Economy of Shortages & Wealth Inequality 📭

The material shortage has been so bad that restaurants couldn’t even find reflective tape. The plywood needed to build outdoor patio is exponentially more expensive than it had been in 2019 — the price of lumber was, for a time, sky-high, spurred by a housing boom, renovation projects, and the fact that while demand is extremely high, many mills shut down temporarily to institute new safety measures.

These shortages aren't just limited to the U.S. The U.K. and other European countries are also facing a food shortage. Recently, Bloomberg projected the global auto industry to lose $61 billion of 2021 sales due to chip shortages. Supply chain disruptions and lockdowns around the world coupled with labor crunches are the main reasons for the economy of shortage. 

Plenty of the influencers clogging our TikTok and Instagram pages are people who still can’t legally drink, but the savvy required to make it online is distinctly corporate. Creators are drafting contracts, negotiating pay for nebulous freelance assignments, and sending stern follow-up emails — tasks Millennials didn’t master until college.

But do these skills and savviness translate to wealth equality? 

A report from UK-based influencer marketing agency - SevenSix, found that 37% of influencers surveyed said the fees they can charge can decrease because of their ethnicity. And 99% of those influencers were people of color. 

Just like how the child who’s a double legacy at Harvard has a leg up in college admissions, the same goes for the influencer born into privilege. White creators have a built-in network of lawyers; they are better primed to know where to look for secrets of social media algorithms, payouts, and influencer sponsorship deals. Meanwhile, BIPOC influencers are left to navigate a new space that is a breeding ground for the same pay inequality and discrimination that contaminated virtually every other industry before it.

Collab Crib, TikTok’s first-ever 9-member Black content house, says creating a unique post on their accounts can start at $50,000, which works out to about $5,000 per creator. By comparison, Addison Rae is said to earn over $69,000 per sponsored Instagram post, while the Clubhouse Beverly Hills can rake in about $1.3 million for group content.

Their fame stems from an algorithm that may favour white creators, with TikTok facing consistent charges of racial bias in its algorithm and content moderation. For every Shawn Mendes and Dixie D’Amelio, there are hundreds of BIPOC creators who get bogged down by predatory managers and racial inequalities. Their accounts are also heavily monitored, with Kenny Knox losing a Target gig for using the N-word in a recent video. Other white influencers like Felix Kjellberg appeared to get away with worse, including anti-Semitic jokes, filming dead bodies, and throwing un-masked parties during the coronavirus pandemic.

Build Back Better has plenty of goodies for small businesses. 

The $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package--also known as President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda -would inject $25 billion into small-business-related programs.

The bill would allow the U.S. Small Business Administration to make its popular 7(a) and 504 loans directly, instead of through a commercial bank. It allocates about $4.5 billion over 10 years for 7(a) for direct lending, and $2.8 billion over 10 years for 504. Further, the bill allows for 7(a) loans of up to $1 million for manufacturing companies and up to $150,000 for other small businesses. 

The new bill would also create SBIC subprograms, called venture small business investment companies (VSBICs). They would invest $9.5 billion in "underserved markets and critical industries” and allocate another $20 million for a mentorship program for less experienced fund managers.

• Apple with Putin - Apple and Google shut down a voting app in Russia meant to help opposition parties following President Vladimir Putin's directive. 
   
• TikTok bans theft trends - A new trend on TikTok dubbed "devious licks" which requires students to steal supplies from schools (including microscopes and Covid tests) has been banned by the app. 
   
• Netflix deal for Dahl - Netflix has bought rights to all the works of Roald Dahl with plans to turn them into live-action films, TV series, games, theatre and consumer products.
   
• UK's A.I. Plan  - The U.K. government released a 10-year plan to make the country a global “artificial intelligence superpower”, rivalling the likes of the U.S. and China.
   
• The rich lonely guy car - This startup's $18,000 electric car has only one seat.
   
• France for Startups - France ranks first for small business survival in Europe with 70% of startups in the country still in business after 5 years. 
   
• Iceland for Women - Iceland elected Europe's first female-majority parliament with 33 out of 63 seats being held by women lawmakers.