--:-- [Upbeat music fades out, and the host, John Bickley, speaks]
--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- John Bickley: Facebook's parent company, Meta, is laying off thousands of employees, and other tech companies aren't faring much better. I'm responsible for the health of our company, for our direction, and for deciding how we execute that, including things like this. What's behind the big tech recession, and what can we expect going forward? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, November 11th, Veterans Day, and this is Morning Wire. A new consumer price report shows inflation may be leveling off. What does this mean for the American consumer and for the Federal Reserve?
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, we still have this inflation, 8% going down now to 7.7 in 2022. They're going to use opportunities of strength in the market and easing of financial conditions to just get to their goals a little bit faster.
--:-- John Bickley: And Democrats played a risky game leading up to the election by boosting Republican candidates closely aligned with Trump. Did the gamble pay off? We break down what each party can learn from this election cycle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. And a special thank you to all who served to keep the rest of us safe. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- John Bickley: For the first time in its nearly 20-year history, Facebook is laying off a significant percentage of its workforce. The company's woes mirror those being felt throughout the tech sector. Here to tell us why Facebook's parent company, Meta, is having to make such deep cuts, and what it tells us about the state of big tech, is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, Megan, first off, how many employees is Meta laying off? Quite a few. It is laying off 13% of its workforce across all of Meta's companies. So that includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. So essentially what we're talking about here is around 11,000 jobs, and that is the biggest tech layoff so far this year.
--:-- John Bickley: Now that's an especially high number when you remember that since its founding 18 years ago, Facebook has never had to cut back its workforce. So this was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressing the layoffs in a leaked video Wednesday afternoon. I take full responsibility for this decision. And it was one of the hardest calls that I've had to make in the 18 years of running the company.
--:-- Megan Basham: This comes after Meta announced a second straight quarter of declining revenue in October. And the company has also signaled investors to expect further bad news in the fourth quarter. So just not going well.
--:-- John Bickley: Now you said that Meta cuts represent the biggest tech layoff. Which other companies are experiencing the same? Yeah, a bunch of them. Everywhere you look, tech is struggling. So last week Amazon announced that it has put a freeze on hiring for at least a few months because it said the economy, and I'm quoting, is in an uncertain place. After that, the company says it will continue monitoring the economic situation.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then the rideshare company Lyft is laying off 13% of its workforce. They say they're preparing for a likely recession next year. And then just to keep adding to it, the payment processing platform Stripe is cutting 14% of its staff. The company's CEO said in a memo to employees, I'm going to quote, we were much too optimistic about the internet economy's near-term growth in 2022 and 2023, and underestimated both the likelihood and impact of a broader slowdown.
--:-- John Bickley: That's to say nothing, of course, of Elon Musk firing about 50% of Twitter employees. And that's something we've talked about here before. So Microsoft and Google aren't cutting yet, but they are telling investors that new hiring is going to be minimal and much lower than in past quarters.
--:-- Megan Basham: What that means is that overall, we're only a couple of weeks into November, yet we've already seen more layoffs in the industry than in any other month this year. According to one report, over 21,000 employees have lost jobs across 46 different companies in less than two weeks. So really just a lot of pain all throughout tech. And as John said, it mirrors the economic realities elsewhere.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, is this all due to the economy or are there some tech-specific issues that are causing this? Well, you know, obviously a lot of it is due to the pandemic and inflationary spending, and that's affecting everyone. And following the midterm elections, President Biden announced that he has no plans to do anything differently regarding economic policy. So the industry really does have very little reason to expect that anything's going to change in the near future.
--:-- Megan Basham: But yeah, there are some issues unique to tech. First, many companies like Amazon and Meta had gone on what you might call hiring sprees the last two years to keep up with demand from people who were stuck at home during COVID. And then something that hit social media companies really hard was the privacy update on Apple's iPhones. What that did was limit targeted advertising. So digital ads have been cut back because of that. And that's compounded by the fact that digital advertising had already been cutting back anyway, as consumers have reigned in spending as a reaction to all that inflation. So what we're seeing is something of a domino effect.
--:-- John Bickley: And as of right now, there's really not much reason to be optimistic that we're going to see any changes in the near future.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yep, anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Coming up, new data is released on America's stubborn inflation. Are you tired of being the gatekeeper of all of your family's plans? Well, the Skylight Calendar may be just what you need. The Skylight Calendar syncs all of your family's schedules from Google, Outlook, and Apple and displays them in one beautiful touchscreen arrangement. Now, as a special offer, you can get $10 off your purchase of a Skylight Calendar when you go to SkylightCal.com and enter code WIRE. That's right. To get $10 off your purchase of a Skylight calendar, just go to SkylightCal.com and enter code WIRE.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- John Bickley: Inflation rates cooled off a bit in October. The Consumer Price Index released Thursday showed a rate of 7.7% from November 2021 through this October. That's a decrease of a half point from September. Here to discuss the latest inflation numbers is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, Tim, the latest inflation report is here and it looks like pressure on prices has eased slightly. What can we expect from inflation in the future based on this report?
