Emily Stewart’s private equity explainer for Vox is a great explainer on how the PE con works: buy up businesses, load them with debt, sell off their assets, slash their costs, then walk away as the house burns, leaving society to put out the fire — all while enjoying special tax status … Continue reading Explaining the con that is private equity

The Golden Globes are usually all about who wore what and who did or didn’t get snubbed. Or so it seems. I never watch it. Ha! Perhaps I should’ve this year because something else was front and center: climate change and the Australian bush fires. Good. Source: Climate Change Stole the Show … Continue reading Climate Change Stole the Show at the Golden Globes

A New York woman worried that her sore throat might be strep, so she went to the doctor to have it checked out. Then came the bill — with a price tag similar to a small SUV. A throat swab that a doctor billed *over $28K* and the insurance company paid $25K … Continue reading $25,000 for a Sore Throat Swab – Health News : NPR

Donald Trump’s administration has turned its malicious gaze towards energy-efficient lightbulb standards originally enacted during the Bush administration and finalized by the Obama administration, NPR reported on Wednesday. LED bulbs are so cheap now because of the regulations phasing out incandescent bulbs and they are so much more energy efficient, it’s downright … Continue reading Trump’s Energy Department Set to Roll Back Lightbulb Standards

People have been predicting a four-day workweek for decades, so what’s taking so long? You don’t have a 4-day work week because corporations would rather squeeze very available minute out of you possible and pass those profits on to their shareholders. Source: What if You Had a Four-Day Week? Why Don’t You? … Continue reading What if You Had a Four-Day Week? Why Don’t You? – The New York Times

The statistics keep on rising, but they don’t track the well-being of most Americans. The unemployment figures don’t give an accurate picture either. People are not better off. Source: Opinion | Why You Shouldn’t Believe Those G.D.P. Numbers – The New York Times Continue reading Opinion | Why You Shouldn’t Believe Those G.D.P. Numbers – The New York Times

The same tools that fixed the ozone hole — science, innovation and international action — can address it. But we need to get moving on this like we did with the ozone. Source: Opinion | The World Solved the Ozone Problem. It Can Solve Climate Change. – The New York Times Continue reading Opinion | The World Solved the Ozone Problem. It Can Solve Climate Change. – The New York Times

The Senate, courts, and presidency are all controlled by officials who no longer reflect the will of the majority, leading to distorted policy. This has been going on for some time. Source: US government, Supreme Court, Senate, president run by minority views – Business Insider Continue reading US government, Supreme Court, Senate, president run by minority views – Business Insider

Private equity’s excesses should be reined in, and the Stop Wall Street Looting Act is a good place to start, says economist Joseph Stiglitz. It’s time for Congress to do something about the economic mess that private-equity giants have created. Source: Joseph Stiglitz on private-equity impact on US economy, jobs, wages – … Continue reading Joseph Stiglitz on private-equity impact on US economy, jobs, wages

According to new research, the average American’s life expectancy has once again gone down, despite the nation’s billion-dollar health care system. And the cause appears to be the worsening inequality. Source: US life expectancy has declined for the third year in a row – Business Insider Continue reading US life expectancy has declined for the third year in a row – Business Insider

Baldwin, Fla., opens town-run grocery store after becoming a food desert. The Baldwin Market is indistinguishable from any other small-town grocery store, but all of its eight employees are on the municipal payroll. Workers from the town’s maintenance department take breaks from cutting grass to help unload deliveries, and residents have taken … Continue reading When a deep red town’s only grocery closed, city hall opened its own store. Just don’t call it ‘socialism.’

That total is $2 trillion more than all federal government spending during the recently completed 2019 fiscal year. Source: CNBC US has spent $6.4 trillion on wars in Middle East, Asia since 2001: Study Continue reading US has spent $6.4 trillion on wars in Middle East, Asia since 2001: Study