Stripe is laying off 14% of its staff. Lyft has cut 13% of its workforce, and Opendoor has slashed its team by 18% after posting a $1 billion dollar loss. Bad news for those companies, but they aren't alone. Many tech companies have been announcing layoffs and hiring freezes while moving to cut costs. Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet and Facebook's owner Meta have all taken steps to rein in expenses. Companies including Netflix, Spotify, Coinbase and Shopify have also announced layoffs.

In today's episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied dive into this new economic reality and offer some insights about where it came from, as well as where it may be leading.

They discuss Dave Ramsey's inexplicable shift in rhetoric from "home prices are not going down" to, "house prices are never going down" despite the fact that they are, in fact, going down as we speak.

Chris and Saied look at Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman's tremendously accurate (if slightly disturbing) analogy comparing inflation to alcoholism.

They also discuss why, with hiring on track for its second-strongest year since 1940, the economy looks healthy - however, appearances can be deceiving, and that can lead to trouble.

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• Why tech companies are posting losses and shedding staff at an increasingly alarming rate.
• Why a letter to Fed Chair Jerome Powell from a coalition of Democratic lawmakers raising concerns warning of impending job losses as a result of the Fed's tighter monetary policy is going to accomplish nothing.
• The effects of mortgage applications falling 42% compared to the same time last year and what that means for lenders such as Wells Fargo.
• The reasons why so many very smart people were in denial for so long about the Fed's attempts to fight inflation (and why some still are.)
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Democrats slam 'dangerous' Fed rate hikes, warning of widespread job losses" (article from Fox News)

"All the economic experts are at a loss on the eve of the midterms: ‘The data is all over the map’" (article from Forbes)

"Stocks Sink as Hawkish Bets Revive Recession Fears: Markets Wrap" (article from Yahoo! Finance)

"Student debt headaches are about to return for millions of people despite Biden's plans" (Businessweek via Instagram)

"Wells Fargo mortgage staff brace for layoffs as U.S. loan volumes collapse" (article from CNBC)

"Opendoor slashes 18% of staff" (TheRealDeal via Instagram)

"Opendoor posts nearly $1 billion loss" (TheRealDeal viz Instagram)

"Opendoor lays off 18% of its workers in the wake of housing demand slowing down" (Businessweek via Instagram)

"Job openings surged in September despite Fed efforts to cool labor market" (article from CNBC)

"Musk Plans To Layoff 50% Of Twitter’s Workforce Ahead Of Verification Fee Roll Out Next Week, Reports Say" (article from Forbes)

"Stripe lays off 14% of workers" (article from CNBC)

"Lyft cuts 13% of its workforce" (article from CNBC)

"Labor costs show slower rise, while trade deficit widens and jobless claims nudge lower" (article from CNBC)

"Private payrolls rose 239,000 in October, better than expected, while wages increased 7.7%, ADP says" (article from CNBC)