--:-- John Bickley: Nobody can say anything for sure.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The CPI report for October is trending the right way and some economists say this is a hopeful sign that inflation has peaked. The economists like to look at what's called the core inflation rate. It sets aside gas and groceries and measures price increases for everything else. It's not a very accurate measure of how inflation impacts people day-to-day because food and fuel are usually weekly staples. But economists use the core rate because they think it's a better predictor of long-term trends.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, the core inflation rate slowed a bit in October. Over the course of 12 months, core inflation rose 6.3% in October, a slight decrease of 0.3 points from the month before. The important thing for economists, though, is that the rate of inflation curved down.
--:-- Tim Pierce: When can Americans actually expect to see prices stabilize? Unfortunately, there isn't a good answer here. Inflation is still hot, so people can expect prices to continue to jump higher in the coming weeks and months. The increments between those price jumps may be slowing down, though.
--:-- John Bickley: It's also very possible that inflation stays high for a while longer. There are certainly plenty of factors that could keep pushing prices higher, especially in the next few months as winter sets in and the demand for energy spikes.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, what is President Biden saying about this? Obviously, before the midterms, they were under pressure to give good news, to make big promises. Has the tone changed?
--:-- John Bickley: The White House is celebrating this CPI report. Biden said he expects Americans to see headway on inflation in the next few months. It's going to take time to get inflation back to normal levels. We can see setbacks along the way. I realize that. But we are laser focused on it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That's right. And what about Wall Street? Did they react at all? Stock surged on the news. It was the biggest one-day rally since 2020. The S&P rose about 5 percent, and the Dow climbed 1,200 points.
--:-- John Bickley: As traders hope, this means the Fed will ease up on monetary tightening. The Fed appears likely to stay the course for now, though. Dallas Fed President Lori Logan called the CPI data a welcome relief, but said there's still a long way to go to curb inflation.
--:-- Tim Pierce: All right. Well, Tim, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. In this year's midterm cycle, some Democrats employed a risky and controversial tactic in which they elevated and even contributed to the primary campaigns of Republican candidates closely aligned with Donald Trump. The results are in, and it appears to have worked. In all eight races where this gambit was played, the Democrat won the general election. This included a high-profile New Hampshire Senate race, four governor's races, and a few congressional contests. Here to discuss this roll of the electoral dice and why it worked is columnist David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, Dave. So is this correct? They batted 1,000 on this very risky gamble.
--:-- John Bickley: Good morning. And yes, I mean, the final score is what it is. And it really was a gamble. Last week, there was gnashing of teeth and wailing of wails from the left over the possibility that some of these more MAGA-style Republicans would win on the Democrats' dime. But not only did all eight candidates lose, they generally, sometimes dramatically, underperformed compared to, what should we call them, more traditional Republicans in their states.
--:-- David Marcus: Right. Chris Sununu won the New Hampshire's governor's race with 57% of the vote. But Bolduc, the Trump-backed Senate candidate, he only got 44%. And that was pretty much happening across the board.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, Democrats were criticized for meddling in GOP primaries, even by other Democrats who feared that by helping what they view as more radical candidates they really undermine their message and how dangerous supposedly these candidates are. Are Democrats going to pay a price for that?
--:-- David Marcus: I don't think so. I mean, this is kind of inside baseball. And frankly, in this political environment, both sides are willing to look the other way a little bit at questionable tactics as long as they work. Do they lose a bit of the moral high ground? Maybe, but I doubt it.
--:-- John Bickley: You know, as Finley Peter Dunn once wrote, politics ain't beanbag. Right. Now, the through line here is that all of these targeted candidates were not just endorsed by Trump, but very closely tied to him. Are there losses raising alarm bells in the GOP? Yes, that's already happening. But let's also note that J.D. Vance won and Lake and Masters are doing well in Arizona, particularly Lake. So, I mean, Trump has had some wins and could get another with Herschel Walker. Former Speaker Paul Ryan expressed concern about Trump's impact. I imagine Mitt Romney is also worried. But there haven't been major defections from Trump. And also, Democrats meddled a bit in these primary races, but the MAGA candidates won them fairly. So for better or worse, the Trump endorsement still has a lot of purchase among GOP voters.
--:-- David Marcus: It's not just within the Republican Party, but also in conservative media that we see a lot of blame directed at President Trump. The New York Post cover has mocked him for two days and the Wall Street Journal had a blistering op-ed blaming him. Does that move the needle? As a columnist, I should probably answer that question with a yes. But this is Donald Trump. Every time the quote-unquote establishment thinks he's wounded and ready to be taken out, it just fizzles. All the scandals back in 2016 came to nothing. Again, after January 6th, we saw this bubbling of talk about whether it would break the Trump fever. it didn't. So all this talk of, you know, is it finally time for the GOP to break with Trump? What does that even mean? Like practically, does every Republican journalist and politician simultaneously tweet, I disavow Donald Trump? The only people who can execute that break are the voters because Trump's relationship to them is direct.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, where does all this leave the Republican leaders in Congress, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy? Trump allies have pointed blame at them for the lackluster performance and accused them of escape goading Trump. I think that criticism is easier to make of McConnell. After all, he openly questioned the quality of some of these candidates during the campaign. He didn't have to do that. Kevin McCarthy's walked a very careful line with Trump and Trump world. There are some calls to block his speakership, most notably from Representative Matt Gaetz. This may be posturing to get concessions from McCarthy on the direction the House will take. But hey, I mean, he knows he's not speaker yet. And he also likely is aware that the one person who can make that all but a certainty is named Donald Trump.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, that might be right.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for joining us, David.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
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