There Is A Black Market On Capitol Hill

Originally posted in 2014

Yes, a black market in snacks. Pretty shocking. See Inside Capitol Hill's black market: Snacks by HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH of POLITICO. You can also check out POLITICO's guide for finding popular congressional office snacks. Excerpts: 

"Big deals over immigration reform or government spending may not be getting made on Capitol Hill, but political maneuvering can yield a free pack of Skittles for a staffer with a sugar craving.

It just might cost a bag of Fritos.

Home-state snacks are a mainstay in congressional office lobbies, alongside district maps, hometown magazines and displays of local tchotchkes. Walk into Sen. Rand Paul’s office and you’ll find Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts and Nutri-Grain bars in a basket next to the Kentucky almanac. Down the hall, Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson serves peanuts and Coca-Cola. Head upstairs to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office for Chobani yogurt.

But the treats not only give visiting constituents a taste of home, they also fuel black-market snack trading among House and Senate staffers.

Beyond the official displays of food politicking — like when John Boehner sent Nancy Pelosi Cincinnati’s famous Graeter’s Gelato for her birthday — the little-known snack trade cuts across state, district and party lines.

Dozens of junior staff who spoke with POLITICO described an elaborate barter system based on local products. Pepsi is swapped for M&M’s, and Coca-Cola for Craisins. Unpaid interns are rewarded with treats for fetching lawmaker signatures. Sharing a cellphone charger with another office might net a bag of chips or candy. The most dedicated snackers have compiled comprehensive lists of who has what — a Capitol Hill snack bible of sorts.

Food and beverage companies, or farm cooperatives, donate most of the snacks on the Hill, but some offices do purchase their own reserves. The donations are kosher under ethics rules as long as the products are from the lawmaker’s state and are primarily for “promotional purposes,” as well as available to office visitors and of minimal value to the recipient. Staffers aren’t supposed to directly ask suppliers for their snacks to be replenished, but they tend to not run out for long.

The covert snack economy is not just a way for hungry staffers to seek out chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii or Lay’s chips from Texas. It’s a system for aides, especially low on the totem pole, to make friends, forge informal alliances and, ultimately, help keep Capitol Hill functioning.

Between arranging constituent tours and taking calls, staff assistants use a massive email Listserv to arrange snack swaps.

“They’re the ones that work the trades,” explained Adam Russell, a spokesman for Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.). Constituents visiting his office are offered walnuts, prunes and pistachios.

Dozens of offices serve treats from large conglomerates like PepsiCo, which has factories or distribution facilities in various lawmakers’ districts. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) serves PepsiCo products because there’s a bottling plant in Wichita, Kan. He’s personally a big fan of Snickers and Diet Pepsi, according to his staff.

Frito-Lay chips and Mars candy are the most common — and perhaps the most commonly traded — snacks on the Hill. Both manufacturers have operations in several states.

Home-state snacks transcend party affiliation. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz may not find much common ground, but they agree Tropicana orange juice is a delicious treat for guests.

And orange juice, it turns out, is a hot commodity on the Hill, trading at times for as many as five bags of Lay’s chips.

In an Arkansas-shaped basket, Republican Sen. John Boozman’s office serves a variety of Frito-Lay snacks, Little Debbie snack cakes and crisp rice treats made by Riceland, a farmers co-op. In Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor’s office, you’ll find the same snacks, plus some Mountain Valley Water from Hot Springs, Ark.

Pop-Tarts may be “very popular” with Paul’s Kentucky visitors and staff popping by for a treat, but the Republican senator, known for being a bit of a health nut, does not eat them, according to his staff.

Not all products on the political circuit are well-known brands. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has Ola! all natural granola, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) has Cherry Mash, a chocolate cherry treat, and Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) has Aplets & Cotlets, a square fruit puree and nut snack that isn’t all that tradable, according to multiple sources familiar with the delegation.

Some offices on Capitol Hill are not looped in on the snack trade and don’t have their own currency, and there are few staffers in either chamber who don’t know where the goods are and how to get them.

Those in the know target New York Sens. Chuck Schumer’s and Gillibrand’s offices, which actually have Greek yogurt-filled fridges. So do Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch.

Ask around about who has the best snacks, and you’ll run into some local food folklore. Someone on the Hill has San Pellegrino, aides say, but they’re not sure who, or they won’t divulge their source. POLITICO couldn’t find the sparkling beverage. Another office had heard Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) serves Kombucha, a fermented “foodie” drink, on tap. He doesn’t, according to his office. At least two staffers had heard tales of free Shiner Bock flowing from the Texas delegation, but the search for the beer from the Lone Star State came up dry."

