promoearn: The Daily Money: Who's to blame for your sofa delivery taking forever? You.

Friday, March 25, 2022

The Daily Money: Who's to blame for your sofa delivery taking forever? You.

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Friday, March 25

Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist.

Good morning and happy Friday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester back with you. Before we get on with today's news, let's mark the passing of GIF inventor Stephen Wilhite , who changed the way we communicate. He died earlier this month at 74. And in case you're still wondering how to pronounce his creation, he was Team "Jiff."

🗞 Who's to blame for slow furniture deliveries? Consumers 🗞

Soaring consumer demand – for TVs, sofas, appliances and much more – is the predominant force behind the supply snarls, rather than kinks in the global delivery network, these experts say.

"The main culprit is demand," says Yossi Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics.

Analysts agree that both hobbled supply chains and surging demand during the pandemic have contributed to the delivery troubles and product shortages. And the two factors are closely intertwined. Strong demand can strain even robust production and transportation systems, making them appear frail, and weak supply chains can be overwhelmed by even a normal level of household purchases.

The supply chain has little wiggle room and "wasn't designed to handle a (20% to 50%) surge in demand," says Phil Levy, Flexport's chief economist. "It can just barely handle the peak season."

🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨

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UBER-TAXI TRUCE: Uber's app will show yellow cabs in NYC, are other cities possible?

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SAVE ON GAS WITH SAM'S CLUB: Memberships are free right now; save on gas, pantry staples, appliances and groceries.

💡 Citigroup sets corporate abortion precedent💡

Citigroup quietly expanded employees' health coverage in January to include paying for travel to obtain an abortion. In doing so, it became the first major bank and one of a handful of corporations known to cover those expenses since Texas instituted one of the nation's most restrictive abortion limitations last year.

Citi's approach "is a reflection of the challenges employers are going to have across the country if one by one, states are banning abortions," said Leila Abolfazli, director of reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center, referring to a pending Supreme Court decision that could uproot abortion access.

If companies with a presence in states that restrict abortion access don't offer financial assistance to workers seeking one, they'll likely have a hard time attracting and retaining women, she said. At the same time, "the ire of lawmakers is something that companies need to mind."

In fact, Lone Star state politicians have already vowed to punish companies that follow Citi's lead by helping their female employees obtain an abortion.

"Texas is a pro-life state, and if elected attorney general, I will hold actors who attempt to find loopholes in our laws accountable, George P. Bush proclaimed to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain said he would introduce a bill to ban local governments from doing business with any company paying for abortion or related expenses as part of their coverage, the New York Times reported.

💵 Tax tip 💵

We're still deep in March Madness, which sometimes means joining your favorite bracket pool. What does that have to do with your taxes? We'll explain in Sunday's tax-season edition of The Daily Money.

🎧 Mood music 🎧

Today, I'm using the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" in honor of Uber calling a truce with NYC cabbies: "Try to see it my way. Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong. While you see it your way, there's a chance that we might fall apart before too long."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.