Random Business News

[herzlos]

I assume there's still a lot of staff doing manual reviews and customer service type stuff.

[Haighus]

I still sell old stuff on eBay, made a few hundred quid last year. Its better regulated than the wild west of FB marketplace.

[easye]

www.cnn.com/2024/02/23/media/vice-buzzfeed-layoffs-digital-revolution/index.html

The hollowing out of Vice and BuzzFeed marks the end of the digital media revolution

New York
CNN
—
The digital media revolution is over.

Its two leaders, Vice Media and BuzzFeed , are in a frenetic retreat, surrendering much of their online empires as they try to protect what remains of their core assets. Having once threatened to upend the entire industry and usher in a new era of news distribution and monetization, the former digital media darlings are now merely attempting to survive in any form they can.

If digital Media revolution is over, I shudder to think what is next. Journalism and News media is worse now than ever.

We seem to be regressing back to the Yellow Journalism of pre-WWII from before the industry was professionalized.

[easye]

Insurance rates are skyrocketing in the US.

www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1233963377/auto-home-insurance-premiums-costs-natural-disasters-inflation

Insurance companies insist they're just playing catch-up, after two years of big losses. For every dollar in home and auto premiums they collected last year, insurance companies paid an average of $1.10 in claims and expenses, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

"Nobody wants to have that higher-price bill," says Sean Kevelighan, the institute's CEO. But he added companies "need to price insurance according to the risk level that's out there."

Inflation is partly to blame for those big payouts. The cost of fixing or replacing damaged homes and cars has jumped sharply in recent years as a result of rising labor and material prices.

Even as those prices start to level off, though, insurers are having to contend with a mounting toll of natural disasters, and not just in the usual places like Florida and California.

[bobtheinquisitor]

We should nationalize them.

[easye]

There is no larger risk pool than everyone.

[easye]

Finally

The U.S. sharply limits how much credit cards can charge you in late fees

www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235973211/credit-card-late-fees-cap-junk-fees-cfpb

The cost of a late payment on your credit card could soon be going down.

Federal regulators issued a new rule Tuesday capping credit card late fees at $8, down from the current average of $32. The move is expected to save customers an estimated $10 billion a year.

I look forward to the SC stating that this rule is Unconstitutional!

[easye]

'Sesame Street' writers authorize a strike if they don't reach a contract by Friday

www.npr.org/2024/04/18/1245494600/sesame-street-writers-strike

Writers for Sesame Street have voted unanimously to authorize a strike if they are unable to reach an agreement on their new contract before Friday, the Writers Guild of America East announced Tuesday.

Thirty-five WGA union members are asking Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces the mainstay children's program, for "industry standard annual raises, improvements to residuals, and union coverage for Sesame Workshop's popular animation and social media segments," for the show's writers, WGA said.

[bobtheinquisitor]

You’d have to be some kind of monster to exploit the people who make Sesame Street.

[Disciple of Fate]

I think Cookie Monster wouldn't like being lumped in with assholes in the C-suite.

[easye]

It straddles the line between healthcare and business, so I guess I will put it here:

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/22/1246054537/doctor-meetings-drug-reps-pharma-cancer-patients-live-longer-survival

Oncologists' meetings with drug reps don't help cancer patients live longer

Pharmaceutical company reps have been visiting doctors for decades to tell them about the latest drugs. But how does the practice affect patients? A group of economists tried to answer that question.

When drug company reps visit doctors, it usually includes lunch or dinner and a conversation about a new drug. These direct-to-physician marketing interactions are tracked as payments in a public database, and a new study shows the meetings work. That is, doctors prescribe about five percent more oncology drugs following a visit from a pharmaceutical representative, according to the new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research this month.
But the researchers also found that the practice doesn't make cancer patients live longer.

"It does not seem that this payment induces physicians to switch to drugs with a mortality benefit relative to the drug the patient would have gotten otherwise," says study author Colleen Carey, an assistant professor of economics and public policy at Cornell University.

For their research, she and her colleagues used Medicare claims data and the Open Payments database, which tracks drug company payments to doctors.

Cue up the shocked face gifs, I think you will all be needing them!