Related posts: 

A High School Banned Students From Selling Snacks. Predictably, a Black Market for Snacks Emerged. (2022)

Cartels: They're not just for drug dealers and oil producers anymore-maple syrup producers have one, too (2016-There was a black market for syrup) 

There Is A Black Market On Capitol Hill (2014-Another black market for snacks)

Should People Be Allowed To Sell Their Kidneys And Other Organs? (2010)

Why do workers dislike inflation?

From Tyler Cowen. 

I've posted several items on inflation and how it has affected people and how they have been trying to deal with it. Links are below. Excerpt from Tyler Cowen's post:

"How costly is inflation to workers? Answers to this question have focused on the path of real wages during inflationary periods. We argue that workers must take costly actions (“conflict”) to have nominal wages catch up with inflation, meaning there are welfare costs even if real wages do not fall as inflation rises. We study a menu-cost style model, where workers choose whether to engage in conflict with employers to secure a wage increase. We show that, following a rise in inflation, wage catchup resulting from more frequent conflict does not raise welfare. Instead, the impact of inflation on worker welfare is determined by what we term “wage erosion”—how inflation would lower real wages if workers’ conflict decisions did not respond to inflation. As a result, measuring welfare using observed wage growth understates the costs of inflation. We conduct a survey showing that workers are willing to sacrifice 1.75% of their wages to avoid conflict. Calibrating the model to the survey data, the aggregate costs of inflation incorporating conflict more than double the costs of inflation via falling real wages alone.

That new paper is by Joao Guerreiro, Jonathon Hazell, Chen Lian & Christina Patterson."

Related posts:

Inflation Usually Hits Harder for Poor Families. For a Couple of Years, It Didn’t. New research on how inflation varies between the poor, middle class and rich paints a different picture of poverty and inequality (2024)

The Haves and Have-Nots at the Center of America’s Inflation Fight: There’s a growing gap between Americans who are battered by high inflation and interest rates and those who are actually benefiting (2024)

An Increase in Uninsured Drivers Is Pushing Up Costs for Everyone Else (2024) 

Inflation has caused consumers to choose what they need to cut back on (insurance)

Costco and Sam’s Club Aisles Are Full of Gen Z Shoppers (2024)

Consumers are buying in bulk to save money by getting a lower per unit price

Inflation is mentally taxing (2024)

Inflation is mentally taxing. Dealing with a straitened budget exacts a psychological toll as well as a financial one

Store Brands Are Filling Up More of Your Shopping Cart (2024) 

People are on the look out for cheaper alternatives due to inflation

Consumers Fed Up With Food Costs Are Ditching Big Brands (2024) 

After years of price increases, food companies say more consumers pull back; fast-food chains and snack makers plan new deals and flavors

Are Americans Worrying Too Much About Inflation? Two opposing views (2024)

The Era of One-Stop Grocery Shopping Is Over (2024)

One thing that I always talked about with inflation was that one of its costs was all the things we had to do to avoid it. Consumers are making 8% more trips to different retailers as inflation continues to upend household budgets. They are going to more stores to find lower prices. But it costs time to do that and probably more money on gas.

When workers were paid twice a day and given half-hour shopping breaks (Germany, 1923) 

By mid-1923 workers were being paid as often as three times a day. Their wives would meet them, take the money and rush to the shops to exchange it for goods. However, by this time, more and more often, shops were empty. Storekeepers could not obtain goods or could not do business fast enough to protect their cash receipts. Farmers refused to bring produce into the city in return for worthless paper. The requirements to calculate and recalculate commercial transactions in the billions and trillions made it practically impossible to do business in paper Marks.

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want a cleaner environment in Minnesota do we have to give up metals needed for green energy?

See Trump and Walz Can Agree on One Thing: Mining in Minnesota: A decadelong drama with personal relevance for both candidates has taken on new urgency by Maggie Severns, Katy Stech Ferek and James V. Grimaldi of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The debate over whether to build the mine, known as Twin Metals, has stretched for nearly 15 years and three presidents. Initially it pit environmentalists and progressives—many of whom live in populous Minneapolis and St. Paul—against labor unions in rural parts of the state. The debate has grown more complicated, reflecting the competing environmental interest of mining metals needed for solar panels and batteries."

