Oct 27, 2016
On this week's Economic Update, Prof. Wolff provides updates on cutting vaccine costs, shameful Harvard economics, Icelandic women on strike, and corporate merger mania. Major discussions of US medical care shortcomings despite Obamacare, Harvard prof pays $2500 per ticket for Broadway show as proof markets are great, and how/why UPS drivers could convert it into a workers' coop.
when they go to the polls in this year’s election, florida voters will be asked to consider an amendment to the state constitution regarding solar energy. the amendment is entitled “florida solar energy subsidies and personal solar use initiative”. it was drafted by an electric industry front group called “consumers for smart solar”. it was heavily promoted by florida power and light (fpl), duke energy and all the other florida electric utilities, plus exxon mobil, koch industries and various industry and trade organizations. according to the league of women voters and several other public-minded organizations, the intent of this amendment is to further restrict the proliferation of solar panels and related equipment. but, according to the many television and print ads, this amendment would further promote solar energy in the sunshine state. here is a link to a website that explains this controversy in more detail – http://www.flsolarchoice.org/amendment1/. I’ve recently discussed this amendment with two friends of mine, well-educated, intelligent people. they had both already voted for the amendment because they were duped into believing it would promote solar energy in florida.
you may be interested in a shenanigan pulled by verizon wireless, one of the two or three largest cellular networks. as hurricane mathew approached florida, verizon generously offered all its customers living in the storm’s path 1 gig of data for free. last week my wife took a look at our upcoming bill as is our practice. there was an additional charge of $ 15.99 that we had never seen before. after waiting 15 or 20 minutes for a live representative to come to the phone (and, again, if verizon is supposed to be at the cutting edge of technology, what’s with these long waits?), we were told the charge was for that free gig of data and that there should have been a credit for that amount. but, verizon had experienced a computer glitch and the credit was never applied. (again, isn’t verizon supposed to be a leader in technology?) when my wife again checked our bill, the credit had been applied, but it was short $ .99. we’re also wondering, what happened to the additional few cents of sales tax that went with that charge of $ 15.99. even though we’re retired, we’re thinking it may not be worth our time to get back the $ .99 (plus tax). we’re pretty sure verizon was counting on a sizeable fraction of its customers not even noticing the additional charge on their bills. I wonder how much of a bonus the bean counter that thought this stunt up will receive at year’s end.