It is unfortunate we do not possess a “Wayback Machine” to fix the issues we are experiencing with banks since 1986. Instaed we bumble again and again, making the same mistake over and over with banks. In a cartoon series called Peabody’s Improbable History, Mr. Peabody and Sherman would open the door to the past, speak in English to everyone they met (even if they could not speak English). The translation was a part of the machine. Both Mr....
Read More »Borrowers Using Payday Lenders Will Be Much Safer in 2025
I am sure borrowers having to use Payday Lenders are thrilled to wait till March 2025. Supreme Court ruling in May, the federal government is expected to get tougher on regulating payday lenders and other firms that offer high-interest, short-term loans. This type of lending — which often targets low-income borrowers — has long drawn fire from consumer groups on grounds that these small-dollar loans quickly balloon when they’re not repaid,...
Read More »Payment Reform is key to better health
by Merrill Goozner GoozNews Hospitals are pushing back on an experiment that would put providers on budgets. CMS should ignore their lobbyists and consultants playing games with numbers. Changing the way hospitals and doctors get paid is central to reforming our dysfunctional health care system. Payment reform can achieve better health outcomes, improve the patient experience and help keep overall health care costs in check, the three goals...
Read More »Top Supreme Court Health Cases to Watch
by Lawrence O. Gostin and Sarah Wetter MEDPAGE TODAY — A slew of cases this term could reshape health policy. Undecided Issues still before SCOTUS which should be decided this month. The Justices will then take off for a bit to reconcile the decisions they made causing issues amongst the population. Nothing unusual here, it happens every year. This group of 6-3 appear to be more partisan (right-wing) than prior Justices. Abortion as...
Read More »Supreme Court didn’t end access to Mifepristone
Today, the Supreme Court released its opinion in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Here’s a little background—you can be forgiven if you’ve lost track of how this case has evolved since I first wrote about District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s order granting a nationwide injunction banning mifepristone in April of 2023. In April of 2023, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal district judge in Amarillo, Texas, entered a nationwide injunction banning...
Read More »Too Many Young People Left Behind
The article as it stood was long and enduring. I do not believe many of the readers at AB would complete it. What I did is grab the intro and three graphs to make the point of, we are not doing enough to educate a workforce. Labor that can meet the demands of the future. The nation is failing a large percent of its younger population. through a lack of education and adequate funding to provide for it. Ok, I said it three times. Hopefully, you read...
Read More »Another Look at the Bottom-50% Wealth Runup: Meh
by Steve Roth Originally Published at Wealth Economics Wealth concentration got just a tiny bit less extreme. The bottom 50% of American wealth holders got richer in the last three years: in 2021, ’22, and ’23 — not just in absolute dollar terms, but relative to richer folks. The percentage growth was faster than it was for wealthier groups, so wealth inequality went down — but only by a smidge. The first thing to know is that the Bottom...
Read More »Trump met with a New York City probation officer
As the title says Trump met with a Court Probation Officer. A first for a president. The Probation Officer will assess him for resources, mental health, and criminal record. Trump’s attitude will play a part in this also. Hopefully. his attorney advises him to shut up. Which if he is smart, he will take the advice. Then again, he is of the opinion he will never go to prison. It is interesting, first president tried in a state court, convicted,...
Read More »If the consumer has nowhere else to go, they’ll pay whatever price is available.
A long and interesting read. And yes on paying the price. Article by David and Lindsay on what is happening today with increasing pricing across the economy. You can experience it in just about every part of the economy. Further on down this article the authors say, this is more about pricing than supply chain. I would say this is true. However, you can discern whether excess pricing can be justified by reviewing the supply chain costs. Not...
Read More »US Oil Dealing Adds to Energy Dept. Coffers
[embedded content] WSJ. President Biden’s unprecedented release of oil from the U.S. petroleum reserves in 2022 turned the White House into an unusually active player in the volatile crude market. The flood of emergency supplies helped arrest surging oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine and pulled billions of dollars into the Energy Department’s coffers in the process. Oil prices have sputtered since and allowed officials who sold high to...
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