Signs the Economy Is Bad: July 30, 2021 edition

 Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

Well, another week and it's the end of the month, and yes, the economy is still bad. Let's have a look plus stay tuned for this week we have a winner of the "No Shit, Sherlock!" Award for Stating the Obvious. 

Rural News

• Things are not going well for rural towns between the pandemic and the bad economy. Their latest scheme (oops, possible solution) is trying to lure remote workers to move to their states in an attempt to boost local economies. Story via The Hill. This does assume these workers have enough financial resources to move out of their cities to those middle of nowhere places. For those with the financial means (and good Internet), it can mean more affordable living costs and in some cases some states even give those people tax breaks to sweeten the deal. 
• The Daily Yonder takes a look at how the pandemic is affecting restaurants in rural areas. Their report draws from this study out of the Journal of Public Health.
• Trying to get an effing hospital to be transparent about their charges when giving you service is next to impossible; that is how they fleece you. You are in a vulnerable spot,  you need care, and you may or not be worried about the actual costs, something they certainly use to their advantage.  It is much more difficult when dealing with rural hospitals. Story via The Daily Yonder. By the way, guess who tried to do something about this? The Trump administration which put in place the Hospital Transparency Rule. They must have had someone semi-competent they did not fire right away to put that rule in place. Not that it has made much of a difference since hospitals have pretty much not given a fuck and mostly not complied so far. 
• Meanwhile, farmers are having a hard time shipping their farm products out. Via NPR. Here is an illustration of the problem: "Shippers are delivering record volumes of back-to-school supplies and fall fashions from Asia to the West Coast. Typically, those containers travel to North Dakota or other points in the middle of the country to be filled with U.S. exports. But today, instead of carrying soybeans and other American products back across the Pacific as usual, many of the containers are going back empty as shippers rush to bring in even more imports." In other words, it is cheaper and more profitable for the shippers to bring stuff from Asia, including all those super cheap back-to-school supplies (in high demand now that schools are reopening no matter who gets sick), unload here and then rush back to Asia with empty containers to get more stuff than waiting on farmers in North Dakota or wherever to put soybeans or what have you on those containers.

 

The Bad Economy  Around the World

• Now, Americans may get all excited that their federal government is giving them some crumbs to live on (out of taxes they pay by the way) in the form of a $300 or so child tax credit. Whoop dee doo. Meanwhile, while not perfect, well, read how Germany does it. It is a heck of a lot more generous and family friendly. Story via Esquire. 
• In news from across the pond in the British Isles: 
• In northeast England, extreme poverty is leading to more cases of child services interventions. Via The Guardian.
• Philip Morris has announced that they will stop selling Marlboro cigarettes in the United Kingdom. Via NPR. However, do not get too excited. They will just be selling other things that can be just as bad to people's health. 
• In India, COVID is devastating families, not just because of the medical crisis. It is causing financial devastation as well from medical debt. Via Al Jazeera.
• Meanwhile, the sign that the economy is bad in Mexico this week is that tortilla prices are soaring. Via Al Jazeera.
• In Latin America, sex workers are finding they are locked out or unable to use OnlyFans, the popular online platform many sex workers use to promote their services. Story via VICE. If you are in a wealthy country like the U.S., you can pretty much take for granted that you can use OF. If on the other hand, you live in some of the poor parts of Latin America, things like good Internet access (if any access at all) and lack to a banking account can keep you from using OF.

 

