Now restaurant reservations service OpenTable has decided that the benefits of anonymous posting don't outweigh the costs.
The company told Business Insider it will no longer support posting anonymous reviews, and will require diners' comments to include their first name and their selected OpenTable profile image.
OpenTable also reversed an earlier plan, first reported by tech news site Bleeping Computer last week, that would have de-anonymized past reviews posted to the platform.
"Following feedback from our diner community, and in line with our continued commitment to trusted reviews, we are making refinements to our restaurant reviews program," the company said in a statement on Sunday. "To increase transparency, on a go-forward basis only, we will no longer be supporting anonymous restaurant reviews. This change will go into effect later this year."
The reported policy change comes a month after after Wired found that careers site Glassdoor had begun requiring users to provide their real names for account verification, though they still have the option of posting anonymous content to the company's services.
"We use your real name and email address for verification purposes only, to make sure everyone is who they say they are. After that, your privacy takes priority," Glassdoor says in an FAQ page.
One Reddit user was quick to dismiss concerns about OpenTable's change, saying, "This is how you get King Tuttle's, Emperor Nero's, and Kim Jongummm on the reservation list. Customers will outsmart this in no time."
UPDATE: April 15, 2024 — This story was updated to reflect OpenTable's adjustment after it received feedback on the policy reported last week regarding previously anonymous reviews.
New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana, ranked No. 1 among metropolitan statistical areas for its negative net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people.
John Coletti/Getty Images
Many metros had more people move out than in between July 2022 and June 2023.
New Orleans ranked No. 1 for its negative net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people.
Six of the top 14 metro areas in this ranking were in California.
California cities aren't appealing to everyone. Numerous places in the Golden State were among the top14 metros where more people moved out than moved in, adjusted by population.
Business Insider looked at negative net domestic migration estimates for US metropolitan statistical areas for the period of July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. Negative net domestic migration means they had more people fleeing these metropolitan statistical areas for another US location than people in the US moving in. We adjusted those estimates by each metro's population as of July 1, 2022, to get migration rates per 1,000 residents.
Before adjusting for population size, negative net domestic migration stood out the most in the greater New York City metro area — with a value of -238,494. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California, came next, with a value of -154,634, and then Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana, with a value of -71,310.
Los Angeles continued to be notable when adjusting metroareas by their population size. Six of the 14 metros that had the biggest negative net domestic migration rates per 1,000 people were California metros. That includes San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont — as well as Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana, stood outthe most though for its negative net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people among metros, with a value of -17.5.
Below are the top cities people are fleeing based on net domestic migration rates per 1,000 people.
14. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California
San Francisco.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -11.83
Net domestic migration: -54,160
13. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
Los Angeles.
ANDREY DENISYUK/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -12.01
Net domestic migration: -154,634
12. Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York.
DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -12.11
Net domestic migration: -1,263
11. New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
New York City.
Westend61/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -12.19
Net domestic migration: -238,494
10. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
Santa Cruz, California.
4kodiak/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -13.08
Net domestic migration: -3,455
9. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Laxmikant Maitri/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -13.46
Net domestic migration: -3,178
8. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -14.07
Net domestic migration: -6,246
7. Salinas, California
Salinas, California.
MattGush/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -14.30
Net domestic migration: -6,190
6. Fairbanks-College, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska.
Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -14.61
Net domestic migration: -1,391
5. Minot, North Dakota
Minot, North Dakota.
Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -14.72
Net domestic migration: -1,122
4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
San Jose, California.
Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -14.88
Net domestic migration: -28,951
3. Watertown-Fort Drum, New York
Watertown, New York.
Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -15.35
Net domestic migration: -1,772
2. Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas.
DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -16.00
Net domestic migration: -2,134
1. New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana
New Orleans.
John Coletti/Getty Images
Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 people: -17.49
But according to Raymond James chief investment officer Larry Adam, inflation is set to reverse lower and the Fed is going to cut interest rates at least three times this year.
These are the four reasons why Adam is confident that the recent uptick in inflation is not the start of a new trend like it was in the 1970's.
1. Economic growth should begin to temper
While the economy should continue to avert a recession, it is unlikely to grow at such a strong rate like it did over the past two years, according to Adam.
