Author: Mary Pat Campbell

Excess Mortality in California During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic, March to August 2020

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2774273?guestAccessKey=c8fe2604-92e1-4640-b62b-2ac686cef7f0&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jamainternalmedicine&utm_term=mostread&utm_content=olf-widget_12222020

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From March 1 through August 22, 2020, 146 557 deaths were recorded in California, with an estimated 19 806 (95% prediction interval, 16 364-23 210) deaths in excess of those predicted by historical trends (Table). Per capita excess mortality was highest among people aged 65 years and older, men, Black and Latino residents, and those without a college degree. Comparing deaths in March through April vs May through August, Latino residents and those without a high school degree or general education development (GED) certificate had the greatest increase in excess deaths, with Latino deaths tripling (from 16 to 51 excess deaths per million) and deaths in those without a high school degree/GED increasing by a factor of 3.4 (from 21 to 72 excess deaths per million). Across age groups, younger adults had the greatest increases in excess death, with rates more than doubling between shutdown and reopening (age, 25-54 years: from 4 to 11 excess deaths per million, 55-64 years: from 12 to 30 excess deaths per million).

In most weeks of the pandemic, Black residents had higher per capita excess mortality than other racial/ethnic group (Figure). Late in the shelter-in-place period, White, Asian, and Black residents had a decline in excess per capita mortality. In contrast, Latino residents and those without a high school degree/GED saw a substantial and sustained increase in per capita mortality.

Author(s): Yea-Hung Chen, PhD, MS1; M. Maria Glymour, ScD, MS2; Ralph Catalano, PhD, MRP3; et al

Publication Date: 21 December 2020

Publication Site: JAMA Internal Medicine

U.S. life expectancy fell by a year in the first half of 2020, CDC report finds

Mary Pat Campbell
U.S. life expectancy fell by a year in the first half of 2020, CDC report finds

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Looking further at racial disparities in the data, the gap in life expectancy between non-Hispanic white and Black people widened from 4.1 years in 2019 to six years in the first half of 2020 — the largest gap since 1998.

“The disparities between those populations have been declining consistently, since we began estimating life expectancy, which goes back to 1900,” she said. 

The gap between Hispanic and white non-Hispanic individuals narrowed, however, from three years in 2019 to 1.9 in 2020.

Author(s): Rebecca Sohn

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: Stat News

US life expectancy dropped a full year in first half of 2020, according to CDC

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/health/life-expectancy-fell-pandemic/index.html

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“A year of life expectancy lost doesn’t really give you a true sense of how serious this has been. Millions of life years were actually lost,” Eileen Crimmins, a professor at the University of Southern California who has researched changes in mortality, told CNN. “Covid is on track to cause more deaths than cancer or heart disease, and that’s important.”Most deaths due to Covid-19 have been among older adults, which would have a small effect on overall life expectancy.

But Theresa Andrasfay, a researcher at the University of Southern California who has published work on the potential impact of Covid-19 on life expectancy, notes that while deaths among younger adults may be less common, the numbers are still substantial.

Author(s): Deidre McPhillips

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: CNN

MADIGAN WILL RETIRE WITH $2.9 MILLION PUBLIC PENSION AFTER CONTRIBUTING JUST $350,000

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/madigan-will-retire-with-2-9-million-public-pension-after-contributing-just-350000/

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Because of a pension sweetener for politicians that Madigan helped create, the former speaker’s pension will spike more than $66,000 the year after his first full year of retirement, then grow 3% each year thereafter.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan will start receiving $7,100 in monthly pension benefits starting in March, but just more than a year later his benefits jump 78% to $12,600 per month.

The next year will bring him $66,000 extra thanks to a special pension sweetener available only to politicians, which the former speaker helped pass. It was eliminated for lawmakers elected after 2002.

Author(s): Adam Schuster

Publication Date: 19 February 2021

Publication Site: Illinois Policy Institute

Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for January through June, 2020

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR10-508.pdf

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In the first half of 2020, life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population was 77.8 years, declining by 1.0 year from 78.8 in 2019 (6). Life expectancy at birth for males was 75.1 years in the first half of 2020, representing a decline of 1.2 years from 76.3 years in 2019. For females, life expectancy declined to 80.5 years, decreasing 0.9 year from 81.4 years in 2019 (Figure 1).

Author(s): Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D., Betzaida Tejada-Vera, M.S., and Farida Ahmad, M.P.H.

Publication Date: February 2021

Publication Site: CDC

COVID-19: Cuomo Calls For Nursing Home Reform Amid Federal Probe, Increasing Pressure

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northsalem/news/covid-19-cuomo-calls-for-nursing-home-reform-amid-federal-probe-increasing-pressure/803613/

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With pressure coming from both sides of the aisle into investigating New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has vowed sweeping reform as part of the 30-day amendments.

Cuomo announced reforms to improve the health, quality of life, and safety of nursing home residents to ensure that “facilities prioritize patient care over profits.”

