What News was in My In-Box

As usual, what I found in My In-Box. Things I would like to write, have barely enough time to read, and pass them on to AB readers. Nothing here on the present battle between the DoJ and a neophyte Federal judge who lacks broad based experience as a federal prosecutor and in civil trials. I had an article, read it, and did not realize what I had read and who it applied to at the time. Then the storm hit.

The text as written by an attorney who suggested Aileen Cannon’s experience was little more than 4 trials handled by herself at the Federal level and a similar number in civil cases independently. The reviews don’t enumerate the numbers of cases. The nominating was by trump because of Cannon’s young age, her Federalist association, and politics. It was the trend by the trump administration to pick the youngest for judges. They will return more decisions enhanced by political reference.

More take on the judge’s “decision – making” in NDd’s post, “I Told You So.”

Business and Economics

“Ford Posts 27% Sales Jump in August, Lincoln Also Makes Gains” – DBusiness Magazine, Jake Bekemeyer, In August, Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn reported that it maintained its title as the best-selling car brand in the U.S. for the second month in row with total sales growing at a rate of 27.3 percent, compared to the industry’s monthly rate of 4.8 percent.

“OPEC+ makes small trim to world oil supplies as prices fall” | AP News, David McHugh, OPEC and allied oil-producing countries, including Russia, made a small trim in their supplies to the global economy Monday, underlining their unhappiness as recession fears help drive down crude prices — along with the cost of gasoline, to drivers’ delight.

“Can university education in economics contribute to strengthened democracy and peace?” | World Economics Association, Peter Söderbaum, Does the economics taught in universities play a positive role in strengthening democracy or is the idea rather for economists to be neutral and leave democracy to other disciplines, such as political science?

“The US should cancel a lot more than $10,000 in student debt” — Quartz (qz.com), Nate DiCamillo, the policy wipes out the remaining balances for 20 million Americans—nearly half of all borrowers. According to the Department of Education. this is great news. A third of them have student debt but no college degree, according to the Department of Education. But these overall numbers obscure one key downside of the plan: It will do little to help borrowers who need it the most, those who hold large amounts of debt and have low incomes.

“Inflation continues to bite in Switzerland” – SWI swissinfo.ch, The cost of goods and services in Switzerland rose 3.5% in August compared to the same month last year, but the inflation rate still remains below that of many other countries.

“Silliness on the Jump in Labor Force Participation” – Center for Economic and Policy Research (cepr.net), Dean Baker,I had to listen on the radio to many people who should know better say silly things about the big August jump in labor force participation rates (LFPR), and especially LFPR for prime-age workers (ages 25 to 54).

Healthcare

“FTC Probing Amazon’s One Medical Purchase” | Kaiser Health News (khn.org), The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary health organization One Medical, a move that could delay the completion of the deal.

“Amazon eyes Japan’s online prescription drug market“ – Nikkei Asia, Staff Wriers, Amazon.com is considering entering the prescription drug sales business in Japan, Nikkei has learned, in what could be a turning point for the country’s brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

“Increased Health Spending When Private Equity Acquires Physician Practices” | MedPage Today, Jennifer Henderson, Private equity acquiring physician practices in the specialties of dermatology, gastroenterology, and ophthalmology were associated with increases in healthcare spending. A difference-in-differences event study showed.

“Congress Considers Strategies To Improve Medicare And Medicaid Integration For Dual-Eligible Individuals” | Health Affairs, Laura M. Keohane Ann Hwang, At the end of July, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation to create a new state option to fully integrate the financing and delivery of care for individuals eligible for full Medicaid and Medicare benefits.

“US Life Expectancy Drops to Lowest in Decades” (medscape.com), Carolyn Crist, In 2021, the average American could expect to live until age 76, which fell from 77 in 2020 and 79 in 2019. That marks the lowest age since 1996 and the largest 2-year decline since 1923.

“Biden-Harris Administration Proposes to Make Health Care Enrollment Easier for Millions of Americans” | ACA Signups, Charles Gaba, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) new proposed rule would make it easier for millions of eligible people to enroll in and retain their Medicaid coverage. The rule would reduce red tape and simplify applications, verifications, enrollment, and renewals for health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). 

