Titanic submersible: 5 passengers on missing sub likely dead following ‘catastrophic implosion’
Christopher Wilson – June 22, 2023
The Coast Guard announced Thursday that it believed the five passengers who disappeared while attempting to explore the Titanic shipwreck were likely lost due to a “catastrophic implosion” of their vessel.
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger announced at a press conference that on Thursday morning, five major pieces of debris had been found on the seafloor about 1,600 feet from the site of the Titanic, a finding “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.” Mauger said they then notified the families and offered their condolences.
Shortly before Mauger’s comments, the company running the expedition, OceanGate, announced that the five passengers “have sadly been lost.”
OceanGate’s tourist submersible vessel. (OceanGate/Handout via Getty Images)
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” read the statement. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
The grim announcement came four days after a 21-foot tourist submersible named the Titan was reported missing approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod, triggering a massive search to find the vessel before its occupants ran out of oxygen.
The Titan had been projected to run out of its 96-hour supply of breathable air on Thursday morning. And because the door was bolted from the outside, those inside would not have been able to open it on their own even if they were able to reach the surface. Asked about the possibility of recovering remains, Mauger called the conditions “unforgiving” and said there weren’t prospects for doing so at this time.
A missing sub and extensive search
The five occupants of the Titan: Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Suleman Dawood, and the Titan. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters; Courtesy of Jannicke Mikkelsen via Reuters; Courtesy of Engro Corporation Limited via Reuters; J. Sagat/AFP via Getty Images; Courtesy of Engro Corporation Limited via Reuters; OceanGate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)More
The Titan, operated by OceanGate, a private exploration company based in Everett, Wash., launched early Sunday morning to tour the Titanic wreckage with five passengers on board: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61; British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman; and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a 77-year-old French explorer.
The Polar Prince, a Canadian research vessel and support ship for the expedition, lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes after launch. OceanGate reported the Titan missing on Sunday evening, triggering a massive international search effort led by the U.S. Coast Guard and assisted by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Air National Guard, Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard.
A Canadian P-3 aircraft equipped with sonar listening equipment detected underwater “banging noises” on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising hopes that the Titan crew might be found alive. But Coast Guard officials cautioned at the time they were not sure what caused the noises even while remaining adamant that the search remain in the rescue phase.
“This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” Frederick said Wednesday. “We are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue, and we’ll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.”
Troubling signs
OceanGate’s tourist submersible on the surface of the sea. (OceanGate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Founded in 2009, OceanGate charges up to $250,000 per person for a chance to visit the remnants of the Titanic, which sank in 1912 on its inaugural trip from England to New York. While Rush stated last year that the submersible had made it down to the wreckage a dozen times over the last two years, there had been a number of red flags about the operation. In 2018, more than three dozen oceanographers and deep-sea explorers wrote a letter to OceanGate warning that its “experimental” approach could lead to “catastrophic” consequences for its Titanic dives.
A 10-minute segment from CBS News Sunday Morning in November 2022 foreshadowed the tragedy. Journalist David Pogue discussed some of the paperwork he had to sign in an almost humorous tone, reading, “This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death,” before adding, “Where do I sign?”
In the 2022 piece, Pogue noted that while he was on the expedition the submersible never made it to the wreck site because of communications errors. He quoted one passenger as saying, “We were lost for two and a half hours.” Pogue’s own scheduled trip to the Titanic was canceled due to poor weather, and a back-up excursion to the trip to a Continental Shelf was called off due to technical difficulties after 37 feet of descent.
In a tweet Monday, Pogue said the craft was, in fact, lost for five hours and that adding an emergency locator beacon was discussed. Pogue added, “They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was. It was quiet and very tense, and they shut off the ship’s internet to prevent us from tweeting.” The company cited the need to keep “all channels open” as a reason for cutting off internet access, he said.
Another former passenger on the Titan told the BBC on Tuesday said he had to sign a “death waiver” that “lists one way after another that you could die on the trip,” including “[mentioning] death three times on page one, and so it’s never far from your mind.”
Working Longer Won’t Help Most Americans Actually Max Out Social Security
Brian J. O’Connor – June 21, 2023
Working Longer to Max Out Social Security May Fail Most Workers
The idea of working longer before claiming Social Security benefits sounds like a great retirement strategy. Staying on the job means you can maximize your eventual benefit, continue to save for retirement and avoid tapping your investments to cover living expenses.
There’s just one problem: working longer is an unrealistic option for many. That’s the finding of the new book, “Overtime: America’s Aging Workforce and the Future of Working Longer,” a collection edited by Lisa F. Berkman and Beth C. Truesdale, and published by Oxford University Press.
“Though today’s middle-aged adults are less financially prepared for retirement than today’s retirees, delayed retirement is not an adequate solution,” the editors write. “Precarious working conditions, family caregiving responsibilities, poor health, and age discrimination make it difficult or impossible for many to work longer.”
A Look at the Numbers
Working Longer to Max Out Social Security May Fail Most Workers
That conclusion is borne out by the Social Security Administration’s own statistics. While nearly 13% of workers nearing retirement say they’ll wait to claim the biggest possible payout, only 5% of people wait to claim benefits at age 70. Instead, about one-quarter of all men and one-third of all women opt to collect benefits as soon as become eligible at age 62.
Even worse, the administration notes that “[m]ore than one in eight of today’s 20-year-olds will die before reaching age 67.”
Nonetheless, financial advisers continue to promote the idea of waiting to maximize your benefit. On paper, it’s an idea that makes perfect sense: delaying your benefits from the full retirement age of 67 to 70 adds 8% to your benefit amount each year, a cumulative 32% increase in benefit cash. And, since Social Security benefits adjust with inflation, a bigger initial benefit means a bigger increase from the cost-of-living adjustments.
