The Wall Street Journal - 21.08.2019

A2| Wednesday, August 21, 2019 *** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**

OFFICER MOURNED: California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye Jr., who was fatally shot during

a traffic stop on Aug. 12, was honored Tuesday at a memorial service in Riverside, Calif.

JENNIFER CAPPUCCIO MAHER/ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/ZUMA PRESS

Readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles by emailing [email protected] or by calling 888-410-2667.

RV manufacturer Thor In-

dustries Inc. in June in its

third-quarter earnings news

release said that it was cutting

back production of RVs and

shifting its staff to a four-day

workweek. A U.S. News article

Tuesday about the recre-

ational-vehicle industry didn’t

give the date of the company’s

statement.

The Waha natural-gas hub

is located in Texas. A map

with a World News article on

Tuesday about a dispute in-

volving a Mexican gas pipeline

incorrectly placed the Waha

hub in New Mexico. A copy of

the amended map is available

at WSJ.com/Corrections.

Chili’s Grill & Bar’s menu

no longer includes the two-

for-$20 option of two entrees

and an appetizer. An Aug. 14

Business News article about

Chili’s parent Brinker Interna-

tional Inc. incorrectly implied

it is a current option.

Gene Luen Yang’s “Ameri-

can Born Chinese,” published

in 2006, was the first graphic

novel to be nominated for the

National Book Award. A Life &

Arts article Monday about

graphic novels incorrectly said

the American Book Award.

The most recent dogfight

involving a U.S. fighter pilot

took place in Syria in 2017. A

Review article Saturday about

fighter pilots incorrectly said

it was in Kosovo in 1999.

Indigo Arts Alliance is an

arts center with an artists-in-

residence program. An Off

Duty article Saturday about

Portland, Maine, incorrectly

called it a gallery.

CORRECTIONSAMPLIFICATIONS

Center. “For example, there’s

evidence that female workers

maybe more value flexible-

work arrangements. They may

value more highly generous

parental-leave policies.”

Paid parental leave has also

U.S. WATCH Last month, the Fed

trimmed rates for the first time

since 2008, citing risks from

slower global growth and unex-

pectedly soft inflation.

The economic expansion this

summer became the longest on

record in the U.S. Unemploy-

ment is exceptionally low and

consumer spending appears ro-

bust, but warning signs are

flashing. Growth in economic

output slowed to a 2.1% annual

rate in the second quarter from

a 3.5% annual rate in the sec-

ond quarter of 2018.

Among other possible steps

to bolster the economy, Mr.

Trump said Tuesday he has

been thinking about a payroll-

tax cut but said nothing was

imminent—a day after White

House officials said such a

move wasn’t under consider-

ation. Payroll taxes, which are

separate from the federal in-

come tax, fund Medicare and

Social Security, and a reduction

would boost workers’ take-

home pay.

Some administration offi-

cials have been concerned

about the effect of tariffs on

the U.S. economy, and eco-

nomic experts say Mr. Trump’s

trade war with China has

alarmed Americans about the

future of trade and that the

changing cost of doing business

is causing trepidation about in-

vestment.

Democrats have said the

president’s economic policies

have heightened the odds of a

recession. In Prole, Iowa, presi-

dential candidate Joe Biden ac-

cused Mr. Trump of conducting

an “irresponsible tariff war”

that he said was hurting Ameri-

can farmers.

On Tuesday, the White

House held a call with state and

local officials that the adminis-

tration had advertised as a

briefing on the U.S. economy

with Mr. Kudlow, director of

the National Economic Council.

Instead, in the roughly 10-

minute call, the acting chair-

man of the Council of Economic

Advisers, Tomas Philipson,

heaped praise on the economy

and touted what he said were

the effects of 2017 tax cuts. Mr.

Philipson also cited low state

unemployment numbers and

wage growth, according to a

person who listened to the call.

He didn’t take questions.

—Alex Leary, Jon Hilsenrath

and Kate Davidson

contributed to this article.

concerns about a recession, and

White House discussions may

not lead to any new policies.

