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How the American worker got fleeced

July 03, 2020
Evening Briefing
Bloomberg

Long before the pandemic, U.S. workers' productivity and their median pay, which once rose in tandem, went through an acrimonious divorce. Compensation, especially in some of the country's fastest-growing industries, has stagnated, while the cost of housing, health care and education have not. The federal minimum wage, stuck at $7.25 since 2009, is worth 70% of what it was in 1968, and about one-third of what it would be had it kept pace with productivity. Benefits have been slashed and employee rights (and unions) deeply diminished. The pandemic has exacerbated the problem, but also placed it in stark relief. This is how the American worker got fleeced. —Josh Petri

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Here are today's top stories

The U.S. Supreme Court all but guaranteed House Democrats won't get pre-election access to confidential materials from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Meanwhile, more details of Russia's alleged offer of cash bounties for the murder of U.S. soldiers, and whether President Donald Trump was told about it, are emerging.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. just jumped by the most since May 9. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease researcher, warned the pathogen may be mutating in a way that makes it easier to spread. States are calling off Fourth of July celebrations and begging citizens to stay home, worrying that the holiday could be a super-spreader event. Young Americans have been partying especially hard, and spreading Covid-19 quickly. Here's the latest on the virus. 

The U.S. has turned out more Nobel laureates than any other country, led development of the first polio vaccine and put a man on the moon. Yet today it's also home to the highest number of Covid-19 cases—2.7 million and counting—and the most fatalities, over 128,500. It also can't seem to convince its citizens to wear face masks despite the potential threat of death for them and others. This assault on science has been led most famously by Trump, who has publicly resisted wearing a mask, and Republican governors who overruled local ordinances requiring them. Texas Governor Greg Abbot on Thursday reversed his months-long opposition to masks as hospitals start to fill up.

Some Americans are rushing to buy firearms. Gun sales have skyrocketed in the face of the pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality and killings of unarmed Americans.

Not everyone is being hurt by the pandemic. Jeff Bezos's net worth has smashed through its previous peak, even after he relinquished a quarter of his stake in Amazon as part of a divorce settlement last year.

Private equity funds that got loans from an emergency U.S. program aimed at helping small businesses are nervous about public scrutiny as the Trump administration bends to pressure from lawmakers to name borrowers.

Boeing is pulling the plug on its iconic 747 jumbo jet, ending a half-century run for the twin-aisle pioneer. The last 747-8 will roll out of a Seattle-area factory in about two years.

What you'll need to know tomorrow

What you'll want to read tonight in Businessweek

The Man Behind the 'Fyre Festival of Pizza'

The problems with the New York City Pizza Festival began with the pizza. Slices were cut into comically miniature triangles, nowhere close to what Ishmael Osekre, the organizer, had promised. Hundreds of attendees paid as much as $69 per person, but arrived to find a mostly empty parking lot. As state investigators would later allege, Osekre had obtained only eight pies and a few boxes of sliders. Witnesses confirm that there was little, if any, beer, and that the pizza was gross.

Not the actual size, but close.

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