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Hospitals will be required to post online a list of their standard charges under a rule finalized Thursday by the Trump administration. While hospitals are already required to make this information public on request, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the new rule would require the info be posted online to "encourage price transparency" and improve "public accessibility." Starting Jan. 1, hospitals will be required to update the information annually. The CMS said it is also considering how to "allow consumers to more easily access relevant healthcare data and compare providers." Increasing price transparency has been a...

I stopped to grab a burger in Marin County today and was kind of shocked to see the following posted on the front door. That is a pretty steep starting wage for nonskilled labor, and $5.00 more than the California minimum wage. In-N-Out does pay their employees well. The private burger chain pays store managers an average yearly salary of more than $160,000 with no college degree or previous management experience required. Facebook engineers soon to be flipping burgers. Nonbinding It is clear the minimum wage in California is nonbinding — that is irrelevant — and all the bluster about...

THE United States is flooding the European markets with record amounts crude oil as US producers seize on Russia and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pact to cut output resulting in soaring oil prices. US crude oil is seen as the cheaper option as the OPEC and Russia pact begins to bite after agreeing jointly to oil output jointly by 1.8million barrels per day (bpd) help rebalance the market and to help elevate the benchmark Brent prices. Now, the relatively high prices brought about by that pact, coupled with surging US output, are making it harder to...

anti Islam protests grow in Iran - more cities join " We are Aryans , we dont worship a Arab (mohammad)" "Aryai hastim, arab nemiparastim" for the 3rd day iranians all over iran are protesting against the ruling Clerics (islam), after yesterday even the youth of irans "Most religious city" " Irans vatican " Qom joined the protests more and more cities are joining. The youth of Iran is sick of Islam and want go back to their roots ( pure iranian culture - Zoroastrianisim-Aryan identity) Today the most popular slogan was "Aryai hastim , arab nemiparastim " translation "...

I've often said that being an economist must be one of the most frustrating professions. You spend your life fighting against economic fallacies, and as you're lying in the hospital about to expire, the reporter on TV talks about all the jobs some natural disaster is going to create. These days, the most dangerous economic error is the condemnation of "price gouging." Even in my own Facebook feed I found people up in arms about high prices in the wake of an emergency. Evidently many hundreds of complaints about the practice have been filed with the Houston authorities, with more...

What should be the reaction to price gouging for Harvey? I believe in the law of supply and demand, the more the need the higher the price. That being said, what I don't condone is those that create shortages by burying up the local stocks and then gouging the prices. But I do condone person X transporting needed supplies into affected area, and getting what he can for those supplies. In fact, I would encourage that. Have the monetary incentive to get the supplies to the area, do not expect Walmart to disrupt their profit margin by changing distribution methodology...

Pennsylvania’s drilling industry is showing signs of life. Natural gas producers drilled more than twice as many shale wells in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year. About 20 additional drilling rigs are exploring for natural gas and fracking crews are suddenly in short supply. One big reason is that natural gas prices have recovered from 20-year lows, nearly doubling since last year. …

The current selloff in energy stocks is but an opportunity for buyers, according to a Thursday note from Goldman Sachs’ European energy team, who added that current prices are likely unsustainable in the long run. “We…see the sell off as an attractive buying opportunity in our favored stocks, including Total and Lundin, whilst we have also started to see investor interest in higher beta stocks that have sold off such as Tullow,” said Goldman.

The Federal Reserve gives us the freedom to buy things now that we would otherwise have to wait for.In looking at the Federal Reserve, it is important to note that this is a money system, not just a group of people sitting in a conference room controlling everything having to do with the US dollar. The Fed is a system just like the government of the US is a system. What that means is that no one controls it, and that it is much bigger than any one person or group of people could ever control. They can guide it,...

Households in New England paid electricity prices last month that were 47 percent higher than the national average.. Consumer energy information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for its Boston region showed the area's households paid an average of 19.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, compared to the national average of 13.3 cents. The region includes Hampden and Worcester counties as well as Greater Boston and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine. The figures came out one day after energy utility Eversource proposed a 10 percent increase in its electricity distribution rates beginning early next year. The...

The way that economic data is presented, we often think of inflation as a singular number representing a general increase in prices. *snip* The good news is that the price of technology is generally getting cheaper. Software, TVs, wireless, and new cars have all come down in price relative to the CPI. Clothing, toys, and furniture are also way more affordable than they were 20 years ago. The bad news? Most of the above items are not the ones that really matter to most of us. The things we actually need to live healthy and fruitful lives – education, food,...

Over the summer, millions of pounds of Michigan tart cherries were dumped on the ground and left to rot, thanks to a federal board. The dumping means fewer tart cherries in stores which means higher prices for consumers. And while American farmers are forced to keep their cherries off the market, some companies end up having to import cherries from other nations. Photos of some of the dumped cherries went viral. The images troubled many people, who wanted to know why all that fruit was wasted. The short answer is this: It’s complicated and involves government policies. The Cherry Industry...

September 20, 2016 Associated Press A main gas line is expected to restart Wednesday with a temporary bypass after a leak and spill in Alabama led to surging fuel prices and some gas shortages across the South, a company official said Tuesday. The roughly 500-foot section of pipe that will serve as the bypass is now complete, and the company expects that will allow it to restart the main gasoline line, Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker told The Associated Press. "Tomorrow's restart of the main gasoline line is a key milestone," Baker said. "However, it will take a few days...

How much will we pay?

Five consecutive weeks of gains makes it hard to argue that we’re in a bear market. While it may not seem like much has changed since the markets last swooned, a few key developments remain supportive of stock prices.In particular, a shifted stance on monetary policy, change in the trajectory of the dollar, and recovery in oil prices have turned sellers into buyers.The Fed Last Wednesday the Federal Reserve confirmed what many had anticipated going into the latest FOMC meeting: that the Fed would have to back off of its four-rate-hike plan for 2016.For some time now, the Fed’s...

<p>The busiest days create frustrations for visitors such as long lines and temporary gate closures when parks get too full. The company is expanding the parks with new attractions based on popular franchises such as “Star Wars” and “Frozen.”</p> <p>The shift to demand-based pricing is designed to help spread out crowds at Walt Disney World in Florida and at Disneyland Resort in California, Disney said in a blog post.</p>

The global economy seems trapped in a "death spiral" that could lead to further weakness in oil prices, recession and a serious equity bear market, Citi strategists have warned.

CNBCJanuary 18, 2016 While gas prices are low nationwide, some stations are slashing the fuel's price to rock-bottom levels to the tune of less than 50 cents a gallon. The drastic price cuts are part of a gas price war at three Houghton Lake, Mich., stations. During the last three days, the prices dropped below a buck per gallon, falling as low as 46 cents at Sunrise Marathon. Meanwhile, the Beacon & Bridge gas station was as low as 47 cents, said employees of each station in interviews with CNBC.(snip)

Saudi Arabia spends money like there’s no tomorrow. A new report from the International Monetary Fund suggests that there might not be a tomorrow for the House of Saud. Without massive spending cuts, the Kingdom will exhaust its monetary reserves in five years at current oil prices, the IMF reckons. Saudi Arabia is a rich country full of poor people, and the House of Saud has bought a lot of legitimacy by subsidizing its subjects. The dynasty might not survive the sort of austerity measures that the IMF insists are necessary to keep the Kingdom from running out of reserves...

Russia Ready To Use Nuclear Weapons: Pentagon’s Top Russia Expert By Polina Tikhonova on November 6, 2015 5:21 am With Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his security council to develop defensive nuclear equipment, the Pentagon says Moscow is poised to use nuclear weapons to “bring a speedy peace.”