A good negotiator will tell you that you've got to be willing to walk off the lot. If you're buying a car, at some point, you've got to make it clear to the seller that you're willing to walk away and find a better price. It turns out that American consumers have been walking off the lot. A lot. The result? Big retailers—who just maybe took advantage of an inflationary period by raising prices much more than they had to—are telling consumers to turn around and come back to the lot, because they can offer a better deal. Americans’ refusal to keep paying higher prices may be dealing a final blow to US inflation spike. "Consumers aren’t cutting back enough to cause an economic downturn. Rather, economists say, they appear to be returning to pre-pandemic norms, when most companies felt they couldn’t raise prices very much without losing business. 'While inflation is down, prices are still high, and I think consumers have gotten to the point where they’re just not accepting it,' Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said last week at a conference of business economists. 'And that’s what you want: The solution to high prices is high prices.'" 2This Round's On Me"The researchers found no reduction in heart disease deaths among light or moderate drinkers, regardless of this health or socioeconomic status, when compared with occasional drinkers." It's good for you, it's bad for you, it's great for you in moderation, no avoid it altogether. The ever-changing alcohol and health guidelines are enough to drive one to drink. NYT (Gift Article): Older Adults Do Not Benefit From Moderate Drinking, Large Study Finds. (I'm pretty sure no one in my mom's Mimosa Sunday brunch group is in it for the health benefits...) 3Ante DepressantLongtime readers of this newsletter will note that I've been worried that increasingly easy access to online betting (and the constant marketing messages suggesting you lay a bet) will have a detrimental impact on society, especially young men. Here's some early data: "In states with legal gambling of any kind, average credit scores drop by 0.3% after four years. However, in states where online betting is available, average credit scores drop by 1%. Among states with access to online betting, the likelihood of filing for bankruptcy increases by 25-30% after three to four years. Collections on unpaid debts increase by about 8% in states with online betting. Young men in low-income counties experience higher financial distress, with higher rates of bankruptcy, more usage of consolidation and unsecured loans, and more credit card delinquencies." Sounds like a bad bet. Online sports betting hurts consumers. 4X LaxThe much-hyped ego-stroking session between Elon Musk and Donald Trump on X got off to rough start as technical difficulties delayed the proceedings. Musk claimed there was a DDOS attack on X — but The Verge was told there was not. Of course, with these two in conversation, it makes sense to start off with a falsehood to get the crowd warmed up. I'm guessing the technical difficulties were due to something system administrators refer to as Narcissistic Server Overload. 5Extra, ExtraLet's Do it at Your Place: "Last week, Ukraine tried something new. Its own forces marched miles across the Russian border in a surprise operation. They now control some Russian land in the region of Kursk, including dozens of towns and villages." Ukraine’s Surprise Attack. Politico: Putin pulls units out of Ukraine to defend Russia. 6Bottom of the News"They are some of the many young people who are embracing phillumeny—the hobby of collecting matchbooks, matchboxes and other match-related items—and displaying their collections at home and online. It’s a resurgence of an interest which harks back to a time when matches were ubiquitous as smoking and advertising tools." WSJ (Gift Article): We’re In a Matchbook Renaissance.
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