In Other News of the Bad Economy

• Netflix is losing subscribers in the U.S. Story via The Hustle. The company has still added subscribers, just not in the U.S. Part of this I am sure is what I have said before: there are more and more streaming services, and all have different things, and after a while how much are people really willing to pay to feed their FOMO (fear of missing out)? I do find a bit ironic people whined about cutting the cable, blah blah, and now as they add yet another service to get that one show the bill starts adding up. 
• Via HBS Working Knowledge, a study reveals that many companies often liquidate too quickly or without planning ahead. The working paper asks what if some of those companies were given time to restructure? Would they be more likely to survive? 
• In what do things really cost?
• Type Investigations looks at the cost of the cheap chicken we get. It may be cheap for you and me at the grocery store (although given the pandemic that may be changing), but there are a lot of other human costs, illness, etc. 
• The Rockefeller Foundation has put out a report on the "true cost of food." A bit from the report: "In 2019, American consumers spent an estimated $1.1 trillion on food. That price tag includes the cost of producing, processing, retailing, and wholesaling the food we buy and eat. It does not include the cost of healthcare for the millions who fall ill with diet-related diseases. Nor does $1.1 trillion include the present and future costs of the food system’s contributions to water and air pollution, reduced biodiversity, or greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change.  Take those costs into account and it becomes clear the true cost of the U.S. food system is at least three times as big—$3.2 trillion per year" (emphasis in original). Hat tip to Food Politics. 
• Mother Jones looks at the costs of shipping good around the world, specially bringing them to the U.S. A lot of it has to do with how much shipping companies pollute. 
• President Biden recently announced a proposal for states and municipalities to pay $100 to get people to vaccinate. That story via CNBC. However, this is far from the first time that incentives have been tried to get the COVIDIOTS to vaccinate. Offering guns, marijuana, beer, and even gold has not really gotten a lot of people to get their shot. That story via VICE. Heck, here in Kentucky they are running a lottery of $1 million among those who got the shot. Yea, I put my name in the hat, but still I am not sure how much that gets people here to get a shot. Anyhow, if I win, you'll be hearing from me LOL. 
• Speaking of drugs and weed, Americans are on track to spend more on weed and cannabis than they spend on milk. Story via Leafly. Could the next big ad campaign be "Got Weed?" 
• On a bit of trivia, did you know that by now American cars, specially American trucks, are bigger than U.S. World War II tanks? Story via VICE. One of the findings from the study: "Perhaps more surprising is that large SUVs like the Chevy Suburban, Lincoln Navigator, and Ford Expedition, specifically marketed as family vehicles, are just as comparable to World War II tanks in size. " All you need is to mount a gun or two on it, and you are good to go in the new urban hellscape.

 

Hold My Beer 

(Serious fuckery in the bad economy)

• In profiteering fuckery: 
• The Pendejo In Chief and conservatives are profiteering from disinformation. Via Mother Jones. Turns out that lying and cheating and trying to overturn a perfectly legal election can bring in big money. 
• Meanwhile, via Democracy Now!, turns out that lawyers and consultants are profiteering out of money from funds that should go to victims of California fires. I am not saying lawyers work for free, but fucking damn it outright profiteering while people suffer should be a crime. 
• In just plain fuckery: as hospitals go broke, the corporations that hold them, even if the hospital no longer exists, keeps suing former patients. Story via NPR. Add to this stories like the one above about the serious lack of transparency in billing, and this becomes a massive problem and outright exploitation of vulnerable people. 
• And in something that we all sort of new but we now have evidence for it, yes, making waitresses be all "friendly with a smile" to grovel for tips DOES lead to asshole customers sexually harassing them. Via NPR. Because even when eating out, men can still be ill behaved pigs. The study finds: "The results, they said, confirm that dependency on tips and a requirement to appear emotionally pleasant on the job work together to increase an employee's risk of being sexually harassed."

Uber Rich

• Big banks are a little cranky that President Biden wants to make it easier for you and me to move our money to wherever the hell we want to move it. Story via Mother Jones. Less exploited clients means for those bankers less cigars they can light up with $100 dollar bills. The idea is to make it easier for you to move your funds and financial data easier so if you want to, for example, go to an online bank you can do that without the big bank you may be using now giving you shit about it. 
• Did you want to take a cruise around the world? Pandemic or not, some people want to do that. However, not if you are trying to get on Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Their 132-day $73,000 or so cruise sold out within 3 hours of it being announced. Story via NPR. Clearly there has been some seriously pent up demand. 
• People still want to move to D.C., so interest in luxury apartments is up. To lure those people in, apartment developers are trying just about any amenity in the book to get people to close the deal. Story via The Washingtonian.
• Finally, for rich people with money to burn for lunch. the restaurant in New York City that sells a $300 burger figured you might want fries with that. You can now get fries with it for $200. Story via Boing Boing. I am just buying some buns and frozen burgers for the grill to make at home, add my own fixings, some cheese, and I am good. Oh, also add a bag of frozen fries or some fresh potatoes to bake. 

And finally for this week, we have a winner: 

The "No Shit, Sherlock" Award for Stating the Obvious

• In one of those seriously blatant statements of the obvious, so much so even Stevie Wonder could have seen it, Dr. Leana Wen, speaking at Democracy Now!, stated what most of us able to see the signs and know human nature already knew: “We know that we can’t trust the unvaccinated..."

Well, no shit Doc. 

In fact, I called it back in May when the CDC said that stupid statement of trusting people on an "honor roll", and best part is I am not a doctor. Hell, I am not even a pundit nor so I play one on TV. Here is my tweet from May:  

There it is, I did say, and I am sure I was not the only one. This definitely was one of those moments I did not need cartomancy for. Thus, for the week of July 25 to July 31, Dr. Wen gets the "No Shit! Sherlock Award for Stating the Obvious." Congratulations.