of immigration.

According to Gallup, Americans say immigration is the third-biggest problem facing the country, behind the economy and poor leadership. And the number who say that the level of immigration in the U.S. should be decreased has doubled to 40 percent since Biden took office.

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Georgetown economics professor Anna Maria Mayda about what Americans think of immigration and why, its impacts on the U.S. and its politics, and how that compares with other countries.

Listening to the effects of immigration on wages, employment, local government, and the economy reminds me of a paragraph from CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?' that I recycled in Samantha Bee was prepared for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

[I]f not enough babies are born in the U.S. to meet our job demand, the country can allow more immigration. I'm O.K. with that, but Donald Trump became president in large part because many Americans weren't and still aren't. That's why, when one of my students asked in 2015 if the U.S. would ever adopt Chinese population policies, I responded no, that's not the American way. If the U.S. thinks it has an overpopulation issue, it would restrict immigration. The next week, Trump rode down the escalator and denounced immigrants. This is one of those cases where I hate being proved right.

If increasing immigration is not an acceptable solution, then increasing the U.S. birth rate would be.

That will alleviate labor shortages in the medium-to-long-term. It would not help with the current one. An apparent short-term solution is allowing more child labor; I expressed my disapproval in Fox News didn't have to apologize, so 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' did it for them.

I think relaxing child labor laws is not a good way to deal with a labor shortage. I prefer raising wages and improving working conditions so more adults will return to the workforce. Instead, Iowa has joined Arkansas and several other states in permitting teens to work more. I find that worrisome and a reversal of a century of progress.

That's a clear set of choices — increased legal immigration, improved wages and work conditions, or more child labor. I'm with Professor Mayda that the choices should be made clear to voters, whether French or American. I may disapprove of the eventual choice, but at least the voters will have made their decision consciously and explicitly instead of blundering into it. Also, everyone will know what their priorities really are.

Enough of this serious topic for today. Stay tuned for a retrospective of the blog's year on Twitter tomorrow for Flashback Friday.

Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I concluded 'The Klingon Hamlet' and Klingons quoting Shakespeare for Talk Like Shakespeare Day by telling my readers to "stay tuned for an update on Bed Bath & Beyond facing bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse." The other shoe finally dropped, as NBC News reported Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy after year of job cuts and store closures last night.

Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it will begin “winding down operations” after filing for bankruptcy on Sunday. The news comes after a year of job cuts at the company and store closures. NBC News’ Kathy Park reports.

I wrote CNBC warns that Bed Bath & Beyond is 'facing extinction,' a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, four years ago. I was fairly sanguine then, writing "the chain is facing a crisis, but it's not in imminent danger of going out of business," but I had no idea at the time how bad things were behind the scenes and of course no idea that the pandemic was coming. Bloomberg Television examines the chain's poor management decisions in Bed Bath & Beyond Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

Bed Bath & Beyond has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, clearing the way for it to shut down hundreds of stores and lay off thousands of staff. Su Keenan reports on Bloomberg Television.

There is still some hope that a "white knight" might rescue the chain, but I'm not holding my breath. I expect every store will close by the end of the quarter.

This is a Detroit-based blog, so I'm closing with WDIV/Click on Detroit's Struggling Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy protection for a local perspective.

Bed Bath & Beyond — one of the original big box retailers known for its seemingly endless offerings of sheets, towels and kitchen gadgets — filed for bankruptcy protection, following years of dismal sales and losses and numerous failed turnaround plans.

It's interesting that the interviewee mentioned not only Amazon as a rival store, but also automation as a threat to jobs. I shouldn't be surprised; metro Detroiters have been losing jobs to automation for decades.

That's the latest on the Retail Apocalypse. I expect I'll be returning to this topic between now and the end of June. If nothing else, Erik of Retail Archaeology will be covering the shutdown of stores in Arizona and posting videos, which I will share here. Stay tuned.

Vox asks 'Why is everything getting so expensive?'