It isn’t clear a capital-gains

tax cut would bolster the econ-

omy. An analysis by the Tax

Policy Center, a nonpartisan

Washington research group run

by a former Obama administra-

tion official, found that a lower

capital-gains tax rate doesn’t

substantially spur economic

growth.

Under current law, investors

pay taxes on their nominal cap-

ital gains, meaning that some-

one who in 1990 bought

$100,000 of stock that is now

worth $1 million would pay

taxes on $900,000 in capital

gains, even though some of that

gain is due to inflation.

Allowing taxpayers to adjust

their cost basis for inflation

might encourage people to sell

long-held assets. But it would

also reduce taxes by about $

billion over a decade, according

to the Penn-Wharton Budget

Model, with most of the bene-

fits going to high-income

households.

Lawrence Kudlow, a top

White House economic adviser,

has long supported the idea of

indexing, as have other conser-

vatives who say it would lift

stocks and encourage house-

holds to invest more. Treasury

Secretary Steven Mnuchin so

far hasn’t embraced unilaterally

indexing capital-gains taxes, ad-

ministration officials said.

Democrats in Congress have

shown little support for further

tax cuts and have warned that

indexing without congressional

approval is illegal.

Veterans of previous admin-

istrations questioned the White

House’s publicly floating various

policy proposals to address the

economy. “It’s not a particularly

coherent economic and political

strategy,” said Douglas Holtz-

Eakin, former chief economist

for the White House Council of

Economic Advisers under Presi-

dent George W. Bush. Mr. Holtz-

Eakin, who doesn’t think a

downturn is imminent, criti-

cized the “sort of public floating

of these weird ideas.”

The president on Tuesday

also continued to press the Fed

to reduce interest rates, reiter-

ating his call for the central

bank to cut its benchmark rate

by at least a percentage point—

a move that would typically be

considered only when the U.S.

economy is severely struggling.

ContinuedfromPageOne

President

Ponders

Tax Cuts

seen a growth. The percent of

companies offering coverage

increased from 24% to 40% be-

tween 2015 and 2018, according

to Mercer’s Survey on Absence

and Disability Management.

Mr. Fry also noted that since

U.S. NEWS

Bureau, women-led households

made up a little more than

26% of all households in 1980.

By 2018, that number grew to

30.5%, although broader social

changes contribute to this

trend as well.

Elise Gould, senior econo-

mist at the Economic Policy

Institute, said that women also

look to further their education

just to get the same returns as

men who achieve lower levels

of education. In other words,

the wage gap at different edu-

cation levels might be pushing

the female desire to earn ad-

vanced degrees.

The trend is likely to con-

tinue to rise. Since the 1980s,

women have made up the ma-

jority of those seeking bache-

lor’s degrees. By 1999, women

received 57% of bachelor’s de-

grees, and it has been that

way more or less for almost

two decades. While 57% might

appear to be a magic number

for women with college de-

grees, it’s unclear whether the

women will ever get to that

point in the American college-

educated labor force.

Ariane Hegewisch, program

director of employment and

earnings at the Institute for

Women’s Policy Research, said

several factors—including fu-

ture demand for female-domi-

nated professions, impact of

automation on female-domi-

nated professions and the

child- and elder-care policy

landscape—will shape the fe-

male share of the college-edu-

cated labor force.

The rise of these female

workers is changing the way

companies structure compensa-

tion and benefits packages to

attract qualified women. Ac-

cording to human-resources

consulting firm Mercer’s 2015

National Survey of Employer-

Sponsored Health Plans, 6% of

employers with 20,000 or more

employees covered egg freez-

ing. In 2018, that number nearly

tripled to 17%. Smaller compa-

nies have seen smaller but

steady growth in coverage of

fertility services in recent years.

“With greater numbers, HR

departments are going to have

to pay more attention to their

female-educated workers,”

said Richard Fry, senior re-

searcher at the Pew Research

a college degree is required for

promotions in many profes-

sions, this milestone signals an

improving ability for women to

move up the corporate ladder.