"Rom [Becky Rom, a retired lawyer who leads the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters advocacy group] and others said they are worried that water could rinse off those exposed rocks [scrap rock used in mining], taking sulfides and heavy metals such as arsenic with it into the interconnected waterways."

"Northeastern Minnesota is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped mineral deposits, including what is estimated to be the third-largest nickel deposit and second-largest copper deposit in the world, according to labor-union figures. Humans will need to mine more copper by 2050 than was mined in all of human history up to 2018 to keep up with current growth trends, one study found, and converting to electric vehicles will only further strain that demand."

Related posts: 

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want to protect Hawaii's marine life and tuna fisheries we will have fewer rare minerals for defense applications (2024) 

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want to keep gas prices low we might have to reduce sanctions on Russia (2024)

Life is full of tradeoffs: if we want more "big data" and artificial intelligence then we might have less green energy (2024)

Life is full of tradeoffs: if we want more nickel to make EV batteries we might have to use more coal (2024)

Life is full of tradeoffs: it costs money to keep chemicals out of our water systems (2024)

Life is full of tradeoffs: reaching net zero emissions by 2050 vs. the costs of the transition (2023) 

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want more wind farms, we might have fewer jaguars & pumas and less water (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs: we can preserve more natural & cultural treasures by giving up uranium that promotes cleaner energy & less energy dependence (2023) 

Life is full of tradeoffs: More Renewable Diesel Might Mean Higher Food Prices (2023) 

Life is full of tradeoffs: More wind power might mean more light pollution & noise (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs, west Texas wind power vs. the Air Force, landowners, ecotourists, astronomers, archeologists and conservationists (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs: more houses to help the homeless vs. more trees (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs: if we want more graphite for car batteries we might get more emissions in making it or raise humanitarian concerns (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we support American workers with trade restrictions it might mean more inflation (2023)

Life is full of tradeoffs, wind power vs. fishing edition (2022)

Life is full of tradeoffs, reducing animal cruelty vs. increasing worker safety (2022)

Life is full of tradeoffs: If we want more historic preservation we might have to give up some solar panels (2022) 

Life is full of tradeoffs: We can have more bison or we can preserve archaeological sites (2022)

Life is full of tradeoffs: Adding geothermal power could hurt the environment (2022)

Life is full of tradeoffs: sustainability vs. competition edition (2022)

Solar Power’s Land Grab Hits a Snag: Environmentalists: Mojave Desert residents say they support clean energy, but not giant projects, citing threat to tortoises and views (2021)

Life is full of tradeoffs, the case of federal renters assistance (2021)

Life Is Full Of Tradeoffs: If We Want To Do More To Fight Climate Change We May Have To Lower Tariffs On Solar Panels Which Might Put U.S. Firms Out Of Business (2021)

Tradeoffs and anti-trust policy (2019) 

Tradeoffs: More Goods And Services Might Mean Less Clean Air (2013)

The Recession Cleaned The Air, Another Example Of How Life Is Full Of Tradeoffs (2011)

Environmentalists vs. . . . other environmentalists? Or, are birds more important than clean, cheap energy? (2007)

More Proof That Tradeoffs Are Everywhere: Blind People Don't Like The New, Quiet Hybrid Cars (2007)

 

The Top U.S. Colleges That Make New Graduates Rich

At the top of the list: Ivy League colleges and those with strong tech programs

By Kevin McAllister of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"the best-salaries list looks only at metrics related to graduate earnings and return on investment."

"private universities claimed 36 of the top 50 spots on the salary list."

"The criteria for the best-salaries list are twofold. To secure a top position, colleges need to put graduates on lucrative pathways at the beginning of their careers and keep the price of attendance in check.

When measuring financial success, the Journal and research partner Statista looked at income data 10 or 11 years after students entered college, combining that raw earnings data with the extent to which those earnings outpaced expected salaries, which were modeled on research done by the Brookings Institution. To gauge affordability and return on investment, the Journal drew on research from public-policy think tank Third Way, analyzing how long it would take for the salary premiums that graduates earn over the salaries of comparable high-school graduates to cover the estimated total cost of a four-year degree."

"Two-thirds of a school’s score on the salary list comes from graduates’ median early-career earnings"

"MIT graduates have the highest median, $133,793"

"While many of the colleges at the top of the list are household names, looking just at salary outcomes for graduates surfaces lesser-known colleges, too, that are greatly increasing the financial prospects of students. 

For Cylan Burns, who’s on track to graduate from No. 9 Missouri University of Science and Technology in December with a degree in engineering management, enrolling in the college was an easy choice, in part because he could see the positive outcomes of graduates.