I reminded my readers and myself that "I should write something about inflation again" in the middle of Closer looks at the State of the Union Address from Seth Meyers, Tooning Out the News, and FiveThirtyEight. Vox helped me do that when it asked Why is everything getting so expensive?

Diapers, food, rent — around the world, prices are rising. So what can we do about it?
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Right now, inflation is inescapable. At the grocery store, the gas station, and in almost every country in the world, people are playing more — way more — than they did just a couple of years ago for everything.

In this video, we explore three explanations for why prices are rising, as well as different policy options for bringing them down.

The traditional explanation for inflation is "too much money chasing too few goods." The people who give this answer, like Larry Summers, are usually arguing for less money. Summers thought the U.S. and other industrial democracies were pumping too much money into the economy to keep it on life support during the pandemic. While I think that money could have been better targeted to consumers and workers and not so much to business owners — I should write at least one entry about business owners being prosecuted for fraudulent use of these funds — that money helped end that recession almost as soon as it began. The alternative would have been much worse, especially since peak unemployment was the highest since the Great Depression. As much as it could be an example of "everything is connected to everything else and there is no free lunch," I'll take a temporary surge in inflation as the price to pay for preventing more suffering while people were staying safe at home.

In addition to being callous, the advocates of "too much money chasing too few goods" usually aren't as vocal about making more goods, which leads directly to supply shocks, the second explanation for inflation. I've written about supply shocks to explain the causes and effects of the chip shortage, baby formula shortage, and gas prices. That works very well as an explanation for why specific goods increase in price, but other than energy prices, which affect the prices of everything else, it doesn't work as a general explanation.

By the way, it's not just goods that are in short supply relative to demand; services and labor are in short supply as well. That means that the full version of the first explanation should be "too much money chasing too few goods, services, and employees." Increasing interest rates, which is inverting the yield curve, would be counterproductive on the supply side of the equation. Instead, it works by reducing demand. I'm an environmentalist who thinks over-consumption is a problem, but deliberately increasing suffering to destroy demand is not the way I want to do this. I'd prefer greater efficiency to reduce waste and a more educated populace who will choose to consume more responsibly and sustainably. Inflation while keeping people employed might actually help that goal.

Companies investing in their factories or other facilities and hiring more employees and paying them better would also help with increasing supply of goods and services, as well as induce more people to join the labor force.* Instead, they are engaging in massive markups, i.e., profiteering, and sending the increased profits to their investors and executives. This is normal capitalist behavior, but that doesn't mean it's desirable. It's particularly bad when it's the result of monopoly power, which I wrote about in Vox explains how 4 companies control the beef industry for a late National Food Day and John Oliver examines tickets plus MSNBC covers Ticketmaster hearing. The solution to that is regulation and breaking up monopolies, which Vox recommends, but doesn't elaborate on. Maybe Vox will do so in a future video. If so, I'll post it here.

A fringe idea that Vox didn't list is one I mentioned in passing this past August.

One of these days, I should write a post about the Kondratiev Cycle, how it relates to inflation, and why the time of the current rise in prices fits the cycle. Maybe when I'm on vacation, which isn't now.

I am on break, but I think this idea deserves a post of its own and I've blogged enough for today. In the meantime, stay tuned for the highlights of tonight's episode of "Saturday Night Live" as the Sunday entertainment feature.

*I acknowledge there are limits to increasing the labor force. The pandemic has killed more than one million Americans, disabled many more, and prompted a lot of retirements. I have a long rant about the long-term effects of a decreasing labor force and what to do about it in CNBC asks 'Is The U.S. Running Out Of People?' Read more there.

Shop small and local on Small Business Saturday from National Day Calendar, Yahoo Finance, and WDIV

Happy Small Business Saturday! I begin today's celebration of shopping small and local with National Day Calendar's Small Business Saturday | Saturday After Thanksgiving.

Small Business Saturday reminds us of the prime shopping opportunities right in our own communities. Not only do the small businesses where we work, live, and play offer numerous gift-giving possibilities, they are hands-on and ready to complete your shopping list with quality, thoughtful gifts.