“You can’t say to a nursing home that ‘either you can buy new beds, or you can make more money,’ ” Cuomo said during a COVID-19 briefing on Friday, Feb. 19. “It’s not a matter of hiring more staff or helping people or making more money.

Author(s): Zak Fallia

Publication Date: 19 February 2021

Publication Site: Daily Voice

How Herd Immunity Works — And What Stands In Its Way

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/18/967462483/how-herd-immunity-works-and-what-stands-in-its-way

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What will it take to finally halt the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.? To answer that question we’ve created a simulation of a mock disease we’re calling SIMVID-19.

When you click “Run Simulation” above, you are witnessing how a disease can spread through a population and how increased levels of vaccination can stop it in its tracks.

We’re chosen to simulate a fake disease since there are too many unknowns to simulate the course of COVID-19. There are common features in how any infection spreads. When enough people are immune — through vaccination or natural immunity — a population achieves herd immunity. The disease stops spreading efficiently and starts to fade away.

Author(s): Richard Harris, Thomas Wilburn

Publication Date: 18 February 2021

Publication Site: NPR

Great Variation in Counties’ COVID-19 Vaccine Distributions

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.governing.com/now/Great-Variation-in-Counties-COVID-19-Vaccine-Distributions.html

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California is pushing shots into arms at a much faster clip than it was just a month ago — closing in on the national average, with vows to accelerate even further — but the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations varies greatly from county to county within the Golden State.

A Southern California News Group analysis of state data found that smaller counties with fewer people and less complicated logistics are leading the pack in vaccinating their residents: Little Mono, with 14,526 residents, ranked No. 1, managing to vaccinate one out of every three residents. On its heels was tiny Alpine, population 1,209, getting shots into 27 percent of its residents.

Author(s): TERI SFORZA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: Governing

State and local government revenues have recovered from the pandemic, and further federal aid is unnecessary

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.city-journal.org/state-and-local-revenue-has-rebounded-to-pre-pandemic-levels

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“California is not only poised for recovery, but we’re seeing real signs of recovery in our state,” Governor Gavin Newsom announced in early January, as he unveiled a state budget with record spending fueled by a $15 billion budget surplus. Yet two weeks later, Newsom sent a letter to President Biden expressing support for his plan to give an additional $350 billion in aid to state and local governments.

Similar stories have played out in other states. “We’re going to need a robust federal support system to help our states and economies recover beyond the federal CARES funds that expire at the end of the year,” said Wisconsin governor Tony Evers in November. Yet within weeks, the state was projecting a budget surplus, and by January it had revised that estimate up to $1.8 billion. Rather than drawing on these reserves, Wisconsin added to its “rainy day” fund, the balance of which is expected to hit nearly $1 billion this year.

Author(s): Noah Williams

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: City Journal

Why the New York Stock Exchange Could Soon Flee the State

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://fee.org/articles/why-the-new-york-stock-exchange-could-soon-flee-the-state/

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State lawmakers in Albany, New York are considering imposing a tax on financial transactions. If they go through with it, the iconic New York Stock Exchange might actually leave the Empire State.

The tax legislation in question was recently proposed by state Senator Julia Salazar and several of her Democratic colleagues. It would impose a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades and smaller taxes on bond and derivative trades. These levies may sound minor, but they add up when applied across millions of trades—and Salazar says the tax would raise $12-29 billion in revenue. 

…..

“The New York Stock Exchange belongs in New York,” NYSE President Stacey Cunningham writes in a new Wall Street Journal Op-Ed. “If Albany lawmakers get their way, however, the center of the global financial industry may need to find a new home.”

“Financial transaction taxes have a dismal track record,” she continued. “They never live up to the promises about how much revenue they’ll raise. They damage capital markets and destroy high-paying jobs.” 

Author(s): Brad Polumbo

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: Foundation for Economic Education

The Reddit Inspired Attack on Shorts Exposed Wall Street Sleaze and Corruption

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/the-reddit-inspired-attack-on-shorts-exposed-wall-street-sleaze-and-corruption

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The big players are overleveraged because the Fed encouraged them. The whole thing is propped up by stimulus and bailouts of consumers and companies alike.

This coordinated short squeeze pushed two hedge funds and Robinhood to the brink. It revealed for all to see how broken the stock market has been..

You know it’s serious when the New York Times puts a stock chart at the top of the page in a Saturday morning edition.

Traders who follow prudent strategies are ridiculed and have zero returns. The Fed is the biggest manipulator out there.

Those traders on Reddit have succeeded in showing how completely broken the stock market is.

The Fed is a big proponent of this through its monetary policy for the wealth effect. It is responsible for reckless leverage, crazy trading strategies, and the huge incentive to manipulate.

Author(s): Mish

Publication Date: 1 February 2021

Publication Site: Mish Talk Global Economics Trend Analysis