If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
The Problem With Working Longer
Working Longer to Max Out Social Security May Fail Most Workers
As a 2022 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research noted, “Americans are notoriously bad savers. Large numbers are reaching old age too poor to finance retirements that could last longer than they worked.” The study concluded that “virtually all American workers age 45 to 62 should wait beyond age 65 to collect. More than 90 percent should wait till age 70.”
The idea makes sense and the “Overtime” editors agree. “Longer life expectancies mean that Americans need income to support more years of life, and working longer is a commonly proposed solution,” they write.
However, they cite five different factors that undermine the concept of working longer to boost retirement income, including “Trends and inequalities in American demographics, health, family dynamics, jobs, and politics,” which are often not factored in.
The editors outline an array of possible solutions. “Robust retirement and disability policies are essential complements to working-longer policies.” They add that, “Working-longer policies must be supported by ‘good jobs’ policies to succeed.”
Bottom Line
Working longer and delaying retirement is a common strategy recommended to people who aren’t financially ready to retire. But a new book from Lisa F. Berkman and Beth C. Truesdale argues this alternative is unrealistic for many. Working conditions, caregiving responsibilities, health problems and age discrimination make it increasingly difficult for older Americans to continue to work.
Retirement Planning Tips
How much money will you need to save to be able to retire? Should you delay Social Security? These are just a couple questions that pre-retirees face. A financial advisor can help you answer them. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Fidelity recommends that you have 10 times your annual income saved for retirement by age 67. To find out if you’re on track, try SmartAsset’s retirement calculator. This free tool will estimate how much you’ll have when the time comes to retire.
Expert Says Too Many Americans Are Cashing Out Their 401(k) Plans
Ben Geier – Jun 22, 2023
SmartAsset: Too Many People Are Cashing Out Their 401(k) Plans
When leaving a job, there are a lot of things you have to remember to do when you leave – clean out your desk, say goodbye to your coworkers and pack up your secret stash of candy, for instance. Another thing you have to do, of course, is take care of your retirement plan. There are several options, and according to a new study from Harvard Business Review, too many people are choosing to completely drain their account and take it in cash. There are a number of reasons why this is not the best option for dealing with retirement funds from a company you are leaving.
When you leave a job, you have four basic options for handling your 401(k):
Keep it with your old employer. You do have the option of simply leaving your money in the plan at your old company. If you have less than $5,000, it’s worth noting your company can force you to take it or transfer it. Leaving your money with your old company also means when you want to access your funds in the future, you’ll have to deal with a company you may have long since left, which could cause some issues.
Rollover to an IRA. One of the most popular options in this situation is to take your money out of your 401(k) and put it into an individual retirement account. You can then reinvest in a buffet of options – and you can continue to put money into the account periodically.
Rollover to a new employer’s plan. There is another rollover option available – taking the money from your old account and putting it into the plan at your new employer. You can then continue to put money into the new plan and have all your retirement savings in one place.
If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Harvard’s Findings
SmartAsset: Too Many People Are Cashing Out Their 401(k) Plans
Harvard Business Review cites data that in a survey of 160,000 employees in the United States between 2014 and 2016, 41.4% cashed out at least some of their 401(k) balance when leaving a job. Furthermore, 85% of those people took out the entire balance.
Generally speaking, this isn’t a great choice when it comes to planning for retirement. If you take money out of your retirement plan, it’s no longer growing in the market, and may not last until you retire.
Why, then, do so many people liquidate their 401(k) accounts when they leave a job? HBR thinks that it’s due to poor communication with people leaving their jobs. Most simply get a letter from their plan’s recordkeeper, and many take the simplest option of taking the money and running.
Picking one of the rollover options is often considered the best option for retirement savers – it keeps your money someplace you have easy access to and lets it keep growing, allowing your nest egg to expand. This puts you in the best position when you retire.
Bottom Line
According to Harvard Business Review, too many people are choosing to cash out their retirement savings when they leave a job. In fact, over 40% of people who left their job cashed out a portion of their savings between 2014 and 2016. They’d be better off picking a rollover option, which lets them keep their money in a retirement-focused account.
Retirement Planning Tips
A financial advisor can help you make the best choices when planning your retirement. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
If you use a 401(k), make sure you’re taking advantage of any employer match available to you. Your employer’s contributions are free money, which can ultimately help you reach your retirement goals.
The proposal was unveiled June 14 by U.S. House conservatives, Bloomberg reported. One of its main features is to raise the full retirement age (FRA) at which seniors are entitled to the full benefits they are due.
The 176-member House Republican Study Committee (RSC) approved a fiscal blueprint that would gradually increase the FRA to 69-years-old for seniors who turn 62 in 2033. The current full retirement age is 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. For all Americans born in 1960 or later, the FRA is 67.
As Bloomberg noted, workers expecting an earlier retirement benefit will see lifetime payouts reduced if the full retirement age is raised. Those payouts could be drastically reduced for seniors who claim benefits at age 62, when you are first eligible.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have been working to come up with a fix for Social Security before the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund runs out of money. That could happen within the next decade or so. When it does, Social Security will be solely reliant on payroll taxes for funding — and those taxes only cover about 77% of current benefits.
While most Democrats want to boost Social Security through higher payroll taxes or reductions to benefits for wealthy Americans, the GOP has largely focused on paring down or privatizing the program.
As previously reported by GOBankingRates, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently told Fox News that this month’s debt limit bill was only “the first step” in a broader Republican agenda that includes further cuts.
“This isn’t the end,” McCarthy said. “This doesn’t solve all the problems. We only got to look at 11% of the budget to find these cuts. We have to look at the entire budget. … The majority driver of the budget is mandatory spending. It’s Medicare, Social Security, interest on the debt.”
