In the early days of the pandemic, the world learned to Zoom parties, graduations, weddings, and so much more. It was challenging but the rules were clear: dont breathe near each other. Then it was about masking and social distance or, whenever possible, getting together in the great outdoors. After that it wasnt unusual for people to require testing before a party or insist that everybody wear masks.

COVID has pushed us to have awkward conversations that we didnt used to have about consent in other forms, says San Francisco-based therapist Lily Sloane, of checking in before hugging somebody, or asking people what their protocol is, or [negotiating] what hanging out in person might look like once we started doing some of that. So it kind of just forced a lot more straightforward, open communication, which, I think, is a good thing.

Now? The rules and behavior have gotten muddled as some people grew exhausted by the pandemic and all the changes it forced on daily life: Were in this liminal space, says Sloane. I think the social awkwardness of this period feels different because people who generally have agreed through most of this might be taking different paths now.

Unless a person has health issues that makes possible COVID exposure more of an issue or is currently dealing with long COVID, theres a fair chance that most people are changing up their approach depending on who else is around. Peer pressure often drives peoples decisions on whether or not to mask up.

What Im noticing in myself and other people is this, I think, fear around saying, I dont really know what Im doing and Im a little bit all over the place. And I think actually thats a lot of people right now, says Sloane.

So whats the average COVID-conscious person to do as holiday parties make a comeback this year? Amidst rising COVID cases in parts of the country, Sloane suggests ramping up communication and accepting that, at times, the conversation will be uncomfortable.

For (potential) party goers

If a party invite doesnt include information on testing or masking, dont just cross your fingers and hope to avoid COVID, RSV, flu or whatever else may be floating around these days. Communication is key here. Yes, you could always lie and say youre planning to visit your elderly grandmother soon, or whatever thing youre not planning to do that you want to lie and say youre doing.

But theres an easier way to broach the are you regularly testing and/or masking? conversation before accepting an invite to a holiday shindig (so you wont get caught in a lie the next time you talk to the party host).

The trick to going the honest route: Own the awkwardness, says Sloane. Ask what you need to ask about masking or testing or, even, if the host knows if the other guests are also COVID-conscious. Theres nothing wrong in advocating for yourself and your own health. That its become awkward to admit that you dont want to expose yourself to an illness that can really slam your life is weird. Really really weird.

Need a script? Here are a few questions to help make that call (or even better, email) a little easier.

I understand everyones kind of in different places with this right now. But will guests have to test for covid before the party?

I know this might be annoying but Im trying to be extra cautious right now.

Maybe Im being overly cautious but can we please all wear masks? I really want to see everybody and its going to make it easier for me to attend.

And if you get a hard and fast no in response? Its not worth a fight. Theres a good chance other attendees feel the same way as the host and wont want to mask or test either. Go have fun somewhere else. Or have your own COVID-conscious party at your place.

For party hosts

While there are some people out in the world who are just natural hosts, COVID-era hosting takes extra tact and thought. Most people I know who host things would feel responsible to some degree if somebody got COVID from their party or event, says Sloane. So, before sending out the invites or, even, planning the food, decide what level of testing or masking youll require of guests. Sloane suggests parameters that defer to the most cautious person who wants to attend.

When you send out the invites, dont hedge. List your masking and testing requirements right on the invitation or, if youre going informal and putting out word by phone, just state it all very clearly and move on to how excited you are to get people together. (By the way, were asking everybody to take a covid test both the day before the party.) Get pushback? A quick Im so sorry you wont be able to make it this year. I look forward to seeing you in the new year.

After the party

No matter how hard you work to be COVID safe, theres no way to guarantee you wont get sick. If you do go to a party and contract the virus, let the host know you ended up with COVID and that they should alert the other guests. If youre the host, let your guests know they were potentially exposed to COVID. Just dont blame the hosts or other guests. Its a risk we all take when socializing these days.

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But Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel says the CPI figure doesnt represent reality.

Inflation is basically over, despite the way Chairman Powell characterizes it, he told CNBC on Friday. 

Siegel points to falling rent and home prices as evidence that the majority of the inflationary pressures in the economy are already gone. Throughout 2022, he has made the case that Fed officials are looking at backward data to access the housing market, which gives them a false picture of the current level of inflation in the economy.

The Fed is making a terrible mistake by continuing to raise interest rates even as inflation comes down from its recent four-decade high, according to Siegel.

I see no reason to go any higher than we are now, he said on Friday, arguing that this years interest rate hikes have yet to be felt in the economy, and as they are, consumer prices will drop sharply. 

The talk of going higher and staying higher, I think, would guarantee a very steep recession, he added.

When asked about the potential for rising wages to cause inflation to be sticky next year, Siegel pointed out that when accounting for inflation, Americans wages have actually fallen throughout the pandemic.

