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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at a return to OG Facebook during last week’s Q4 earnings call, listing it as a key goal for 2025. But what exactly does that mean? So far, Meta hasnt offered any clear details. Could Zuckerberg mean the millennial meme-filled Facebook of the 2010s or the masculine energy of its controversial origins as Facemash (a site that ranked Harvard classmates by attractiveness without consent)? Asked about his plans for the OG Facebook, Zuckerberg replied, I think some of this will kind of get back to how Facebook was originally used back in the day,, while tight-lipped on any other details. I think there are a lot of opportunities to make [Facebook] way more culturally influential than it is today, he said. Zuckerberg cautioned investors that these changes may require some tradeoffs in terms of maximizing business results in the near term, hinting at potential revenue impacts. The first wave of product updates is expected to roll out within the next six months. Now, OG Facebook could mean different things to different people. For many, its a throwback to the days before Boomer and Gen X relatives took over. These days, Facebook is often used begrudgingly by those under the age of 30 and is more synonymous with offensive memes and AI slop than cutting-edge youth culture. Studies show Gen Z overwhelmingly prefers TikTok and Snapchat, platforms that exist outside of Metas reach. A 2024 Pew Research survey showed that only 33% of U.S. teens (13-17) use Facebook, a steep drop from 71% a decade ago. One thing is clear, the platform is in desperate need of younger users to stay relevant. Meta has tried, and failed, to course-correct before. In 2020, it launched Facebook Campus, a college-only space meant to recapture its early exclusivity. It flopped within 18 months. More recently, in October 2024, the company rolled out a Gen Z-focused redesign putting greater emphasis on local communities, video, and Facebook Groups. Last year, it even quietly resurrected the Poke button. Can Facebook pull off the rebrand of 2025? Thats for Gen Z to decide.
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E-Commerce
Over the weekend, Elon Musk took to X with a series of tweets claiming that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was a criminal organization that needed to die. By this morning, the agencys doors were closed to employees, logos, and photos of its aid work were stripped from the buildings walls, and its website and social media accounts were gone. We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper, Musk tweeted on Monday. The tech billionaire is also the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has been given increasingly wide-reaching power just over a month into the Trump administrations second term. The apparent dismantling of USAID comes after hundreds of its employees and contractors were fired or furloughed last week. On Saturday, five sources told NBC News that USAIDs director of security and his deputy were placed on administrative leave after attempting to stop DOGE employees from accessing secure USAID systems. Multiple U.S. legislators have warned that changes to the structure of USAID should not be under the executive branchs jurisdiction alone. Still, Musk appears to be moving ahead with attempting to shut down the agency. With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with [Trump] in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down, Musk said in a video posted to X this weekend. So what is USAID, and what could a shutdown of the agency mean? Heres what you need to know: What is USAID? USAID was created in 1961 as America’s first single agency charged with spearheading foreign economic assistance, bringing together several existing programs under one umbrella. The agencys stated purpose is to [administer] aid to foreign countries to promote social and economic development. According to an archived USAID webpage, President John F. Kennedy said of the agency at the time of its creation, “There is no escaping our obligations: our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nationsour economic obligations as the wealthiest people in a world of largely poor people, as a nation no longer dependent upon the loans from abroad that once helped us develop our own economyand our political obligations as the single largest counter to the adversaries of freedom.” What does USAID do? Over more than six decades of operations, USAID has taken a number of different approaches to administering foreign aid. In the 1970s, the agency focused on a basic human needs approach, mainly working to provide resources like food and nutrition, health assistance, and education. In the 1980s, it pivoted to larger programs focused on stabilizing foreign financial systems and currencies (in 1989, USAID played a lead role in planning and implementing programs following the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to the archived web page.) In 2023, USAID managed over $40 billion of appropriations provided to around 130 countries, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Of that amount, $16.8 billion went toward governance, while $10.5 billion went to humanitarian aid and $7 billion to health efforts. Per the CRS, the top 10 recipients of USAID funds in 2023 were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Syria. Reflecting USAIDs poverty reduction mandate, 70 of the 77 World Bank-determined low- and lower-middle income countries received USAID assistance in FY2023, the CRS report notes. USAID programmed 40% of its funds in Europe and Eurasia in FY2023, the majority of which were for Ukraine. Why is this attempted shutdown happening? DOGE’s purported mission has been to take an entrepreneurial approach to government by slashing excess regulations, [cutting] wasteful expenditures, and [restructuring] Federal Agencies. Musk is framing the attempted shutdown of USAID as part of that individualistic mission, calling the agency a scam and a grift. This morning, Musk reposted a tweet stating, Stop giving $ to countries that hate us. Meanwhile, experts are warning that killing USAID could have immediate effects on the U.S.s ability to deliver foreign aid, and that rebuilding the agency from the ground up would require a massive effort. Its a national security tool kit that has been developed over 60 years, Jeremy Konyndyk, president of the aid group Refugees International, said in an interview with The Washington Post. And if its destroyed, it cannot be easily rebuilt.
Category:
E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. This week, the U.S. is set to impose new tariffs as part of President Donald Trumps trade policy. Imports from Canada and Mexico are facing an additional 25% tariffwith the only exception being energy resources from Canada, which will have a 10% tariff addedwhile imports from China will be subject to a new 10% tariff. Although there were signs on Monday that at least some of these tariffs may be delayed, builders have already been feeling anxious. Indeed, on Friday the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) published a public letter asking Trump to exempt building materials from the increased tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing their harmful effect on housing affordability. The reason for the unease: Even before the tariff announcement, homebuilders were feeling pinched by spiked construction and labor costsjust look at the National Association of Home Builders latest national averages for itemized costs in each stage of construction for a new single-family home. In 2022, the average sales price of new single-family homes sampled by NAHB was $644,750 and includes costs for construction, the finished lot, financing, overhead and general expenses, marketing, sales commission, and profit. Total construction costs for the average new single-family home included in the survey was $392,241. In 2024, the average sales price of new single-family homes sampled by NAHB was $665,298 and total construction costs for the average new single-family home included in the survey was $428,215. Among new builds included in the survey, thats a 3.2% jump for average sales price and a 9.2% jump for total construction costs. Since mortgage rates spiked in late spring 2022, lower housing demandalong with builders in many markets offering more incentives and affordability adjustments to attract buyershas squeezed margins off the historic highs achieved during the pandemic housing boom. For some homebuilders, rising input and construction costs have further compressed margins over the past two years. See the chart below. (Note: Each category below includes all the costs paid by a builder that go into a particular item, including labor costs paid directly by the general contractor, the cost of hiring subcontractors, and the cost of materials, however they are purchased.) Homebuilders have seen one major area of relief: framing. During the pandemic housing boom, a surge in housing demand and remodeling demand collided with supply chain disruptions, sending lumber prices to historic highs. Sawmills, which had cut production early in the pandemic expecting a slowdown, struggled to keep up as demand soared, causing lumber prices to skyrocket. Lumber prices came back down as supply chains improved and demand for remodeling softened, thus lowering costs for framing. Indeed, the price per thousand board feet of lumber, currently at $592, is 58.3% below its peak of $1,419 in May 2021. Some lumber futures contracts at the time in spring 2021 were trading for over $1,700 per thousand board feet. The problem for homebuilders: The one area of price relieflumberalso happens to be one of the most vulnerable to a price squeeze if the new U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods remain in place. Around 30% of the softwood lumber used in the U.S. is imported from Canada. This softwood lumber already faces an average duty of 15%, which could rise to 40% if Trump’s additional tariffs take effect.
Category:
E-Commerce
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