10 Sunday Readings: The Big Picture

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning analyze incompetence, corruption and policy failures:

• Harlan Crow bought a property from Clarence Thomas. The judge did not disclose the deal. The transaction is the first known case of money flowing from Crow to a Supreme Court judge. The sale gave the Republican Party a megadonor of two vacant lots and the house where Thomas’s mother lived. (ProPublica)

• The real costs of the digital race for Bitcoin: Bitcoin mines take advantage of electricity, devouring it, selling it and even turning it off, and cause immense pollution. In many cases, the public pays a price. (New York Times)

• The false promise of opportunity zones: Tax breaks for investors don’t help poor communities. Instead of seeking venture capital, cities must build new institutions to increase neighborhood wealth. (Boston Review)

• A small town became the center of a QAnon storm. Now he’s fighting back: The Netherlands’ most notorious conspiracy theorist is now in prison. (Ars Technica)

• At FTX, multi-million dollar spending was approved by emoji: The report describes the control failures in the failed crypto company. (Wall Street Journal)

• The rise of climate rating agencies: Government and private sector are increasingly relying on risk modeling companies that claim they can target exposure to climate change. Freelance modelers are a lot like rating agencies. (American prospect)

• $388 in Sushi. Just a $20 tip: Brutal math by Uber Eats and DoorDash Delivery drivers hailed as pandemic heroes. But they say the rise of contactless delivery has made customers less inclined to tip generously and gig work is becoming an even more difficult way to earn a living. (New York Times)

• The case of the fake Sherlock: Richard Walter was hailed as a genius criminal profiler. How did she get away with his fraud for so long? (New York Magazine)

• Dogged by unsubstantiated voter fraud accusations, an entire county election staff resigns in Virginia: In Buckingham County, four people have quit their jobs after a dispute between local Republicans and the recorder general consumed the small community. (nbc news)

• Florida health officials removed key facts from the COVID vaccine report: The surgeon general’s guidance against the vaccine for young men ignored results showing that infection was an increased risk of heart-related deaths. (Tampa Bay Times)

Be sure to check out our Master of Business this week with joe barattaglobal director of private equity at the giant PE black stone. In the 2000s, he helped establish the firm’s private equity business in Europe. He sits on Blacktone’s Board of Directors and its Management Committee and is a member of many of the company’s investment committees.

Life expectancy in the US has declined two years in a row; On average, Americans now die at age 76, the lowest age in the 21st century, and more than six years earlier than the rest of the G-7.

Fountain: GZeroSee also Los Angeles Times

Sign up for our read-only mailing list here.

~~~

To learn how these readings are assembled each day, please look at this.