National Day Calendar is nearly always a good place to start with a holiday and seeing the first 2018 post on Small Business Saturday lead off with the site inspired me to see if Marlo Anderson had a video for today. He did.

Next, Yahoo Finance examined the day in more detail as it reported Small Business Saturday goes a long way in 'spurring local economies': SBA Administrator.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the expectations for Small Business Saturday, inflation, and the outlook for small businesses this holiday season.

Despite all the talk the pandemic, inflation, and the next recession, the economy is supporting a lot of retail activity and job growth and I'm glad to hear someone in power discuss that.

Since I live in Metro Detroit and today is all about empowering local businesses, I'm closing with Click on Detroit/WDIV's Survey: Nearly 60% of Americans plan to shop small on Small Business Saturday.

A recent study finds that 60% of Americans say they will shop small this Small Business Saturday. Shoppers appear to be considering more and more just where they spend their money, especially younger shoppers.

That's good news, even including the role of TikTok getting young people to show local. It's another area besides dance where TikTok's influence has been positive. I'm still not sold on the service.

I might return to shopping on Cyber Monday. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature. More awards shows!

CNBC explains 'Why Long Covid Could Cost The U.S. $3.7 Trillion'

I foreshadowed today's topic in the following footnote to CNBC explains 'How Car Safety Became A Major Selling Point'.

*Speaking of which, there's some speculation that the effects of COVID-19 are also causing cognitive and emotional issues in drivers. I don't know about that, but it's enough to make me examine long COVID soon, if not next. Stay tuned.

I haven't yet seen any evidence that long covid or just post-infection effects are contributing to U.S. traffic deaths reaching nearly 43,000 in 2021, the most in 16 years, instead of just the social reaction to it, but I did see cognitive deficits and decreased energy levels from the condition in CNBC's Why Long Covid Could Cost The U.S. $3.7 Trillion.

Long Covid is not just changing the lives of those affected, but it is proving to have a significant impact on the American labor force and economy. About a quarter of the roughly 16.3 million working-age Americans currently suffering from long Covid are out of work, and according to one estimate, long Covid could cost America as much as $3.7 trillion. Many of those suffering are either running out of disability insurance through their employers or getting denied Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI - an effect that’s expected to be long-lasting. In December 2021, Congress allocated $1.15 billion to the National Institutes of Health to study the long term effects of the disease. But many experts are saying that is not nearly enough.

I can sum all of this up in one sentence: COVID is not over and won't be even if the virus stops circulating. The effects may be with us for decades, just like the effects of polio were and still are. My neighbor growing up had a limp from polio that she contracted as a young child in Iraq and she's probably still alive and living with that limp. The same will be true of the people disabled from COVID-19; they could be impoverished for the rest of their lives unless the disability system recognizes their condition.

I have another video from CNBC to share about other respiratory diseases like flu and RSV. Stay tuned after I post the Sunday entertainment feature. There is no new episode of "Saturday Night Live" tonight, so I plan on posting awards show coverage tomorrow instead.

'SNL' on the midterm election and Twitter

Last night's episode of "Saturday Night Live" began with President Biden Midterms Address Cold Open.

President Biden (James Austin Johnson) makes some last-minute changes ahead of the midterms and introduces his new team (Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney).

That certainly counts as the continuing election coverage I promised. So do both segments of Weekend Update, beginning with Donald Trump Jr. Mocks Paul Pelosi, Kanye West's Instagram Suspension. Just look at the video description.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Oprah Winfrey endorsing John Fetterman over Dr. Oz.

In addition to the political news, the report about Kanye West qualifies today's post as the Sunday entertainment update, just as I promised.

Weekend Update concluded with Tammy the Trucker on Gas Prices and Definitely Not Abortion.

Tammy the Trucker (Cecily Strong), who promises she's here to talk about gas prices and definitely not abortion stops by Weekend Update.

