every year at our work, we choose who gives us performance reviews. out of curiosity, we tried typing in our CEO’s name, and lo and behold - despite being 739 degrees separated in the hierarchy, we could ask him for an eval! well, now we’re asking you to give us your feedback. email us your comments.

big idea: light at the end of the tunnel

it’s been a solid week covid-wise, and ‘muricans are growing confident that a semblance of normality will return soon. more than 100 million vaccine doses have been given (40+ days sooner than promised by Joe), two states have expanded vaccine eligibility to all adults, and the CDC revised its guidelines making it easier for schools to reopen. things are going so well that Joe is loaning canada & mexico four million vaccines. Trudeau, like any true canadian, has already apologized for no reason for the inconvenience.

not everything is peachy yet - infections are falling nationwide, but rising in locales like michigan and west virginia. remember, it takes two weeks after your second shot for the vaccine to work its magic, so no beach parties just yet.

internationally, the picture is more complicated. europe abruptly halted and then restarted its vaccination campaigns after the oxford vaccine (which isn’t being used here) may have caused some fatal blood clots. because of their slow vaccination efforts, parts of france and italy are re-entering a lockdown. europe was largely unwilling to partner its public health systems with private pharmaceutical companies to the same degree as ‘murica, resulting in the botched rollout. you don’t hear progressives singing the praises of european-style healthcare these days, huh?

so, you can’t blame us for being hopeful about the situation here in the states. we’re sixth in the world at 12% of ‘muricans being fully vaccinated, and 23% receiving at least their first shot. 

story to watch: global gasoline demand has peaked

the International Energy Association has predicted that global demand for gasoline peaked in 2019, with demand never again reaching pre-covid levels. this is due to covid permanently reducing the need for commutes (Ford and British Airways announced work-at-home policies this week) and because governments are encouraging the adoption of EVs. these two factors will offset the rise in demand in developing countries.

the report comes out even as traders begin to speculate that oil prices will rise as the economy recovers, especially in the US. however, considering that a whopping 40% of the crude oil drilled today goes towards increasingly-unpopular gasoline, that doesn’t seem...

we moved into a new house recently, and immediately got into an argument with our younger siblings over who could claim the basement as their own. we won (#oldersibling), but our siblings definitely made their displeasure clear. please, let us know if we’re displeasing you! email us your complaints and suggestions.

big idea: the queen is dead, long live the republic

well maybe she’s not dead just yet, but the British monarchy should be. Oprah’s interview last Sunday is still in the headlines, and we’d like to take the opportunity to talk about how stupid monarchy is. it’s past time for the UK and its commonwealth (s/o to our canadian readers) to ditch their queen & establish a republic.

first, consider how morally bankrupt the idea of hereditary leadership is. we don’t care who your daddy is - you don’t deserve to be the head of state unless your citizens select you in a fair way. let’s be clear - the queen is only the head of the UK because her great-great-great-grandpa was the most vicious and powerful warlord of his day.

second, consider how reprehensible the specific institution of the british monarchy is. don’t forget that the crown oversaw the rape and plunder of colonies and profited off of slavery for half a millenium.

finally, consider how damaging the monarchy currently is to the UK. to this day it does not have a written constitution in part because no one is willing to answer the question of what power the queen actually has. because she is unelected, she refuses to take political positions, even when something patently undemocratic occurs, like Boris Johnson’s attempt to shut down Parliament in 2019.

so yeah, that was a rant, but it’s always worth reminding people of how worthless monarchies are. the queen isn’t just a powerless and maybe slightly racist old lady. she’s the living embodiment of an unjust society which refuses to take a clear-eyed look at its history.

story to watch: big labor has its mojo back

the house passed the PRO act this week, the most significant pro-union legislation in years. that, combined with Joe and even a leading senate republican vocally supporting the unionization effort at an Alabama Amazon warehouse, it’s clear that the labor movement has had a great week.

to put things in perspective, the percentage of ‘muricans in labor unions has dropped from 30% of the workforce after WWII to just 10% today. studies show unions lead to higher wages and safer workplaces, regardless of gender or race.

Joe’s video is the most pro-union statement a president has ever made, and with Amazon being the second largest private employer in the US, any unionization efforts there are a huge win. looks like

plus: grandma knock-out, February jobs report, “Show Your Work!”

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plus: bitcoin energy usage, Baarack the sheep, “Nothing to Envy” | we were debating GM’s new logo and realized that all these car companies used blue logos (VW, BMW, Ford, Subaru, and Volvo). why not try to be different, huh GM? we hope this newsletter is different from the rest of your inbox. if not, please email us your suggestions!

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plus: kid knievel, the gender wage gap, “I, Robot” | after feedback from reader T.K., we’ve upgraded the quality of our audio newsletter. if you’re on the run Sunday mornings, you can just hit the play button above to listen in. we’d love to hear from you too! big idea: the world is ending (but only in texas)

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hello world!

hi, is this working? can you hear us? oh, this isn’t a podcast? ok great, we don’t know any influencers to interview anyways.

welcome to the weekly rundown, a sunday morning newsletter. our goal is to briefly put the previous week’s political & business news into context, helping you better understand why they matter. we'll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories in t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶y̶l̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶ an engaging, irreverent style.

we’ve set internal metrics for success, which we’ll revisit each quarter - so as long as you’re happy and we’re growing, we’ll keep chugging along.

we’re excited to have you along for the ride.

big idea: what’s next for the GOP?

the senate voted to acquit Donald. with 70% of republicans believing that Donald won the election, 56% believing QAnon is at least partly true, and 39% believing political violence is justified, the GOP has become the party of conspiracists, not conservatives.

while some think the GOP is on a death march or will splinter into a third party, the republican fever is unlikely to break soon, or be fatal. what is likely is the disintegration of their coalition, leaving only anti-establishment types (who are more likely to believe in conspiracies) to support them.

these shifts will result in republicans keeping portions of their base, but losing ground in suburbs. they’ll be relegated to minority status in the house (like after WWI, they were in the minority for basically 62 years straight). they’ll do well in the senate (given the number of rural states) and in local races (because of gerrymandering and a weak democratic machine in pink areas).

this is not the first time in ‘murican history that a party has been defined by conspiracies or open rebellion, and it won’t be the last.

the weekly rundown is a brief sunday morning newsletter putting the previous week's political & business news into context and helping you understand why they matter. we’ll explain big ideas, emerging trends, and overlooked stories in an engaging and irreverent way.

Thank you for subscribing. https://theweeklyrundown.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-weekly-rundown?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyNjU5ODMwMiwicG9zdF9pZCI6MzI1MjYxODgsImlhdCI6MTYxODY5NDkwMCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTI3NDU0NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.tCYBpMfTup4Y2y6-tLgM8Yb46cxCji_9SrlE8l9IOgQ&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=share&action=share (Share this episode).