10 Sunday readings

Protect your eyes! My sunday morning Look at the incompetence, corruption and policy failures:

• State pension funds are eyeing crypto investments, encouraged by lobbyists: In five states, lawmakers have advanced legislation to support the idea, as industry advocates tease the potential for skyrocketing profits. (Am I too conservative or does this sound incredibly reckless?) (Washington Post) see also Forty-eight hours at MAGA’s Crypto Lovefest: Crowd at Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville hopes Trump can make crypto great again. (Business Week)

• Zombie apartments, angry residents and a decision that stunned Miami developers: Court ruling in favor of holdout unit owners casts new doubt on dozens of Florida condo terminations (Wall Street Journal)

• RealPage has been accused of price-fixing rents. Now he is on the offensive: The software company has strongly denied claims that its algorithms helped drive up rent in the US. Property owners and managers aren’t entirely convinced. (via cable) see also Rising rent? A company’s algorithm could be the reason. Texas-based RealPage’s YieldStar software helps landlords price US condos. With rents on the rise, critics worry that the company’s proprietary algorithm is hurting competition. (ProPublica) see also Landlords used software to set rents. Then came the lawsuits. The antitrust cases allege that RealPage’s use of the algorithm, which allows property owners to share private data, amounts to collusion. (New York Times)

• Online sports betting hurts consumers: New evidence makes it clear that more MPs need to take the issue seriously. (boringly slow)

• DOJ: Chinese owner of TikTok created search tool for users’ opinions on abortion, gun control: The department said the Chinese owner of TikTok had access to a search tool that would have allowed employees to collect data on users’ views on divisive issues. (Washington Post)

• These Swing State election officials are pro-Trump election deniers: At least 70 pro-Trump conspirators are election officials in key battleground counties — and they’re ready to make a huge mess on Election Day. (Rolling Stone) mirror (Yahoo) see also With voting under attack, Arizona schools don’t want to be polling places: As misinformation about the election continues to spread, many Maricopa County school leaders have closed their doors to the democratic process. (Washington Post)

• Georgia Council gives local officials new power over election certification: Across the country, conservative organizations and allies of former President Donald J. Trump have sought to give local election officials more authority over the certification process. (New York Times)

• Do you think you are sick? It may be the nocebo effect. Negative beliefs or expectations about a treatment or experience can cause symptoms of harm, even when the intervention is a sham. (Washington Post)

• Climate change deniers make up nearly a quarter of the US Congress: Climate deniers – 23 in the Senate and 100 in the House – are all Republicans and make the US an international anomaly (The Guardian) see also 31% of Republicans say vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent: Partisan divide over vaccine fakery threatens children’s health nationwide. (Ars Technica)

• Elon Musk’s misleading election claims racked up 1.2 billion views on X, new analysis says: The nonprofit Center to Combat Digital Hate said Musk’s debunked claims are spreading widely and do not appear to be subject to Community Notes’ X system of fact-checking. (NBC News)

Be sure to check out our Master of Business this week with Meir Statman, professor of finance at Santa Clara University. His book “What investors really want” has become a classic that explains what motivates investors. His most recent book is “A Wealth of Wellbeing: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance.“

This is the worst 3-day crash for the Japanese stock market since 1973

Source: @JeffWeniger

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