As Bloomberg noted, Republicans argue that failing to change Social Security could lead to a 23% benefit cut once the trust fund is depleted. Raising the retirement age is a way to soften the immediate impact. The RSC said its proposal would balance the federal budget in seven years by cutting some $16 trillion in spending and $5 trillion in taxes.
“The RSC budget would implement common-sense policies to prevent the impending debt disaster, tame inflation, grow the economy, protect our national security, and defund [President Joe] Biden’s woke priorities,” U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), chairman of the group’s Budget and Spending Task Force, told Roll Call.
Democrats were quick to push back against the proposal.
“Budget Committee Democrats will make sure every American family knows that House Republicans want to force Americans to work longer for less, raise families’ costs, weaken our nation, and shrink our economy — all while wasting billions of dollars on more favors to special interests and handouts to the ultra-wealthy,” U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, (D-Pa.), the Budget Committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying the RSC budget “amounts to a devastating attack on Medicare, Social Security, and Americans’ access to health coverage and prescription drugs.”
Although the proposal might make it through the GOP-led House, it’s unlikely to become law – at least while Biden is still president. Even if a bill somehow got approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate, Biden would almost certainly veto it.
Three things to watch as US intelligence prepares for Covid ‘lab leak’ reveal
Samuel Lovett – June 16, 2023
A security man moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – Ng Han Guan/AP
It’s showtime – and both lab leak enthusiasts and those who believe in natural origins (the ‘zoonati’) are nervous.
No later than Sunday, and perhaps sooner, America’s director of National Intelligence must, by law, “declassify” and make public all “information relating to the origins of Covid-19”.
It could be a huge moment, or a terrible anticlimax.
By the time the deadline is reached, it will have been 1,265 days since news of a “mystery pneumonia” first emerged from Wuhan – and for much of that time a small group of US intelligence officials have anonymously been briefing that the virus came from a lab.
It would not be the first time a pandemic had been caused by a laboratory-related accident: the 1977-1979 Russian Flu pandemic is widely thought to have been sparked by the accidental release of a virus used in a US flu vaccine that had not been fully deactivated.
Yet the off-the-record intelligence briefings have been characterised as unprofessional and unscientific by many, and in March this year, the US Congress unanimously passed a law demanding that all secret material the US holds on Covid’s origin be made public.
The P4 laboratory on the WIV campus. Opened in 2018, the P4 lab conducts research on the world’s most dangerous diseases – HECTOR RETAMAL/AP
Public Law Number 118-2, which was passed on March 20, is short at just 418 words but is to the point and gives the intelligence officials little, if any, wriggle room to hold things back.
It is one of the few things that those on either side of the Covid origins debate have come together to agree on, albeit for very different reasons.
Those who think the virus emerged naturally have dubbed it a “put up or shut up” law. Lab leakers, on the other hand, see it as a means to lift the lid on an episode they believe the US government itself is partly responsible for as it part-funded the high security lab in Wuhan.
As the deadline for the release of the US intelligence looms, we list the three key areas on which Law Number 118-2 demands full disclosure.
“Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), including:
1. “…activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology with or on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army.”
Issue: The background briefings have alleged that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army was involved with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in creating a virus that leaked. As the Sunday Times reported, US intelligence sources believe the lab has engaged in “secret projects … on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017”.
Lab leakers rightly say this would be explosive if proven. In addition to the anonymous briefings, they point to already leaked – but heavily redacted – US cables, seemingly compiled by US analysts in Taiwan.
These make mention of “cyber evidence” of Chinese military involvement and “shadow labs” at the WIV. They also suggest China’s central government in Beijing knew of the outbreak of Covid-19 “earlier than they admit”.
The trouble with the cables is that they are so heavily redacted that only a few words and phrases are visible. Lab leakers will be hoping the full text bangs this virtual nail home.
The Zoonati say military links should not come as a surprise given there is hardly a high security lab anywhere in the world, including Porton Down in England, where the military do not have some involvement. They suspect the anonymous briefers have been “happily blurring shades of grey” in this respect and hope the unredacted evidence will bear this out.
2. Declassify any intelligence which shows “…coronavirus research or other related activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the outbreak of Covid-19.”
Issue: The background briefings would suggest there is intelligence to show scientists at the WIV were conducting undeclared “gain-of-function” research in 2019 that sought to combine different coronaviruses and make them more infectious in humans. According to The Sunday Times, US spies also say there is evidence the lab was working on a vaccine before the pandemic started.
Lab leakers will alight on any hard evidence of any undeclared work on coronaviruses in China as a smoking gun. Some hypothesise that WIV scientists, working hand-in-hand with the military, created a mutant virus as part of a covert weapons programme which was highly effective at infecting people. That virus, now known as Sars-CoV-2, was then accidentally leaked and started spreading in Wuhan in the autumn of 2019, they say.
The Zoonati remain sceptical. They say a wrap-up of all the work the WIV conducted on coronaviruses, including a list of viruses, was submitted to Nature in October 2019 and that there was nothing unusual about the research. Further, they say, nothing “obviously nefarious or weird” happened during the submission and review process, which ran to August 2020, to suggest the Chinese were hiding secret projects.
Others say that even if declassification were to prove that WIV scientists were conducting dangerous undeclared research, this would not explain the outbreak itself. “I’d be very surprised if it was all true, but let’s pretend that it is – I think it’s still going to be really complicated trying to understand how that fits into this body of evidence that does point towards zoonotic origin,” argues Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, in Canada.
3. Declassify any intelligence which shows “…researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including for any such researcher: the researcher’s name; the researcher’s symptoms; the date of the onset of the researcher’s symptoms.”
Issue: Reports have long persisted that a group of scientists at the Wuhan lab fell with coronavirus-like symptoms and were hospitalised more than a month before the virus started to spread widely throughout Wuhan, the implication being they had become infected through a lab accident.
