News From the Control Tower - 6/10/2021
News from the Control Tower: Our weekly curated list of news stories affecting you and your finances.
This week’s reads include:
1. AMC Drama Is Exposing Risks in $11 Trillion World of Indexing
Index funds are supposed to cut out the human-driven craziness that periodically infects markets, but the recent meme-stock fever proved the $11 trillion industry is far from immune.
2. Illinois Sports Facilities Authority debt restructuring spares Chicago budget
The authority will scoop-and-toss some near-term debt to avoid a shortfall that would force Chicago to dig into its own pockets to cover a hotel tax shortfall.
3. Dark Patterns that Mislead Consumers Are All Over the Internet
Think you can tell a dark pattern from an ethically designed prompt? Take our quiz to find out
The study finds that retail price increases for widely used brand name prescription drugs consistently exceeded the rate of general inflation between 2006 and 2020. In 2020, retail prices for 260 brand name prescription drugs widely used by older adults increased by an average of 2.9 percent. In contrast, the general inflation rate was 1.3 percent over the same period.
5. How the Ford F-150 Lightning’s Chief Engineer Linda Zhang Brought the World an Electric Pickup
Zhang came to the U.S. when she was eight years old without knowing any English. Now she’s the brains behind the Ford F-150 Lightning.
Bonus: In Praise of Small Menus
From high-end to low, many restaurants are re-thinking their menu offerings post-covid.