Adam pointed to small business optimism falling to its lowest level since 2012. On top of that, the percentage of businesses reporting weak sales has jumped to its highest level in almost three years.
Additionally, the recent rebound in inflation during the first three months of 2024 has also led to a rebound in interest rates, with mortgage rates back above 7% and credit card interest rates hovering near record levels. Those high interest rates should dampen spending.
"This, plus a softening labor market, dwindling savings, high credit card balances and rising delinquencies suggest the momentum in consumer spending should start to slow, but not collapse. This should lead GDP to falling below 1% in the next two quarters," Adam said.
If the economy slows, then so should inflation, and it should give the Fed more confidence to begin cutting interest rates.
2. Labor conditions will slowly ease
While monthly jobs reports have been solid, "there are cracks forming that point to weaker labor conditions ahead," Adam said.
Employment subsectors in the ISM Manufacturing and ISM Services indices have contracted recently, and small businesses have pulled back their hiring plans in recent months.
"In the latest NFIB survey, small business hiring plans fell to the weakest level since May 2020," Adam said, adding that temporary help services have been trending lower for over a year.
"While significant job losses are unlikely, these indicators suggest the labor market is likely to soften, keeping a lid on wages and dampening consumption," Adam said.
3. Leading indicators show falling prices
Forward-looking metrics that measure inflation suggest that the overall downward trend remains intact, according to Adam.
The strategist highlighted that the prices paid subsector of the ISM Services Index dropped to its lowest level since March 2020, suggesting that services prices should begin to fall. Meanwhile, goods prices should stay depressed as supply chains continue to normalize.
"This, combined with additional Amazon 'selling events' and slowing demand for motor vehicles point to further discounting in the goods space and leaves us confident that a material acceleration is unlikely," Adam said.
4. Real-time inflation metrics show a sharp decline
While official government metrics show stubbornly high rent and used vehicle prices, real-time measures show considerably lower prices. The government metrics should eventually catch-up to the real-time metrics of prices, suggesting further disinflation ahead.
"If we replaced these components in the CPI with the real-time metrics, CPI would be less than 2% on a YoY basis! The point is: there should be plenty of disinflation in the pipeline as CPI converges with some of these more real-time metrics," Adam said.
Donald Trump enters jury selection at first criminal trial.
ANGELA WEISS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trump's criminal trial may prevent him from attending son Barron's high school graduation.
The historic trial began with jury selection in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday.
The judge has not yet decided on Trump's request to skip trial for the graduation event.
Donald Trump may have to miss out on his son Barron's high school graduation ceremony next month due to the timing of the former president's first historic criminal trial.
Trump's hush-money trial kicked off with jury selection on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom.
As the court prepared for the first day of voir dire, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said he received requests from Trump's attorneys for the former president to skip out on the trial on May 17 so that he could attend Barron Trump's high school graduation in Florida.
Merchan said that he would not yet rule on Trump's request to miss the trial that day.
"It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial," Merchan explained.
Jury selection is expected to last up to two weeks.
Spring weather doesn't just call for a wardrobe change, switching to a fresh, light fragrance is another way to update your style.
Iryna Veklich/Getty Images
Consumers are increasing their spending in the luxury perfume category.
Scents are perceived differently in warm weather, so spring is a great time to try something new.
Perfumers recommend consumers switch to fragrances with woody and green notes for warmer months.
While it's natural for warmer weather to inspire a wardrobe change, a fragrance update may also be in order this spring.
As the mercury rises, colognes and perfumes may react differently to humidity and temperature fluctuations impacting the way a scent is perceived by your olfactory receptors (cells inside the nose that sense smells).
For those ready for a change, you're not alone. Fragrance sales have been on the rise in recent years, and a report from McKinsey & Company projects that consumers will continue to spend in the fragrance category, trading up for more luxury products in the coming years.
If you're looking to get in on the lighter scents that will pop the most this spring, here are the ingredients and scent profiles two professional perfumers told Business Insider shoppers should consider.
Aquatic scents mimic days spent at the beach
Salt, sand, and other scents that are reminiscent of a day spent at the beach can be fresh fragrance options for spring.
Image Source/Getty Images
Reminiscent of the seaside, aquatic scents can include aromas like sea salt or sandalwood.
