News From the Control Tower 3/11/2021

News from the Control Tower: Our weekly curated list of news stories affecting you and your finances.

This week’s reads include:

1. Workers Are Moving First, Asking Questions Later. What Happens When Offices Reopen?

A parallel survey of executives found that 68% believe workers should be in the office at least three days a week to maintain company culture, and 65% believe the office is "very important" to increasing employee productivity.

2.  Biden stimulus will boost global recovery from Covid, says OECD

US spending package forecast to add 1 percentage point to world’s economic growth this year.

OECD revised their forecast for US GDP up to 6.5% vs 3.2% in November 2020.

3. Drive-Throughs That Predict Your Order? Restaurants Are Thinking Fast

Inspired by pandemic lessons that kept customers in cars, chains are adding more lanes and curbside pickup, improving apps and testing menu boards that use artificial intelligence.

4. Maybe Everyone Wants to Go Back to Movie Theaters After All?

Over the past month, ‘Hi, Mom’ and ‘Detective Chinatown 3’ have set major box office records in China, outpacing even ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ The boom may be a sign of things to come stateside.

5. Higher Gas, Energy Prices Boost Consumer Inflation at Start of Year

Prices excluding gas and energy are essentially flat so far this year, but economists expect pandemic-related government aid, vaccinations to drive short-term inflation increase

Bonus:  Bird migration forecast maps

Bird migration forecast maps show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset and are updated every 6 hours. Colorado State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produce these forecasts.