The Weekly Scan March 21, 2023

Welcome to the Weekly Scan. Here’s what we’re following for the week of March 21, 2023. 

Retirement woes in France. Protesters took to the streets in France after the government forced through pension reforms that will raise the retirement age to 64 from 62. President Emmanuel Macron sidestepped a vote in France’s lower house, where his party does not have a majority. That decision to work around the system is unpopular with young adults in France, according to a poll from Institut Français D’opinion Publique (IFOP). Macron is pushing the reforms in order to combat the pensions deficit, which is currently projected to reach $13 billion annually by 2027. 

CNN

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TikTok dances with a ban, again. The U.S. government is once again exploring whether or not to ban TikTok. Currently, the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. (CFIUS) is looking into the security concerns around the social media platform. Depending on the results of the investigation, CFIUS may suggest that the Biden administration undo the 2017 acquisition of Musical.ly by ByteDance, which would require ByteDance to sell its stake in order for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. ByteDance has expressed resistance to a forced sale. While a ban remains to be decided, users may still be able to access the app with a virtual private network (VPN). 

CNBC.

Disney+++. A vast majority—94%—of users continued to subscribe to Disney+ after the streaming service increased the monthly price by $3, according to a subscription analytics company Antenna. While CEO Bob Iger didn’t speak to that data, he did reportedly suggest that the streamer may increase monthly prices further. Disney will also increase its focus on children’s programming since half of the platform’s customers are families. 

Wall Street Journal

The first cut is the deepest. CEO of General Electric (GE) Larry Culp will take a compensation cut this year in response to feedback from shareholders. Culp’s compensation will drop from $15 million to $5 million. His salary will remain at $2.5 million and he is still expected to receive a bonus worth 150% of his salary. Culp is the latest CEO to take a pay cut. The CEOs of Apple, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and manyothers, have seen their compensation cut recently. 

MarketWatch