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.
Once again, it has been a while since I did one of these posts. This week I found enough things, including one or two ridiculous one to put a post together, so without any more fuss. . .
The Big News This Week
- The big and continuing news this week is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In situations like this, it often pays off to see who benefits, and the clear winner is the U.S. military industrial complex. TeleSur covers that story as they define and explain the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. How does it work? Franklin Spiney, a former Pentagon analyst explains: "...the conflict and the ensuing fear would be permanently politicized to justify more weapon sales. The Pentagon has been rushing new weapon programs and their engineering and manufacturing. Since contracts will spread to hundreds of congressional districts, weapon production becomes virtually unstoppable. Moreover, because manufacturers routinely over-promise performance and understate costs, the demands for more military spending beget further demands for even greater spending."
- Meanwhile, the other big story this week is the March Madness sportsball thing, which as I understand started this week. The Hustle explains a bit of the economics behind the big event. For a so-called amateur college athletic event, there is a lot money in play.
Rural News
- The Daily Yonder reports that skyrocketing fertilizer prices are making things difficult for farmers. Part of the issue is that fertilizer makers have been consolidating, so there are only two or three brands less. That of course means little competition in prices and leads to exploitation.
- Meanwhile, the firing on an editor of The Athens News in Ohio, who denounced some seriously sketchy ads the newspaper was accepting (OK, they are outright scams) has led to other workers leaving (in support of the editor) or fired (because they will not toe the line). Story via The Rural Blog. What was the newspaper's owners' answer? Did they do the ethical thing? Fuck no. Their answer was that "management told her they needed the revenue from the ads." Because in the end, money talks.
In Other News of the Bad Economy
- The gas prices have been going up in recent weeks. Stories via NPR.
- With higher prices, it makes people who were working from home very reluctant to go back to work in their offices, etc. Think of the cost of gas and commuting. At this point, many folks in the job market are NOT considering any job they cannot do from home.
- And if you are thinking about using car shares, well, companies like Uber and Lyft are already adding fuel surcharges to their prices.
- You ever wonder why the uber rich rarely get audited by the IRS? Well, part of it could be because the agency actually devotes more time and resources to auditing the poorest households in the U.S. The difference? The poor do not have high powered expensive lawyers with resources to tackle and win against the IRS. Basically, the poor are easy pickings for the IRS. Story via The Los Angeles Times. Hat tip to Boing Boing, which also includes a link to the study (PDF) documenting the situation.
- And in a last minute addition (I found this story yesterday afternoon), company towns may be making a comeback as some employers are also becoming landlords to their employees. Story via Bloomberg. Fuck, what could go wrong? Next they will be opening company stores and paying their employees in scrip they can only use at the company stores. Who says history does not repeat itself?
Hold My Beer
(Serious fuckery in the bad economy)
- In some serious fuckery out of Texas, a state that has decided to make things a living hell for trans children and their families, some of those families are now raising money in places like GoFundMe so they can flee the state. Story via VICE.
- In fuckery that is more of a damn annoyance from greedy retailers, Walgreens is now testing and installing video screens on freezer doors to feed you more advertising. So before you can reach in and get that gallon of milk on the way home, you may be stuck having to watch an ad for something else that may or not be in that freezer. Story via CNN. This is just spamming and annoying your customers in a level of fuckery that goes above and beyond. Way to go Walgreens. Anyone willing to bet how long before other retailers and grocery stores decide to follow on Walgreens' steps?
News of the Uber Rich
- If you have some serious money to burn, and you need a place to live in the United States, the US just hit a record number of $1 million and above homes.Via The Hustle.
- And once you buy your high priced home, you might be hungry. You may want to go eat out. If you are in New York City, and you like sushi, you can visit Masa's Sushi Bar, which is America's priciest sushi bar in the nation. Story via Eater.com. This is not just any old sushi, at least according to them. The price per person, without wine, sake, or anything else, stands at about $1,000 per person.
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