Lab leakers point to three scientists from the WIV who they say US intelligence believe fell ill and were hospitalised in October or November 2019. They are Yu Ping, Ben Hu and Yan Zhu, all of whom worked at the lab at the time. If US intelligence proves these researchers were struck down by a Covid-like disease and hospitalised in the October-November period it would provide compelling evidence of a lab accident, the leakers say.
The Zoonati don’t dispute that the trio worked at the lab but say they don’t believe they fell ill or were hospitalised. They say they know this because, among other things, they were working with them over the period in question and have talked to them since.
Dr Danielle Anderson, an Australian scientist, was on secondment at the Wuhan lab until November 2019, when Covid is thought to have started spreading in the city. At the time, none of her colleagues displayed any coronavirus-like symptoms, she says.
“We went to dinners together, lunches, we saw each other outside of the lab,” Dr Anderson told Bloomberg in an interview from 2021.
The virologist also confirmed to The Telegraph that she had attended a conference on the Nipah virus in Singapore, in December 2019, alongside Dr Zhengli Shi, the senior scientist at the Wuhan lab and “many other” researchers from the WIV. Colleagues say if there had been a leak and three of her juniors were ill she would not have been there.
“There was no chatter,” Dr Anderson said. “Scientists are gossipy and excited. There was nothing strange from my point of view going on at that point that would make you think something is going on here.”
The Nipah Virus International Conference 2019 – SingHealth
Cardiologists Say People 50 and Older Should Do This One Thing Every Day To Support Their Heart
Emily Laurence – June 15, 2023
When it comes to being proactive about preventing cardiovascular disease (and many other health maladies), it’s our daily habits that matter most. Having a smoothie for breakfast once a month or going to the gym for the first few weeks every January won’t undo the damage of living an unhealthy lifestyle the rest of the time. Ready to hear something encouraging? It’s never too late to start putting healthy habits in place.
If you are 50 or older, cardiologists say it’s not too late to start prioritizing heart health and putting habits in place that lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in the U.S. This is especially important because the risk of cardiovascular disease increases as we age. “If you have high cholesterol, LDL accumulates in blood vessels and causes plaque formation that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke,” says Dr. Norman Lepor, MD FACC FAHA FSCAI, cardiologist, Director of the National Heart Institute in Beverly Hills, Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and Attending Cardiologist at Smidt Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.
Dr. Lepor says the buildup of plaque is kind of like the accumulation of junk in a storage unit; over time, it piles up and eventually, it becomes a problem. But establishing healthy habits can prevent this—including if you’re over 50.
#1 Best Daily Habit for Heart Health for People Over 50, According to Cardiologists
Not sure where to start when it comes to building healthy heart habits? Dr. Christopher Davis, MD, an interventional cardiologist and founder of Reveal Vitality, says one great place to start is with stress management. “In a society filled with stress and anxiety, one of the most important habits I recommend to promote cardiovascular health is some type of breathwork or meditation practice to balance the autonomic nervous system,” he explains.
Dr. Davis emphasizes that experiencing prolonged amounts of high stress truly can have serious repercussions on the heart. He explains that high levels of anxiety and stress increase blood pressure and heart rate, increasing the risk of blood clots, which can be life-threatening.
Dr. Lepor has his own daily habit in place for managing stress: jogging. Personally, he devotes 50 minutes a day to jogging, but science has shown that even 30 minutes of intense cardiovascular exercise (like jogging) five days a week can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Finding one way to manage stress every day is a great first step in supporting your heart. Once that’s in place, you can start implementing another daily healthy habit, like exercising. Both cardiologists emphasize that diet is also hugely important when it comes to heart health. They recommend prioritizing foods that are minimally processed and nutrient-rich, such as following the Mediterranean diet, which numerous scientific studies have shown is beneficial for heart health. This way of eating prioritizes vegetables, fruit, whole grains, plant proteins, fish, nuts and olive oil.
In addition to eating well, Dr. Davis says that it’s important to consistently get good sleep. “If sleep is an issue, make sure to adhere to recommended sleep hygiene guidelines like lowering the temperature of the room, and avoiding computers, or other laptop-like devices prior to bedtime as the blue light emitted from these devices can cause issues with sleep,” he says.
Dr. Lepor says that it’s also important to get your blood pressure checked regularly, which can be done at the doctor’s office or even at home. Some people may not even realize that they have high blood pressure and are, therefore, at a higher risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. Sometimes, pharmaceuticals are necessary for lowering blood pressure and mitigating these risks.
Your heart health is largely in your hands. What we do every day impacts our cardiovascular health (and body as a whole) for better or worse. It’s never too late to start putting healthy habits in place. Making small, incremental changes like the ones the cardiologists shared here can have a major impact. In fact, they just might save your life.
Dr. Norman Lepor, MD FACC FAHA FSCAI, cardiologist, Director of the National Heart Institute in Beverly Hills, Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and Attending Cardiologist at Smidt Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute
The US is now facing a third inflation wave, economist explains
‘Greedflation’ comes when companies use the excuse of higher input costs to hike prices, but are really profit-led, UBS’s Paul Donovan said.
Brad Smith – Anchor – June 15, 2023
Although US consumer prices provided further signs of relief for consumers in April, there are still factors keeping inflation elevated — and corporations may be reaping the benefits of that.
“We’ve had a really unfortunate situation where we’ve had three very, very different inflation waves caused by very different things,” UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Economist Paul Donovan told Yahoo Finance (video above). “And they’ve just come one after the other. So it looks like you’ve had this continuous period of inflation.”
The first wave, primarily in consumer durable goods, “was demand-led,” Donovan explained. “That’s over. Durable goods prices in the States are falling. You’ve got outright deflation.”
