05/24/2021
Today Jeffrey Tucker, RCM Many industries were throttled, bludgeoned, beaten, and even destroyed during the lockdowns of 2020. It will be years before the damage is repaired, and some of it is irreparable. One industry that did not suffer was that which was and is devoted to writing scientific papers on the Coronavirus. Talk about boom times! A report from October 2020 estimates that 87,000 studies have been written and published in some form on the topic. It's surely more than 100,000 by now. These writers do not produce content out of the goodness of their hearts. It's the old rule: subsidize something (thank you... |
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times With the pandemic ebbing across the US, the debate over lockdowns continues -- but the evidence shows they worked. |
Paul Sullivan, New York Times Americans found that money cannot buy everything, and they used their wealth to build relationships and help others, according to two recent surveys. |
Bill Bonner, American Consequences The world minted 700 new billionaires last year. But why, from Bezos on down, do most of us continue to loathe these plutocrats? |
Zachary Karabell, The Atlantic In the last century, a group of elite bankers—unlike today's tech and finance barons—saw that their firm couldn't thrive unless society did too. |
Emily VanDerWerff, Vox From Ellen DeGeneres to Scott Rudin, the entertainment industry's coddling of jerks is coming under examination. Sort of. |
Jerry Haar, The Hill The financing of PPPs is generally sourced by the government through surpluses or borrowing or by the private sector through debt and equity finance. |
Chris Talgo, Washington Examiner As we approach the four-month mark of the Biden administration, we are beginning to see the initial results of President Joe Biden's economic agenda. Suffice to say, the results of Bidenomics so far have been lacking. |
Ryan Cooper, The Week The growing dangers of 'decentralized finance' |
Joe Bishop-Henchman & Andrew Wilford, RealClearMarkets Last Monday, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in a little known case that nonetheless will have a significant impact on an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which has grown increasingly dismissive of the rules and procedures it's meant to follow. The case, CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service, didn't make headline news but dealt overzealous tax collectors a unanimous loss before the highest court in the land. The case concerned reporting requirements imposed by the IRS underNotice 2016-66, concerning certain insurance transactions. These reporting requirements were substantial,... |
Robert Powell, USA TODAY There's actually plenty you can do to increase your Social Security benefit. Here are 5 tips to cushion your retirement nest egg. |
James Harrigan & Antony Davies, Am. Institute for Econ. Research "The American version of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the event that began the steady march toward oblivion, was the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. The dominos have been falling ever since, and the last ones are about to tip over, intentions be damned." ~ James R... |
Richard Moody, Regions Bank |
Cooper Howard, Charles Schwab However, while the risk for a wave of downgrades has waned, yields are low relative to comparable alternatives. |
Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab Inflation has become an obsessed-about topic; with the latest CPI report reinforcing inflationists' fears. Is the Fed right that it's only a "transitory" problem? |
Brian Riedl, Manhattan Institute As structural budget deficits grow to trillions of dollars and politicians promise even more spending, taxing the rich has become a popular solution to finance expanded government. But large tax increases on high earners not only are insufficient to close much of these budget gaps; they would... |
Lawrence Gillum, LPL Financial Market Blog Tuesday, May 18, 2021 |
Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, CS If being home a lot has you eyeing a remodel, be sure to think about the emotional as well as the financial issues. |
Russell Redenbaugh & James Juliano, Kairos Capital Management |
Sue Halpern, The New Yorker For years, businesses have resisted efforts from the federal government to hold them to robust cybersecurity standards. |
Rani Molla & Peter Kafka, Vox It probably won't look like this for long. |
Katharina Pistor, Project Syndicate The story of Facebook's failed effort to launch a global digital currency and payment system is reminiscent of the historic struggle between secular and religious authorities. One clear lesson for other monetary aspirants is that it is risky business to reach for the crown jewel of state sovereignty. |
Stacy Cowley, New York Times Overwhelmed lenders and panicking borrowers are in a frenzy to grab the remaining money in the small business relief program. |
Susan Dziubinski, Morningstar These undervalued stocks are among the holdings in Berkshire Hathaway today. |
Daniel Raisbeck, Reason More Puerto Ricans live in the 50 states than on the island, and it's not hard to see why. |
Morgan Housel, Collaborative Fund What is the optimal amount of BS I can put up with and still function in a messy and imperfect world? |
Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge Would you spend $2,000 on a Penn Executive Chair? |
Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker The fraud coins are crashing. It's actually a good thing. |
Casey Carlisle, UncleNap For the past 14 months, most of humanity have been ordered to "stay safe." You might think that's been a blessing, and if you do, you probably haven't wondered if that's been necessary. John Tamny has stated many times that the deadlier the pathogen, the more superfluous are the orders to avoid it. If that sounds counterintuitive, I'll elaborate on Tamny's logic. When it's oppressively humid or raining, do you need to be told to stay indoors, or would you arrive at that conclusion on your own? |
Jakir Hossain, Morningstar There are other ways to play streaming media than Netflix and Disney |
Sam Brasch, NPR Evolving technology is making it possible to turn sewage wastewater into energy that can heat and cool large buildings. The largest such project in the U.S. is under construction in Denver. |
Christopher Ellis & Christopher Faricy, Fortune Most Americans like to complain about the complexity of the tax code, but surveys show deductions are widely popular. |
Jemima Kelly, FT Alphaville You can make a chart say anything you want. |
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