This reminds me of Strong as Goober the Clown, which I embedded in 'SNL' on infrastructure bill passing and the rest of this week's news. Some messages deserve repetition and reinforcement.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the highlights from last night's episode.

Mark Zandi explains 'What Broke U.S. Recession Indicators' on CNBC

I made the following observation in Wall Street Journal and CNBC explain 'Why a 2022 Recession Would Be Unlike Any Other' this past July.

The GDP numbers may signal a recession, but consumers and possibly even businesses aren't showing signs of it. We may end up having a "Wile E. Coyote moment" where both look down and realize they are over an abyss and then start falling, but that hasn't happened yet.

That still hasn't happened, at least where jobs and inflation are concerned. The result has been that despite GDP declining (slightly) during the first half of 2022, no recession has been declared. CNBC examined this paradoxical situation in What Broke U.S. Recession Indicators | Mark Zandi.

Moody's Analytics' chief economist Mark Zandi cautions that a recession may be on the horizon.

In an interview with CNBC's Andrea Miller, Zandi said a recession did not occur in the first half of this year. Zandi called employment levels the "most important indicator[s]" of a recession. With unemployment at the low rate of 3.5%, he doesn't buy the view that two back-to-back quarters of negative growth alone are sufficient to make for a recession.

But Zandi did warn that he expects layoffs to increase in the days ahead.

I made my forecast of a possible recession in July as well.

I expect it would be like the recession I predicted at the end of 2017 to happen by the end of the last decade, not the one we actually got in 2020 because of the pandemic.

By the way, there won't be a recession called this year for another reason third quarter GDP is estimated to have increased 1.9% to 2.8%. Good news, everyone, but not enough for me to post Professor Farnsworth.

CNBC and Vox on unionization for Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! This year, I'm looking at the history of labor itself, not the holiday that honors it. I begin at the present moment with CNBC explaining Why Starbucks, Apple And Google Are Unionizing Now For The First Time.

Since December, workers have led a surge of unionization unlike anything this country has seen since the Great Depression. It's happening at arduous workplaces like one Amazon warehouse in New York, but it's also hitting an entirely new sector: retail and big tech. First-ever unions have now formed at more than 200 Starbucks, an Apple store in Maryland, a Google Fiber contractor, REI, Trader Joe's, Kickstarter, and a gaming division of Microsoft. Here's why experts say it's happening now, and why these progressive companies are fighting back against the movements.

One of the contributing factors has been the pandemic.

"It has to do with the pandemic," said Laura Garza, a barista who helped organize her New York City-based Starbucks location, which voted to unionize in April. "It made a lot of workers that continued to work during the pandemic reevaluate what is most important to them. And honestly, it has to go to better pay, livable wage for everybody."

In addition to the pandemic conditions, numerous other factors have collided to create what labor experts call a perfect storm for organizing. The U.S. has seen four decades of stagnant wages. Companies that already had healthy profits before the pandemic made even more money after lockdowns. And there are lots of jobs available without enough applicants to fill them. What's more, the Biden administration is pro-union.

CNBC also mentioned the long-term decline in unionization. Vox examined that in The fall (and rise?) of unions in the US.

We answered a viewer’s question about the decline of unionization.
...
“How come we’ve seen such a decline in unionization in the US?” That’s the question we received from one of our viewers, Cameron when we put out a call for topics to explain. It comes at an interesting time.

Earlier this year, the Amazon Labor Union won its first election at a large warehouse in New York, and more than 200 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize since baristas in Buffalo broke the seal in December 2021. The National Labor Relations Board reports that petitions for union elections are up 56 percent this year compared to 2021.

This level of energy and momentum in the labor movement is remarkable in light of the long, steep decline in union membership rates since the 1950s. Social science has limited tools for establishing what caused that decline, and different experts tend to emphasize different factors. But in the video above, we dig into a few key drivers of low union density in the US relative to other wealthy countries.

