Tuesday's Assorted Links
Super Bowl resellers, monkey thieves, millionaires, smell developments, and the first federal income tax
Hi y’all! Here are five stories from this week that contain some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
The NFL will fine more than 100 players for reselling Super Bowl tickets at a profit [CNBC]
A gang of furry thieves steal valuables from temple visitors and trade them for mangos [The Wall Street Journal]
Roughly 1 in 10 adults in America has a net worth of at least $1 million [Associated Press]
The creep of development is prompting fights in communities where people say their lives and property values are suffering from proximity to sewage sludge [The Wall Street Journal]
On this day in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln enacted the first federal income tax to help fund the Civil War, requiring Americans who earned more than $800 to pay a 3% tax [History]
President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a disappointing jobs report and major downward revisions to prior months’ data. While the move raised concerns about political interference, revisions are a normal part of how the BLS updates its estimates as more data comes in. The controversy highlights the challenges of producing real-time economic statistics and the importance of maintaining trust in the institutions that generate them.
What’s Going On With the Jobs Numbers?
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