Twitter hearts and meal delivery services
When we talk about the economy, stock markets and investments, you may have heard the terms long and short. If someone is long, they are investing in a commodity, and expect that it will rise in value. If they are short, they are selling off their investments. Basically, we think that commodity will fall in value.
Well, on Marketplace Weekend we like to do the same thing with the weekly news cycle.
This week, Marketplace’s Tracey Samuelson and City Lab’s Tanvi Misra weighed in on their long and shorts.
What they’re betting on…
Tanvi is long on immigration issues being at the forefront of the presidential campaigns. Paul Ryan, as newly appointed speaker of the House, has said he will not work with President Obama on immigration reform efforts.
While some might think this means bad news for immigration reform, Tanvi is taking the “very optimistic” view. “I think that means immigration is going to be even more important as a talking point for candidates in the coming months.”
One of the immigration issues that Tanvi is betting on to be a talking point is skilled immigration and high-skilled visas.
As for Tracey, she’s long on artificial intelligence taking over our emails. Well, not quite.
Tracey said, “I am long the possibility of Google answering my emails for me.” Google is using machine learning algorithms to help create possible replies for your emails. It sounds as helpful as it is creepy.”
What they’re betting against…
Tanvi said, “I hate the new Twitter hearts. I hate them. I do not heart them.”
What it comes down to is that “I think hearts are a pretty strong affirmation. I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment…I’m just not there yet.” Fair enough.
And rounding out our shorts for the week, Tracey is tired of “meal delivery services. Or more specifically, people talking about their meal delivery services.”
This short comes in the wake of Mark Bittman’s announcement that he left his position at the New York Times to work with a new, plant-based meal delivery service, The Purple Carrot.
“[Meal delivery services], I think, maxed out my entire friend group….fine if you do it, I just don’t want to hear about it. I think it is probably a limited audience so we’ll see how many of these can sustain themselves.” Only time will tell.
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