[Haighus]

Apr 22, 2024 9:38:36 GMT -5 easye said:

It straddles the line between healthcare and business, so I guess I will put it here:

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/22/1246054537/doctor-meetings-drug-reps-pharma-cancer-patients-live-longer-survival

Oncologists' meetings with drug reps don't help cancer patients live longer

Pharmaceutical company reps have been visiting doctors for decades to tell them about the latest drugs. But how does the practice affect patients? A group of economists tried to answer that question.

When drug company reps visit doctors, it usually includes lunch or dinner and a conversation about a new drug. These direct-to-physician marketing interactions are tracked as payments in a public database, and a new study shows the meetings work. That is, doctors prescribe about five percent more oncology drugs following a visit from a pharmaceutical representative, according to the new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research this month.
But the researchers also found that the practice doesn't make cancer patients live longer.

"It does not seem that this payment induces physicians to switch to drugs with a mortality benefit relative to the drug the patient would have gotten otherwise," says study author Colleen Carey, an assistant professor of economics and public policy at Cornell University.

For their research, she and her colleagues used Medicare claims data and the Open Payments database, which tracks drug company payments to doctors.

Cue up the shocked face gifs, I think you will all be needing them!

A lot of this stuff is known already and has been heavily regulated in much of the world. Drug reps bringing a "free" lunch is still really common though, and commonly happens before lunchtime doctor teaching seminars. In the UK, it is very low key nowadays, usually a few supermarket sandwiches and crisps, and junior doctors appreciate it when they don't have chance to buy lunch before teaching (common). The drug reps also don't care about juniors (who don't have any influence over formulary drugs) and tend to focus on one or two senior doctors relevant to their pitch.

It should be outlawed IMO, but I can't deny being grateful for the occasional free lunch when I was having a busy day.

Very different in the US from what I gather. Brand names are a way bigger deal and profit motive is present at many levels. In contrast, the NHS as a whole or individual NHS organisations work hard to get the lowest-cost version of a drug with a lot of market power.

[easye]

www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1226955737/starbucks-supreme-court-union-organizing-labor-injunctions-nlrb

What the Starbucks case at the Supreme Court is all about. Hint: It's not coffee

Escobar is one of the Memphis 7, a group of Starbucks baristas and shift supervisors who were fired by the company in February 2022, days after they announced their intent to unionize.

Starbucks said the employees had violated multiple company policies, including allowing a television crew into the store after hours. The workers believe they were fired for trying to organize a union.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments — not about whether Starbucks illegally interfered with the union drive, but about whether a lower court erred in ordering Starbucks to reinstate Escobar and his co-workers while their firings were being investigated.

That order and the decision to grant it are at the heart of the case in front of the nine justices. During oral arguments, the majority of the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to Starbucks, which argued that the government should have to meet a higher legal bar when it asks courts to intervene during labor investigations.

The Supreme Court's ruling, expected by the end of June, could have far-reaching implications for labor organizing efforts across the U.S. and across industries, from auto to retail to academia and beyond.

I expect the SC to step in to try and tap the breaks on all this "Unionizing" that has been going on lately. AFterall, Unions are only one step removed from Soviet Union!

[herzlos]

So Tesla has issued a recall on all 3800 Cybertrucks sold so far, because the accelerator pedal cover can slide off and lock the pedal at full throttle. The (hopefully) temporary solution is to screw the cover onto the pedal.

In addition to all the other random failures, I'm surprised it was allowed to be released or has it managed to dodge any kind of DOT certification?

[easye]

This is good news.....

www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246655366/ftc-bans-noncompete-agreements-lina-khan

U.S. bans noncompete agreements for nearly all jobs

The Federal Trade Commission narrowly voted Tuesday to ban nearly all noncompetes, employment agreements that typically prevent workers from joining competing businesses or launching ones of their own.

The FTC received more than 26,000 public comments in the months leading up to the vote. Chair Lina Khan referenced on Tuesday some of the stories she had heard from workers.

"We heard from employees who, because of noncompetes, were stuck in abusive workplaces," she said. "One person noted when an employer merged with an organization whose religious principles conflicted with their own, a noncompete kept the worker locked in place and unable to freely switch to a job that didn't conflict with their religious practices."

About time.....

Also, I know almost nothing about the Cybertruck and intend to keep it that way!