Bloomberg Weekend Reading

“For god’s sake do something.” US President Joe Biden pleaded with Congress in an address to the nation this week as the American drumbeat of mass shootings continues seemingly without end. But the chances that death tolls from Buffalo, New York, to Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma will spur federal action remain slim. At the state level, New York passed a gun control package that would raise the legal age to buy semiautomatic rifles to 21.   

What you’ll want to read this weekend

Biden approved sending Ukraine a package of weapons that includes an advanced rocket system, raising the stakes for a war now grinding into its fourth month. But Russia seems to believe time is on its side, and that the allies will splinter as the cost of conflict increases. Despite all of the sanctions, Russia’s coffers are full as commodity prices soar.

A young boy sits in front of a damaged building after a strike in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Ukranian region of Donbas, on May 25. Photographer: Aris Messinis/AFP

Jamie Dimon is forecasting an economic “hurricane” while Elon Musk says he has a “bad feeling,” discomfort he may pass along to Tesla employees in the form of massive layoffs. The complexity of the US economy’s outlook is “unprecedented,” according to Goldman Sachs President John Waldron, given the combination of inflation, monetary policy, the pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine. “Reasons to worry about a recession are piling up,” Conor Sen writes in Bloomberg Opinion. But one giant of Wall Street says a “soft landing” is quite possible, and a Bloomberg survey estimates only a 30% chance of recession in the next 12 months. Plus Friday’s jobs report topped estimates. Nevertheless, that good news may be of little consolation to this struggling group: one third of Americans earning $250,000 a year or more say they’re living paycheck to paycheck.

China is declaring victory over the Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai, though millions remain in lockdown and frustration has boiled over into conflicts with police. Hong Kong meanwhile is reimposing centralized quarantines. New York City’s recent surge may be easing, and the World Health Organization estimates that more than two-thirds of the world’s population has coronavirus antibodies.

A healthcare worker collects a swab sample at a Covid-19 testing facility in Shanghai on May 31. Source: Bloomberg

Musk said he wanted to be “super clear” when he said all Tesla workers must spend 40 hours in the office or “we will assume you have resigned.” But the billionaire may lose talent, with a tight labor market and workers demanding greater flexibility. Indeed, work from home is fueling economic growth, and it’s here to stay. That’s bad news for mass transit systems and city centers.

Sheryl Sandberg left Meta after 14 years as chief operating officer. She also left a complicated legacy. Having guided Facebook’s advertising behemoth, she was often criticized for pursuing growth without considering the implications of global-scale misinformation. Her book “Lean In,” whatever the backlash, “lit larger fires” for women at work, Sarah Green Carmichael writes in Bloomberg Opinion. But as for Facebook, its business model “may have peaked.”

Sheryl Sandberg  Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg

What you’ll need to know next week

What you’ll want to read in the Future of Work

Seven Ways to Finally Slay Your Burnout

Burnout rates are through the roof: Some 40% of US workers are more burned out this year than in 2021, according to polling by recruiter Robert Half Inc. And a study conducted in early 2021 by Ohio State University’s Office of the Chief Wellness Officer and College of Nursing found that two-thirds of working parents were experiencing parental burnout. Here are seven lasting changes to consider.