dwy000

Thats actually a great idea. Might look at January tho to put it into next tax year.

It's not that 4.5 itself is some magic level - it's directionally indicative of what the bond market is thinking. It's like hitting 40000 on the Dow.

10Y back over 4.5%. Stock market came back but bond market is not happy.

Not to mention if you remove the exempted products, the applicable base for the 10% is going to be lower. Although it also assumes there's no reduction in demand from adding $200bn+ in taxes to the economy.

Addressing the high cost of drugs has been a goal for every administration over the past 30 years. If you could just do an EO and solve it, it would have been done decades ago. I'd note that Biden had put in place an EO doing largely what is desired here but Trump cancelled it on his first day. The problem is that no president can set prices. Even for Medicare and Medicaid, they can't set prices they can just negotiate them. Thats pretty much what foreign countries have done using volume discounts (since most are govt run). Almost nobody in the US pays the headline prices, those are the starting point for negotiating by insurers and CMS. There are also complicating factors in that almost 90% of prescriptions in the US are already for generic drugs. Ine of the reasons for high prices of branded drugs is that they really only have 7-9 years to recoup all research, development and testing (including for drugs that fail). If you reduce the time or prices it has mass impact on drugs development. There's a reason we have multiple drugs to treat nail fungus and active leg syndrome but nothing for deadly disease that affects a very small population. It's where the money is. The fact that the price reductions are voluntary tells you everything. Pharma will likely play up a 10% price drop on a small number of drugs where this was planned anyways and everyone will call it a win and move on to the next thing.

Good buying opportunity for when people realize you can't do this thru executive orders.

Read Gates' letter about the plans to spend and shut down the foundation - it sets out a long list of accomplishments and ongoing initiatives. We dont see a lot of it because the impacts have focused a lot on the developing world. In the developed world they're targeting energy and other health initiatives (like alzheimers). One of the things I like most is they're not just throwing money at a problem (for the most part). They're funding companies that, if successful, will operate without foundation money once the tech is established. Because they aren't fundraising constantly they dont have to keep the level of profile of most charities. And dont have to show quarterly progress.

And you seem oddly proud of it. This you?

So in announcing the "concept" of a trade deal with the UK, he put a 10% tariff on a country where we have a trade surplus (or did until now). Art of the Deal.

I found the story of how he built his wealth much more fascinating that how he gave it away. His relationship with Frick and how they both got so incredibly rich was really interesting.

I find Bill Gates to be one of the most inspirational people ever. I'm sure he will get lots of hate (because, well, it's the internet) but I can't think of too many people who were as successful in everything he's done and has made more of an effort to change the globe for the better.

This is all very true for most places but not really NYC. Given the cost of living in NYC, few people are "stuck" there because they can't afford to move. In fact if youre poor, moving might be your best bet. Also, more than anywhere else (except maybe LA), most of the people there have come to the city from somewhere else. The people born in NYC who live there all their lives and then die there are few and far between. It's very transient.

I'm not sure the 1m Americans who died of covid or their loved ones would classify it as "like it never happened". But that was also not a completely self initiated chaos like we face now. Just because the markets recovered from WW2 doesnt mean it didnt change the world or was a giant nothing burger.

Unless the predictions dont pan out because common sense and control re-exert themselves. Just because people stop the worst from happening doesnt mean it wasnt a moronic and unnecessary chaos in the first place.

Between this and wanting to bring back Alcatraz, somebody forgot to lock grandpa's phone last night.

We already discussed this. Florida will always have a net inflow because people move there to retire and die. NYC continues to grow and thrive.

That's been the claim for 200 years and yet cities continue to grow.

That's not the flex you think it is.

Exactly. The fact that rents in the most expensive area in the country have increased continually to more record levels, not to mention areas that were previously avoided are now hot tickets, would suggest that not only are people moving to the city but whoever is coming has a lot of money and that the city can support those salaries (despite the taxes and cost of living). That's not the destitute.

The cultural diversity is what draws a lot of people to NYC. The best and brightest from everywhere in the world. Gangbangers on scooters is not an American vs immigrant thing. The 1st time I went to NYC you wouldn't dare walk around alone at night or go to Harlem or Alphabet City. And it wasnt immigrants that were mugging people. They were too busy working 3 jobs and trying to make a better life. That's largely still the case even though NYC is one of the safest big cities in the country.

That could be the most racist thing I've seen posted here. I mean, not even hiding it. Why does it matter if someone who comes to NYC for school or a first job is from Paris, North Carolina or Somalia?

Nobody realistically is choosing between NYC and Florida. They are 2 completely opposite experiences. If you're under 40, single and ambitious you're not moving to Boca Ratan. If you're 50 with kids and sick of the rat race, Florida would be your choice. The fact that the average 3 BR house in Florida is cheaper than the average studio apt in NYC indicates where the demand is.

Avg rents up 8% y-o-y to anothe all time high. https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/03/13/manhattan-s-median-rent-hit-record-high-in-february--report-finds#:~:text=And in northwest Queens%2C median,five years ago that month. My whole point is that people with kids tend to leave the city and get replaced by people without kids (and who later have kids). Whether it's foreigners (typically wealthy ones since it's so expensive) or Americans doesnt matter. The population growth of NYC, and especially Manhattan should generally be close to zero because there's no more room to expand - which is why rents keep going up. 25 years ago nobody wanted to live in Brooklyn because it was bridge and tunnel. Now it's the hottest place in the city because Manhattan is so expensive. If NYC was losing its luster rents would be dropping.

Right, but they flooded right back afterwards. Rents in Manhattan have continued to soar and the outer boroughs have increasingly become hot spots.

John i think it was sarcasm. Suggesting the clergy look after kids is a joke.