The drones are coming… with your allergy meds. Retailers from Amazon to Walmart are finally starting to deploy delivery drones after years of hype. Last week, residents of Frisco, Texas, became the first to receive robo-packages from Walgreens, via its Google-owned drone supplier Wing. Amazon is rolling out commercial drone deliveries this fall, with plans to deliver 500M aerial packages/year. While drone advocates say the delivery tech could reduce emissions (fewer traffic-clogging trucks), regulators have yet to give the green light for nationwide shipments.
The paradox of recession-omics... By most metrics, the US economy is booming: unemployment is back to pre-pandemic levels; salaries are rising at their fastest clip in decades; and consumers are splurging on spring fits and summer vacays. And yet… some economists are bracing for a downturn. Their reasoning: the Fed can’t cool the worst inflation in 40 years without also slamming the brakes on growth. Last week Deutsche Bank was the first on Wall Street to predict a recession, followed by Bank of America warning of a “recession shock.”