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☆ No, Americans Aren’t Completely Stupid About Inflation - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stefanie Stantcheva was 11 years old in 1997 when annual inflation in Bulgaria, the country from which she and her family had emigrated, surpassed 2,000 percent. “The episode helped shape her eventual decision to study economics,” according to a profile in the International Monetary Fund’s Finance & Development magazine. Inflation and how people perceive it still fascinate Stantcheva, now a professor of political economy at Harvard and the founder and director of its Social Economics Lab. This year she released a pair of papers on the topic, the first about why people dislike inflation and the second, with a pair of co-authors, about how they understand it. Some people will take this as evidence that ordinary Americans are simply wrong.

Persons: Stefanie Stantcheva, we’re, Tom Jensen Organizations: Monetary Fund’s Finance, Development, Harvard, Social, Econ, Public, Democratic Locations: Bulgaria

☆ Opinion | Debating the Best Way to Fix Social Security
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Want to Fix Social Security? The Well-Off Must Accept Smaller Checks,” by Peter Coy (Opinion, nytimes.com, May 13):I find it maddening that the only solution to the Social Security Trust Fund difficulties offered by conservatives is reducing benefits. There are a number of acceptable increases that could solve the funding problems of Social Security and Medicare. Let me suggest a few: The Social Security tax stops at a relatively low income level, $168,600 annually, this year. Speaking of all of a person’s income, why is it that only “earned” income is taxed for Social Security?

Persons: Peter Coy, stiffs Organizations: Social Security Trust Fund, Social Security

☆ Here's how U.S. health officials are responding to bird flu in humans after second case
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesU.S. health officials are monitoring and preparing to combat bird flu in humans, even as they stress that the risk to the general public remains low. An Australian child was also recently infected with bird flu, the country announced on Tuesday. In rare cases, bird flu viruses spread to humans and can cause mild to severe symptoms that can require hospitalization. The Food and Drug Administration would need to approve bird flu vaccines before they roll out. Potential mRNA shotsU.S. health officials are also in talks with messenger RNA vaccine makers about potential bird flu shots for humans.

Persons: Brandon Bell, Andrew Pekosz, Pekosz, Peter Chin, That's, Hong Organizations: Getty, Disease Control, U.S ., Human Services Department, CNBC, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, CDC, HHS, NBC News, UCSF Health, Drug Administration, FDA, Pfizer, Moderna Locations: Quemado , Texas, Michigan, Australian, U.S

☆ What the Downfall of Red Lobster Tells Us About America - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In his article for a 1945 issue of The Journal of Farm Economics, he settled on just five foods based on their August 1939 prices, in these quantities per year: 370 pounds of wheat flour, 57 cans of evaporated milk, 111 pounds of cabbage, 23 pounds of spinach and 285 pounds of dried navy beans. Stigler hastened to say that this was purely an academic exercise, not a diet recommendation. “It would be the height of absurdity to practice extreme economy at the dinner table in order to have an excess of housing or recreation or leisure,” he wrote. Still, I thought of the Stigler diet this week when the news came out that Red Lobster, the seafood restaurant chain, had cracked under pressure and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. One source of its problems — not the biggest, but the easiest for customers to grasp — was an every-day-all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion last year that got too popular and was a key reason for an $11 million quarterly operating loss.

Persons: George Stigler, ”, — Organizations: Farm Economics

☆ Opinion | She Helped Wage the Fight for $15. Where Will Labor Go After Her?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The disappointment is that Henry didn’t manage to increase membership in her own union. In fact, S.E.I.U.’s membership fell to under 1.9 million now from about 2.1 million when she took office. Those workers at McDonald’s, Burger King and other chains who are enjoying higher pay aren’t paying dues to any conventional union. It continues to claim “about” two million members. But in a filing with the Department of Labor in March, the union stated that it had 1,845,500 members, of which 30,015 were retired.

Persons: Mary Kay Henry, Henry, ”, Henry didn’t, Burger King Organizations: Service Employees International Union, National Employment, Department of Labor Locations: United States, McDonald’s

☆ A.I. Can Be Really Dumb. But It’s Still a Good Tutor. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I understand why parents are unhappy with the proliferation of computers in school, as my Opinion colleague Jessica Grose documented in a recent series of newsletters. For example, imagine teaching ratios by showing a Yankees fan how to update Aaron Judge’s batting average. can also give teachers and parents the detailed information they need to help their young charges more effectively. As I wrote last month, there’s a risk that A.I. will substitute for human labor and eventually render us all superfluous.