These crisp scents are often associated with freshness, making them a natural choice for spring, according to Clement Gavarry, principal perfumer of Firmenich who also innovates scents for Inter Parfums, Inc.
"Aquatic fragrances evoke a sense of freshness and cleanliness," the perfumer told BI. These elements make them ideal for warm weather and casual wear, he said.
Solar notes evoke feelings of warm spring afternoons
Solar fragrances refer to those that suggest a warm and radiant feel and include scents like almond and bergamot. These scents often borrow from other scent families, such as floral and aquatic.
"Solar notes, evoking spring afternoons, rather than sizzling hot summer nights on the beach, will continue their journey into our hearts," according to Rodrigo Flores-Roux, vice president of perfumery at Givaudan, a Swiss-based company that's developed fragrances for luxury brands including Dolce&Gabbana and Tom Ford.
Woody fragrances can be a sophisticated, unisex choice
According to Gavarry, these grounding scents feature notes of various woods and plants, including cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, or patchouli.
And although there are plenty in the market to choose from, he teased that consumers can expect to see many inventive pairings of these scents in the near future.
Woody fragrances are also ideal for those looking for a unisex option that doesn't skew too masculine or feminine.
Silent florals continue to be popular
Many familiar scents from the garden, including lilac, are popular in spring fragrances.
Christophe Lehenaff/Getty Images
Silent florals are flowers that have a scent in nature that cannot be extracted to use in products, Gavarry said. Therefore, in order to use the note in fragrances, the scent must be chemically created.
Though synthetic, these scents will often make wearers feel as if they're in a lush garden. Examples of silent florals include lily of the valley, gardenia, wisteria, lilac, daffodil, and hyacinth.
Green, crisp notes exude all things spring
"Spring always starts with green buds and saplings, before the blossoming of flowers," Flores-Roux told BI.
Green, crisp notes like cucumber, arugula, fresh-cut grass, and ivy elicit feelings of spring, making them a great addition to your fragrance collection.
Flores-Roux said he expects green scents will see a boost in popularity before summer hits.
Citrus and fruity scents have uplifting and refreshing qualities
Fresh culinary scents including citrus and other fruits are popular notes for spring fragrances.
Oscar Wong/Getty Images
"Citrus scents are always popular for spring, as they bring a refreshing and uplifting feel," Gavarry said.
These fragrances often contain notes of lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, or bergamot. And although they were once relegated to the background notes of many scents, the products of today are letting citrus take center stage.
These scents won't be used in conventional ways, such as the fruit sprays and scents you may remember from your teenage years. Instead, elevated and elegant combinationswill take them to a different level, Gavarry said.
Indulgent scents, such as vanilla, are on the rise
Today's consumers are being drawn to scents that delight and allow you to escape, according to Gavarry.
With that, there has been a growing interest in scents that are more indulgent and pleasurable, and this will likely continue through spring.
Think vanilla, boozy, and gourmand notes — all of which can add a sense of addiction to your fragrance, the perfumer said.
Donald Trump is in court for his first criminal trial.
He stepped into Manhattan criminal court Monday morning, where jury selection will soon begin.
The hush-money case marks first-ever criminal trial against a former US president.
At 9:31 AM, Donald Trump crossed the threshold.
With hunched shoulders but his chin up, he stepped into a courtroom on the 15th floor of the grimy, hot, and poorly lit New York County criminal court in downtown Manhattan.
It is the location of the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Trump walked into the courtroom behind Todd Blanche, his lead lawyer in the case.
He paused for a split second, licked his lips, then began walking up the courtroom's center aisle toward his seat at the front of the courtroom.
Moments after he sat down, photographers took his picture sitting at the defense table, flanked by his attorneys.
Monday marks the beginning of jury selection, presided over by trial judge Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, which is expected to last up to two weeks.
The Manhattan district attorney's office has accused Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records, saying he lied on documents to disguise payments to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. The aim of those payments — according to prosecutors, Daniels, and others involved in the plan — was to deceive the voting public by making her stay silent about an affair she says she had with him ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
In the hallway before walking into the courtroom, Trump criticized the case, telling journalists it was a "political persecution."
"This is an assault on America," he said. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, there's never been anything like it."
"I'm very proud to be here," he added later.
The hush-money case is the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial before the 2024 election, where Trump is the presumed Republican nominee against President Joe Biden.
