Week InReview
Friday | Aug 13, 2021
'Miss Otis Regrets'
Illustration: Ruth Gwily
Saying no to social events can be tough, and people are inclined to provide all kinds of made-up excuses. Your question is whether it is better to invent a pretext for not showing up or rather to explain that you will be absent due to Covid concerns. The short answer is that in this case, it is better to be transparent and truthful.

— The Wall Street Journal
let's recap...
Photo: Bloomberg News
A measure of U.S. financial liquidity whose declines foreshadowed two of the decade’s worst equity routs is flashing alarms even before the Federal Reserve embarks on its planned winding down of asset purchases. The signal is obscure, but has sent meaningful signs in the past. Roughly speaking, it’s the gap between the rates of growth in money supply and gross domestic product, an indicator known to eco-geeks as Marshallian K. It just turned negative for the first time since 2018, meaning GDP is rising faster than the government’s M2 account. (Bloomberg Markets | Aug 12)

In some circumstances, markets will calm down from the knowledge that the Fed is willing to provide future support as needed through emergency measures, a senior official for the New York Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. But such announcement effects may not be as strong when there is an immediate need for U.S. dollars, according to Lorie Logan, an executive vice president in the Markets Group at the New York Fed and the manager of the System Open Market Account (Reuters | Aug 11)

Prices paid by U.S. shoppers climbed at a more moderate pace last month, with the Consumer Price Index increasing only 0.5% from June, according to the Labor Department. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core CPI rose just 0.3%. So what’s going on? (Bloomberg Economics | Aug 11) see also Federal Reserve could start to limit stimulus as soon as this year (Financial Times | Aug 11)

The latest twists in the seemingly endless saga of the U.S. debt ceiling underscore once again how strange the whole thing is. The very existence of the debt ceiling is utterly superfluous. Every couple of years members of Congress have to vote to allow borrowing to fund measures that they’ve already approved through individual spending bills. Its main function is political. (Bloomberg Businessweek | Aug 9)

The bond market isn’t fully buying the hawkish shift from Federal Reserve officials in recent days. Eurodollar futures traders continue to wager that a full 25 basis point interest-rate increase will come in 2023 at the earliest, despite a chorus of Fed policy makers this month raising the prospect that the central bank could begin dialing back monetary stimulus sooner than expected. (Bloomberg Markets | Aug 9)
the cyber cafe
FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia, SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna, and Microsoft President Brad Smith speak with each other before the start of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in February 2021 about the SolarWinds hack.
Photo: Drew Angerer/UPI/Shutterstock
Businesses push to shape federal rules for disclosing hacks
Companies are pushing to narrow legislation that would require them to report cyberattacks to the U.S. government, as a series of hacks has added momentum to a nearly decade-long effort in Congress to approve such a law. Companies and trade groups want at least 72 hours to report cyberattacks.

Ransomware gangs are working with Russian intelligence services, report says
Two Russian intelligence bureaus – the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR – collaborated with individuals in "multiple cybercriminal organizations," according to new research from cybersecurity firm Analyst1. The research indicates these cybercriminals helped Russian intelligence develop and deploy custom malware targeting American companies that serve U.S. military clients. 
— CBS News

Behind the scenes: A day in the life of a cybersecurity "threat hunter"
Twenty-six-year-old Cherlynn Cha, born and raised in Singapore, thought cybersecurity was "so cool" as a teenager. "The good guys get the bad guys," she said, "or help each other using cool, cutting-edge technology."
binge reading disorder
Illustration: Mark Long/FT
The life-changing power of prosecco
How “serious” should wine be? It’s a heart-gladdening beverage. There’s no neat line, though, between dignity and levity in wine. Prosecco makes the point. Venice’s foamy-fresh, stress-dissolving sparkler has been (along with rosé) one of wine’s recent success stories.

As the Delta variant spreads, the best travel advice is Plan B
Many travelers aren’t just gearing up for one vacation, but two: There is the trip they would most like to take, and Plan B if the Delta variant of Covid-19 renders their original idea untenable.

Minor volcanic eruptions could 'cascade' into global catastrophe
A team of experts argues that too much focus is on the risks of massive yet rare volcanic explosions, while far too little attention is paid to the potential domino effects of moderate eruptions in key parts of the planet.
— PhysOrg
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