That was followed by a second wave of supply-led inflation, he added, “and that was the energy shock coming out of the war in Ukraine.” And then “the third wave of inflation — the one we’re getting now — is this unusual profit-led inflation story.”
Sometimes called “excuseflation” or “greedflation,” profit-led inflation occurs when consumer-facing companies toward the end of the supply chain persuade shoppers to accept price hikes by pointing to plausible explanations (such as historically-elevated inflation). However, Donovan said, the true reason for these elevated prices could have more to do with expanding margins and keeping investor sentiment high than with increased input costs.
“It’s using excuses,” Donovan said. “It’s using a cover.”
A shopper, who lamented that groceries have recently become much more expensive, holds the receipt from his purchase at a discount supermarket on June 15, 2022, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Why inflation remains sticky
The main drivers of higher prices are the costs of goods sold — which includes both material and labor costs — and corporate profits.THE TAKEAWAY
As supply and demand shocks begin to wane, economists look to another potential culprit of sticky inflation: corporate profit margins.
Fortunately for consumers, prices for materials have slid tremendously. The World Bank expects a 21% decline in commodity prices in 2023 relative to 2022 — which, it noted, would be the sharpest drop since the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, prices still hover well above average levels from 2015-2019. During the first quarter of 2023, certain companies continued to institute price increases even as they witnessed flat or declining comparable sales volumes.
“I think what you see going on as much as anything is, one, obviously we’ve taken some pricing to cover the inflation that we’ve been dealing with,” PepsiCo (PEP) CFO Hugh Johnston told Yahoo Finance. “As consumers move to smaller size packages, it affects volume a little bit as well. But overall, the demand for our products continues to be quite high.”
Elevated labor costs may be the larger quandary for an inflation-fighting Federal Reserve — and a viable explanation for businesses pushing through price increases.
“What I think will be the bigger story this year for the broader economy, especially for the Fed, will be these stickier labor costs,” Charles Schwab Senior Investment Strategist Kevin Gordon told Yahoo Finance.
“Look at unit labor-cost growth — it is still way above trend, pre-COVID trend — and the fact that you’re not really seeing an easing in productivity growth or lack thereof because it’s still deeply negative,” he said.
“So that convergence, I think, will be really important because companies can only stomach those higher labor costs for so long, especially if you’re not getting that revenue back and that revenue surge.”
However, corporate profits have also played a large role in price increases since the disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
According to an analysis published by the Economic Policy Institute, corporate profits replaced unit labor costs as the largest contributor to unit price growth in the nonfinancial corporate sector from the second quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2021, when compared with historical averages from 1979-2019.
“[Corporations] sneak in a margin increase,” Donovan said. “And you can see this with, for example, the rise in retail profits as a share of GDP. That’s one instance where we’re seeing this expansion of margin under the cover of, ‘Oh, it’s a general inflation problem. We can’t help it.’ But actually, they’re expanding margin and just basically persuading consumers to accept that.”
How long before companies rethink ‘excuseflation’?
Another reason companies may feel comfortable raising prices has been the continued strength of consumers.
During the first quarter of 2023, a host of company executives said US consumers were “healthy” and their spending remained “resilient“, while also detailing price increases and profit preservation efforts to investors and equity analysts.
“After slowing in the back half of 2022 a bit, we saw the pace of payments picked back up in quarter one, especially in the latter parts of the quarter,” Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan said during the company’s Q1 earnings call. “Consumers’ financial position remains generally healthy. They’re employed with generally higher wages, continue to have strong account balances, and have good access to credit.”
In June, however, Moynihan acknowledged that spending has “slowed down” following a succession of Federal Reserve interest rate increases. There’s also evidence that higher prices are weighing on consumer confidence.
For instance, consumer sentiment slid 7% in May, “erasing nearly half of the gains achieved after the all-time historic low from last June,” Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys, said in its most recent report. “That said, consumer views over their personal finances are little changed from April, with stable income expectations supporting consumer spending for the time being.”
People shop at Lincoln Market on June 12, 2023, in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
While profit-led inflation can help preserve near-term profits for a company, it could also be detrimental to a brand’s image if consumers see the reasons for raising prices as disingenuous — particularly as social media provides a new outlet for consumers to push back.
Donovan said that a company’s brand can be damaged if it’s accused of “profiteering” at a time when people are suffering.
“Remember, we’ve had two years of negative real-wage growth across the developed world — people are feeling the pain,” he said. “So I think that social media can help inflame profit-led inflation by creating excuses that companies can use. But it can also work by threatening brand values to cause companies to rethink some of their pricing strategies.”
Because of that, profit-led inflation won’t last forever, Donovan said.
“At some point, either governments or consumers realize that this is going on, and they say, ‘Hold on, that’s not fair,’ and then you start to damage brand values,” he said. “You’re seen as cheating or unfairly treating the consumer. And that’s exactly the point that we’re now starting to get to.”
Two more property insurance companies scaling back coverage in Florida
Rich Jones – June 15, 2023
Florida homeowners have fewer options for property insurance. Just two weeks into hurricane season, The Farmers Group and AIG say they’re scaling back policy coverage.
Both companies point to their vulnerability to natural disasters like hurricanes and flood.
Over the past 18 months in Florida, 16 property insurance companies have decided to stop writing new business to new homeowners in one form or the other.
WOKV Consumer Warrior Clark Howard says insurers are pulling out of Florida and California because the risks have become incalculable.
“Florida and California will need to offer state-backed reinsurance so that insurers can issue actuarially sound policies.”, Clark said.
Clark suggests shopping for insurance through an independent agent and then get quotes for a high deductible, the highest your mortgage company will allow you take.
“You’re eliminating for the insurer what they refer to as nuisance claims. So you become a less risky, less costly person for them to insure.”, Clark said.
Clark says the Florida Legislature is going to need to step in and address Citizens Insurance, the insurer of last resort. He says the state will have to take over the role of reinsurance, eliminate Citizens, which could allow regular insurers to come back.
