Wednesday morning articles
Bank of Canada likely to raise rates again Wednesday — but should it? Evidence mounts that inflation is coming down fast, causing economists and investors to pivot expectations (CBC)
Scenes from Tampa’s ‘dead mall,’ alive with nostalgia: At the transforming University Mall near USF, some still shop and work, while others come for the vibes. There is no imminent danger of the American shopping mall going extinct, but it’s certainly endangered, down from 2,500 at peak mall to around 600 today, according to Nick Egelanian, president of retail consultancy SiteWorks. He believes maybe 150 will survive the next decade. Some see closures as a corrective to American over-malling, spurred not so much by consumerism as by changes in tax law that made malls a low-risk cash bonanza for builders via depreciation write-offs. (Tampa Bay Times)
How the World’s Most Valuable Carmaker Fell Perilously Behind on Electric Vehicles: Toyota spent years treating electric cars like the enemy; Once a pioneer in green transportation, the company is now uttered in the same breath as Exxon. What happened? (Slate)
About those inflation expectations: The fact that inflation expectations do not matter is probably because normal people on the street simply do not understand how inflation and interest rates work. (Klement On Investing)
How Davos’ World Economic Forum became such a big deal: A look at why the meeting of bigwigs actually, kind of matters. (Grid)
FTX Founder Gamed Markets, Crypto Rivals Say: Sam Bankman-Fried found ways to control the prices of digital coins to benefit his companies, FTX and Alameda, according to cryptocurrency investors. (New York Times)
The Art and Science of Spending Money: Money “the greatest show on earth” because of its ability to reveal things about people’s character and values. How people invest their money tends to be hidden from view. But how they spend is far more visible, so what it shows about who you are can be even more insightful. (Collaborative Fund)
Inside Elon’s “Extremely Hardcore” Twitter: The staff spent years trying to protect the social media site against impulsive billionaires who wanted to use the reach of its platform for their own ends, and then one made himself the CEO. (The Verge)
Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad: Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods wanted to upend the world’s $1 trillion meat industry. But plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop. (Businessweek)
The Cult of Bike Helmets: The history—and danger—of a modern safety obsession. (Slate)
In (and Above) Beverly Hills, Police Are Watching: The affluent LA suburb has pioneered an integrated system of cameras, drones and surveillance tech that could soon be coming to a city near you. (CityLab)
The Heart Wing: The muscle that never stops, until the very end. Is your heart a hardworking pump or a mystic miracle? (Longreads)
The Case for Abolishing Elections: They may seem the cornerstone of democracy, but in reality they do little to promote it. There’s a far better way to empower ordinary citizens: democracy by lottery. (Boston Review)