Merchan has previously denied about a dozen different attempts from Trump's lawyers to delay the case. In a Friday decision, Merchan dismissed one of his motions to delay the case because of "pretrial publicity," calling it "untenable."
"Defendant appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside," Merchan wrote. "However, this view does not align with reality."
Trump has also fought against Merchan's gag order, which forbids him from talking about trial jurors, witnesses, staff prosecutors, and family members of Merchan and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
On Truth Social, Trump complained once again Monday morning about the gag order, calling the trial "rigged." He also posted a screenshot of a social media post that falsely claimed Orthodox Jews could not serve on the jury. The trial overlaps with Passover, and Merchan previously said he would consider the needs of jurors in determining the trial schedule.
"When I walk into that courtroom, I know I will have the love of 200 million Americans behind me, and I will be FIGHTING for the FREEDOM of 325 MILLION AMERICANS!" Trump posted on Truth Social.
Over the past year, Trump has been a defendant in three different civil trials.
Jury selection was much swifter in those cases, which was held in federal court. For Carroll's second trial, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan selected the nine-person jury in less than three hours.
The other civil trial was for a sprawling lawsuit from the New York attorney general's office against the Trump Organization. In that case, a judge — in a bench trial with no jury — ordered him and his codefendants to pay nearly half-a-billion dollars in penalties.
Trump has been charged in three other criminal cases, none of which have firm trial dates yet. Two were brought by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and for him hoarding government documents in Mar-a-Lago after the presidency.
The other was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, for pressuring Georgia election officials to overturn Biden's 2020 electoral victory in the state.
Well, the labor market is looking more like the healthy but boring era of 2018 or 2019, Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told Business Insider. That's opposed to the wild swings we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bunker said we're seeing less drama in jobs data.
"That's a good thing in my view," Bunker said, given "an incredibly dramatic" few years.
Job growth is still doing great though; the US just added 303,000 jobs in March, although that's a slower pace than during the height of the pandemic recovery.
Wage growth has slowed. The share of Americans working or looking for work has held mostly steady since spring 2023. Job openings have also dropped — and have been at a rate of 5.3% for three straight months. The number of layoffs and discharges have been low.
And that more boring but steady labor market could be great news for workers and job seekers. Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter's chief economist, told Business Insider the minimal changes are great amid a labor market that's resilient, stable, and robust.
"Everything is holding on better than most people had predicted," Pollak said.
Pollak pointed to employment strength in construction and manufacturing. Construction employment for March was 7.8% higher than the pre-pandemic level in February 2020. Manufacturing employment was 1.4% higher, and its employment was unchanged from this past February to this past March.
The long-feared recession following the wild swings of the early pandemic years has yet to emerge and may not even be on the horizon. "I think stability at a time of high interest rates and restrictive monetary policy expected to lead to losses and declines is something to be celebrated," Pollak said. "And, most of the small changes lately have been in the right direction."
The US could be in a Goldilocks job market. The four charts below show what that looks like.
Job quitting
People looking for a newjob have bargaining power, but workers are more likely to stick around their current gigs.
"Job seekers still have some bargaining power but are less willing to demonstrate that power by leaving their jobs," Bunker said. "With fewer new job opportunities and less of a pay bump for switching roles, more employees are staying put. However, layoff rates are still low, so workers have robust job security compared to pre-pandemic levels."
Newly released data for February showed the US quits rate had been 2.2% for four straight months. This rate has cooled down from 3.0% in April 2022. There were 3.5 million quits in February, which the BLS news release noted this metric "was little changed."
!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();
Wage growth
Average hourly earnings increased 4.1% from March 2023 to this past March, lower than the year-over-year increase of around 6% in March 2022.
!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();
Despite that slowdown, wages have recently been growing faster than prices, meaning workers have more buying power.
"That means real money in the pockets of working families," Julie Su, acting secretary of labor, told Business Insider. "It's exactly what we'd want to see."
Inflation in March, as measured by the year-over-year percent change in the Consumer Price Index, ticked up a little last month, but remains less of a problem than last year. It climbed 3.5% from March 2023 to March 2024, compared to a 3.2% increase from February 2023 to February 2024.
