Volv Concierge #48

Hey fam, Shannon here. I traveled to Canada for my cousin's wedding this weekend, but now I'm back in NY. Priyanka and I will be speaking at the Creator Summit on September 9. If you're around, we'd love to see you there! You can register here.

Another news-heavy week, with protests in India over the rape and murder of a doctor shocking the world. The latest from Britain's Bill Gates' superyacht sinking is also bad news. In the US, the presidential race is heating up. It's the perfect time to compare Trump and Harris's economic agenda, and that's what I have for you today.

But before that, here are the interesting articles you missed.

📈 Let’s take a look:

1. The next generation of pop girls is here

2. Why is everyone on TikTok suddenly obsessed with demure?

3. 'Girl math' may have been invented by a man

4. Spotify's second-biggest podcast dumps Spotify for $125 million

5. The American conman who turned the Bahamas into a tax haven

📌 Tips from building Volv this week

• We recently got a new advisor on board, Nishkaam Mehta, and we're so grateful for his mentorship.

• As we gear up to start fundraising, I've been using a tool called Swarm. It's a huge time saver, showing all possible intros from your LinkedIn connections without having to manually sift through each person's network. Shoutout to Nishkaam for the recommendation!

✨ Vibes of the week

1. Absolutely love this newsletter — it's the only one I allow in my work email inbox. The efficiency hacks and productivity tips are truly top-tier.

2. I've been thinking about Addison Rae's new single, 'Diet Pepsi,' which seems heavily derivative of Lana Del Rey, who quite literally has a song called, 'Diet Mountain Dew.' However, the similarities go beyond the song title; the lyrics and the music video aesthetic resemble Lana's style. It raises an interesting question: when does something cross the line from being inspired to imitation being sold as nostalgia?

Harris v. Trump's Economic Vision for America

Kamala Harris unveiled her economic agenda last Friday. Here's a brief comparison of her proposals against Donald Trump's.

Disclaimer: Presidents have limited tools to control prices, which is primarily the Federal Reserve's job. Most major proposals would need Congressional approval.

Kamala Harris

• Proposes an "opportunity economy" for the success of middle-class and low-income families.

• Wants to pay $25,000 down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers; build 3M housing units; $40B fund for innovative housing construction.

• Reinstate Biden-era expanded child tax credit and provide $6,000 to parents of newborns in middle- and lower-income families, costing $1.2T over 10 years.

• Introduce the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries; push for a more competitive food industry.

• Expand Biden's prescription drug cost-cutting measures to all Americans, not just Medicare enrollees.

• Cancel medical debt for millions (Biden-Harris already canceled $7B in debt for 3M Americans).

• Proposes higher taxes for the wealthy and corporations to offset the $1.7T deficit that paying for her economic plan would cost over 10 years; she will maintain tax cuts for those making under $400K.

• Extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies set to expire in 2025.

• No specific trade plans unveiled, but the Biden-Harris administration has retained, and in some cases added to, Trump-era tariffs.

• Supports ending federal income tax on tips, but not payroll taxes.

• Main focus: Government intervention to lower costs and help Americans enter the middle class.

Donald Trump

• Plans to direct his Cabinet to bring down markets by eliminating every "job-killing regulation" (like environmental rules) and boosting oil and gas production.

• Impose tariffs (10%-20% on imports, 100% on foreign cars) to encourage domestic manufacturing, though tariffs may raise prices for a typical American family by $1,700 per year.

• Extend his 2017 tax cuts that benefit billionaires and wealthy people the most; further reduce corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%.

• End Social Security taxes for seniors, potentially impacting Medicare and the federal budget.

• Eliminate federal income and payroll taxes on tips, lowering revenue by $150B-$250B over 10 years.

• Deport 15M-20M immigrants, apparently to address the housing crisis, though this could harm the labor market and increase inflation.

• Policies would increase the federal deficit by $7T over 10 years, partially offset by tariffs and repeal of Biden tax breaks.

📸 Giveaway: I have a couple of questions before I let you go this week. Vote on the polls, and one lucky winner will get a Volv film camera!

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This newsletter was edited by Ishita Sen.