McKinsey’s annual Women in

the Workplace Survey shows

gains—albeit small—in the

share of women at almost all

levels in recent years.

Still, the majors that

women choose in college, and

their subsequent occupations,

remain heavily skewed, acting

as a significant caveat for

women’s earning potential,

Ms. Smith said.

Ms. Smith also pointed to a

potential ramification on the

fertility rate, which is the

number of children a woman

would have over her lifetime.

Around the world, as female

college-attainment rises, typi-

cally the fertility rate goes

down as educated women de-

lay starting families.

In the U.S., the total fertil-

ity rate has been below the re-

placement level of 2.1 since

1971 and hit a record-low of 1.

last year.

—Paul Overberg

contributed to this article.

This year is shaping up to be
the first year that women make
up the majority of the college-
educated labor force, a mile-
stone that is already altering
benefits packages offered by
companies and that could influ-
ence family sizes in the future.
Women, who make up
46.6% of the overall labor
force, first reached 45% of the
college-educated labor force at
the turn of the century. Since
2013, the female share of col-
lege-educated workers has
been around the 49% mark,
with 2019 being the year that
women crossed into a very
slight majority.
Nicole Smith, chief economist
at Georgetown University Cen-
ter on Education and the Work-
force, said this development
overall is a positive one. “It is
the culmination of a trend that
started maybe over 40 years
ago,” Ms. Smith said. “It’s going
to give women a lot more earn-
ing potential. It’s going to give
them more control over their fi-
nances, their own destiny.”
According to the Census

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Averagehourlywagesby

genderandeducation

*Begins after short-term disability ends

Sources: Economic Policy Institute, 2018 (wages); Mercer's Survey on Absence and Disability

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Whilemorecompaniesareofferingpaidfamily-leavebenefits,

thereisagreaterdisparityinwagesbetweenmenandwomen

athighereducationlevels.

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STATE DEPARTMENT

Trump Weighs Pick

For Russia Post

President Trump said he was
considering naming Deputy Sec-
retary of State John Sullivan as
the next U.S. ambassador to
Russia, a role that has become
increasingly fraught under the
Trump administration amid dete-
riorating relations with Moscow.
Mr. Trump told reporters on
Tuesday that Mr. Sullivan was
very respected and “could very
well be” the nominee.
One administration official said
the president was expected to
name Mr. Sullivan to the ambas-
sador post, which the New York
Times reported earlier. Another
aide said the White House hadn’t
decided. If nominated and con-
firmed, Mr. Sullivan would suc-
ceed Jon Huntsman Jr., who said
earlier this month that he would
step down in early October.
Mr. Sullivan has served as
deputy secretary of state since
May 2017. He has led discus-
sions between the U.S. and Rus-
sia on counterterrorism and
arms control and has played a
leading role on sanctions, terror
designations and other matters
related to Russia, according to a
State Department official.
Also on Tuesday, the presi-
dent reiterated his call for Russia

to rejoin the Group of Seven

world leaders, days before the

group is set to convene in France.

—Rebecca Ballhaus

2020 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Castro Qualifies for

Democratic Debate

Former Housing Secretary Ju-

lián Castro qualified for the

Democratic presidential debate

in Houston next month after hit-

ting the required 2% threshold in

a fourth poll released by CNN.

Mr. Castro is the 10th Demo-

crat to meet the criteria—having

130,000 donors and polling at

least 2% in four qualifying polls—

for a spot on the debate stage.

Former Vice President Joe Bi-

den, New Jersey Sen. Cory

Booker, South Bend, Ind., Mayor

Pete Buttigieg, California Sen.

Kamala Harris, Minnesota Sen.

Amy Klobuchar, former Texas

Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Vermont

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachu-

setts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and

businessman Andrew Yang are

the other candidates who have

so far qualified for the debate.

Candidates have until Aug. 28

to meet the debate criteria.

—Tarini Parti

ment’s latest pop sensations is a

VTuber called Kaguya Luna. The

first single by the feisty, laven-

der-haired star, “Beyond the

Moon,” made it to No. 3 on

iTunes in Japan.

