CEO salary vs workers’ wages

Wage growth for workers has stagnated while CEOs’ earnings continue to rise, according to a report released by Oxfam and the International Trade Union Confederation. In the US, CEO pay increased about 20 times faster than workers’ wages in the past year, based on an analysis of data from the S&P Capital IQ database, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labour Statistics. CEOs are paid an average of 281 times more than the typical worker, according to a September 2025 report by the Economic Policy Institute, with CEOs taking home an average total of $22.98m in 2024. “What the data shows is that we cannot have a conversation about the affordability crisis without talking about extreme inequality, and in particular the extreme inequality between CEO pay and worker pay,” said Patricia Stottlemyer, labour rights policy lead for Oxfam America.

(Adapted from “In The US, CEO Pay Grew 20 Times Faster Than Workers’ Wages In 2025, Says Oxfam,” by Sophie Caldwell, published on April 30, 2026, by CNBC)

War comes for alcohol

When Julie McCarthy was a college student, she would down vodka in her room to spend less later at the club for a buzz. Now 31, she’s dusting off the strategy to combat rising prices for drinks at concerts and raves. With prices for everything from groceries to gas climbing, Americans are pinching pennies and making hard choices. Those craving cocktails, are entering a flashback era of “pregaming,” downing a few drinks at home before going out to keep from spending much more to get the same buzz. Among drinkers who say higher prices influence their decision to go out, Zappi, a consumer-insights platform, found that 41pc have switched to water or nonalcoholic options, while 37pc predrank to avoid paying venue prices. Big brands are getting in on the action, too, selling smaller bottles to strapped US consumers.

(Adapted from “Drinks Are So Expensive That Grown-Ups Are Pregaming Like They Did In College,” by Laura Cooper, published on April 23, 2026, by the Wall Street Journal)

Daughters’ burdens

While some millennials will soon be beneficiaries of the $100tr “great wealth transfer” from their ageing boomer parents, most Americans “will have little left to pass onto future generations after depleting assets to pay for long-term care costs,” according to a new policy brief from the Roosevelt Institute. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 75 to 80pc of US eldercare hours are performed by informal caregivers. The majority of those caregivers (61pc) are women: the wives, close friends and, especially, daughters of the nation’s elderly and infirm. When the load becomes too much to handle, their jobs and earnings often take a hit. Paid hours get surrendered; promotions get missed. Many leave the workforce entirely. The daughterhood penalty isn’t merely a tax on adult daughters’ time and emotional well-being; it’s their and their family’s whole financial future.

(Adapted from “America’s Biggest Career Hurdle: Being A Daughter,” by Kelli María Korducki, published on April 28, 2026, by Business Insider)

Tracking AI usage

Amazon’s retail business is closely tracking how often software engineers use AI and how that influences output, all while navigating resistance from parts of its workforce. An internal document obtained by Business Insider shows the company’s vast retail division, known as “Stores,” measuring the AI rollout in granular detail. Teams monitor how many engineers use AI each month, how frequently those tools are embedded in day-to-day workflows, and whether this produces meaningful results. The effort calls for more than 2,100 engineering teams in the retail arm to triple software code release velocity using what Amazon calls “AI-native” practices, while a smaller group of at least 25 teams is expected to boost output tenfold this year. Progress against these goals is closely tracked by Amazon’s senior leadership team, known as the S-Team, according to the document.

(Adapted from “Amazon Pushes AI Use And Closely Tracks Adoption, As Some Employees Push Back,” by Eugene Kim, published on April 27, 2026, by Business Insider)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 4th, 2026