Persons: Jessica Grose, ”, “ we’ve, Aaron Judge’s

☆ Opinion | Want to fix Social Security? The Well-Off Must Accept Smaller Checks.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That’s all that’s left until the combined Social Security accounts — the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund — are likely to run out of money and can no longer pay full scheduled benefits, according to the latest report of the Social Security trustees. (Even with no fix at all — highly unlikely — incoming payroll taxes would cover 83 percent of scheduled benefits.) What I do worry about is what Washington’s patch for Social Security will look like. The cold math shows that fixing Social Security in a lasting way will require a combination of tax increases and benefit cuts. And both parties’ leaders — President Biden and former President Donald Trump — have ruled benefit cuts off the table.

Persons: — President Biden, Donald Trump — Organizations: Security, Insurance Trust Fund, Disability Insurance Trust Fund, Social, Social Security, —

☆ Donald Trump Could Hardly Be More Wrong About Inflation - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Trump also described inflation as “a country buster” that destroyed Germany, presumably referring to the hyperinflation of 1923, which was the year of Adolf Hitler’s failed beer-hall putsch. Even for Trump, who loves to work up a crowd, that’s too far. President Biden does have an inflation problem, but it’s not a Weimar Germany kind of problem. I won’t get into why Americans are so upset about inflation that they might choose Trump over Biden in November. I want to look at a different question, which is whether inflation would be lower if Trump won.

Persons: Donald Trump, “, Trump, Adolf Hitler’s, Biden, it’s, States ’, Binyamin Appelbaum, Paul Krugman Organizations: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Biden, Trump Locations: Waukesha, Wis, Germany, Weimar Germany, States

☆ Homeowners Who Planned to Demolish Marilyn Monroe House Sue Los Angeles
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Remy Tumin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The owners of the house where Marilyn Monroe last lived and died are suing the city of Los Angeles over what they call “backroom machinations” as part of efforts to landmark the house and save it from a planned demolition. In a lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles County on Monday, lawyers for Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank accused the city of violating its own codes and conspiring with third parties to secure its desired outcome during a hurried process to designate the house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive a historical landmark last fall. This lawsuit highlights how the city engaged in a “corrupt process to guarantee their preferred outcome rather than engaging in a neutral and fair process,” Peter C. Sheridan, a lawyer for the couple, said in a statement. The city did not respond to a request for comment. Ms. Monroe was the world’s most famous woman when she moved in March 1962 to Fifth Helena Drive, a secluded residential street in the Brentwood neighborhood that is part of a set of 25 cul-de-sacs off Carmelina Avenue.

Persons: Marilyn Monroe, ”, Brinah Milstein, Peter C, Sheridan, Monroe Organizations: Roy Bank, Fifth Helena, Fifth Locations: Los Angeles, Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Brentwood

☆ ‘Utterly Demoralizing’: How College Grads Are Struggling to Land Jobs - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When I asked new college graduates last month to tell me about their job searches, I got back a ton of heartache. For some, a sense that college was a waste of time and money. John York wrote that he was about to earn a master’s degree in mathematics from New York University. Utterly demoralizing,” wrote Beth Donnelly, who is graduating this month with a major in linguistics and minors in German and teaching English as a second language. “I’ve been searching since early August for full-time, part-time or internship positions after I graduate.

Persons: John York, “, ”, he’s, ” Mauricio Naranjo, Beth Donnelly, I’ve Organizations: New York University, Financial Analysts

☆ Opinion | The Case for Letting Mortgages Move With Us
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the moment, the market for existing homes is partly frozen because people who have 3 percent mortgage loans don’t want to give them up for 7 percent loans on new homes. Making mortgages portable sounds unrealistic. After all, mortgages are tied by contract to particular pieces of property. “We’re getting this question a lot, even from our own members,” Mike Fratantoni, the group’s chief economist, told me. Nevertheless, he said he couldn’t imagine that owners of securitized loans would go along with the idea.

