News From the Control Tower - 8/2/2022

This week’s reads include:

1.       GDP Report May Have Showed a Decline, but It's Not a Recession

While there's a risk of recession for 2023, any decline should be mild and short-lived.

2.       Retail’s ‘Dark Side’: As Inventory Piles Up, Liquidation Warehouses Are Busy

Consumers are buying fewer discretionary goods and returning more. To clear their shelves, retailers are selling to liquidators at steep discounts.

“The most effective cure for high prices is high prices. Story does a good job explaining how this works via inventories.”  – Claudia Sahm on twitter

3.       Amazon’s War on Fake Reviews

According to an analysis by the e-commerce consultant Pattern, a one-star increase on an Amazon listing can pump up sales by as much as 26 percent, which is why so many sellers are juking the stats.

4.       The pandemic impulse purchases we grew to hate

From Pelotons to pets, the Covid buys people wish they’d left on the shelves.

5.       Vast New Study Shows a Key to Reducing Poverty: More Friendships Between Rich and Poor

The new analysis — the biggest of its kind — found the degree to which the rich and poor were connected explained why a neighborhood’s children did better later in life, more than any other factor.

Bonus: A fun collection of nature livecams

This link is to brown bears feasting on salmon in Katmai National Park in Alaska.