Anne Carter
Americans are getting a lot better at not dying. That’s the theory, anyway (as we’ve covered, the obesity epidemic may counteract this idea!). In general, the average lifespan is a lot longer than it’s ever been - which means that, in a very short amount of time, an overwhelming proportion of the population will be over 65. Combine this with a declining birth rate, and you’ve got a situation in which an increasing proportion of elderly dependents is relying upon a decreasing pool of working-age individuals. Sounds awful? Well, not necessarily. A view which only ever considers the elderly as dependents is missing out an awful lot of the potential picture. Not to mention the fact that we’re pretty good innovators, able to ride the waves of demographic change with ease. Here’s a quick look at what an aging population may mean for America.
This week, Tom Stewart comes to us live... from his toilet?
In the latest installment of The Tom Stewart Project, the eponymous host takes a dump on the bathroom laws that have recently passed in several southern states. These laws, which seemingly target transgendered Americans, have created major problems for the states that passed them under the guise of "religious freedom." For instance, in North Carolina, the now famous HB-2 was signed into effect which states that individuals must use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender at birth -- and the backlash began almost immediately. PayPal cancelled its plans to build a new facility in Charlotte, thus eliminating 400 new jobs in the state. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen even got involved in the protest, cancelling a show last weekend in Greensboro in a show of solidarity. Tom examines two of the major problems with these laws that are supposed to guarantee safety to patrons in public restrooms:
Watch this week's Tom Stewart Project below! With final legislative approval in both chambers today, the General Assembly has approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Frank Lombardo III and Rep. Lauren H. Carson to ban powdered alcohol in Rhode Island.
The legislation, which has been sent to the governor, is aimed at protecting Rhode Islanders, particularly youth, from a substance with an unknown potential for danger and abuse. Powdered alcohol is molecularly encapsulated alcohol which, when mixed with water, produces an alcoholic beverage. A product called “Palcohol” – which had received initial approval from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in 2014 only to have it rescinded – was officially approved later in the year by a federal regulator. Despite Rhode Island having some of the highest energy rates in the nation, a bill that would impose a new fee on carbon-based energy, resulting in even higher energy costs for most families and businesses, ranks among the worst bills yet to be voted on according to the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, which today updated its list of the BEST and WORST bills of the 2016 General Assembly session.
Yet another anti-business and anti-family piece of legislation, H 7325, sponsored by Representatives Regunberg, Handy, Carson, Tobon, and Bennett, would redistribute wealth by punishing companies that sell low-cost fossil fuels and by establishing a complex rebate system as well as a special "fund' geared to reward other special interest companies. Energy taxes and fees are highly regressive in that low-income families bear a disproportionate burden of the costs.
Leonard Lardaro
After the discouraging news we received last month concerning labor market data revisions and the resulting changes in our economic performance, comes a bit of a reprieve in February. The Current Conditions Index (CCI) for February rose from its January value of 58 to 67 in February. The good news, as good news here goes, is that this CCI value this month matches the second-highest value from last year, a number we saw for eight of the twelve months in 2015. This also matches last February’s CCI value. |
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