What we’re reading (8/29)
“Expensive Drugs Targeted For First U.S. Price Negotiations” (Wall Street Journal). “The U.S. government named 10 drugs that will be subject to the first ever price negotiations by Medicare, taking aim at some of the most widely used and costliest medicines in America. At stake is arguably the government’s strongest effort to date to tackle high drug costs—if drugmakers can’t persuade courts to scuttle the negotiating powers that Medicare was granted last year.”
“US Job Openings Decline To 8.83 Million, Lowest Since Early 2021” (Bloomberg). “US job openings fell in July by more than expected to a more than two-year low, offering fresh evidence that labor demand is cooling. The number of available positions decreased to 8.83 million from 9.17 million in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. It marked the sixth decline in the last seven months.”
“While The Mall Food Court Struggles To Survive, Costco Thrives” (Salon). “Mall food courts are struggling to survive, there's no doubt about it. But elsewhere, one food court is managing to do the exact opposite. In fact, it's been staying strong for years. And it doesn't look like it's going out of business anytime soon. That's, of course, the one-and-only Costco food court, the beloved addition to the wholesale warehouse.”
“Is The US Economy Seeing An Upsurge Of New Firms?” (Conversable Economist). “I have written from time to time over the years about concerns that the number of start-up firms in the US economy has been stagnant (for example, here, here and here). This is a matter of general concern, because start-up firms are often the ones providing a jolt of new goods and services, new jobs, new competition, and new energy in a dynamic economy. However, there are some preliminary sources of data which suggest that since the end of the pandemic, the rate of new US business start-ups may be on the rise.”
“You Are A Morale-Driven Machine” (Alexey Guzey). “1. To have high morale is to believe that you are able to do the things you want to do; to have low morale is to believe the opposite. 2. Either state is stable, and your brain will act to reinforce it, so that reality matches its expectation. 3. Everything - everything - either increases or decreases morale. Morale is your motive force, and you live or die by its maintenance.”