Given moderating wage growth, the Fed could be more inclined to lower interest rates later this year. Pollak said the cooler wage growth is "good news for a Fed that's still battling inflation."
Job switchers are seeing higher wage growth than people staying, according to the 12-month moving average of median wage growth from the Atlanta Fed's Wage Growth Tracker. Wage growth has slowed, though, for bothjob switchers and stayers.
"Nominal wage growth may have slowed, but real wage growth — which is what really matters for workers' purchasing power — remains positive and high," Pollak told BI. "Job switchers and current workers are still experiencing solid real wage growth and have clearly retained much of the leverage gained during the pandemic. They are getting recruited, negotiating their job offers, and are receiving counteroffers from old employer's intent on retaining them at historically high rates."
Unemployment insurance claims
Initial claims for unemployment insurance can be a helpful layoff metric, spiking when lots of people lose their jobs. Right now, the boringly low rate of those initial applications for benefits suggests that any kind of large-scale layoffs still have yet to emerge.
Initial claims decreased from the week ending March 30 to the week ending April 6. In general, initial claims have been low so far this year compared to the high level of weekly claims during the pandemic.
!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();
"Although there is plenty of speculation that employment has slowed down, recent numbers, including job openings as well as initial jobless claims, continue to indicate that the US labor market has remained stable," Eugenio Alemán, Raymond James' chief economist, said in a note earlier this month.
Unemployment
Back in January 2021 the unemployment rate was 6.4% after spiking into the double digits during the pandemic shutdowns in spring 2020. It has cooled down to 3.8% this past March, just above the historically low rates seen through most of the last two years.
!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();
Additionally, the number of people who went from being employed to unemployed has not seen too dramatic of a change; this number was around 1.5 million for each of the past few months.
So what will happen to the Goldilocks job market?
"It would be nice to live in a world where we have low unemployment and there's steady, consistent gains in wage growth and more people coming into the labor market," Bunker said. "So hopefully, fingers crossed, dramatic days are behind us and we can see some strong gains for workers, for job seekers. But, not in the way that feels discombobulated."
While openings, wage growth, and the hires rate have cooled, the overall labor market can be described as more Goldilocks-like, or not too hot and not too cold.
"It's a labor market that has strength, and there's a path ahead of it where it can continue to grow in a sustainable manner," Bunker said.
US President of the United States Joe Biden delivers remarks on student debt and lowering costs for Americans at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin, United States on April 8, 2024.
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
Biden released new details for his second attempt at student-loan forgiveness.
While it likely won't go into effect until the fall, an earlier Supreme Court decision could put the relief at risk.
The ruling would address whether agencies have the authority to interpret a law's scope, like debt relief.
The same day the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first attempt at broad debt relief at the end of June 2023, the Education Department announced its plan B: relief for borrowers using an authority under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
In contrast to the HEROES Act — the law Biden used for his first attempt at relief — the HEA requires the administration to undergo a process known as negotiated rulemaking. The process requires a series of negotiations with stakeholders before drafting the regulatory text for the rule, which then enters a period of public comment before the relief can be implemented.
The Education Department completed negotiations on the relief in February. It released new details of the rule on April 8 — but senior administration officials previously said the actual draft text would be published in the coming months, with the implementation of the relief set to begin in the fall, at the earliest.
Not only does this timeline coincide with the presidential election, which could imperil any relief should Biden lose — it also puts the relief under the shadow of Supreme Court rulings set to arrive by June.
How a Supreme Court ruling on fisheries could affect student-debt relief
Cary Coglianese, an administrative law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Business Insider that "there's a larger context within which this plan would be evaluated if it eventually goes to court, which I would expect it will."
And that larger context, Coglianese said, is "possibly the rolling back of deference to agencies altogether in their interpretation of statutes."
Coglianese is referring to a rule known as the Chevron doctrine, the fate of which is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling. In a case known as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a group of fisheries challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service's interpretation of a law requiring some fisheries to pay or subsidize the salaries of some federal agents who come on fishing expeditions to collect data.
The fisheries argued against that interpretation, calling into question the Chevron doctrine, which allows federal agencies to interpret a law how they see fit as long as it doesn't interfere with Congress' language.
So, if the Supreme Court strikes down Chevron, federal agencies would no longer have the authority to decide on laws related to their responsibilities — meaning the Education Department would not be able to interpret its student-debt relief authority under the Higher Education Act.