“That insurers would be liable for losses up to a ceiling, whatever that is. And then after that the Florida reinsurance would cover it.”, said Clark.
Beware of ticks this summer and pay attention to these signs of Lyme disease.
Beware of ticks this summer and pay attention to these signs of Lyme disease.
While the arrival of summer brings the opportunity to spend more time lounging on your lawn or hiking woodsy trails, we’re not the only ones excited about the long, warm days ahead: Ticks are most active from April through September. And while no one wants a bug bite, ticks are significantly more threatening than most.
While treatable with antibiotics if caught early enough, if it’s left untreated, Lyme disease symptoms can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system, which is why it’s important to catch it early (or, ideally, to avoid getting it at all).
Below, infectious disease experts share the most common early symptoms of Lyme disease so you don’t end up with a chronic case of it ― and how to avoid getting it in the first place.
The Top Early Signs Of Lyme Disease
Dr. Tammy Lundstrom, an infectious disease specialist at Trinity Health in Michigan, and Dr. Sarah Park, an infectious disease clinician who works at the life sciences company Karius in Honolulu, suggested looking out for the following early signs of Lyme disease.
A ‘Bullseye’ Rash
Formally called “erythema migrans,” a rash that looks like a bullseye or target is the most common early Lyme disease symptom, according to Lundstrom.
“It can be very faint, however,” she said. “It also may be absent in 20-30% of cases and can be hard to see on darker skin tones.”
Park added that this rash typically appears within three to 30 days following a tick bite.
Flu-Like Symptoms
Between COVID, the flu and even the common cold, if you find yourself with achy joints, chills, a fever, a headache or other flu-like symptoms, Lyme disease may not be the first thing on your mind. But these symptoms could be signs of it.
“These symptoms can easily be mistaken for a common viral infection such as a cold or flu,” Lundstrom said. “However, the onset of these symptoms paired with potential tick exposure ― for example, hiking in the brush, woodsy areas or tall grass ― occurring three to seven days afterward can signal Lyme disease is a possible cause. Be sure to consult with a medical professional, especially if you identify the bullseye rash or develop other noted symptoms.”
Fatigue
Sudden fatigue could also be an early Lyme disease sign.
“Fatigue is an early sign that is frequently dismissed and assumed to occur from not enough sleep or regular everyday activities like working out,” Park said.
Non-Bullseye Rashes
Other rashes that don’t look like a target could be an early sign of Lyme disease, too.
“A bullseye rash may first appear as a small red bump or a solid red patch that gradually expands, but not everyone develops this type of rash,” Park said. “Other skin manifestations like hives or discomfort similar to a sunburn can also occur.”
Fatigue is one of the hallmark signs of Lyme disease.
Fatigue is one of the hallmark signs of Lyme disease.
How To Prevent Lyme Disease
While Lyme disease is treatable when caught early enough, the best case scenario is that you don’t get it at all — which is why it’s key to protect yourself from ticks, be aware of the early signs of Lyme disease, and know when and where you’re most likely to get it.
“The illness is caused by ticks in the nymph stage, not adults,” Lundstrom said. “They may be very small, around the size of a poppy seed, and hard to see, but it is important to do a thorough check for ticks after outdoor activities. This includes skin folds and your hair. Early recognition and treatment are key to preventing chronic symptoms such as arthritis, headaches, neck stiffness and facial drooping.”
In addition to checking for tinier ticks (remember: the size of a poppyseed!) Lundstrom recommends wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when hiking.
“Treat clothing with 0.5% permethrin or buy pretreated hiking gear, and use EPA-registered insect repellent containing DEET,” she added. “Walk in the center of trails for less contact with brush and grass, and always examine skin and clothing carefully and shower to wash off unattached ticks upon returning from a hike.”
If you prefer a DEET-free alternative, Lundstrom said picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone are options to look for in an EPA-registered repellent.
It’s also important to do regular tick checks if you live in an area with more Lyme disease and to seek help right away if you’re noticing any signs that could be symptoms of the disease.
Finally, know that in most cases, a tick has to be attached to your body for 36 to 48 hours before Lyme disease can be transmitted, which is why checking for and removing ticks quickly can make all the difference when it comes to Lyme disease prevention.
While a Lyme disease vaccine may be a possibility at some point in the future, for now, it’s a reality we’re living with. So know the signs, wear protective clothing and bug spray, and do regular tick checks this summer. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
CORRECTION: A prior version of this article incorrectly referred to ticks as insects, but they are arachnids.
The Struggle for Food Sovereignty in Immokalee, Florida
Julia Knoerr – June 14, 2023
The majority of migrant farmworkers live below the federal poverty line, without easy access to healthy foods or affordable housing. To survive, many in this tight-knit community have found strategies for mutual aid and collaborative resilience.
People wait in line for food at the annual Thanksgiving in the Park gathering where residents of the farmworker community of Immokalee are provided with a free Thanksgiving meal. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
After leaving three children in Guatemala, Maria Vasquez spent 15 years working in the agricultural industry in Immokalee, Florida. She worked in the fields for three years picking jalapeños, watermelons, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, and pumpkins before spending 12 years processing tomatoes in a warehouse.
Although Vasquez handled food every day for work, she couldn’t afford to buy groceries. Instead, she began exchanging food with friends and learning about Immokalee’s community-based resources through word of mouth.
Immokalee is known as the tomato capital of the United States, yet 28 percent of the town’s 24,500 residents—the majority migrant farmworkers from Central America, Mexico, and Haiti—live below the federal poverty line and without easy access to healthy foods. This poverty rate is more than double the statewide average, and it’s compounded by higher-than-average food prices, a housing crisis, and minimal public transportation options.
