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Week InReview
Friday | Jun 25, 2021
Hybrid + Tech
Illustration: Glenn Harvey/NYT
When the pandemic blended our professional and personal lives by forcing many of us to work from home, we learned a valuable lesson about tech.

Now as some white-collar professionals prepare to return to the office, many businesses are planning a so-called hybrid model, in which workers split their hours between the office and home. And therein lies a new tech challenge.

— The New York Times
let's recap...
Supreme Court decision is a setback for firms that have sought to persuade the government to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control.
Photo: Associated Press
The U.S. Supreme Court crushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors Wednesday, tossing out a central component of their lawsuit over the government’s collection of more than $100 billion in profits from the government-sponsored enterprises. (Bloomberg Politics | Jun 23) see also Fannie-Freddie regulator ousted (Bloomberg Politics | Jun 24)

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to require public companies to disclose more information about how they respond to threats linked to climate change — and businesses are gearing up for a fight. (The Wall Street Journal | Jun 23)

The market just can’t seem to get quantitative easing – or its reversal – right. Investors are laser-focused on the end date of pandemic-era monetary stimulus. In theory, investors can follow a simple playbook. The problem is that this playbook doesn’t work. (The Wall Street Journal | Jun 23)

Wall Street regulators delivered a uniform message to President Joe Biden Monday: the huge capital buffers that banks built up over the pandemic are protecting the financial system from looming threats. In a meeting at the White House, the heads of the Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other agencies told Biden that the financial system is doing well. (Bloomberg Economics | Jun 21)

The U.S. is likely to become the world’s top destination for overseas investment this year and next, according to new United Nations projections, with foreign businesses drawn by the prospect of a rapid and sustained rebound in consumer spending and the Biden administration’s multitrillion-dollar infrastructure plans. (The Wall Street Journal | Jun 21)
the cyber cafe
Can it work? It's surely worth trying to animate people on the topic.
Screenshot: ZDNet
Worried about cybersecurity? Japan says watch cartoons.
Japanese people are very used to learning things such as history and science through anime/manga at a young age. In their culture, they believe that anime/manga is a great way to learn, especially because it is convenient and entertaining.
— ZDNet

SEC looks at how companies handled SolarWinds cyberattack
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how companies responded to last year’s SolarWinds hack seeking to determine whether public-company victims made appropriate disclosures to investors, if there was suspicious trading related to the attack, and whether private data was compromised.
— Reuters

Fed economists take a hard look at cybercrime
Federal Reserve Bank of New York economists conducted an in-depth review of cybercrime covering the history of cybercrime and some of its most notable incidents, the geographical areas most affected by it, and its consequences, which often spread far beyond the targeted entity.
— Liberty Street Economics (NY Fed)
binge reading disorder
Photo: Federal Reserve of Cleveland
Federal Reserve builds Lego town to explain inflation
Inflation has caught America’s attention and the Federal Reserve is reaching for Lego to explain why some price rises will probably prove temporary. As policy makers strive to communicate their approach to keeping inflation in check – a vital step to preserve their credibility with the American public amid a recent surge in prices – the Cleveland Fed is taking a different approach.

The unfiltered truth behind human magnetism, vaccines, and Covid-19
Every once in a while, a claim comes along that wildly challenges the mainstream scientific narrative. Fortunately, the science of magnetism has been extraordinarily well-understood for more than 150 years. Here’s a look at the science behind this claim.
— Forbes

The world's financial centers struggle back to the office
The journey back to your desk is shaping up to be slow and indirect. Roughly 15 months after locking down to ward off Covid-19, several of the globe’s key financial centers are struggling to get employees back to their offices. Workplace activity in London, New York and San Francisco is still 50% below its normal level. Other evidence from Frankfurt, Singapore and Hong Kong reveals how virus-related restrictions have changed habits and caused new problems.
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