Summer Hiatus & Further Reading III

Investigative Economics is on hiatus for the rest of the summer with a potential for a story or two to be published before September. In the meantime, here are more recent story updates:In February, The Washington Post conceded the beepocalypse—the largescale collapse of honeybee populations related to colony collapse disorder akin to “bee AIDS”—was all hype. This lines up with what Investigative Economics published in April of last year that showed no real collapse in honeybee populations except for those following the decline in subsidies for honey production. Readers familiar with our story on the climate warming properties of water vapor, otherwise known as humidity, would be interested to read this thorough detail of the E.P.A.’s active avoidance of regulating water vapor as a pollutant by The Honest Broker.Essentially, regulating humidity like carbon dioxide would also be economically destructive, and the agency seems intent on completely skirting the issue.The Washington Post has a recent story about how the Potomac Interceptor had known issues for years with little response from D.C. Water before it broke in one of the largest sewage leaks in U.S. history.That also tracks with our story on the ongoing bacteria issues of the Anacostia river despite billions being spent. Various reports point to leaking pipes similar to those surrounding the Potomac Interceptor being the source of bacteria on that river as well.The gist is that, while D.C. Water is eager to spend billions on major construction projects where there is plenty of bond money is available, they seem less than eager to deal with longstanding maintenance needs.The recent Investigative Economics story on San Francisco car break-ins quoted district attorney Jenkins saying that, of the 11,000 car break-ins during the first half of the year, few of them were prosecuted.The story is largely about prosecution numbers being unrelated to a supposed loophole in the law, but the 11,000 total car break-ins number quoted by Jenkins deserves skepticism too. For there to be 11,000 car break-ins in half a year, that works out to be over 60 a day (11,000 / (365/2) = 60.2).San Francisco certainly had an issue with car theft, but 60 break-ins per day is hard to fathom. (custom video courtesy of ozavry)Investigative Economics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Investigative Economics at www.investigativeeconomics.org/subscribe