Hi folks, Allison here, back in the driver's seat but mentally and emotionally still very much on vacation. What did Dave say about me while I was gone? Let's get into it. By Allison Morrow |
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"Uber making nice with NYC cabbies" was definitely not on my 2022 bingo card. If you'd have asked me yesterday whether such a thing were likely, I would have said something like, "yeah when hell freezes over." (Actually, since I was still on vacation yesterday, my response would have been more along the lines of "who cares, please leave me alone.") But in a sign of how topsy-turvy everything is, Uber is actually making nice with New York's taxi drivers. Here's the deal: Uber will now let users hail a taxi through its app, a development that aims to resolve a massive mismatch between the demand for rides and the shortage of drivers. The partnership will "add tens of thousands of vehicles to the Uber platform" in the city, said Guy Peterson, Uber's director of business development. "This is a real win for drivers — no longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off-peak times or getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outer boroughs." Uber hopes to expand the collaboration beyond the New York area soon, potentially delivering a shot in the arm to its core businesses after it was gutted by the pandemic. Let's do a quick #ThrowbackThursday that sheds some light on why this is such a surprising alliance: Back in the early 2010s, the rise of Uber, along with rival Lyft, put the taxi business in a tailspin. - In New York, in particular, cab drivers seethed, accusing the startups of flouting regulations.
- Meanwhile, taxi companies tried to replicate Uber's business...mostly unsuccessfully.
- By 2020, demand for rides plummeted under pandemic lockdowns, hurting drivers on all sides.
- Now, demand is surging along with the high cost of gas.
According to Uber and the company behind taxis' digital efforts say they've found a win-win: By integrating city taxis, Uber gains thousands of new drivers without adding more cars on the road. That should help tame price surges that have been irking customers. Shares of Uber rose 4% in trading Thursday morning after the Wall Street Journal got the scoop. It wasn't yet clear whether Uber's rival, Lyft, would also gain access to the city's cabs. |
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades. |
Larry Fink, the head of the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, is calling it: It's the end of the globalized world as we know it. In his annual letter to shareholders, Fink said Russia's isolation is forcing companies and governments to look inward and reevaluate their own reliance on global supply chains — something that began with the pandemic and then accelerated as war broke out in Eastern Europe. And in his telling, there's no coming back from this: "The magnitude of Russia's actions will play out for decades to come and mark a turning point in the world order of geopolitics, macro-economic trends, and capital markets." |
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| Foreign businesses have for decades reaped the benefits of setting up shop in Hong Kong, a historically stable, expat-friendly finance hub at the doorstep of mainland China.
But lately, as Beijing has tightened its grip on the former British colony, those firms are increasingly eyeing the exits.
Here's the deal: Nearly half of all European businesses in Hong Kong are considering relocating in the next year, according to a new report. Companies largely blame the local government's extreme Covid-19 protocols that mirror those on the mainland. - Among the firms planning to leave, 25% said they would fully relocate out of Hong Kong in the next 12 months, while 24% plan to relocate at least partially.
- Only 17% of the companies said they don't have any relocation plans for the next 12 months.
- Among Americans, 44% of expats and businesses are likely to leave the city, citing Covid-related restrictions, according to a US Chamber of Commerce report from January.
The city – both because it is taking cues from Beijing and because it remains haunted by the 2003 SARS epidemic – went into the kind of pandemic lockdown that's difficult for Westerners to fathom. For example: Early on, a CNN colleague who was merely exposed to Covid-19 was escorted from her apartment by Hazmat-suited authorities to an isolation pod, where she stayed for two weeks. At one point, the government required most inbound travelers to self-isolate in hotel rooms, on their own dime, for three full weeks. That's no small expense in a city with some of the highest property values in the world. - Key quote: "Hong Kong still holds business opportunities but an array of issues, especially draconian travel restrictions and worsening US-China relations, weigh on sentiment," the US report said.
MY TWO CENTS This story hits close to home. I lived in Hong Kong for three and half years, from 2010 to 2013, and I've remained close with friends and colleagues there. Nearly all of them have left or are in the process of leaving earlier than they'd expected. Once the Omicron variant breached the city's defenses, it spread frantically. Scientists say that's likely because of the lack of immunity from previous variants and low vaccination numbers among the elderly. "Hong Kong is an absolute s***show," one friend told me in a text message earlier this month, announcing they would be pulling the emergency cord and getting their family back to their home country. For many foreigners, the Covid restrictions and subsequent Omicron outbreak — now one of the deadliest in the entire pandemic era — have proven the final straw. In recent years, Beijing has been steadily encroaching on Hong Kong's freedoms, particularly of speech and press, and chipping away at its rule of law, the very things that made Hong Kong such a desirable place to do business. Of course, many expats are in privileged position as their companies work to keep them comfortable or help them transfer. Migrant workers and less affluent Hong Kongers are facing a far more uncertain future. Dozens of domestic workers have been abandoned or made temporarily homeless after testing positive, my colleague Michelle Toh writes. Small businesses are folding, and there's no relief on the horizon. "The worst thing is you cannot see the future," said Danny Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association. "We don't know how long these restrictions will last for." |
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🛢️ US oil executives are blaming Wall Street for high gas prices. Nearly 60% of executives told researchers they can't increase supply because of pressure from shareholders and lenders to maintain capital discipline. 📈 Russia's stock market reopened Thursday for the first time in a month, operating under irregular rules. 📉 Weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest level in half a century. Just 187,000 people in the United States filed for initial unemployment benefits last week, lower than economists' expectations of 210,000. |
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