May 21, 2020 - Economy & Business

Coronavirus pushes travel and tourism sectors to up co-branding efforts

Photo rendering via Hilton

The travel and tourism sector has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, and is desperate to reassure potential customers that they will be safe from the novel coronavirus when and if they start traveling again.

The bottom line: The only two things that will always thrive in a crisis are cockroaches and co-branding opportunities.

How it works: The formula for doing so is simple: Find a well-known brand of household cleaner, add a well-known medical brand, and combine.

  • United Airlines has announced that it is "teaming up with Clorox" and "working closely with the experts at Cleveland Clinic."
  • Hilton Hotels says that it "will collaborate with RB, maker of Lysol and Dettol, and consult with Mayo Clinic."

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Mark Zuckerberg: Social networks should not be "the arbiter of truth"

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday that social media platforms should not police political speech, and that "people should be able to see what politicians say.”

Why it matters: Zuckerberg was responding to Twitter's decision this week to fact-check a pair of President Trump's tweets that claimed that mail-in ballots are "substantially fraudulent." Twitter's label, which directs users to "get the facts" about mail-in voting, does not censor Trump's tweets.

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House Democrats pull FISA reauthorization bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats pulled legislation Thursday that would have renewed expired domestic surveillance laws and strengthened transparency and privacy protections amid broad opposition from President Trump, House GOP leadership and progressive Democrats.

Why it matters: The failure to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) comes as Trump continues to attack the intelligence community, which he claims abused the law to surveil his 2016 campaign and Trump administration officials.

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U.S. GDP drop revised lower to 5% in the first quarter

Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. economy shrunk by an annualized 5% in the first quarter — worse than the initially estimated 4.8% contraction — according to revised figures released by the government on Thursday.

Why it matters: It's the worst quarterly decline since 2008 and shows a huge hit as the economy was just beginning to shut down because of the coronavirus. Economists are bracing for the second quarter's figures to be the worst ever — with some projecting an annualized decline of around 40%.

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