The French Job

Plus: Nothing can kill the allure of private jet travel ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 11, 2023

Read in Browser

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wants to shore up the Jersey Shore, and he’s going about it in the most Jersey Shore way possible.

As part of a new tax plan, Murphy is proposing that the state upgrade its iconic Atlantic coast boardwalks to ensure they survive well into the 21st Century. But while the governor’s new tax scheme will make it easier for future Snookis not to catch a high heel between wooden boardwalk slats, it might make it harder to walk that imaginary line used in sobriety tests. In his budget, Murphy will ask the state legislature to expand the number of liquor licenses statewide, from one for every 3,000 residents to whatever the market demands. Should the new budget pass, we can statistically surmise that things are gonna be extra “lit” at Jenks this summer, bro.

Morning Brief

•

Emmanuel Macron is once again risking his neck.

•

The US is lawyering down.

•

Private jets are still flying high.

Policy

Emmanuel Macron Wants to Raise the French Retirement Age

Emmanuel Macron wants French workers to be more hardcore, if not quite Musk-level hardcore.

On Tuesday, the French President committed the cardinal sin of demanding his citizens, you know, work a little more, when he presented a plan to gradually raise the country’s minimum retirement age from 62 to the ripe old age of 64 by 2030. Heavy is the head that wields such power…

Let Them Eat Cake (With Dentures)

France has already spent the past year on edge, with inflation hovering around 6% — the highest mark since 1985. But that hasn’t stopped Macron from his tightrope walk of attempting to deliver some 400 tiny blows to the nation’s incredibly labor-friendly work laws without triggering a fourth revolution. Now, the centrist politician is returning to the frontlines of pension reform, a battle he walked away from in December 2019 after his proposals triggered the longest labor strike in modern French history. Again, Macron is proposing a multipronged rethinking of pension policies that would bump the retirement age up two years and streamline the nation’s 42 pension plans into a universal system.

While France’s pension program looks in good health right now — with an expected €3.2 billion surplus in 2022, according to a recent pension advisory panel report — the nation’s aging population means the system is likely to start losing money this year. Unions are already threatening resistance, and Macron, without a unified government after his Renaissance party lost control of France’s lower parliamentary house in June, will likely have to make a few concessions to pass the legislation:

•

Macron has already lowered his proposed retirement age from the 65-years-old threshold he campaigned on, though to win critical votes from conservative Les Républicains in the National Assembly he may have to settle for a slower ramp-up that would set the retirement age at 63 in 2027 and 64 in 2032, analysts tell The Wall Street Journal.

•

Les Républicains are also likely to demand increased minimum pension payouts of €1,200 per month, an increase over the €953.45 per month checks currently sent out to retired French seniors.

To make peace with unions, Macron may also allow workers in physically demanding jobs to continue to retire by 62, though the measure is unlikely to quell labor unrest. “If for Emmanuel Macron, this is the mother of all reforms, then for us it will be the mother of all battles,” Frédéric Souillot, the general secretary of the union Force Ouvrière, ominously told WSJ.

European Vacation: So just how generous are France’s labor laws? The equally labor-adverse Italians still have to work until their 67th birthday, while UK and German citizens can retire at 66. Meanwhile, in Sweden, the retirement age remains at 62. But even within the Élysée, there is a seeming lack of fairness: should the move be ratified, the 45-year-old Macron would have almost two decades until retirement, while his wife is already five years ahead of the game at the age of 69.

– Brian Boyle

Legal

US Lawyers’ Billable Hours Fall To Dramatic Lows

American lawyers suddenly find themselves with enough time on their hands to binge-watch Better Call Saul.

Research from the Thomson Reuters Institute found average time worked per lawyer at 170 US firms fell to 119 hours per month in 2022, the lowest level ever recorded since it started recording data 15 years ago. This translated to the average lawyer making $98,000 less in the past 12 months than in 2007. Someone ought to sue.

Can You Imagine a World Without Lawyers?

Corporate law firms financially benefited from the early days of the pandemic, as both employers and employees grappled with the legal realities of massive corporate restructures. Law firms were also able to reduce overhead costs as lawyers set up in their home offices.

With a new economic crisis looming, however, corporations are cutting back on legal services. After a glut of pandemic-era hiring, law firms now have less work to share out among more people, and some are already retrenching:

•

Goodwin Procter told employees in a memo obtained by Fortune this week that it will be cutting jobs, blaming depressed demand particularly in housing and M&A. The end of last year also saw job reductions at white-shoe firms including Cooley LLP and Kirkland and Ellis.