Persons: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, “ We’re, ” Mike Fratantoni, there’s Organizations: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Mortgage Bankers Association

☆ Opinion | What Would Happen if the U.S. Suddenly Seemed Like a Risky Investment?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Financially speaking, the United States has been a Teflon nation. Bad things happen — near defaults, giant budget deficits, a Capitol invasion — but nothing sticks for long. If the United States becomes dysfunctional enough, global investors will rationally conclude that the safe haven isn’t safe anymore. Financing costs in the United States will rise, economic growth will slow, and living standards will fall short of expectations. “Promoting democracy is also good economic policy.” I assume her speech is at least partly politically motivated, but I also think she’s right.

Persons: Janet Yellen, ” Organizations: Capitol Locations: United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, Arizona

☆ Opinion | When Banks Fail, Why Do We Keep Bailing Out Uninsured Depositors?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Another bad result is that zombie banks stay in operation longer than they should because uninsured depositors happily supply them with funds, knowing the F.D.I.C. is experiencing “mission creep,” taking on a responsibility for uninsured depositors that it was never assigned. In a footnote of a 2001 document posted on its website that’s intended to provide guidance to other nations’ regulators, it says that making uninsured depositors whole can be least costly “in rare cases.” (Which means: not more than 90 percent of the time.) staff members, referring to full bank liquidations in the period before the financial crisis, said “a least-cost resolution almost always includes imposing losses on uninsured depositors.” Another F.D.I.C. So I have to go by what the agency has stated in the past about its resolution practices.

Persons: Ohlrogge, F.D.I.C, “ Organizations: Deposit Insurance Fund, Office

☆ Opinion | Class of 2024, It’s Not in Your Head: The Job Market Is Tough.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Here is a brutal fact for the college class of 2024: There aren’t enough college-level jobs out there for all of you. Others will have to settle for jobs that don’t require a college education. And history shows that many of those who start out in a job that doesn’t require a college education are still toiling in that kind of job a decade later. One mystery is why college grads’ lifetime earnings are so much higher than those of people with just a high school degree or less, if indeed so many college grads don’t do college-graduate-level work. I invite college seniors to tell me about your job searches and how you feel about what you learned or wish you had learned in college by filling out the form below.

Persons: grads, I’ll Organizations: Burning Glass Institute, Strada Institute

☆ Mo Salah: ‘That’s done,’ says Jurgen Klopp after apparent touchline argument with Mohamed Salah
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Aimee Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Just weeks ago, it seemed as if Jürgen Klopp was set to end his tenure as Liverpool manager with a flourish. The club was in contention to win the English Premier League, was favorite to win the Europa League and in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Adding three trophies to the League Cup already won in February was not such a fanciful prospect. As he was about to enter the pitch as a second-half substitute, television coverage showed Salah and Klopp exchanging words on the sidelines. “Mo Salah is a player who has started the majority of games for Liverpool and he will be fuming to be on the bench.

Persons: CNN —, Jürgen Klopp, Crystal, Everton –, Klopp, Mohamed Salah, Salah, Darwin Núñez, that’s, ”, Peter Crouch, “ Mo Salah, ” I’m, ” Klopp, “, Arne Organizations: CNN, Liverpool, English Premier League, Europa League, FA, League, Reds, Crystal Palace, Everton, Manchester United, Atalanta, West Ham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Saturday’s, TNT Sports, ” Liverpool, Gunners, Old, Egypt, Africa, of Nations, Dutch, Feyenoord Locations: Old Trafford, Liverpool

☆ Opinion: What made Duke Ellington a true genius
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Opinion Sammy Miller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —This spring marks both the 50th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s death, and what would have been his 125th birthday. I use their particular ways of expressing themselves and it all becomes part of my own style.”To know Duke Ellington is to know his band — although few can name its other members today. Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hovers over fellow pianist and band member Billy Strayhorn in this 1948 photograph. “Ellington plays the piano, but his real instrument is the band,” Strayhorn said. If it involved music, Ellington gave it a shot, always with his band in tow.