A volunteer distributes bags of free food at the Meals of Hope weekly Thursday distribution at Immokalee’s Farmworker Village. (Photo credit: Julia Knoerr)
To face these challenges, Vasquez connected with local organizations committed to mutual aid and self-reliance. She began attending meal distribution events at Misión Peniel, a ministry of Peace River Presbytery that supports the Immokalee farmworker community, and joined the mission’s women’s group to build connections.
When she gave birth to a son with Down syndrome in 2015, she gave up the demanding hours of agricultural work to care for him and began providing cleaning services for the mission. She volunteered at the community garden behind the building run by Cultivate Abundance, an organization that addresses food insecurity and livelihood challenges in low-income, migrant farmworker communities, until the group hired her on as a garden aid.
Like Vasquez, many in this tight-knit community have found strategies for collaborative resilience as the pandemic and Hurricane Ian have made food access even more challenging in recent years.
A combination of informal mutual aid networks, small-scale farms, foraging, and donated meals from local organizations such as Misión Peniel and Meals of Hope keep the community nourished. Additionally, Cultivate Abundance is growing crops such as amaranth, Haitian basket vine, and chaya (a nutritious shrub native to the Yucatan peninsula) to move beyond charity and equip community members with culturally relevant, locally recognized produce.
These efforts not only bolster food security, but they also support the community’s autonomy to grow their own food and engage in collective healing. While many Immokalee residents report that they practice grueling labor each day and have experienced xenophobia, sexual violence, and rent gouging in their recent pasts, the garden behind Misión Peniel offers a safe space for community members to speak their own languages, share memories from their home countries, practice meditation, and return to their ancestral cultural knowledge to grow their own food as stewards of the land.
One of Cultivate Abundance’s community gardens sits behind Misión Peniel and has helped the organization produce over 59 tons of produce since beginning operations in 2018. (Photo credit: Julia Knoerr)
Food and Housing Insecurity in Immokalee
Immokalee’s Main Street boasts a few blocks of small markets featuring products from the community’s predominant Mexican, Guatemalan, and Haitian diasporas, as well as money-transfer services for migrants to send money home. Old school buses transporting farmworkers to work pull into the parking lot of La Fiesta supermarket, a key intersection in town bordering on the land owned and occupied by Misión Peniel and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a high-profile farmworker advocacy group.
Here, wild chickens cluck at all hours of the day, their chorus mixing with broadcasting from Radio Conciencia 107.7, the CIW’s community radio station. Green space is scarce, and beyond the town’s center, sidewalks fade into neighborhoods of run-down trailers and busy roads lined with fast food restaurants.
Though Immokalee sits just 30 miles from Naples, one of the wealthiest cities in Florida, wages remain a primary barrier to residents’ adequate food access. The most recent Census found an average per-capita annual income of $16,380 in Immokalee between 2017-2021. Nearly 39 percent of the town’s population was born outside of the U.S., and the number of farmworkers varies based on the season; some sources estimate that as many as 15,000–20,000 migrant seasonal farmworkers typically live in the area.
In the winter months, the majority of those workers are there to pick tomatoes. From 1980 to 2009, farmworkers received 50 cents per bucket picked rather than a guaranteed minimum wage, meaning they had to harvest at least 150 buckets per day to make enough income.
Cultivate Abundance’s banana circle offers different varieties of banans and plaintains. (Photo credit: Julia Knoerr)
CIW’s Fair Food Program, which began in 2010 to create a fairer food industry for workers, farmers, buyers, and consumers, improved those conditions. The program is known nationally as a model for providing farmworkers with human rights, and requiring that growers selling to participating buyers (such as McDonalds, Walmart, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s) clock workers’ time and pay them minimum wage (currently $11 per hour in Florida), as required by federal law. Participating buyers also agree to pay at least a penny more per pound of tomatoes they buy, translating to a bonus that gets split among qualifying workers.
However, not all buyers participate in the Fair Food Program. The CIW continues to advocate for a consumer boycott of Publix, Kroger, and Wendy’s, which have all refused to join. Julia Perkins, education coordinator for the CIW, says even with these gains, many workers struggle to feed themselves. Agricultural work is inconsistent, and an individual’s income will vary greatly by season.
“When there is a lot of picking to be done, when it’s not raining a lot, [if] it’s the first pick, you can do pretty well for a number of weeks,” Perkins says. “[But] not well enough to feed you for the rest of the year.”
The pandemic exacerbated farmworkers’ struggle for adequate income. The market for wholesale crops declined because industries like cruises, hotels, and restaurants shut down, lowering the prices of commodities and increasing grocery store prices.
Farmworkers experienced the brunt of the economic downturn—lower demand for the crops they picked meant fewer jobs, and inflation limited their wages’ reach. If farmworkers fell sick with the virus and couldn’t go to work, they received no pay, and as they remained essential workers, they couldn’t shelter in place.
Furthermore, many Immokalee residents are undocumented, meaning they didn’t qualify for federal stimulus checks under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), nor have they received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to help them purchase food.
Beyond wages, housing often demands 60 percent of Immokalee residents’ income, according to Arol Buntzman, chairman of the Immokalee Fair Housing Coalition. The same five or six families have owned the majority of Immokalee properties for years and charge weekly rent for each individual, including small children, living in 50-year-old trailers. Multiple families and strangers often share rooms.
In September 2022, Hurricane Ian further increased the cost of rent. Intensifying the already severe housing shortage, Hurricane Ian destroyed housing in Naples and Fort Myers, leading some residents of those towns to move to Immokalee and outbid farmworkers, which Buntzman says in turn raised rents even more.
Feeding Farmworker Families
To address these growing needs, nonprofit and religious organizations have been providing fundamental support through basic health and food services.
