Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:
• Harlan Crow Bought Property from Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal. The transaction is the first known instance of money flowing from Crow to the Supreme Court justice. The sale netted the GOP megadonor two vacant lots and the house where Thomas’ mother was living. (ProPublica)
• The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin: Bitcoin mines cash in on electricity — by devouring it, selling it, even turning it off — and they cause immense pollution. In many cases, the public pays a price. (New York Times)
• The False Promise of Opportunity Zones: Tax breaks for investors don’t help poor communities. Rather than court venture capital, cities must build new institutions to grow neighborhood wealth. (Boston Review)
• A small town became the center of a QAnon storm. Now it’s fighting back: The Netherlands’ most notorious conspiracy theorist is now in prison. (Ars Technica)
• At FTX, Multimillion-Dollar Expenses Were Approved by Emoji: Report outlines control failures at the failed crypto firm. (Wall Street Journal)
• Rise of the Climate Rating Agencies: Government and the private sector rely increasingly on risk-modeling firms that claim they can zero in on exposure to climate change. The independent modelers look a lot like rating agencies. (American Prospect)
• $388 in Sushi. Just a $20 Tip: The Brutal Math of Uber Eats and DoorDash Delivery drivers were hailed as pandemic heroes. But they say the rise of contactless delivery has made customers less inclined to tip generously and gig work is becoming an even harder way to make a living. (New York Times)
• The Case of the Fake Sherlock: Richard Walter was hailed as a genius criminal profiler. How did he get away with his fraud for so long? (New York Magazine)
• Hounded by baseless voter fraud allegations, an entire county’s election staff quits in Virginia: In Buckingham County, four people quit their jobs after a feud between local Republicans and the general registrar consumed the small community. (NBC News)
• Florida health officials removed key data from COVID vaccine report: The surgeon general’s guidance against the vaccine for young men ignored results showing infection was a greater risk for cardiac-related deaths. (Tampa Bay Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Joe Baratta, Global Head of Private Equity at PE giant Blackstone. In the 2000s, he helped establish the firm’s private equity business in Europe. He sits on Blacktone’s Board of Directors and its Management Committee and serves on many of the firm’s investment committees.
US life expectancy has declined two years in a row; Americans on average now die at 76, the lowest age in the 21st century — and more than six years earlier than the rest of the G-7.
Source: GZero, see also Los Angeles Times
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