Consequences of hospital profit targets, Harley Davidson to appeal to a new rider, economists weigh in on current policies, the impact of rising sea levels on the real estate market, and the benefits of playing team sports.
Here are the top newsworthy items from this past week as shared on our Facebook page.
- Hospitals often increase prices of procedures to meet profit targets, and patients seldom shop around—a dynamic driving the explosion of health-care spending in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal
- In the next few years, Harley Davidson will release more than a dozen motorcycles, many of them small, lightweight, even electric. They are intended to reverse years of declining sales and appeal to a new rider: young, urban, and not necessarily American. Harley wants international riders to be half its business in the next 10 years.
From Bloomberg Businessweek
- More than 90% of 251 U.S. economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said they think the Trump administration’s current and threatened tariffs will harm the economy. 80% said the administration’s efforts to ease regulations would boost growth in the short run. Nearly half said they felt deregulation would have negative consequences over the long term.
From AP
- Just 15% of Russians believe the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 U.S. election, according to a new report from Pew, while 85% believe the U.S. government interferes in the domestic affairs of other countries.
From Axios
- The Education Department is considering whether to allow states to use federal funding to purchase guns for educators.
From The New York Times
- The Supreme Court will likely move to the right on several important fronts, even as the country’s demographics predict a shift of the electorate to the left, with more young voters and voters of color.
From The New York Times
- The Arctic has been warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and sea ice has declined sharply since 1979. As the ice melts, Arctic shipping routes are becoming more attractive as an alternative to sailing through the Suez Canal.
From Axios
- Sea level rise may seem like a far-off threat, but real estate markets have already started responding to increased flooding risks by reducing prices of vulnerable homes. Housing values in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut dropped $6.7 billion from 2005 to 2017 due to flooding related to sea level rise, according to a new report by the nonprofit First Street Foundation.
From Axios
- A study published in Lancet Psychiatry this month found that people who played team sports such as soccer and basketball reported 22% fewer poor-mental-health days than those who didn’t exercise, compared with 19% for those who ran or jogged.
From The Wall Street Journal
- The Eagles’ greatest hits album has surpassed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to become history’s best-selling album of all-time in the U.S. “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” is now certified 38x platinum — sales and streams of the album have reached 38 million copies. Jackson’s “Thriller,” which is 33x platinum, has been moved to second place.
The Motley Experience 