Julyvette Pacheco, office manager at the food security organization Meals of Hope, saw need increase in the wake of Hurricane Ian, compounded by inflation. Her organization used to feed 200 families in Immokalee every week, but after the hurricane, that number rose to 350.
“Something we have been noticing since the hurricane,” Pachecho says, “is that people are not patient. When they come here, most of them are struggling. They need food, they have been waiting.”
Meanwhile, Cultivate Abundance addresses food insecurity by growing produce reflective of migrants’ foodways and empowering them with skills to grow their own. The main garden behind Misión Peniel is one-tenth of an acre and has produced more than 59 tons of fruit and vegetables since its start in 2018.
During the garden’s inception, members of the mission’s women’s group contributed to a participatory decision-making process about the type of produce they valued, and community members can now volunteer in the garden in exchange for produce to take home. Whether through their families or professional lives, staff members share connection to the agricultural industry and have built partnership with other local farms and gardens.
Lupita Vasquez-Reyes, Cultivate Abundance’s community garden and outreach manager, grew up in Immokalee as the daughter of migrant farmworkers from Mexico. After 20 years away, she returned in 2019, just one year after the garden started in collaboration with Misión Peniel. Vasquez-Reyes says the group has worked to build intentional solidarity with an intersectional approach to diversity in the garden. The beds now boast a wide variety of medicinal herbs and produce, including edible weeds like yerba mora that many would discard.
Lupita Vasquez-Reyes (left) showcases the garden’s offerings, including many plants requested by community members or grown from shared seed. Corn (right) is an essential crop for many community members, who dry corn daily to make masa and use the silk for its medicinal qualities. (Photo credit: Julia Knoerr)
Vasquez-Reyes points to plantains, bananas, corn, chaya, edible mesquite pods, Barbados cherries, tree tomatoes native to Guatemala, and a vertical garden of herbs and lettuces. Epazote is a bitter herb that Vasquez says is helpful to make beans and other legumes easier to digest. Cactus pads have been planted to support climate and storm resilience, and a compost pile ensures that nothing goes to waste.
Cilantro is the biggest hit. “People get so joyous about being able to have it fresh,” Vasquez-Reyes says. “If we didn’t have cilantro, we probably wouldn’t have the success we have here.”
Cultivate Abundance also functions as a garden center for residents, giving out seedlings, recycled soil, fertilizer, and extra materials. Vasquez-Reyes says container gardens are accessible and can easily move with community members with very limited living space or permanence.
Landlords often deter tenants from gardening due to water costs, so many people hand water and collect rain to decrease their dependence on grocery stores.
Thursday is the official harvest day at the Misión Peniel garden; all produce goes to the mission’s meal distributions that have a policy of turning no one away. Cultivate Abundance also maintains a small budget to purchase produce from other local organic farms to supplement their own harvests for meal distributions.
Collaborating for Survival
Vasquez-Reyes says that Haitian, Guatemalan, and Mexican migrants tend to share similar conditions in Immokalee, inspiring a cross-cultural exchange of knowledge and networking. That might look like sharing food, sharing food bank tips, and comparing grocery prices between stores.
Community members will also often forage for weeds with high nutritional content or medicinal uses, according to Vasquez-Reyes. Sometimes they will return to trailer camps where they lived previously to forage plants and will then exchange information with friends about where to find different food sources.
Herbs grow vertically at Cultivate Abundance, where cilantro is the most popular crop. (Photo credit: Julia Knoerr)
Maria Vasquez is one community member who has built a strong network of mutual care. Seven blocks over from Misión Peniel, Vasquez has a small garden at her trailer where she grows everything from amaranth to chile de árbol, mostaza [mustard plant], and epazote and shares it with people in great need. This invitation often leads them to try new foods.
“A little while back, there was an older woman who I came to help. I brought her amaranth; I brought her cilantro,” Vasquez says in Spanish.
Today’s food system is complex.
It took her some time to gain her neighbor’s trust, but now that neighbor, who has diabetes, checks in with Vasquez if she doesn’t see her every day. “She said she had never eaten amaranth; she knew of it, but it was only for the animals,” Vasquez says. Now, she’s started cooking it, as well as other vegetables Vasquez introduced her to.
This knowledge sharing has gone directly back into the garden. Vasquez brought taquitos made with yerba mora one day for Cultivate Abundance staff to sample, and now the herb grows in the garden.
To Vasquez-Reyes, these strategies move away from a fear-based, scarcity approach to poverty and hunger. “We’ve been functioning in food insecurity in this country from a very harmful place, and we’re not centering what people are living,” Vasquez-Reyes says. “That includes the violence, but it includes also the resilience and the self-reliance component of what people are already doing—the networks, the economic alternatives.”
Vasquez-Reyes hopes the garden can also provide space for community members to give voice to their stories in their own healing processes surrounding their experiences as immigrants and laborers fueling an industry of mass consumption. These reflections often emerge as core memories of working in the fields, talking freely about the places they are from, or sharing family members’ stories.
For Vasquez-Reyes, the goal is to reimagine a better world. The practice of growing chemical-free, slow food itself flips the narrative of agriculture as an industry rooted in commodity production. Rather, Vasquez-Reyes says, Cultivate Abundance’s intentional, small-scale approach allows community volunteers and staff to again grow food in partnership with the land.
When planting the milpa (corn, squash, and beans), community members will share blessings and even make video calls to family members in their home countries who are simultaneously preparing the same crops. Through these types of exchanges, the garden space nurtures the community’s nutritional needs, their identities, and their souls.
“It’s not survival of the fittest; it’s collaborative survival,” Vasquez-Reyes says. “That’s the real sustainability.”
This reporting was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Read a Spanish-language version of the story on El Nuevo Herald.
People wait in line for food at the annual Thanksgiving in the Park gathering where residents of the farmworker community of Immokalee are provided with a free Thanksgiving meal. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
