Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:
• ‘It Was All a Hoax’: This 27-year-old Venezuelan man was one of 50 migrants taken to Martha’s Vineyard from San Antonio, Texas, under the direction of Florida governor Ron DeSantis. The Republican is currently facing multiple lawsuits claiming he lured the migrants to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses and violated Florida law by using state funds to transport them as a means of protesting President Biden’s border policies. (New York Magazine)
• A Ponzi scheme by any other name: the bursting of China’s property bubble: Only state intervention can save the day, but the pain is likely to fall on ordinary citizens, say observers. (The Guardian)
• The Legacy of Jack Welch’s Managerial Capitalism: Welch did not leave a good legacy for GE or its shareholders: its stock fell 25% during Welch’s final year, and if you held stock in GE from 1984 (three years into Welch’s tenure) until 2020, your total shareholder return was 745% versus 3,385% for the S&P. GE was replaced by Walgreens in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and survived the 2008 subprime mortgage fiasco thanks only to bailouts from Warren Buffett and the federal government. (Law & Liberty)
• They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them Anyway: How a Private Equity Hospital Chain Used a Poor Neighborhood to Turn Huge Profits: Bon Secours Mercy Health, a major nonprofit health system, used the poverty of Richmond Community Hospital’s patients to tap into a lucrative federal drug program. With the help of a consulting firm, the Providence hospital system trained staff to wring money out of patients, even those eligible for free care. (New York Times)
• The Antitrust Shooting War Has Started: In a series of stinging losses, the DOJ and FTC are running up against Trump judges and pro-monopoly government bureaucrats. What happens now? (Matt Stoller)
• ‘Putin Is a Fool’: Intercepted Calls Reveal Russian Army in Disarray: Russian soldiers made thousands of calls from the battlefield in Ukraine to relatives at home. Here are their conversations. (New York Times) see also Ukraine Military Breakthrough Threatens Russian Grip: Higher costs seen for gains in southern Kherson offensive Kharkiv region attacks threatening key Russian logistics hub (Bloomberg)
• Was Rudy Giuliani Always So Awful? A lively new biography explores how the man once celebrated as “America’s mayor” fell into disgrace. (New Yorker)
• Justices shield spouses’ work from potential conflict of interest disclosures: Ginni Thomas, Jane Roberts and Jesse Barrett’s clients remain a mystery, fanning fears of outside influences. (Politico)
• Letitia James and Trump’s Costly Lies: Will the New York AG’s lawsuit—which accuses Trump and his family of repeatedly lying about the value of their assets—finally bring him to justice? (The Bulwark) but see The Trump Lawsuit’s Known Unknowns: We can ask why the Deutsche Bank credit committee could be so stupid as to decide to lend money to Donald Trump, after his legendary track record of stiffing Wall Street creditors and his tortured relationship with Wall Street. (Puck)
• World in Photos: One woman’s death sparks unrest and a crackdown across Iran: The death of Mahsa Amini in police custody has led to the largest protests in Iran in years. (Grid)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with David McRaney, science journalist, blogger, podcaster, and author. He created the podcast You Are Not So Smart based on his bestselling book of the same name. His new book is “How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion.”
Supreme Court Trust, Job Approval at Historical Lows
Source: Gallup
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