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October 09, 2021 View Online | Sign Up

Morning Brew

Trust Stamp

Good morning. We're about to become the sketchiest newsletter you'll ever read—in the best way.

Because no Saturday morning is complete without three bowls of Kix and a cartoon, we're rolling out a new section today called Saturday Sketch, featuring the artistic stylings of our very own Max Knoblauch.

As always (well, really as of this week), you can leave your feedback using the survey at the bottom of the email. Most importantly, have a great weekend.

Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt

MARKETS

Nasdaq

14,579.54

S&P

4,391.34

Dow

34,746.25

10-Year

1.610%

Bitcoin

$54,176.61

Oil

$79.66

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

  • Markets: Stocks stayed mostly flat on Friday given some good news (debt ceiling crisis averted) and some less-than-good news (September jobs report is disappointing). US oil futures briefly topped $80 a barrel for the first time in seven years as demand surged beyond what producers have committed to supply.
  • Covid: Average daily cases fell below 100,000 on Thursday for the first time since early August, showing that the Delta-fueled wave is receding. Plus, average daily deaths are down 18% from their peak on Sept. 22.

TAX

Doing the Maximum to Get the Minimum

Clovers spelling out "15%"

Francis Scialabba

After years of bruising negotiations, 136 countries agreed yesterday to establish a global corporate minimum tax of 15% and laid out other measures that will help them scoop up more tax revenue from large, multinational corporations.

  • How much revenue? As much as $150 billion annually, according to the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD).

How a minimum tax works

If you establish a tax floor, it prevents countries from perpetually lowering their tax rates to make themselves more attractive to globe-trotting corporations looking for a new, cheaper home. In economic circles, this is called the "race to the bottom."

Exhibit A: Ireland. In 2003, Ireland lowered its corporate tax rate to a measly 12.5%, and soon after welcomed a wave of multinationals looking to lower their tax bills. The largest US tech firms, including Facebook, Google, and Apple, have all set up their European headquarters in the country.

Because of its success with a low tax rate, Ireland was one of the key holdouts of the minimum tax plan, but it finally came on board Thursday in the name of cooperation.

Important note: The minimum tax is just one pillar of the new global tax framework. Another will allow countries to tax large companies that sell goods or services in their jurisdictions but don't have a physical footprint—an acknowledgment of how digital commerce has transformed the global economy.

So what's next?

Countries agreeing with each other was the easy part. Now, they'll have to sell the plan to their own legislatures. That could be tough, especially in the US, a country that is crucial to any global tax agreement but also home to fierce disagreements between its only two major political parties.

An aggressive date has been set for the updated global tax scheme to take effect: 2023.—NF

        

ECONOMY

September Jobs Report in a GIF

Guy failing to dunk a basketball

Giphy

The September jobs report was about as underwhelming as a Secret Santa gift. The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, well below expectations of 500,000. It's the weakest job growth of any month in 2021.

  • There's a twist: The unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% from 5.2% in August.

Don't stress if you're confused—so are experts. They thought that a record number of open positions +  a recovering economy would lead to a surge in job growth in the back half of the year. But the persistent challenge of finding workers and the Delta variant has made hiring an uphill battle.

A few other nuggets from the report:

  • Women are leaving the job market. Experts believed that schools reopening in-person would take some of the childcare burden off moms and allow them to get back to work. However, September saw the lowest number of women employed or looking for a job since February.
  • Removing enhanced UI benefits was not a panacea. Enhanced federal unemployment benefits expired nationwide on Labor Day. But, confirming previous research, taking away the extra payments appeared to do little to boost employment.

Bottom line: What's holding back the job market right now is the significant number of Americans not looking for work at all, according to the NYT.—MM

        

MARKETING

An Inconvenient Policy for Climate Deniers

Climate change deniers are no longer allowed to make money from their beliefs on Google and YouTube, according to a new policy the tech giant posted Thursday.

That means on YouTube no ads will display on content that contradicts the existence of climate change, deny that human activity has contributed to it, or generally disappoint Bill Nye.

  • Google wrote that advertisers have been specifically asking for a crackdown on climate-denying content because they "simply don't want their ads to appear next to" it. Which...fair.

