☕ Maui devastation

Markets

Stocks edged up following a significant inflation report that indicated promising indications of a return to normal price growth levels. Disney shareholders appeared satisfied with the company's strategies to raise prices for its streaming services and emulate Netflix's approach by addressing password sharing..

AI Mania Triggers Dot-Com Bubble Flashbacks

The dot-com bubble served as a cautionary lesson for investors regarding stock-market rallies driven by technological booms. However, the surge in tech stocks this year, propelled by generative artificial intelligence, has rewritten that narrative.

Nvidia, the graphics-chip manufacturer central to this fervor, has experienced an almost threefold increase in its shares in 2023. In comparison, the Nasdaq-100 has risen by 38%, and the S&P 500 has gained 16%.

For certain investors, Nvidia's remarkable ascent—now ranked as the fifth-largest U.S. company by market value—seems challenging to attribute to anything other than speculative frenzy. Given its substantial weighting in key stock indexes, everyday investors find themselves subject to its trajectory, regardless of their belief in AI's potential.

Environment

A hub of Hawaiian heritage ha burned to the ground

The town of Lāhainā on Maui Island will forever bear the scars of a devastating event. In recent days, an unparalleled wildfire swept through this historic region where the Hawaiian Kingdom's constitution was drafted, resulting in the destruction of revered cultural landmarks.

Although the wildfires are now mostly under control, the toll has been heavy, with a reported 53 casualties, marking this incident as one of the deadliest wildfires in the United States in many years. As search and rescue operations persist, the count of lives lost is expected to climb. While the investigation into the fire's cause has not yet commenced, experts speculate that unmanaged, nonnative grasslands, coupled with arid conditions, drought, and winds from a passing hurricane, contributed to the rapid spread of the flames.

Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke lamented, "The entirety of Lāhainā has been profoundly affected. The town has suffered extensive devastation, leaving Lāhainā in ruins." Over a thousand buildings have been left in ruins.

The once-vibrant Front Street, known for its assortment of restaurants, bars, and shops, now lies in ashes. A local resident shared with MSNBC, "Almost everyone I know has lost everything."

The heart of the town, recognized as one of the nation's 60 historically significant sites, has been obliterated. Among the casualties is the church where Christianity found its initial foothold in Hawaii during the early 1800s. The adjoining graveyard holds the resting place of some members of the ancient Hawaiian royalty.

While the largest banyan fig tree in the United States, planted in Lāhainā in 1873, bears the marks of charring, it remains standing as a testament to resilience.

Communication services, such as cell phones and internet, continue to experience substantial disruptions, prompting individuals to turn to social media for assistance in locating missing loved ones. In certain instances, Apple Emergency SOS has been the sole means to reach out to first responders.

The wreckage of docks and boats, consumed by the flames, has added complexity to relief efforts by sea. To aid in the evacuation of Maui, several airlines have augmented their flight schedules.

Health

SCOTUS pauses Sackler opioid settlement.

The Supreme Court has issued a temporary halt to a $6 billion settlement involving OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma and state as well as local governments. This settlement aimed to shield the Sackler family, proprietors of the company, from facing civil litigation pertaining to their involvement in exacerbating the opioid crisis. The decision aligns with the stance of the Biden administration's Department of Justice (DOJ), which advocated for the suspension of the settlement. In December, the Supreme Court is scheduled to review arguments concerning the viability of proceeding with the settlement.

Economy

A New Green Tax-Credit Market Is for Corporations. Some Wealthy People Want In.

President Biden's landmark climate legislation offers corporations a novel and potentially lucrative avenue: Invest $910,000 to acquire clean-energy tax credits and reduce your tax liability by $1 million.

Certain tax advisors argue that individual American citizens should be afforded the same opportunity.

The Inflation Reduction Act from the previous year expanded tax incentives for clean energy while establishing a mechanism for green-energy enterprises to sell surplus tax credits. The proposed regulations by the Treasury Department permit corporations to purchase and utilize these credits, yet the same privilege is generally not extended to individuals.

Advocates of expanding this market to individual purchasers, typically those with substantial wealth, contend that such a move would enhance the demand for tax credits, generating additional funds for companies engaged in green technology endeavors.

Michael Wronsky, a senior manager at the accounting firm Baker Tilly, emphasized, "Increasing the investment in these initiatives heightens their prospects of success, a clear reflection of Congress's intent." At Baker Tilly, advisors have engaged with affluent individuals expressing interest in procuring tax credits.

Education

Colleges are spending money they don’t have

The cost of college education is on the rise, and this time, inflation isn't solely to blame. Between 2002 and 2022, spending surged by 38% at the median flagship school, which represents the most prominent and often the oldest public university in each state. This financial burden was shifted onto students, contributing to the ongoing student debt crisis totaling $1.6 trillion, as revealed by the Wall Street Journal's examination of financial statements from 50 educational institutions.

Several factors have fueled this increase: Over the two decades under scrutiny, the median flagship university saw a nearly 40% rise in salaries and benefits, a 50% surge in spending on athletic coaches, and substantial investments in new construction and facility upgrades, as per data sourced from the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. Administrative expenses have also grown as a proportion of overall institutional expenditure, according to data from US News and the National Center for Education Statistics.

However, the costs associated with these improvements, such as modern student centers and elevated compensation, aren't self-sustaining. To finance these endeavors, every institution in the Wall Street Journal's analysis significantly escalated tuition and fee revenue per student over the 2002–2022 period:

For instance, at the University of Oklahoma, tuition and fees per student experienced a staggering 166% increase within these two decades. Penn State, which holds the distinction of being the priciest flagship state school, demands nearly $27,000 annually from the average student.

In a broader context, universities are amassing significant expenditures because there are minimal restraints. Economist James V. Koch's research found that trustees greenlight 98% of proposals involving cost hikes at large public universities. Holden Thorp, the former chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, aptly described universities as voraciously consuming funds.