US life expectancy falls behind: https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/health/us-life-expectancy-lagging/index.html . More and more countries now have life expectancies exceeding the US, including … Albania and Lebanon! Wow. Offhand, I can think of several reasons why this is so. Obesity. Lack of exercise. Smoking. Guns. Fentanyl. Poor access to healthcare by minorities. Poor diet. We’re just screwing up the basics …
Internet surfing lowers dementia risk: https://www.aol.com/could-regular-internet-lower-risk-163337027.html . So somehow this feels like the lesser of two evils.
WSJ: Pandemic nursing expenses hurt hospitals’ finances: https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-hospitals-that-spent-big-on-nurses-during-pandemic-are-now-short-on-cash-d20f0435 .
Tyson reintroducing antibiotics in commercial chicken farming: https://www.aol.com/finance/tyson-foods-drop-no-antibiotics-160302401.html.
UK’s troubled National Health Service: https://apnews.com/article/uk-national-health-service-nhs-anniversary-9bd203359632d8945c1cbae9031c1615 .
Addressing China’s pervasive data problems: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3226703/coming-soon-new-tool-grapple-chinese-economic-data . However, I wonder if this will help us figure out COVID deaths in China.
WSJ: China inflation pressures yuan’s value: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-weakening-currency-is-becoming-a-headache-for-its-central-bank-372ec31d .
WSJ: “Wageflation” replaces “greedflation”: https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-greedflation-starts-to-fade-wageflation-creeps-in-1adb7b9c . So again, this is why inflation is sticky. When price inflation outpaces wage increases, of course workers demand larger pay raises.
Where are interest rates going?: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-fed-and-investors-could-all-be-wrong-on-rates-82f2f33e . LISTEN TO THE FED, dammit! The market assumes a significant rate drop soon, and that is just not going to happen. We have been over and over the stickiness of inflation in this newsletter.
WSJ: Rising rates hurt banks’ balance sheets: https://www.wsj.com/articles/rebound-in-rates-puts-pressure-on-banks-afff0c00 . As readers know, I have very little sympathy for the banks. Bond valuation is simple to figure out, and the banks were given plenty of warning by the Fed.
WSJ: Binance.US problems deepen: https://www.wsj.com/articles/binance-us-crypto-market-share-dives-e42aeb4 .
UPS strike looms: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ups-teamsters-hit-roadblock-in-labor-talks-fb1e5962 . This is a signature Teamsters contract, and the members expect their union to deliver (all puns intended).
WSJ: Nutrisystem to relaunch Jenny Craig: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jenny-craig-owner-plans-to-bring-it-back-1d422e01 . So this is hardly a surprise – Nutrisystem bought the company for the brand name.
Student debt relief Plan B: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bidens-plan-student-loan-forgiveness-relies-higher-education/story?id=100596845 .
WSJ: Revamping affirmative action: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-elite-colleges-will-still-seek-diversity-despite-the-supreme-courts-rejection-of-affirmative-action-a2c7f340 .
GOP plan to invade Mexico: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/republicans-new-border-plan-send-military-into-mexico-42121a5e . Good grief! The Journal uses the term “problematic” to describe this plan. However, “lunatic” is more accurate. Invasion of a sovereign country is against international law, remember. You know – it’s exactly what Russia did to Ukraine.
WSJ: Ukraine counterattack grinds forward: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-counterattack-is-heavy-going-west-says-as-russian-resists-dc6fb4b4 .
DOJ sharks start taking bites out of Orange Julius: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-orders-release-mar-lago-search-warrant-information-trump-classif-rcna92676 .
Meanwhile, another OJ-appointed judge enters the Idiot Olympics: https://www.alternet.org/biden-desantis-disney/ . While there is some validity to the idea that this injunction’s reasoning would aid Disney, the injunction will likely be challenged and tossed, in which case Disney cannot use it. UPDATE: Biden administration challenges ruling: https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2023-07-05/biden-administration-appeals-ban-on-social-media-contacts-court-filing .
WSJ: Walt Nauta now Exhibit A in OJ’s documents troubles: https://www.wsj.com/articles/mar-a-lago-surveillance-footage-shows-trump-aide-moving-boxes-days-before-fbi-search-ee2e935a . Mr. Nauta is a little fish, but he’s now invited to a fish fry.
Time to pull DeMentis from public view: https://www.rawstory.com/ron-desantis-campaign-trail/ . As has been widely said for at least 6 months, the more people get to know Ron, the more his numbers fall.
The PGA-LIV deal just keeps getting screwier: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-document-release-court-error-2023 . For a court to accidentally release a document submitted under seal is an appalling error, especially in such a high-profile matter. However, the damage is done and cannot be undone.
World on pace to set three straight days of highest global temperature ever: https://apnews.com/article/global-record-breaking-heat-july-27069b5380117534d78f1f40a6edc7a0 . For a very long time, I have been concerned that there are feedback loops in the climate system that could cause runaway heating. That potential is coming closer to reality.