Minimum wage hike could be Biden’s bipartisan breakthrough at The Hill. “Biden might begin by issuing an executive order mandating a $15 minimum hourly wage for all workers on federal contracts (which would also increase the pressure on state legislatures to raise their minimum wage). If necessary, he might then agree to stretch out the number of annual increases before the minimum wage reaches $15 (and indexing to median annual wages kicks in).” Read more

 

Jack Ma’s disappearing act fuels speculation about billionaire’s whereabouts at Reuters. “China’s highest-profile entrepreneur has not appeared in a public setting since a late October forum in Shanghai where he blasted China’s regulatory system in a speech that put him on a collision course with officials, resulting in the suspension of a $37 billion IPO of Alibaba’s Ant Group fintech arm.” Read more

 

Delays in holiday deliveries, delays in returns, plague small businesses at USA Today. “FedEx Ground alone handled 45.5 million packages during the 12 months ended Nov. 30, up 24% from the same period a year earlier. UPS moved 67.6 million packages for the 12 months ended June 30, a 13% jump from a year earlier.” Read more

 

JC Penney CEO Jill Soltau to leave retailer after it emerged from bankruptcy with new owners at CNBC. Read more

 

Chewy sends pet paintings to keep customers from straying at AP. “Chewy’s strategy seems to be working on Schwartz, whose blue-eyed cat likes to rub up against the painting from his cat tree. “I just want to buy everything from them,” she says. “They’re a big company. I was shocked that they did something so personal.” Read more

 

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U.S. may cut some Moderna vaccine doses in half to speed rollout, official says at Reuters. Read more

 

Whole Foods founder John Mackey on having Jeff Bezos as a boss: ‘People had this wrong stereotype that the CEO is like a god’ at CNBC. “Whole Foods has changed and evolved, to be sure, but in a respectful way. I always use this analogy, when you get married, do you change?” Mackey said to Dubner. “And the answer is, ‘Duh, if you don’t change, you’re going to get a divorce.’” Read more

 

You Can’t Find These Luxury Sheds at Home Depot at The Wall Street Journal. “Ms. Hart’s kitHAUS cost $45,000. She added heating and air conditioning, for an additional $5,000; landscaping, for $8,000; security cameras, for $1,000; and electricity, for $3,000. Her lease, for which she gave 30-day notice in May, cost $4,500 a month. It will take her about 14 total months to break even on the space.” WSJ subs.

 

The online grocery startup betting big on the pandemic shift in grocery shopping at Fortune. “Fortune recently spoke with Katie Tyson, cofounder and chief commercial officer of Hive, to learn more about the business, the lessons learned, the hurdles overcome, as well as Hive’s plans for the new year.” Q&A

 

Home prices are rising faster in the middle of the U.S. as Covid drives people away from coasts at CNBC. “Smaller metropolitan markets like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Boise, Idaho, Austin, Texas, and Memphis. Tennessee are seeing some of the strongest price gains in the nation now, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Prices in those cities are now at least 10% higher than with a year earlier.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

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IRS says executors undervalued Prince’s estate by 50%

UK abolishes tax on women’s sanitary products

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Antidepressant use soars as pandemic cuts counselling access

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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