Real wages have gone down. Its hard for me to see that theyre pushing inflation up when they dont even match inflation, he said.

Real wagesor wages adjusted for inflationdropped 1.9% from a year ago last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. Thats a far cry from the 2% average annual real wage growth seen since World War II, Siegel said.

Siegel also noted that there has been a structural shift in the labor force in recent years that involves a smaller overall percentage of Americans working, and argued that the Feds interest rate hikes wont help solve it.

If people dont want to work, then firms have to offer higher wages in order to induce them to work, he said, It is not the Feds job to suppress the economy because there is a structural supply shift. They take care of aggregate demand, not shifts in supply.

It may make sense to listen to Siegels latest forecast, because hes made some prescient predictions over the past few years.

In June of 2020, the Wharton professor told Barry Ritholtz, the chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, that inflation was set to rise and argued the Fed wasnt anticipating it.

I think for the first time, and I know this is a sharp minority view here, for the first time in over two decades, were going to see inflation, he said, claiming that Fed officials had overstimulated the economy with years of near-zero interest rates.

Siegel turned out to be right. Inflation soared from just 0.6% when he made his forecast to over 5% in under a year.

But now, he says that Fed officials have done enough to slow rising consumer prices and his new fear is that they may ultimately drive the U.S. economy into a recession with interest rate hikes.

However, if the Fed decides to pause or cut rates sometime next year, Siegel believes the S&P 500 will rally 15% to 20%.

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The new Twitter CEO kicked off several reporters for what he claims are Twitter policy violations, including CNNs Donie OSullivan, the Washington Posts Drew Harwell, the New York Times Ryan Mac, Mashables Matt Binder, The Intercepts Micah Lee, and independent journalist Aaron Rupar. Musk claimed the reporters posted his exact real-time location in an obvious violation of Twitters terms of service. Just a day earlier, Musk claimed a crazy stalker had been following a car carrying Musks 19-month old son and posted a video claiming to show the stalker and the drivers license plate.  

Musk then joined a live Twitter Spaces event hosted by Buzzfeeds Katie Notopolous late Thursday night, attended by some of the reporters whose accounts had been suspended, but were able to get on because the ban only prohibited them from creating new tweets and hid their older posts. 

On the Twitter Space, Musk said accounts found to be doxxingsharing personal information about an individual onlinewould be suspended. But he abruptly left the call when reporters denied his accusations and asked follow up questions. The Twitter Spaces capability across the entire platform was shut down soon afterwards, ending the call that was hosting tens of thousands of people. On Friday, Musk tweeted that the company was fixing a long-standing legacy bug and that the feature would be available again on Saturday.

Musk makes a fleeting appearance

In his brief appearance on the Twitter Spaces conversation, Musk justified his decision to kick off journalists by claiming their tweets posed a danger to him and his family.

There is not going to be any distinction in the future between journalists, so called journalists, and regular people, Musk said in the Space. 

Musk went on to say that any ban evasion will also result in suspension, in which Notopolous asked him if he considers journalists reporting on the public data counts as a tricky attempt at ban evasion. Musk responded that showing the link to real-time location information counts as ban evasion obviously.

But one of the journalists who Musk suspended, the Washington Posts Drew Harwell, said he had only posted links to ElonJet in the process of reporting on the account which had already been suspended on Wednesday. The suspension of the ElonJet account, which Musk promised last month would never happen, followed a Wednesday policy change at Twitter purportedly clamping down on doxxing. Musk countered by saying that journalists should not expect special treatment or exemptions from Twitters doxxing rules, which include a seven-day suspension for any account in violation. 

You doxx, you get suspended, end of story, thats it, Musk said, then immediately left the Space.

Prior to Musks appearance, tech entrepreneur and Musk associate Jason Calacanis spoke,  asking if the owner of the ElonJet account would be sad if someone was harmed as a result of his tweets.  

Ella Irwin, Twitters head of trust and safety, told Reuters Friday that the company had manually reviewed all accounts that they claim violated the new policies before the suspensions were enacted, adding that the policy was being applied equally to accounts regardless of whether they are owned by journalists.

But the suspensions have sparked online outrage against the Twitter CEO, and even many of his own fans appeared to disagree with the bans. Soon after the suspensions, Musk posted a public poll among his followers asking when the accounts should be reinstated. He then posted a new poll with fewer options asking the same question. Both polls leaned towards lifting the suspensions sooner rather than later.

On Friday, CNN, who employs one of the suspended journalists, released a statement calling Musks suspensions impulsive and unjustified and should be of incredible concern to anyone who uses the platform. CNN also added it would be reevaluating its relationship with Twitter pending a request for clarification on the suspensions. The New York Times similarly called the suspensions questionable and unfortunate, while also demanding an explanation from Twitter.

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