Politics

“Dark Brandon’s Dark Side On Student Debt,” (levernews.com), Julia Rock, Me Gainful Employment Rule was put in place and mostly utilized for for-profit institutes. “Under the rule, certain vocational programs could be cut off from funding if the average debt ratio of their graduates stayed above a certain limit for two out of three straight years.” Biden’s administration has so far delayed action amid a well-financed lobbying blitz from the for-profit college industry, which once employed Biden’s top adviser.

“The American Experiment: Findings” | The New Yorker, River Clegg. Can a large republic, rooted in principles of self-government, individual freedom, and ubiquitous tortilla-chip availability, survive despite its founders’ hypocritical embrace of slavery, subjugation of women, and annihilation of indigenous groups, the violent ramifications of which will echo through said republic’s entire existence?

“Labor Day: Unions Have a Stake in Ending Minority Rule in the United States” – Center for Economic and Policy Research (cepr.net), Mark Weisbrot, In 2021, just 10.3 percent of American workers were members of unions, less than half the proportion we had four decades prior. This collapse in union membership didn’t happen in Canada; it happened in the United States, for a number of reasons that were specific to this country, including unpleasant changes in labor law and the practices of corporations that have taken place here over the past 40 years.

“Federal Report Estimates 383,000 Losing Medicaid at End of PHE in Non-Expansion States Will Have No Affordable Options Open to Them” – Center For Children and Families (georgetown.edu), Adam Searing, In a recent report, the federal government predicts that one group of 383,000 people — mostly working adults and parents — will not be eligible for any other affordable coverage when they lose their Medicaid.  Why?  They live in the 12 states that still have not expanded Medicaid.

“More than Consumers: Post-Neoliberal Identities and Economic Governance “.pdf (rooseveltinstitute.org), Suzanne Kahn. In the first 18 months of the Biden presidency, while the administration executed one of the fastest economic recoveries in memory following the COVID-induced recession, rising prices nevertheless helped stall the progressive agenda. For policymakers, journalists, and the American public, inflation felt more salient than record employment levels.

“Politico’s New CEO Invited Executives To ‘Pray’ For Trump’s Re-Election” | Crooks and Liars, Conover Kennard, With CNN taking a rightward turn, Politico seems to be right behind the network after it was revealed that the new German owner of the outlet, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, sent an email to his executives asking if they should meet up to pray for Donald Trump’s re-election. We can scratch Politico off our list. Moxy? Not in My In-Box.

Environment

“Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says” | Amazon rainforest | The Guardian, Andrew Downie, Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organizations has found.

“America Is Going to Have a ‘Heat Belt’” – The Atlantic, Caroline Mimbs Nyce, How can cities prepare for more regular extreme heat?When the heat index—a figure that takes into account both temperature and humidity—reaches 80 degrees, the National Weather Service advises Americans to take caution.

“Me (2008): ‘The end of abundance.’ Macron (2022): ‘Oui.’” – The one-handed economist (one-handed-economist.com), David Zetland, NN mentioned that Macron used a familiar phrase in a speech last month: “What we are currently living through is a kind of major tipping point or a great upheaval … we are living the end of what could have seemed an era of abundance … the end of the abundance of products of technologies that seemed always available … the end of the abundance of land and materials including water,” he said.

“California temperatures soar to new records, adding strain to power grid” | Reuters, Record high temperatures were expected in California’s Central Valley from Sacramento to outside of Los Angeles on Sunday, with officials warning that the dangerous heat wave could afflict the state through the end of the week and test the limits of the electric grid.

“The Statue of Liberty Plan: A Progressive Vision for Migration in the Age of Climate Change” – Roosevelt Institute, Deepak Bhargava, Rich Stolz, Climate change and mass migration are reshaping politics, economies, and livelihoods around the world—and they are increasingly connected. Climate change has already forced people across the globe to leave their homes to seek safety and sustainable livelihoods, and the pace of climate migration will continue to accelerate as the climate warms.