Perspective
Brilliant Maps – Would You Feel Comfortable If Your Child Was In A Relationship With X? 8/13
Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice
WSJ – The Olympics: the Harshest Hangover in Sports – Jason Gay 8/14
- “It’s barely a year later, and any lingering good feeling appears to have crumbled. Literally. A staggering new report from ESPN’s Wayne Drehs and Mariana Lajolo found the 2016 host country’s Olympic legacy racing toward ruin—vacant stadiums, decaying infrastructure and a sprawling athlete village that is effectively a ghost town. Plans to convert properties into schools and housing have been ditched. A solicitation to manage the country’s suburban Olympic Park drew zero bids. The Rio Olympic Committee is still $40 million in the hole.”
Markets / Economy
WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED – Consumer Price Index – Used Cars and Trucks 8/14
- “Deflation in used cars persists due to scores of vehicles coming off lease.”
WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED – Consumer Price Index – New Vehicles 8/14
- “A robust supply of used cars is putting pressure on new vehicle inflation, which has turned negative last month. In fact, new car prices are now declining at the fastest pace since the recession.”
WSJ – Daily Shot: FRED – Consumer Price Index – Education 8/14
Finance
- “Betting against the tech industry has mostly been painful this year. Despite the losses several big tech stocks suffered last week, S3 estimates that the ‘mark-to-market’ losses on the 10 biggest tech shorts now stand at $7.7bn this year. Tesla alone has inflicted a $4.5bn loss on bearish investors in 2017.”
Health / Medicine
FT – Drug industry faces ‘tidal wave’ of litigation over opioid crisis – David Crow 8/11
- “US officials seek tobacco-style settlements to help deal with epidemic of addiction.”
Japan
NYT – Japan’s Economy Grows Again in Longest Streak in 11 Years – Jonathan Soble 8/13
- “Japanese gross domestic product increased by 4 percent in annualized terms in the three months through June, the government’s Cabinet Office said in a preliminary estimate on Monday. The economy has now expanded for six consecutive quarters, the first time it has gone that long without a contraction since the 2005-6 period.”
- “The pace of expansion also accelerated from the previous quarter, and was stronger than economists had expected. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a growth rate of 2.5%”
- While the jolt came from home, “not all of the domestic growth came from private citizens and businesses. Mr. Abe announced a major government spending program a year ago, and the data suggest the money is beginning to find its way from account books to the real economy. Public investment grew at a 22% pace.”
- Keep in mind Tokyo is making ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics.