Money and Computing

The authors analyzed data from the Los Angeles County Health Survey with a focus on two specific health behaviors — eating at fast-food restaurants more than once a week and eating five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily. For the purposes of the survey, an apple is used as a reference point for a serving of fruit, and a handful of broccoli or a cup of cut carrots are used as references for a serving of vegetables. The researchers analyzed 4,244 responses from both immigrants and native-born Americans regarding fast-food consumption. They analyzed 9,166 responses to the fruit-and-vegetable-intake question.   more »

Fed Governor Michelle W. Bowman asks: "For many years, inflation has run modestly below our 2 percent objective. Given that, it would be helpful to hear from you whether you think the Federal Open Market Committee should consider strategies that aim to have inflation exceed our target for a time, to make up for the earlier period of time when it fell short. Or would that threaten the decades of success the Fed has had keeping the public's expectations for inflation low and stable?" ... more »

The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is alerting the public about a fraud scheme involving genetic testing. Genetic testing fraud occurs when Medicare is billed for a test or screening that was not medically necessary and/or was not ordered by a Medicare beneficiary's treating physician. Scammers are offering Medicare beneficiaries "free" screenings or cheek swabs for genetic testing to obtain their Medicare information for identity theft or fraudulent billing purposes. Fraudsters are targeting beneficiaries through telemarketing calls, booths at public events, health fairs, and door-to-door visits.  more »

Over the last 15 years, use of electronic cigarettes in the United States has grown rapidly as use of traditional cigarettes declined. Most e-cigarettes sold here are thought to be imported. The government began collecting data on imported e-cigarette devices, parts, and liquid in 2016. The value of US e-cigarette imports was $2.4 billion and brought $120 million in tariff revenue over that period. China accounted for 97% of these e-cigarette imports by value, and more than 271 million e-cigarette devices were imported. more »