Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:
• Venture Capital Firms Bet Big on Gambling. Now They’re Banking on the Addictions. U.S. VC firms have invested $2 billion in gambling businesses in recent years. At least six of the firms are simultaneously betting on problem gambling treatments. (Barron’s)
• The Texas way: why the most disaster-prone US state is so allergic to preparing for disasters: It faces hurricanes, heat, drought, rising seas and – as last week showed – deadly floods. But despite the clear need for preventive action, that is not the political mood. (The Guardian) see also Texan Stoicism Provides Comfort, and Excuses, After the Flood: Texans often draw on the idea of their own self-reliance during times of adversity. Gov. Greg Abbott has used it to deflect tough questions. (New York Times)
• Hardly Workin’ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on life support, and consumer scam complaints are surging as a result. The Trump administration wants to pull the plug. (American Prospect)
• The Death of the Middle-Class Musician: It’s easier than ever to make music, and harder than ever to make a living from it. (The Walrus)
• CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soul: My local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous. (Washington Post)
• 5 big questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein. But the new report – along with Trump’s demands that his supporters stop pursuing questions about Epstein in the wake of his administration’s botched handling of promised disclosures – has rekindled interest in the matter. (CNN) see also Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump. The leather-bound book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell. The president says the letter ‘is a fake thing.’ (Wall Street Journal)
• ICE Lawyers Are Hiding Their Names in Immigration Court: ICE attorneys fighting to deport immigrants are able to obscure their identities — no masks required. (The Intercept)
\• The Rapid Rise of Killings by Police in Rural America: A 17-year-old shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy on a New Mexico highway last summer was one in a growing number of cases. (Wall Street Journal)
• Why Texas’ floods are a warning for the rest of the country: The disaster that unfolded in Kerr County, Texas, shows how many communities will struggle to prepare for extreme weather as the federal government pulls back. (Politico) see also Trump Is Gutting Weather Science and Reducing Disaster Response: As a warming planet delivers more extreme weather, experts warn that the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s disaster capabilities. (New York Times)
• The world is choking on screens. Just as this book foretold. Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” at 40 is truer than ever. (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Neil Dutta, head of the economic research team at Renaissance Macro Research. Previously, he was Senior Economist NA at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch under Ethan Harris and David Rosenberg. He has a history of making successful contrarian calls, including calling for no recession in 2022, and warning that the FOMC would raise rates aggressively in 2022. He is now expecting a mild recession late 2025/26.
Americans now spend more on health care than on housing or food…
Source: Peter Mallouk
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