"That would, it seems to me, just provide another sort of quiver in the arsenal, if you will, to send the Biden debt-relief plan packing again," Coglianese said.
"In other words, we have a Supreme Court in which, in general, they're skeptical of agency action, at least of a certain kind of agency action, and with one student-debt relief case they've already sent a signal that they thought that was going out farther than Congress specifically authorized," Coglianese said. "And if they eliminate Chevron deference, it suggests that they're very serious about not giving agencies much leeway."
Lawsuits to likely target the law's broadness
While the regulatory text for Biden's new student-debt relief plan has not yet been published, its newly released details targeted different categories of borrowers the Education Department plans to make eligible for relief. It includes up to $20,000 in relief for borrowers with unpaid interest, along with loan forgiveness for those who have been in repayment for at least 20 years.
The Education Department has maintained it has the authority to enact this relief under the HEA's compromise and settlement authority, which states that the department can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to federal student debt."
However, Luke Herrine — an assistant law professor at the University of Alabama — told BI that any legal challenge will likely take issue with the department's interpretation of the HEA's authority for debt relief and argue that Biden's plan is too broad.
"The fight is primarily going to be, I assume, over whether a clause that on its face looks very broad is actually as broad as it looks, which is partly a matter of, who gets to resolve the ambiguity with that clause? Do you defer to an agency to make that determination for the agency? And increasingly, it's the case that the conservative judiciary does not believe in any sort of deference to administrative agencies," Herrine said.
Ultimately, it comes down to how courts interpret the Education Department's authority, and should legal challenges arise, Coglianese said it's likely the arguments will be very similar to the cases that ended up striking down the first student-loan forgiveness plan.
"The administration is certainly still facing a very skeptical Supreme Court," Coglianese said. "Even though it's a different statute, it's still a skeptical Supreme Court. It's still a pretty big program even though it's a smaller one."
"So it's a risk that the court will, in the end, not allow the administration to go forward with this for the same reasons it didn't allow it to go forward the first go around," he continued. "Clearly, though, it's a risk the administration wants to take on behalf of the American public and the large segment of the American public that's been burdened with a lot of student loans."
Welcome back! We're ready to crown a winner in our first business, tech, and innovation bracket: the US presidential election (51.4%) surpassed the AI race (48.6%).
Last week's hot inflation report delayed hopes for a long-awaited rate cut, leaving some wondering if a recession is back in the cards.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon issued a warning in the bank's earnings report Friday.
"There seems to be a large number of persistent inflationary pressures, which may likely continue. And finally, we have never truly experienced the full effect of quantitative tightening on this scale," Dimon said.
The markets do have an antidote: strong earnings. When interest rate cuts were delayed earlier this year, concerns were quickly washed away thanks to companies largely reporting impressive numbers.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on November 03, 2023.
Michael M. Santiago / Getty
But as the old saying goes, past performance is not indicative of future results.
With so much at stake, here's an earnings season cheat sheet of when some of the biggest companies are reporting and the storylines to follow.
Finance
Key Companies: Goldman Sachs (April 15), Bank of America (April 16), Blackstone (April 18).
Themes to watch: AI could reduce the number of junior bank employees thanks to the tech automating their grunt work. With interest rates remaining high, the threat of private credit, or non-traditional lenders, remains a risk or opportunity depending on where you sit on the Street.
Tech
Key Companies: Meta (April 24), Microsoft (April 25), Alphabet (April 25), Apple (May 2), Nvidia (May 22), Amazon (TBA).
Themes to watch: Will demand for Nvidia's chips finally subside? Can Apple turn things around? Where do Microsoft and Alphabet stand in the AI race? Will Meta and Amazon continue their efficiency pushes to cut costs? There are plenty of questions about tech's biggest players. Their prominent role in the market means people will be watching for answers.
Themes to watch: The resilient American consumer kept the economy afloat despite inflation and high rates. Reports from big-box retailers offer perspectives on if they're losing steam.
Media
Key Companies: Netflix (April 18), Disney (May 7), Paramount Global (April 29).