Big picture: The move to strip climate deniers from monetizing their content is the latest volley in Google's attempt to rein in misinformation. Just last week, YouTube banned all content that makes speculative or downright false claims about approved vaccines.

The policy's also part of a recent push from Google to highlight environmental issues. On Wednesday, Google Flights rolled out a feature that lets you see how carbon-friendly your flight is, on a scale of Greta Thunberg → flamethrower-equipped monster truck.

+ While we're here: Climate change is a hot topic (whoops) in the advertising world right now. Fossil-fuel clients are becoming a "reputational risk," Marketing Brew's Ryan Barwick reports.—JW

        

TOGETHER WITH TRUST STAMP

You Are the Key

Trust Stamp

That isn't the start of a new age-y mantra, but rather a description of the groundbreaking tech that Trust Stamp is delivering around the globe. With $9.4B estimated spend on digital verification by businesses in 2021, this is a technology that you can invest in.

Their AI-powered identity and trust solutions are accelerating secure societal and financial inclusion. Which is smart people talk for: They're keeping your data and money safe by using your very own biology. 

With Trust Stamp, your biometric data is irreversibly transformed into a proprietary token called the IT2–this allows you to authenticate yourself without the need for, say, sensitive passwords or any other identifiers. You just need, you know, yourself.

Trust Stamp is expanding relationships with customers including Mastercard, has submitted an application to list on the NASDAQ, and has nearly $3 million in gross revenue.

Sounds like a company ready to leave their mark on the world. Invest in Trust Stamp here.

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

BlackRock HQ in NYC

Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Stat: With an estimated $10 trillion in assets under management, the investment giant BlackRock is as big as the global hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital industries combined.

Quote: "It was a nice break from everything."

Livae Nanjikana was feeling refreshed after he and another man from the Solomon Islands spent 29 days lost at sea. You know the world's going through a rough patch when being stranded by a storm off the coast of Papua New Guinea sounds like a yoga retreat in Joshua Tree.

Read: What I learned about my writing by seeing just the punctuation. (Creators Hub)

        

CARTOON

Saturday Sketch

A cartoon about Squid Games showing squids performing various athletic achievements

Max Knoblauch

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • The Nobel Peace Prize winners: journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia, for standing up for freedom of expression.
  • Instagram was hit with another small outage yesterday.
  • NFL TV ratings through Oct. 4 are up 17% compared to last year, and are now at their highest level in six years.
  • SpaceX is valued at more than $100 billion after a secondary share sale, per CNBC.

FROM THE CREW

Decrypting Crypto

Crypto crash course image

If you're interested in dipping a toe into crypto but haven't yet checked out our Crypto Crash Course, you definitely should. Here's just a sampling of the content:

  • Everything you need to know about crypto wallets
  • Early crypto investors share their regrets, opportunities, and advice
  • How to choose a cryptocurrency (and a crypto platform)

You may even learn what the heck HODL stands for. Learn all about crypto here.

BREW'S BETS

Are you one of those people who likes getting money? There's a new credit card for people like you—it offers unlimited cash rewards, a $200 cash sign-up bonus, and over a year of 0% intro APR. Apply today for the card for money-likers.*

Great design rarely goes on sale. So when a high quality modern home furnishings designer like Blu Dot announces their one sale of the year, we mark those dates. Friends, it's time. Get 20% off everything—including new designs and bestsellers—until 10/24. Shop here.*

World Mental Health Day: Ahead of the holiday tomorrow, here's an excellent list of mental health resources, from teletherapy options to sleep tips.

Weekend conversation starters:

1. How cool are moths in slow motion?
2. Kanye or Elon?
3. Is this the best way to attract young fans?
4. The Pandora Papers as a Wes Anderson film

*This is sponsored advertising content

GAMES

Brew Crossword

Brew Crossword promo image

No AI voice assistants were harmed in the making of this puzzle. See why that disclaimer is needed by solving the Brew Crossword here.

HOW WAS TODAY'S NEWSLETTER?

GREAT GOOD BAD
       

Written by Neal Freyman, Jamie Wilde, and Matty Merritt

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