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Good morning.
Harvard Business School has a poll of its alumni out this morning. These folks aren’t representative of the general population, or even the general business population. But at 65,000 strong, they are a formidable force in business, and worth some attention.
Some takeaways from the survey, which was answered by about 10% of the school’s graduates:
- They are pessimistic about the future of American competitiveness. Almost half—48%—expect it to decline in the next three years; only 31% expect it to improve.
- They see employment declining. Fully 52% believe the typical U.S. company will employ fewer people three years from now; only 15% expect more.
- They worry technology will depress, not raise, wages. Some 36% of alumni predict firms will be less able to support high wages in the future; only 27% expect firms to be more able.
Bottom line: “The HBS alumni on the front lines of our economy foresee a challenging future for American workers.” While tax and regulation changes have improved competitiveness in recent years, they believe that’s offset by a dysfunctional political system, crumbling infrastructure, a struggling education system, and a deteriorating legal system. You can read the full HBS study here.
Separately, Fortune Analytics has done some interesting research, in conjunction with SurveyMonkey, on Americans’ use of video streaming services, with good news for Disney. A full 90% of Disney+ subscribers say they are satisfied with the new service. Some 39% of Netflix users say they could have a Disney+ account by early next year. And 5% of Disney+ subscribers are people who have cancelled Netflix over the past two months, in favor of the new platform. Strong start for the Mouse factory.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
PG&E Settlement
A court has approved the $13.5 billion settlement between the bankrupt Californian utility PG&E and the victims of fires linked to its equipment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom still doesn't like PG&E's bankruptcy exit plan, but won't move against the settlement. PG&E's $11 billion settlement with insurance creditors also won court approval yesterday. Wall Street Journal
Fiat Peugeot
The boards of Peugeot owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler have signed off on the two companies' $50 billion merger. They hope the merger will be finalized by the end of 2020, creating a group with annual vehicle sales of 8.7 million. PSA would become a significant player in the U.S., and Fiat Chrysler would get its hands on a more modern vehicle platform than it currently has. Bloomberg
Boeing Suit
Boeing has been sued in Illinois by an Ireland-based plane lessor over, you guessed it, the 737 Max. Timaero Ireland claims the grounding of the planes means "the 737 Max aircraft contracted for between Boeing and Timaero are now either worthless or seriously diminished in value." Reuters
New York Life
New York Life Insurance will reportedly buy Cigna's group disability and life business unit for $6 billion, expanding New York Life's portfolio beyond its life insurance and annuities franchises. Cigna could use the cash, as its $67 billion takeover of Express Scripts last year saddled it with loads of debt. Financial Times
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
YouTubers' Rights
Meet Joerg Sprave, a German maker of crossbow and slingshot videos—and organizer of the "YouTubers' Union" Facebook group, which is trying to push back against changes that have left him and other creators less able to make a living. The changes came about a couple years back, when, under advertiser pressure, YouTube demonetized controversial videos. Interestingly, Sprave and his group are being backed by Germany's powerful IG Metall union. AFP
Peruvian McDonald's
Every McDonald's restaurant in Peru closed its doors for two days in mourning after the death of two employees at a Lima branch. The teenagers, Alexandra Porras Inga and Gabriel Campos Zapata, were reportedly killed by a loose electrical cable. Arcos Dorados, McDonald's operating company in the country, said it shared "the sorrow and extreme pain of the affected families." BBC
Vaping Ban
The U.K.'s advertising watchdog has banned British American Tobacco and three other e-cigarette firms from promoting their wares on public Instagram pages. The regulator bans the advertising of unlicensed e-cigarettes but allows manufacturers to publish factual information about the products on their own websites. BAT tried to argue that its Vype Instagram account was equivalent to its own website. It failed. Guardian
Privacy Law
The California Consumer Privacy Act will go into effect at the start of 2020, giving many people the right to demand that businesses tell them what data they have on them, and ask for that information to be deleted. The effect could be enormous—but only if people use their new right. Will they? That's unclear for now. Fortune
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.