Themes to watch: Netflix was dubbed the king of streaming earlier this year after a big earnings report. (Don't sleep on YouTube!) Disney is licking its wounds after a brutal proxy fight with one giant unanswered question remaining: Who will be CEO Bob Iger's successor? Paramount's future remains up in the air as deal talks ramp up.
Others
Key Companies: Tesla (April 23), Boeing (April 24).
Themes to watch: Tesla's still looking for a win in 2024 as trends in the EV market shift against it. Pressure mounts on Boeing, leaving the airline industry scrambling.
News brief
Your Monday headline catchup
A quick recap of the top news from over the weekend:
1. The M&A market is under siege. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum pointed to "headwinds from the regulatory environment" as a reason M&A momentum might not pick up. The bank's earnings report beat analysts' expectations, but advisory revenues were down 21% year-over-year.
2. Stay ahead amid a market shift. Market strategists outlined how to invest as market sentiment gets negative. Investing in defensive sectors like consumer staples and healthcare were some of the strategies experts recommend.
3. Not all that glitters is gold. The precious metal has surged to hit a new all-time high in 2024 — but it's not the only commodity performing well this year. Oil, cocoa, and copper have also racked up big gains as the market enters what Carlyle's Jeff Currie is calling a "classic late-cycle rally."
3 things in tech
Tesla announced layoffs.
Justin Sullivan
1. Tesla is laying off more than 10% of its workforce. The EV maker is the latest major company to make job cuts, according to an internal memo sent by CEO Elon Musk on Sunday, which was seen by BI. "There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth cycle," Musk said.
2. Healthcare startup valuations are coming back to earth — except in AI. Healthcare deals are picking back up again, and they don't look like they did before the downturn. But some VCs are concerned many healthtech startups are "AI washing" to get extra funding.
3. Apple fans are eager for any sign of its AI intentions. The company's shares rose more than 4% last week after news it plans to revamp its Mac lineup with an AI-focused chip. It's a sign investors are hoping AI might help save what's shaping up to be a rough year for the tech giant.
3 things in business
Marco Bottigelli/Getty, Yevgen Romanenko/Getty, Maskot/Getty, Tyler Le/BI
1. The hidden cost of leaving a big city. Americans fled big coastal cities in droves during the pandemic — and that number has only stayed steady in the years since. But while people chase affordability in smaller towns, moving away from a major city might be terrible for your career.
2. The fallout from the office apocalypse is just getting started. With federal funds drying up and remote work affecting revenue, cities and states across the United States are facing a nasty budget crunch.
The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Grace Lett, associate editor, in Chicago.
Israel praised the defense effort as a "significant strategic achievement." But around 60 of Iran's missiles failed on their own, according to several reports.
An estimated 50% of Iran's 120 ballistic missiles failed to launch or crashed in flight, unnamed US officials told CBS News and The Wall Street Journal.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan shows a video of drones and missiles heading toward Israel during a United Nations Security Council on April 14, 2024.
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU via Getty Images
The attack also consisted of 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and 30 cruise missiles, none of which crossed into Israeli territory, according to an online statement shared by a spokesperson for Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Speaking to CBS News, two US officials said five ballistic missiles made it through air defenses and impacted Israeli territory.
Four landed at Navatim Air Force Base, which was thought to be Iran's primary target. One hit a runway, one hit an empty hanger, and another hit a hanger that wasn't in use, the publication said. Meanwhile, another missile appeared to be aimed at a radar site in northern Israel but missed, the outlet added.
At the time of writing on Monday, one person — an unnamed 10-year-old girl — was reported as "severely injured" by shrapnel, the IDF confirmed. The details of her condition have not been released.
Though Israel has not yet said how it plans to respond, the IDF spokesperson said it is "prepared and ready for further developments and threats."
"We are doing and will do everything necessary to protect the security of the civilians of the State of Israel," they added.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the UN, told Sky News that reports of Israel's forthcoming response are a "threat" and "talk, not an action."
He said Israel "would know what our second retaliation would be" and that they "understand the next one will be most decisive."
Iran ignored warnings from the US before it launched its attack. President Biden said on Friday that he expected Iran to attack Israel "sooner, rather than later." His message to Iran was short and simple: "Don't."
"The fact that the Biden administration is both arming Israel and sending aid to Gaza shows the world that the Biden team has no strategic competence," McFate said. "They've already lost control."
Representatives for the IDF, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.