It's a sunny, breezy morning in Eugene, Ore., a place best known for access to the great outdoors, a history of environmental activism and being the birthplace of Nike. I'm standing outside a nondescript, one-story industrial space, speaking with Mark Frohnmayer, chief executive of Arcimoto, maker of a three-wheeled electric vehicle it calls a "fun utility vehicle." READ MORE
U.S. House committee approves blueprint for Big Tech crackdown
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has formally approved a report accusing Big Tech companies of buying or crushing smaller firms, Representative David Cicilline’s office said in a statement Thursday.
With the approval during a marathon, partisan hearing, the more than 400 page staff report will become an official committee report, and the blueprint for legislation to rein in the market power of the likes of Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google, Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Facebook (FB.O). READ MORE
Ford and Tesla CEOs trade Twitter barbs and it gets personal
Ford didn't pull any punches when it announced its new BlueCruise highway driving assist feature on Wednesday.
Ford suggested that GM's use of red and green lighting to indicate its status makes Super Cruise challenging for people with color blindness and noted that Tesla's Autopilot requires a driver to always touch the steering wheel to prove they are paying attention, while BlueCruise uses facial recognition technology to allow hands-off operation. READ MORE
Biden proposals may not guarantee all Fortune 500 corporations pay federal income taxes
Faced with criticism over their proposed tax hikes, senior Biden administration officials have in recent days pointed to large American corporations that are paying no federal income taxes.
Earlier this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki cited a think-tank report showing 55 companies in the Fortune 500 had paid $0 in U.S. corporate taxes in 2020. That study has also been repeatedly cited by both Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who called the lack of payment by dozens of megafirms “unacceptable,” as well as by the president himself. READ MORE
Biden’s corporate tax plan gives CFOs earnings angst
The upcoming first-quarter reporting season, which kicks off Wednesday with JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, may be the strongest in more than a decade, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at Factset. But instead of popping the champagne, chief financial officers are prepping to handle some tough questions on President Biden’s corporate tax plan. READ MORE
Some workers can't wait to get back to the office
While some employees are enjoying the flexibility of working from home, Janell Longa can't wait to return to the office.
"As soon as I'm...fully vaccinated I am going back to the office," said Longa, who does administrative IT as a long-term temp for a medical supply company. READ MORE
Domino's is launching a pizza delivery robot car
The robots are coming, and they're bringing pizza.
This week, Domino's is rolling out a robot car delivery service to select customers in Houston. For those who opt in, their pies will arrive in a fully autonomous vehicle made by Nuro. READ MORE
White House, Intel team up on semiconductor shortage affecting auto industry
American tech company Intel said it's working to combat the semiconductor chip shortage affecting the auto industry on the same day President Biden rounded up CEOs for a virtual summit on the semiconductor supply chain.
"We’re hoping that some of these things can be alleviated, not requiring a three- or four-year factory build, but maybe six months of new products being certified on some of our existing processes," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told Reuters. "We’ve begun those engagements already with some of the key components suppliers." READ MORE
The Next Level in Office Amenities: Wild Horses
You can’t ride the wild mustangs at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Nevada, but you’re nearly guaranteed to see bands of them loping over sagebrush in a scene that feels straight out of the 1800s.
At least until the dust clears and Tesla’s 5.3-million-square-foot “Gigafactory” comes into focus. READ MORE
Revenge Of The Winklevii
After losing an epic battle with Mark Zuckerberg over ownership of Facebook and being shunned in Silicon Valley, CAMERON and TYLER WINKLEVOSS are back—this time as budding Bitcoin billionaires at the center of the future of money, the creative economy and quite possibly a new operating model for Big Tech itself. READ MORE
Why LinkedIn is giving its workers a week off to help with burnout
Joint Ventures that Keep Evolving Perform Better
Successful companies actively manage their businesses through periods of economic growth, downturn, and recovery. They do so by innovating, making strategic shifts, rewiring existing operations, reallocating resources, entering new business lines, and restructuring existing ones.
For most companies, joint ventures and other partnerships are a critical part of the equation. READ MORE
Elon Musk’s ‘futuristic’ public transport system blasted as ‘slow cars under flashy lights’
ELON Musk's "futuristic" $55M Las Vegas public transit loop has been panned as "just humans driving cars slowly in a tunnel".
Plans had promised to whisk passengers in driverless Tesla vehicles at speeds of 155mph, turning a typically 15-minute-long walk into a two-minute ride. READ MORE
Fed's Powell: Economy at an 'inflection point'
The U.S. economy is at an "inflection point" with expectations that growth and hiring will pick up speed in the months ahead, but some risks remain, particularly any resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
In a brief preview of a longer interview with CBS' news magazine program "60 Minutes" set to air in full on Sunday night, Powell echoed both his recent optimism about the economy and a now-familiar warning that COVID-19 remains the main risk. READ MORE
Biden's discouraging message for small business makes it hard for US to return to full employment: Andy Puzder
This is Job Creation Rule #1: businesses invest in growth and hiring when they can forecast a profit. But that’s hard to do when the Biden administration’s message to American businesses boils down to: "We’re going to increase your labor and energy costs, unionize your business, and then over-regulate and over-tax you." READ MORE
Jobs report blows past expectations as payrolls boom by 916,000 in March
Job growth boomed in March at the fastest pace since last summer as stronger economic growth and an aggressive vaccination effort contributed to a surge in hospitality and construction jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000 for the month while the unemployment rate fell to 6%. READ MORE
Companies ripping Georgia do business in China, silent on human rights violations
Multiple companies attacking Georgia’s new election laws have been hesitant to speak out against China's human rights violations as they continue to do business there.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently blasted the new law, following Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian claiming the law is “based on a lie” and calling it "unacceptable." Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey also called the law "unacceptable" and a step in the wrong direction. READ MORE
Manufacturing strongest since 1983
U.S. manufacturers expanded in March at the fastest pace in 37 years, a sign of strengthening demand as the pandemic wanes and government emergency aid flows through the economy. READ MORE
Elon Musk may build Tesla’s future with high school graduates
Abolish the Corporate Income Tax
Today’s reform will be tomorrow’s problem, goes an old political science axiom. Consider how the Interstate Commerce Commission, created in 1887 to end monopoly abuses by railroads on their branch lines, evolved within a few decades into a railroad cartel. Not until 1980 was the ICC stripped of its power to set rates, allowing transportation companies to begin competing again. READ MORE