•

The tech industry may also cut back on legal fees. One legal recruitment specialist told Fortune: “I work very closely with the technology sector and that saw a huge amount of activity during the pandemic which may now be needing to be equalized” — that’s despite Elon Musk doing his level best to keep demand stable.

The same recruiter said the job cuts may not be catastrophic as smaller firms may scoop up laid-off talent. “The wages can also be astronomical in the legal profession — especially in the US when compared to Australia and the UK. That’s particularly for specialized attorneys such as data privacy, entertainment or artificial intelligence,” she added.

Speaking of AI… Would you trust a chatbot to defend you? Joshua Browder, founder of startup Do Not Pay, told Politico he plans to send a defendant into traffic court next month equipped with an earpiece that will feed them lines generated by an AI chatbot. While one litigator raised the issue of whether a chatbot can be legally authorized to practice law, Browder said he had identified two jurisdictions where it wouldn’t be “outright illegal.” A ringing endorsement if ever we heard one.

– Isobel Asher Hamilton

Sponsored by Thesis

Nix Procrastination and Boost Productivity

Don’t worry, we’re not touting color-coded calendars or a Tony Robbins poster.

We’re talking about Thesis, specially designed supplements jam-packed with ingredients proven to enhance brain performance (not to mention validated in third-party clinical studies).

The best kept secret by entrepreneurs and investors alike, Thesis has helped over 500,000 professionals eliminate procrastination, brain fog, and writer’s block.

With six different formulas you are bound to find one that will help you achieve your goals.

Our favorite formulas:

•

Clarity to enter the hallowed ‘flow state’

•

Motivation to #crush healthy brain and body goals

•

Energy – the MVP for balancing work days with busy evenings

•

Logic for deep, analytical thinking

For the next seven days, use promo code DAILYUPSIDE to get 10% off your next order.

A smarter brain awaits. Don’t procrastinate and get your matches here.

Aviation

Private Jet Demand Remains Robust

(Photo credit: David Brossard/Flickr)

Once you get used to private jets, it’s hard going back.

The pandemic appears to have had a long-lasting booster effect on demand for private jets. Luxury air travel remains 14% higher than 2019 levels according to data from aviation analytics firm WingX published by the Financial Times. This is a slight surprise given commercial airlines are pulling themselves out of a Covid nosedive, but it appears some travelers just can’t give up flying solo.

Those Magnificent Men In Their (Private) Flying Machines

When lockdowns grounded commercial fleets in 2020, sales of private jets and the charter industry took off, with more middle-class families joining the fun.

Of course, private jet companies are subject to some of the same inflationary pressures weighing on commercial airlines, including rising costs for jet fuel and labor:

•

The price per hour to rent a private jet rose 21% from December 2021 to December 2022, advisory service Private Jet Card Comparisons told The FT. By comparison, airfares from US airports rose on average 36% between November 2021 and November 2022 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

•

Kevin Singh, president of jet broker Icarus Jet (which presumably enjoys tempting fate judging by the name) told The FT rising fees aren’t a problem for the clientele of private jets, saying: “Inflation never affected the 1 percent.”

It’s Now Or Never: A rather forlorn-looking 1962 Lockheed 1329 JetStar that used to belong to Elvis Presley sold at auction on Monday for $260,000. The aircraft has been sitting out in the desert at Roswell for the last four decades. While that might seem like a lot of money for a fairly neglected old plane, Presley bought the aircraft in 1976 for $840,000 ($4.4 million in today’s money) so relatively speaking it’s not exactly a kingly sum.

– Isobel Asher Hamilton

Extra Upside

•

Second Chances: The Biden administration unveiled a tweaked version of student debt reform.

•

Space Flop: Virgin Orbit’s stock plummets after a failed launch in the UK.

•

Volatility is the new normal. With both the CPI report and bank earnings on deck, this week could see a lot of it. Just how much? Options AI allows investors to visualize market expectations for data releases, earnings announcements, and more, and instantly generate option strategies with its sleek visual interface. Explore their no-cost tools to see what’s in store this week.*

*Partner.

Just For Fun

Saying hello.

Microclimates.

ADVERTISE // CAREERS

No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe here.

//campaignmonitornewsletter.everestengagement.com/ea/BntD2QJCyg/?e=postie@btcnews.com.au’ width=’1′ height=’1′ style=”margin-top:0 !important;margin-bottom:0 !important;margin-right:0 !important;margin-left:0 !important;padding-top:0 !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;padding-right:0 !important;padding-left:0 !important;border-width:0 !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;” />