Persons: Sammy Miller, Duke Ellington’s, Duke ”, Ellington, “, ” Ellington, Duke Ellington, Sonny Greer, Greer, Miley, Jimi Hendrix’s, Harry Carney, Billy Strayhorn, Strayhorn, “ Ellington, ” Strayhorn, ”, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Clark Terry, — Organizations: Juilliard, CNN, New, Washington D.C, Harlem Renaissance, Ellington, Getty Locations: Harlem, New York, Washington, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Sugar

☆ Americans Went All-In on Self-Storage. That Demand Is Suddenly Cooling.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Martha C. White | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Peter Chu, a retired lawyer living in Portland, Ore., pays nearly $400 a month for his storage unit in Seattle, where he used to live. That rate has gone up by roughly $150 since 2022. Mr. Chu is caught in an industry that was booming a few years ago during the coronavirus pandemic but now finds it has built way too many rental units. As the industry cuts so-called street rates to entice new customers, its existing customers are paying substantially higher rates that are sometimes raised twice or more in a year. “It was really attractive in the moment, but as soon as you go through planning, building, by the time you deliver, you’re kind of in a different market,” he said.

Persons: Peter Chu, Chu, Tyson Huebner, ” Organizations: Mr Locations: Portland ,, Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta

☆ Paramedic Avoids Prison in Death of Elijah McClain
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Audra D. S. Burch | Kelley Manley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Colorado paramedic convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a young, unarmed Black man, was sentenced to four years of probation with 14 months of work release on Friday, the final chapter of an explosive case that thrust the Denver suburb of Aurora into the national spotlight and helped usher in sweeping public safety reforms. Jeremy Cooper, 49, a former paramedic with Aurora Fire Rescue, was found guilty in December of criminally negligent homicide. A second paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, 51, a former lieutenant with the department, was sentenced last month to five years in prison. Judge Mark Douglas Warner of the District Court in the 17th Judicial District said neither the jury nor the court saw evidence that Mr. Cooper purposely gave Mr. McClain an overdose though his actions deviated from the standard of care. “It’s almost unthinkable the way things rolled out,” he said, later adding, “It didn’t have to happen.”

Persons: Elijah McClain, Jeremy Cooper, Peter Cichuniec, Mark Douglas Warner, Cooper, McClain, “, ” Organizations: Aurora Fire, Judicial Locations: Colorado, Denver, Aurora

☆ Opinion | The Mostly Persuasive Logic Behind the New Ban on Noncompetes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Trade Commission used two very different rationales to get to its near-total ban this week on noncompete agreements. The easy prong of the ban for the F.T.C. to justify is the one that applies to nurses, hairdressers, truck drivers — actually, every kind of worker except for senior executives. They typically have some power in the employment negotiation and know how to use it. Many won’t sign a noncompete agreement unless they get something in return, such as a sweetened pay package.

Persons: ” Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Federal, The Times, Street, Food

☆ A complete timeline of Karlie Kloss and Taylor Swift's friendship
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Claudia Willen | Callie Ahlgrim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss became inseparable after meeting at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. AdvertisementThe friendship of Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss dates back to 2013, when the musician and the supermodel met backstage at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. AdvertisementApril 2014: Kloss and Swift are spotted together in New York CityTaylor Swift and Karlie Kloss often spent time together in New York City. November 23, 2014: Swift brings Kloss as her date to the American Music AwardsTaylor Swift and Karlie Kloss at the 2014 AMAs. July 11, 2015: Kloss appears at another of Swift's concerts in New JerseyTaylor Swift's friends went to her concert in New Jersey.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Karlie Kloss, Kloss, —, Swift, didn't, Katy Perry, Scooter Braun, Karlie, Michael Kovac, Jamie McCarthy, Milk, Christina Tosi, Randy Brooke, we're BFFs, I'd, Raymond Hall, Kate Bosworth, Harry Josh, Charles James, Oscar de la, They're, Alo Ceballos, She's, Rolling, James Devaney, Ben Stiller, Quinlin, SoHo Taylor Swift, Jeff Kravitz, Dick Clark, Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho, WireImage Kloss, Lily Aldrige, Martha Hunt, taylor, it's, Taylor, Matty Healy, Marie Claire, Beyonce, Jay, Justin Timberlake, Sam Smith, Michael, r was, els, rais, hou, "I, ove, stor, ste, "(M, bro, K, Ma y, orr, "B, Perry, tim e, oe Jonas, maki, J ohn Shea, dow, deo, cele, Jo, hatta, lia, nce, e, hough, lor h, 2016:, Joh, Delilah, L orde, Conn, Loo, ned the photo,, y, as well, loss and Swift, Augu, rld, kee, mus, raun, cate, rau, hite, theo, abou, ody, ted in a, ike H, Derek Bl Organizations: Big, Service, Vogue, Twitter, Hollywood Life, Big Sur, daisies, Surrey, Costume, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Getty, Swift, Apple, New York Knicks, Garden, Chicago Bulls, Madison, American, New York City's, Yahoo, New, YouTube, the de, acc, Adv, ober, Wil, unc, ift, who's known Locations: Big Sur, Swift's New York, New York City, Big, Instagram, New York, Manhattan, brunching, SoHo, Madison, SoHo Taylor, June., ber

