š Inflation Cools & Elon Launches a New Company!?
Happy Wednesday all,
A little shorter Hump Days than usual today! With some of the time off Iāve taken so far this month, Iāve been thinking about how the future of the YouTube channel looks like. Eventually, Iād like to incorporate some interviews with prominent figures in business, investing, tech, creators etc - so weāll see if we can land some guests in the future!
Another thing that has been on my mind is scaling the channel. Itās hard to produce more than 1 video a week for the current system that we have, and so thinking about ways to improve that system + also focusing my time and attention to the highest ROI activities is a priority for me moving forward.
Enjoy this weekās Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
Inflation Eases to 3%
3% Inflation year over year is the slowest it has been in more than two years - which is a good sign that the worst may be finally over. In May, inflation came in at 4% - so we are now a full percentage point lower than the previous month.
The key categories driving this lower inflation? Used car prices and airline fares are going down. Categories still on the rise in terms of prices: car insurance - up 16.9%, frozen vegetables (odd), and motor vehicle repair.
Even with this news, Fed officials are still on track to raise interest rates on July 25-26 to a 22-year high, but it is the hope that this inflation report halts subsequent hikes after that.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The average workerās earnings growth is now outpacing inflation, translating to an increase in their standard of living after two years of declines! Thatās good news - however, household expenses are still rising, just not rising as quickly.
Are prices in your area cooling, remaining the same, or still increasing? Let us know!
Elonās New Company
Elon Musk launched a new company today, named xAI.
Seriously, another company? Elon has had gripes with OpenAI in the past, saying that it has strayed from his original open source intentions and at one point suggested that he might even sue the company. Musk has repeatedly warned of the dangers of advanced AI, saying it could threaten humanity. My assumption is that he is forming xAI to live out his own vision for what AI should be. Weāll keep you updated on what happens here in future editions.
Chart of the Week
Here's the inflation breakdown for June 2023 ā in one chart, year over year. Bacon is down 10%! Letās go!
In Case You Missed It
This is one of two videos we have releasing in July. Weāll be back to a weekly cadence in August! Enjoy :)