Seeing those clips from 1950s documentaries gave me flashbacks to The End of Suburbia, which used at least one of those same clips. In this context, they support the thesis that unionization contributed to the elevation of the working class to middle-class lifestyles and then how unions became the victims of their own success. As I'm fond of mentioning, the point serves as an example for two of Commoner's Laws: Everything is connected to everything else and there is no free lunch. Just the same, as a unionized worker myself, I support the unionization efforts, even if they cost me more at the store. The money will be going to support the workers.

I conclude with one of my holiday traditions, sharing drink recipes for the day. Here's Houston Life on KPRC 2 with 2 easy cocktail recipes for Labor Day Weekend.

If you’re looking for cocktail ideas to spice up your Labor Day Weekend celebrations, you’re in luck! Mixologist Josh Alden with Reserve 101, has 2 easy recipes perfect to entertain guests or simply unwind on your day off.

Listening to the banter between the two hosts reminds me of my snarky observation in Happy National Ice Cream Day, World Emoji Day, and Souther! Souther? Yes, Souther.

I'm beginning to wonder if "It's always five o'clock somewhere" means 5:00 P.M. or 5:00 A.M. to morning show anchors who drink as part of their job. I hope they have designated drivers.

Once again, happy Labor Day!

Wall Street Journal and CNBC explain 'Why a 2022 Recession Would Be Unlike Any Other'

With the likelihood of a second quarter of declining GDP being announced on Thursday, it's time to update CNBC explains 'Why Recessions May Be Inevitable' with the Wall Street Journal explaining Why a 2022 Recession Would Be Unlike Any Other.

Is the U.S. in a recession? Many economists think that’s a possibility and by some measurements, it may have already started. But why aren’t people losing their jobs?

The GDP numbers may signal a recession, but consumers and possibly even businesses aren't showing signs of it. We may end up having a "Wile E. Coyote moment" where both look down and realize they are over an abyss and then start falling, but that hasn't happened yet. If it does, then I expect it would be like the recession I predicted at the end of 2017 to happen by the end of the last decade, not the one we actually got in 2020 because of the pandemic.

That was the serious examination. As a contrast, I'm sharing CNBC Television's Jim Cramer breaks down 3 possible recession scenarios to show how to make lemonade out of lemons for fun and profit.

CNBC's Jim Cramer broke down three possible scenarios that could happen if the economy enters a recession on Thursday's episode of "Mad Money."

While this video reminds me of my complaints about CNBC viewing the economy through the lens of investing, I couldn't resist Cramer's comedy and sense of humor making investment advice and education about the economy entertaining.

I may have more about the economy, guns, or the Emmy Awards tomorrow. I may even combine two of them. To find out, stay tuned.

CNBC on 'The Great Resignation'

Two days after I posted Trevor Noah, CBS News, and PBS NewsHour explain 'The Great Resignation', CNBC uploaded The Great Resignation: Why Millions Of Workers Are Quitting.

Americans are leaving their jobs in droves. In August 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs. While some people have left the workforce entirely, job security and better pay are top concerns for others. Dubbed "The Great Resignation", the exodus of workers has created hiring challenges for companies and left millions of jobs unfilled. More than half of U.S. workers surveyed said they plan to look for a new job in the coming year, according to Bankrate's August jobseeker survey. Some 56% of respondents said adjustable working hours and remote work were a priority. Working women have faced an additional burden, juggling childcare duties, virtual schooling and their careers. So, what does the realignment of the workforce mean for employees and businesses? And what steps should you take before quitting your job?

I was expecting something more friendly to business and hostile to employees, but CNBC surprised me with a fairly sympathetic portrayal of workers and why they have been quitting while maintaining the high journalistic standards and production values I expect out of CNBC. The network may have a perma-bull attitude and prioritize entertainment as much as information, but they have to give their viewers good advice or they'll leave for Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal.

I consider myself fortunate to work in a job I find rewarding, both personally and financially. I hope all the people looking for new jobs find positions where they can say the same. In the meantime, I'm sharing a meme for them.