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No, you can’t imagine it – the size of the packaging is decreasing
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see. From toilet paper to yogurt to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly reducing package sizes without lowering prices. It’s called “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating around the world. In the United States, a small box of Kleenex now contains 60 tissues; a few months ago there were 65. In the UK, Nestlé has reduced coffee cans from 100 grams to 90 grams. Shrinkflation is nothing new, experts say. But it proliferates in times of high inflation as businesses grapple with rising costs for ingredients, packaging, labor and transportation.
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Senate panel backs Michael Barr, Biden chosen as Fed regulator
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nomination of Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s choice to be the chief regulator of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, has been approved by a congressional committee and sent to the full Senate. Barr, who served as one of the top Treasury Department officials in the Obama administration, is considered likely to be confirmed by the full Senate. A confirmation vote would make him the third of Biden’s nominees to join the Fed board and further strengthen Biden’s footprint on the central bank. It would also fill the last of seven seats on the board just as the Fed grapples with the worst spike in inflation in four decades.
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Reports: Twitter will provide Musk with raw data on daily tweets
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter plans to offer Elon Musk access to its “firehose” of raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets in a bid to advance the company’s agreed $44 billion acquisition. billionaire social media platform Tesla, according to multiple reports. Twitter declined to comment. Efforts by the Associated Press to confirm this information were unsuccessful. Musk, who reached a legally binding deal to buy Twitter in April, says the deal can only go ahead if the company provides more information about the prevalence of fake accounts on its platform.
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Russia and Turkey support their grain export plan; doubtful Ukraine
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Turkey say they support a safe corridor in the Black Sea to export Ukrainian grain to world markets. The Turkish Foreign Minister welcomed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to Ankara on Wednesday. A Turkish minister also said Western sanctions should be lifted against Russia for allowing the export of grain. Ukraine was not invited to the talks and has expressed concern that complying with Russia’s request to clear its ports would allow Moscow to attack its southern coast. The European Union has accused Moscow of “weaponizing” food supplies to gain an advantage in the war.
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Stocks fall as choppy trading persists on Wall Street
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street on Wednesday, erasing most of their gains for the week as investors were discouraged to see more evidence of the impact of inflation on businesses and others. bleak outlook on the global economy. The S&P 500 lost 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. Banking and industrial stocks fell overall, as did some big tech companies. The 10-year Treasury yield, which helps set interest rates on mortgages, rose to 3.02%. It’s been a turbulent week for the major indices, which have oscillated between gains and losses, sometimes from hour to hour.
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‘Big resignation’ hits White House with staff turnover
WASHINGTON (AP) — Not even the White House is immune to the economic trend called the “Great Resignation” as employers struggle to fill vacancies and workers move into new jobs at a record pace. The Biden administration is going through a period of unusually high staff turnover as President Joe Biden approaches 18 months in office. Long working hours, low morale and relatively low salaries weigh on both the senior ranks and the more numerous junior aides who keep the White House running. It is not unusual for personnel to change at this stage of a presidency, but the speed of change has sometimes been brutal.
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EU lawmakers approve ban on combustion engine cars in 2035
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers have approved a proposal to ban the sale of new combustion-engine cars in 2035 to step up the fight against global warming. The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to force automakers to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 100% by the middle of the next decade. The mandate would amount to a ban on the sale in the 27-nation bloc of new petrol or diesel cars. Lawmakers also approved a 55% reduction in CO2 from automobiles in 2030 compared to 2021. Environmentalists welcomed the parliament’s decisions, but the votes were criticized by the German auto industry lobby group. Cars account for 12% of European emissions attributed to climate change.
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OECD cuts global economic outlook on Russian-Ukrainian war
LONDON (AP) — The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says Russia’s war in Ukraine and the energy and food crises it has deepened will severely dampen global economic growth and drive up inflation this year. The Paris-based group said Wednesday that China’s “zero-COVID” policy, which has scrambled manufacturing supply chains, was also weighing on a global economy that was beginning to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the latest institution to cut its growth forecasts, underscoring the deterioration in the economic outlook. The OECD expects the global economy to grow by 3% in 2022, down from the 4.5% it forecast in December. Inflation is forecast at almost 9% for the 38 member countries of the OECD, almost double the previous estimate.
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The S&P 500 fell 44.91 points, or 1.1%, to 4,115.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 269.24 points, or 0.8%, to 32,910.90. The Nasdaq fell 88.96 points, or 0.7%, to 12,086.27. The Russell 2000 Small Business Index fell 28.56 points, or 1.5%, to 1,891.01.
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