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✊🏻 Strike Szn
Crown Crew
August 11, 2023
☕ Good Morning! This is TC, the UK business newsletter that makes you feel as satisfied as when you perfectly flip a pancake.
Have a great Friday. We’ll see ya back on Monday.
Today's reading time is 5½ minutes.
LABOR
THE PICKET LINE IS GROWING
Remember how back in July, teaching unions and senior doctors called off strikes? Well, the worker’s dissatisfaction doesn’t stop there…
What happened: Junior doctors in England are preparing for a four-day strike and will be on the picket lines today.
The reason? Below-inflation pay rises + wage erosion in the past 15 years.
Why it matters: A strike by the largest union in the UK will essentially stop all appointments — many of which were already delayed amid senior doctors' strike.
825k operations have already been delayed.
The number could be “close to 1 million” by the end of August, says NHS’ chief executive.
By the numbers: 7.57 million people are waiting for a treatment on the NHS — the highest ever recorded.
Two in five patients are waiting more than 18 weeks.
383,083 patients are waiting over 1 year for a routine care check-up.
BIG PICTURE
Your streaming subscription nut is about to increase. Starting November — Disney+ is increasing prices: from £7.99 to £10.99 a month. The House of Mouse also said that it's launching a version with adverts for £4.99 a month in the UK.
Slack's shaking things. The Salesforce owned digital HQ is about to roll out its “biggest-ever redesign” as it tries to become the next MS Teams.
Sight Sweetener. Gene therapy drops restore a child’s sight and could be used to restore millions more.
TECH
ROBO-ROCKSTARS ARE COMING
Image credit: Semafor
If you've ever wanted to hear Drake rap Taylor’s “Shake it off,” you may soon be in luck...
Driving the news: Google is working with Universal Music to license artists’ voices for a tool that would use AI to create songs.
This is a response to the surge in 'deepfake' songs that can mimic anyone's voice... And it's scary good.
Why it matters: The rise of AI presents a serious threat to artists whose voices can now be replicated with a basic internet connection. The proposed deal aims to fix that.
Yes, but: Anytime technology has ruffled its feathers with music, artists have been worse off. Generative AI, being shit-hot at scaling unscalable things (voice of artists in this case), could exacerbate this dynamic.
WORLD
CHINA'S BIG PROBLEM: DEFLATION
While here in the UK we contend eye-watering inflation, on the left side of the globe, China is facing a different problem: Deflation.
Driving the news: Consumer prices in China fell in July after several months of a near-zero rate of inflation.
That may sound nice. It's not.
When prices fall…people tend to hold back on purchases, waiting for prices to fall even more.
This reduces overall demand and spending in the economy.
Falling prices can lead to deferring purchases and investments, slowing the already struggling economy.
...all this creates a negative reinforcing loop.
Why it matters: Deflation in China can hurt British exports, corporate profits, and investment flows.
Zoom out: Some analysts think China may be experiencing the “Japanification” of its economy, with an aging population, and low growth — a sharp reversal from decades of extraordinary economic gains.
BY THE NUMBERS
⚽️ 50%. The increase in subscribers to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV since Messi signed with Inter Miami.
☕️ 36. Seconds it’ll take Starbucks baristas to make a frappuccino with the company’s new Siren System, cutting the current time in half.
🐟 28 million. Fish imported through UK's largest airport — London Heathrow
CROWN PICKS
Read: What it takes to create generational wealth, and how you hold onto it.
The pros and cons of telling your coworkers how much money you make.
How hackers can steal your passwords by listening to you type.
What the future of big cities could look like.
GAMES
PUZZLE SECTION
Three of these news headlines are real and one is faker than the moisturizing power of Coca-Cola Lip Smackers. Can you guess the odd one out?
Cats have attachment styles just like babies and dogs, new study finds.
The man who won a billion dollar lottery.
Famous TikTok chef apologizes for encouraging viewers to eat crumpets with wet cement.
Bear soaks in a hot tub to beat the heat.
If you can’t already guess, we’ll have the answer for you on Monday.
ANSWER FOR YESTERDAY
B.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Here's an unusual situation. I had a Tesla, crashed it, it was totaled. And now it's ... in Ukraine? And someone there is listening to Drake on my, still logged in, Spotify account.
— Jay Yarow (@jyarow)
12:45 PM • Aug 10, 2023