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Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

bbc.com

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Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#61

Post by kaashif »

voisin wrote: post #52
015a wrote: post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

Are you suggesting that Bezos believes growing competitors will voluntarily stop growing because he recommends they do so? I don’t buy it.

I think what they're saying is if you tell people there's an economic downturn, and they believe you, that creates the downturn. Employees will be reluctant to switch away from a stable big company job for fear of layoffs at startups. Investors will play it safe and avoid risky bets of the kind that could disrupt Amazon's businesses. And so on.

Jeff may as well be saying "our competitors are uninvestable" but that would be too obvious and be discounted.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#62

Post by astrange »

mc32 wrote: post #7
matt3210 wrote: post #2

> Growth in the US has already contracted for two quarters in a row, a milestone that in many countries - though not the US - is considered a recession. this again :lol:

Any other Chief executive and they would be getting roasted and hit in the news with Recession news and articles. But the current one for some reason, has less stickiness than "the Teflon Don." Imagine Bush (shudder) or Clinton or Obama or Trump not getting roasted with Recessionary news... They all would have been at the receiving end of the bad news.

He's not in trouble for causing a recession cause he hasn't. The statement in the article is debatable even if you want to use a technical definition.

Real GDI, which is supposed to be the same thing as real GDP, hasn't decreased: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A261RX1Q020SBEA

Which suggests dips in GDP are actually due to measuring it incorrectly since the economy is so unusual right now.

Also, people dislike inflation more than they dislike the unemployment rate going up a little. That's because inflation hits everyone, while unemployment only applies to a few people. That's more or less why the Fed is trying to cause a minor recession in 2023.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#63

Post by astrange »

bern4444 wrote: post #10
mc32 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any other Chief executive and they would be getting roasted and hit in the news with Recession news and articles. But the current one for some reason, has less stickiness than "the Teflon Don." Imagine Bush (shudder) or Clinton or Obama or Trump not getting roasted with Recessionary news... They all would have been at the receiving end of the bad news.

At least with Clinton the budget was balanced and even ran at a surplus.

No reason to want that in the absence of inflation. A country is not a household and a budget surplus is the same thing as the money supply getting smaller, which is bad business if the number of people in the world who want to use your currency is increasing.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#64

Post by astrange »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #42

Wages need to double, just like everything else has. A new house costs a million, yet some people are forced to strike to get a $3 wage increase.

By a new house do you mean "a new house on land you own", "an old house and the land it's on", or "a new house and the land it's on"?

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#65

Post by mc32 »

astrange wrote: post #62
mc32 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any other Chief executive and they would be getting roasted and hit in the news with Recession news and articles. But the current one for some reason, has less stickiness than "the Teflon Don." Imagine Bush (shudder) or Clinton or Obama or Trump not getting roasted with Recessionary news... They all would have been at the receiving end of the bad news.

He's not in trouble for causing a recession cause he hasn't. The statement in the article is debatable even if you want to use a technical definition. Real GDI, which is supposed to be the same thing as real GDP, hasn't decreased: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A261RX1Q020SBEA Which suggests dips in GDP are actually due to measuring it incorrectly since the economy is so unusual right now. Also, people dislike in…

He "hasn't" only because they (many economists and reporters) abandoned the de facto/practical definition which had been used in previous Recessions in favor of a more strict definition to define it away, or rather postpone the inevitable.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#66

Post by digianarchist »

type-r wrote: post #59
digianarchist wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only Ally allowed non-citizens and non-Green Card holders to open accounts. I've got my emergency fund in Robin Hood. They pay 3% on cash in the brokerage account.

and in exchange all they ask is that you don't expect FDIC insurance

> With the brokerage cash sweep program, the uninvested cash in your brokerage account (cash intended for investing but that you have not yet invested or spent) is swept to program banks, where it becomes eligible for FDIC insurance up to $1.5 million or $250,000 per program bank,

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#67

Post by bmitc »

Does anyone really care about what a mega billionaire, particularly one who has been at the forefront of turning customers into statistics, driving products and prices to the bottom dollar and lowest common denominator, and pouring fuel on consumerism, thinks about anything?

> As the US central bank raises interest rates to fight rising prices

Can someone explain their perspective on this? It seems it just helps those at the top fight rising prices.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#69

Post by midoridensha »

thr0wawayf00 wrote: post #38
015a wrote: post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

Spot on, and the recent press around Amazon's warehouse churn tells you everything you need to know about how they view labor. They're legitimately at risk of churning through their entire candidate pool in some job functions within the next few years and they don't care at all.[0] 0: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/22/amazon-wo...

It's not just the low-skill warehouse workers and delivery drivers; everything I've read about their IT/tech jobs sounds like an absolute horror show, along with an enormous amount of churn.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#70

Post by thenoblesunfish »

It seems like these sorts of statements have to be self-fulfilling to some degree (but not completely). Big companies battening down the hatches slows down other companies and humans, which in turn leads to more battening. I hope companies aren't too short sighted (though obviously in some ways they are prone or even obligated to be).
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