Trillion dollar federal deficits, changing prices for coke and almonds, ISIS isn’t dead, and Fortnite coaches.

Here are the top newsworthy items from this past week as shared on our Facebook page.

• Coke will be raising prices in North America due to the rising costs of freight, plastic, and aluminum caused by tariffs.

From The Wall Street Journal

• Prices for California almonds have fallen by more than 10% over the past two months, reflecting expectations for a bumper crop and steep tariffs imposed this year by China, which until recently was the second-largest importer of U.S. almonds after the European Union.

From The Wall Street Journal

• Nationally, the share of young construction workers declined nearly 30% from 2005 through 2016. The loss of young workers in construction is contributing to a labor shortage that has meant fewer homes built.

From The Wall Street Journal

• The Trump administration is considering bypassing Congress to grant a $100 billion tax cut mainly to the wealthy. The Treasury Department could change the definition of “cost” for calculating capital gains, allowing taxpayers to adjust the initial value of an asset, such as a home or a share of stock, for inflation when it sells.

From The New York Times

• Projected trillion-dollar federal deficits are prompting the U.S. Treasury to increase its borrowing substantially, which could restrain a fast-growing economy as the cost of credit also rises. Deficits are rising in part because spending has been ramped up and in part because corporate and individual tax rates were cut last year.

From The Wall Street Journal

• President Trump made 4,229 false or misleading claims during his first 558 days in office— an average of nearly 7.6 Trumpian claims a day. During the president’s first 100 days, he averaged 4.9 claims a day. This June and July, Trump averaged 16 claims a day.

From Washington Post

• Inflation in Venezuela will reach a stratospheric 1,000,000% by year’s end and the economy will shrink by 18% this year, the IMF projected last week. That rivals economic calamities like Germany’s in 1923 or Zimbabwe’s in the late 2000s, according to the IMF’s Alejandro Werner.

From Axios

• Recent ISIS attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and the Sinai should serve as a reminder that the group still poses a significant danger. In the absence of a sustained, multi-pronged strategy to confront this threat, the Islamic State will almost certainly regain its footing and force its way back to the top of America’s crowded security agenda.

From Axios

• U.S. drinkers, for the first time, are more likely to choose a glass of wine or a cocktail than a beer. Anheuser-Busch found that in 2016, just 43% of alcohol consumed by young drinkers was beer. In 2006, it was 65%.

From The Wall Street Journal

• Fortnite coaches are being hired by parents wanting their kids to excel at winning the game. This is more evidence that esports is growing in popularity and acceptance.

From The Wall Street Journal

• Estonia has become the first country in the world to offer free public transport to all residents, a move the Baltic state says will reduce air pollution and traffic congestion while boosting commerce in its city centers.

From Axios

• Modern economic theory is based around the idea of maximizing economic growth. This, however, is inherently flawed.  “The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.” – Simon Kuznets, developed methods for calculating economic growth in the 20th century. Instead of economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive, we need economies that “make us thrive, whether or not they grow”. For more on this topic, pick up a copy of Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth.

From The Guardian

 

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