Luna was drawn by a 25-

year-old graphic artist who goes

by the name Mika Pikazo. “I

don’t have kids, but I felt like I

was creating my own child,”

says Ms. Pikazo.

Fans call Ms. Pikazo “Mika

Mama,” and when Luna made

her concert debut last year,

mama cried. “I had no idea how

good she was going to be at

singing. I was touched,” says

Ms. Pikazo.

The most popular VTuber

may be Luna’s year-older rival,

Kizuna Ai, who wears a school-

girl’s uniform, sings pop tunes,

endorses Japan’s tourism cam-

paign and has more than 2.

million YouTube subscribers.

Sony Music and the company

that owns Ai, startup Activ

Inc., had their stars engage in a

rap battle in a video posted on

YouTube in July. “You’re just a

replica of me made one year too

late,” says Ai, to which Luna re-

sponds, “Grandma, keep your

head down” and “If you keep

bad-mouthing me like that, your

account may be deleted.”

Sony says a single actor-

singer—whose name it won’t

disclose—voices Luna and wears

the suit used to generate Luna’s

movements. Activ8’s chief exec-

utive, Takeshi Osaka, is less will-

ing to give a peek behind Ai’s

curtain. Asked about the star’s

origins, Mr. Osaka says, “She

came into the virtual world by

herself.”

When real reality breaks

through it can be jarring. During

a live webcast last year, a char-

acter called Nora Cat, a pink-

haired young woman with silky

hair and feline ears, was chat-

ting about videogames with her

fans when the screen suddenly

flickered. In the cartoon

woman’s place sat a round-faced

man wearing glasses and a plaid

shirt. A second or two later,

Nora was back on the screen.

Some fans were unnerved to

learn the character they had

fallen in love with was actually a

man using a voice changer and

computer graphics.

“I only used to see her as a

beautiful young girl,” com-

mented one. The identity of the

man couldn’t be learned, and a

message sent to Nora Cat’s

Twitter account wasn’t re-

turned.

One thing is indisputably real

about top VTuber stars: the

money it costs to see them per-

form. At a concert in June cele-

brating the date of Ai’s self-pro-

claimed birthday, tickets went

for about $85, about the same

as tickets to Ed Sheeran’s top-

selling tour last year.

The stage was a giant screen.

Ai told her fans she was looking

for ways to be an even bigger

star. “I’ll try my best with Eng-

lish!” she said in Japanese.

“Ai, you can do it!” yelled a

fan from a sea of neon pink

glow-sticks.

Sony is trying to extend

Luna’s human touch. It has al-

ready staged concerts by Luna

that fans view through a VR

headset. Next the company is

looking into haptic technology—

which can convey vibrations and

force—to allow fans to get up

close and personal with Luna.

“There is no opportunity for

a hug now. With VR you can,”

says Shigeki Tanaka, senior vice

president of Sony Music Enter-

tainment (Japan). The company

is still working out what kind of

gear fans will have to wear to

receive the star’s affection.

Ms. Pikazo, the pop idol’s

“mama,” pondered the possibil-

ity of a digital embrace.

“Luna is so glamorous. She’s

not a kid anymore, so she might

not be willing to hug her

mother,” she says.

are active on YouTube, sing and
dance at live performances and
answer questions on webcasts.
VTubers are so embedded in
Japanese culture that one of
them serves as a face of the
Japanese government’s tourism
campaign. Another presented
earnings results for game-site
operator Gree Inc. in August last
year, informing investors that
“we will aggressively invest in
strengthening our three earn-
ings pillars.”
The making of a VTuber
starts with a designer creating a
cartoon character, often a young
woman with an irreverent atti-
tude. Producers pair that char-
acter with a voice artist and a
person wearing a full-body suit
with motion sensors. Then a
computer program converts the
data into a three-dimensional
image of the character singing,
talking and gesturing.
One of Sony Music Entertain-

ContinuedfromPageOne

Japan’s

‘VTuber’

Reality