NewsLink V9 N3 Spring 2005: Notable and quotable clips from the media

NewsLink V9, N3, Spring 2005

In Point of Fact

Never mind, pass the butter

Packing on the pounds is not nearly as deadly as the government thought, according to a new calculation from the CDC that found people who are modestly overweight actually have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that obesity accounts for 25,814 deaths a year in the United States. As recently as January, the CDC came up with an estimate 14 times higher: 365,000 deaths. According to the new calculation, obesity ranks No. 7 instead of No. 2 among the nation’s leading preventable causes of death. The new analysis found that obesity — being extremely overweight — is indisputably lethal. But like several recent smaller studies, it found that people who are modestly overweight have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight. “Study shows government overstated risk of death from obesity, “ Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, April 20, 2005.

Detroit mayor "just lovin’ it"; an insatiable appetite for taxes

Would you like fries with that? Either way, the Detroit city treasury would like a bite. Faced with a $300 million budget hole, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is hoping people in this already heavily taxed city won’t mind forking over a few extra cents for their Big Macs and Whoppers. Kilpatrick wants to ask Detroit voters to approve a 2 percent fast-food tax — on top of the 6 percent state sales tax on restaurant meals. The mayor says consumers will barely notice the extra cents at the cash register, but critics say the tax would unfairly burden the poor and hamper economic development. “Just tell him we’re going to go to Bloomfield Hills to McDonald’s if he puts a tax on it,” said 18-year-old Ebony Ellis, referring to an affluent Detroit suburb, as she and four friends ate at a Golden Arches in Detroit. "Detroit mayor ponders tax on fast foods: Facing $300 million budget shortfall, city may impose extra 2 percent charge,” Associated Press, May 9, 2005.

The law of unintended consequences revisited

In an era of greater scrutiny, a number of U.S. companies are deciding being public just isn’t worth the hassle anymore. After the collapse of Enron Corp, WorldCom, Inc. and others, regulators and lawmakers raised financial reporting and corporate governance standards for publicly traded companies to increase accountability and transparency. In the latest and final phase of the reforms, known as Section 404, companies must assess internal financial controls and report findings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Confronted with rising costs to comply and tougher penalties if they don’t, a growing number of companies are dropping out of the public arena. Companies have also responded to new disclosure rules by shutting off investor communication. “More U.S. Companies Drop Out, Clam Up,” Joseph A. Giannone and Brendan Intindola, Reuters, March 6, 2005.

Crisis outside of the classroom

Fat, drunk and stupid really isn’t a good way for college students to go through life - or college.A new article in Psychology Today magazine asserts that colleges are perhaps the “worst possible environments in which to retain anything we’ve learned.” Binge drinking, the wolfing down of junk food and sleep deprivation caused by cramming for tests all lead to poor academic performance and subpar memory retention - and all are found in abundance on august campuses across the nation, the article asserts. “All this news (from scientific studies) makes you wonder how anyone’s ever managed to get an education,’’ wrote author Steven Kotler, who relied on a number of academic reports to buttress his argument that colleges, while competent in the classrooms, aren’t paying enough attention to students outside classrooms. “College environment `worst possible’ for study,” Jay Fitzgerald, Boston Herald, April 20, 2005.

When it comes to the tax code, Milton Friedman makes sense: Just scrap it!

A relatively pure consumption tax would be the most efficient revenue system for the government, but is unlikely to occur because it would offer politicians little ability to dole out special favors, Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman recently told President Bush’s advisory tax panel. “I think most economists today would come close to agreeing that the major tax ought to be a flat-rate tax on consumption. Whether that tax is collected by a retail sales tax or whether it’s collected by the way the income tax is by individual reporting would be open for debate,” Friedman told the panel, as it held a public hearing in San Francisco. Such a tax would be ideal in part because it would encourage savings, Friedman said. Friedman, in his testimony, said a move to a pure flat tax would be nearly impossible given political realities. A seat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, for example, is a plum assignment because it gives a lawmaker ample opportunity to dole out favors to donors, he said. “Friedman: Consumption tax best, but unlikely,” William L. Watts, CBS MarketWatch.com, March 31,2005.

Stopping at the red light costs you and it will cost you even more!

Backed up at a traffic light? Frustrated when you hit a red light only a block after driving through a green? Odds are those traffic signals may need some work. “Nationwide, our traffic signal systems score a D-minus. That’s not a very good grade,” said Shelley Row of the Institute of Transportation of Engineers. A survey released in April says the nation’s traffic signal operations are largely inefficient, “We are experiencing more delay, longer travel time, more air pollution, and poorer fuel economy as a result,” Row told CBS News correspondent John Hartge. And it doesn’t have to be that way. “For a very low cost, about $4 per vehicle per year, all of our agencies can make an A,” Row said. It estimates that improving the system could cost roughly $965 million a year. “Seeing Red Over Traffic Lights,” CBS News, April 20, 2005.

Posted on 08-Mar-2005 3:27 PM
Updated on 24-May-2005 12:36 PM