☆ Opinion | The Volkswagen Union Win Shows That Labor Is Becoming a Bigger Tent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There’s a vote on whether to join the United Automobile Workers union, giving organized labor its first factorywide foothold at a major foreign automaker in the South. We know now that the pro-union side won with nearly three-quarters of the vote in an election that ended on Friday. I think what we saw in Chattanooga is workers voting on the basis of economics rather than party alignment. If that continues to happen elsewhere, the South could some day become as unionized as the rest of the country. It won’t happen quickly, though, because government officials and corporate groups are likely to continue to fight back.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Republicans — Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Republicans Locations: Chattanooga , Tenn, Tennessee, Chattanooga

☆ Opinion | Elon Musk Wouldn’t Be the First Car Company Founder to Flame Out
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before there was Elon Musk, there was William Crapo Durant. It’s highly unlikely that Musk, one of the world’s richest people, will die penniless, but in other respects he and Durant have a lot in common. One thing I found out is that the world is not always kind to visionaries with self-control issues. Durant flamed out at G.M. In contrast, the prudent organization man who eventually succeeded him, Alfred Sloan, went from success to success.

Persons: Elon Musk, William Crapo Durant, Billy Durant, Durant, It’s, Durant flamed, Alfred Sloan, ”, Steve Blank Organizations: General Motors, Chevrolet, Durant Motors, Tesla, Harvard, Stanford Locations: G.M

☆ Opinion | What Would the Economy Look Like Under a Second Trump Term?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speculating about how the economy would perform under a second Donald Trump presidency normalizes the candidacy of a deeply flawed human being. So it seems important to talk about the economic outlook under another Trump term. They told me that a Trump 2.0 administration would be a lot like the Trump 1.0 administration — except, they hope, more disciplined and more effective. Trump has said he wants to extend in full the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, parts of which are set to expire at the end of 2025. The hope: If Trump can pull down inflation, the Federal Reserve will gain confidence to lower interest rates, which will boost the economy’s growth.

Persons: Donald Trump, normalizes, Trump, hasn’t Organizations: Trump, Federal Reserve

☆ Opinion | What Would the Economy Look Like Under a Second Biden Term?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden is campaigning on four more years of yummy stew. A lot of voters are saying, “I like you, but I don’t like your stew.”The performance of the U.S. economy should be a winning issue for Biden. Economic growth is so strong that the Federal Reserve is putting off plans to lower interest rates. Biden can’t credibly promise to turn things around — to make things much better in the coming term — because they’re already good by standard measures. It’s just that many voters don’t see it that way.

Persons: Biden, “, Biden can’t credibly, they’re, Donald Trump’s, ” Organizations: Federal Reserve, The New York Times, Siena College Locations: U.S

☆ Opinion | To Fight Climate Change, We Need New ‘Political Technologies’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Science alone won’t stop the planet from overheating. But science coupled with political science just might. That’s the theme of a new book, “Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time.” It’s by Thomas Hale, an American political scientist who teaches at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. Hale argues that people are too quick to throw up their hands because the political will to stop climate change is lacking. He calls them, at one point, “political technologies,” a phrase I like.

Persons: “, It’s, Thomas Hale, Hale, ” Hale Organizations: University of Oxford’s Blavatnik, of Government Locations: American

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