“I wanted in-state tuition, and I’m from Missouri, so the choice is kind of obvious because S&T’s the best for engineering in Missouri and, I’ve heard, the nation,” Burns says.

Burns has held three internships and traveled to South America twice to complete rainwater and pipeline systems evaluations with the university’s Engineers Without Borders chapter.

“I’m not really worried about getting a job just because I have that experience,” says Burns. “I feel like they’ve set me up really well for success.”"

Related posts:

Is College Worth It? (2024) (Interesting tool created by FREOPP. It allows you to find out your return on investment (ROI) from going to college. You can choose a school and a major and it will tell you your ROI.)

When it comes to lifetime earnings, the most important decision appears to be the choice of college major (2024)

Studying Economics Increases Wages a Lot (2020)

What College Majors Pay The Highest? (2013)

50 College Majors With the Best Return on Investment (2015)

Will Studying Economics Make You Rich? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of the Returns to College Major  (2023)

Why do employers pay extra money to people who study a bunch of subjects in college that they don’t actually need you to know? Signaling (2020)

Cognitive Endurance as Human Capital (2022) 

More related posts:

Yes, a College Degree Is Still Worth It (2023)

Does It Pay To Go To College? (2009)

Maybe That College Degree Is Not As Valuable As You Thought (2010)

Is College Still A Good Investment? (2012)

For Some Grads, College Isn't Worth Debt (2014)

The Diminishing Returns of a College Degree: In the mid-1970s, far less than 1% of taxi drivers were graduates. By 2010 more than 15% were (2017)

The Diminishing Returns of a College Degree (2017) 

Many college dropouts are worse off economically than if they hadn’t started college (2019)

College Still Pays Off, but Not for Everyone (2019)

U.S. Incomes Climbed Last Year, Census Bureau Says (poverty fell and inequality was little changed)

Household incomes rose 4% from 2022 to 2023, the first rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

By Jon Kamp and Paul Overberg of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Inflation-adjusted median household income was $80,610 in 2023, up 4% from the 2022 estimate of $77,540"

"This move returned incomes to about where they were in 2019, the peak that was hit just before the pandemic."

"The bureau said 2023 inflation-adjusted median income wasn’t statistically different from the $81,210 in 2019, the highest point reached in data back to 1967."

"White non-Hispanic households saw median income reach $89,050, up 5.7% from 2022. Asian households had the highest median income, at $112,800, effectively unchanged from the prior year. Hispanic median household income was also effectively unchanged at $65,540. Black households’ median reached $56,490, an increase of 2.8%"

"The official U.S. poverty rate in 2023 was 11.1%, down 0.4 percentage point compared with 2022, which translated to about 36.8 million people living below the threshold, the Census Bureau said. For a four-person household, the threshold for meeting the definition of poverty last year was income below about $31,200."

"he proportion of Americans with health insurance for some or all of 2023 was 92%, effectively unchanged from 2022."

"An overall measure of income inequality called the Gini index was little changed from the prior year. A household at the 90th income percentile received 12.4 times as much income as one at the 10th percentile, compared with 12.6 times as much in 2022.

The top fifth of households—with yearly incomes above about $165,300—collected 51.9% of overall household income in 2023. The bottom fifth—households making up to $33,000 a year—collected 3.1%."

The 11.1% poverty rate is tied for the 2nd lowest official poverty rate since 1959 when the Census Bureau first started reporting it (tied with 1973). The lowest ever was the  10.5% in 2019. See Historical Poverty Tables: People and Families - 1959 to 2023. Then click on Table 2. Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin. It is an Excel file.

See Historical Income Tables: Families from the Census Bureau. They also have a link for Gini coefficients for family income going back to 1947. See also Historical Income Tables: Households. See also Historical Poverty Tables: People and Families - 1959 to 2021. These Census Bureau links will take you to tables on poverty, incomes and inequality (the Gini coefficient measures inequality). Also see  Income & Poverty Data Tables.

Related posts:

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022 (2023)

U.S. Incomes Fail to Grow for Second Year in a Row, Census Figures Show (2022)

The Level and Trend of Poverty in the United States, 1939-1979 (2018)

More On Poverty (2012)

What has happened to the distribution of wealth in recent years? (2011)

Some Possibly Surprising Facts About Poverty (2012)

The U. S. Poverty Rate Was 10.5% in 2019, An All-Time Low (2020)

Mean Family Income By Quintiles (2017)