The New York City Council voted on Wednesday to cap the number of ride-hailing cars in the city as part of a set of bills that will also set a minimum wage for drivers, and halt new licenses while it studies the impact of ride-hailing.
Why it matters: This is a blow to companies like Uber and Lyft, which have historically resisted such regulations. Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to introduce a cap in 2015, but dropped the plan after pushback from ride-hailing companies.
Even though Carl Icahn knows he is fighting an "uphill battle" in his opposition to Cigna's $67 billion buyout of Express Scripts, the billionaire investor continued his verbal onslaught Wednesday in an interview with Fox Business when he said passive investors should view the acquisition as a "bullshit deal."
What to watch: Cigna shareholders will vote on the deal Aug. 24, and many Wall Street analysts expect it will still go through. But anything is possible, given how rare it is to see open warfare over a deal of this size.
For decades, U.S. workers won higher pay in lockstep with productivity growth — as businesses became more efficient, they rewarded employees with commensurate wage increases.
But in the early-mid 1970s, the lines diverged (chart above) — economic production kept rising, but wages not so much, including long periods of going flat.
Elon Musk yesterday sent the tweet heard round the Street:
Bottom line: Only Elon Musk knows the full story here, and he isn't being very transparent with his shareholders, employees or us in the media. That's why shares today will open below $400, let alone below $420. The skepticism is on him, and will persist until he answers some pretty basic questions.
While other major tech companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Apple have taken action against conspiracy theorist and Infowars leader Alex Jones this week, Twitter has declined to do so, citing its commitment to protecting "the public conversation."
The big picture: Several journalists immediately lashed out against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, saying Jones — who has said that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax — is purposefully spreading harmful falsehoods, and shouldn't be protected by the site.
With roaring GDP growth and rising wages, the Fed has signaled that it will increase interests rates next month to tap the brakes and preventuncontrolled inflation. But some economists say it should hold off to create a better chance for people's wages to go up.
Why it matters: For the last five decades, real U.S. household income for the bottom four quintiles has been flat or almost flat, as the graphic shows. The top group, however, has had sharply ascending real income growth. The flat wages are a bigger problem at the moment than the threat of inflation, these economists suggest.
The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will impose 25% tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of Chinese imports, the latest pushback in the United States' growing trade war with China.
The details: Customs officials will begin collecting duties on 279 of the 284 products the government initially announced in June. The list covers a range of goods, from motorcycles to steam turbines and railway cars. The announcement comes as the White House is considering to increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10% to 25%.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday that he may acquire the electric car company for more than $85 billion (including debt).
Timing: The tweet came just after the Financial Times reported that a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund had acquired around a $2 billion stake in Tesla. Musk has not yet provided any additional information, such as the identities of his financing partners, nor has Tesla itself made a comment.
More than half (18) of the 30 most polarizing brands polled by Morning Consult are media companies, meaning Democrats and Republicans are particularly divided over their perception of media brands.
Zillow has agreed to buy Mortgage Lenders of America, a national mortgage lender based in Overland Park, Kansas.
Why it matters: Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff tells Axios that MLA isn't large enough "to satisfy our long-term ambitions." In other words, expect Zillow to buy up other home mortgage lenders.
White House officials sought to reassure tech industry representatives at a private meeting last week that the Trump administration's pugnacious trade policies will ultimately aid their businesses, according to multiple sources.
Why it matters: A trade war between the U.S. and China could put a big dent in the long run of profits and growth that the tech world has seen over the last decade, so its lobbyists have pushed to soften the administration's stance.
