10 Sunday Readings in Kotok Camp

• How ‘Deepfake Elon Musk’ Became The Internet’s Biggest Scammer: An AI-powered version of Mr. Musk has appeared in thousands of bogus ads, contributing to billions in fraud. (New York Times)

• The secret dynasty lost billions while the advisers got rich: Peter Harf and Olivier Goudet became billionaires while managing the Reimanns’ money. The family would have done better if they had put their wealth in a low-cost index fund. (Bloomberg)

• Insurance lobbyists block federal crackdown on costly retirement advice: The financial services industry blocked the Biden administration from requiring brokers to put the needs of retirees first — over lucrative commissions. (Washington Post)

• The same weird monopoly gimmick that gave us Walmart and Amazon and killed Main Street: Walmart didn’t just happen. The rise of Walmart & Amazon, its online successor, was the result of a specific policy choice, the Reagan administration’s decision not to enforce a key antitrust law. The law that Reagan sterilized? The Robinson-Patman Act, a very boring-sounding law that makes it illegal for powerful companies (like Walmart) to demand preferential pricing from their suppliers. (Pluralist) see also How hotels collude to raise room prices, according to two lawsuits. If you’ve traveled this summer, the rate you paid at hotels may have been artificially inflated. According to two lawsuits, numerous hotel operators are participating in an illegal price-gouging scheme. In a traditional price-fixing arrangement, rival executives gather in a smoke-filled room to manipulate rates. In the modern version, the contestants do not need to speak. Instead, companies that would typically compete send their internal data to a third party. The third party then uses an algorithm to advise businesses on the “optimal” prices to charge customers. (Popular Information)

• Dozens of pregnant women, some bleeding or in labor, being turned away from emergency rooms despite federal law: Even though the Biden administration has publicly warned hospitals against treating pregnant patients in emergency situations, the facilities continue to violate federal law. The issue has become a focal point for the administration following reports of women being mistreated in emergency rooms after the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion more than two years ago. (What does “Pro-Life” mean today?) (AP News)

• Everyone knew about the A team: How did the Alexander brothers become real estate elites while allegedly raping or assaulting more than a dozen women? (restrained)

• ‘Originalism is a dead letter’: Supreme Court majority accused of abandoning legal principles in Trump immunity ruling: Critics on the left and right have said the decision to find absolute immunity for certain official acts has no basis in the Constitution or historical tradition. (NBC News) see also The target of the right-wing “revolution” is pluralist democracy itself: The president of the Heritage Foundation said, “We are in the process of the second American revolution, which will be bloodless if the left allows it. (Washington Post)

• How close are the planet’s climate tipping points? Global warming could trigger radical changes in the natural world that would be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. (New York Times) see also Carbon Washing and the New Struggle for Africa August: The carbon offset market is an integral part of efforts to prevent effective climate action… (Climate and Capitalism)

• How a Republican came to regret blocking gun violence research: Former Arkansas Republican Rep. Jay Dickey led an effort to ban gun violence research at the federal level, then had a change of heart. (Washington Post)