News From the Control Tower - 7/29/2021

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

This week’s reads include:

1.       Wages are rising, but inflation may have given workers a 2% pay cut

Average hourly wages grew 3.6% in June relative to last year, the most in more than a decade. However, inflation essentially gave the average worker about a 2% pay cut, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

2.       Chinese Tech Stock Selloff Deepens

Investors’ concerns about Beijing’s crackdowns put tech shares under further pressure

3.       Female Startup CEOs Cut Their Salaries 30 Percent During the Pandemic. Men Gave Themselves a Raise

A new analysis uncovers a startling difference in how male and female CEOs reacted to the pandemic.

4.       ‘A Wild 15 Months’: Pandemic Spurs Conversion of Offices to Labs

Flush with cash and driven by renewed interest in biotechnology, the life sciences industry is swooping in to snap up vacant office space.

5.       BlackRock voted against 255 directors because of climate issues

According to its stewardship report, the asset manager supported 35% of 843 shareholder proposals that it voted on in the recent proxy season, compared with 17% in the previous year.

Bonus: The Math Ph.D. Who Just Shocked Olympic Cycling

Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer escapes early to fend off a confused Dutch superteam and capture gold