3.22.2018

All your news in a single email. We scour 100+ sources so you don't have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and more - all packaged in a 5-minute read below.
 

Spending Compromise Reached.
Facing a Friday night deadline to keep the government open, federal lawmakers reached a compromise on a sweeping $1.3T spending bill that would fund operations through the end of September. The spending package - expected to be introduced in the House late today - expands support for the opioid crisis, makes improvements to the national background check system for gun purchases, and provides over $540M for upgrades to the NYC Gateway tunnel project (see background on the project here). Depending on timing, the Senate may not be able to vote on the bill until Saturday - forcing the government into a 24-hour shutdown unless a one-day funding bill is passed. 

President Trump came out in support of the bill yesterday. 

Fed Raises Interest Rates.
The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in its first meeting under new chief Jerome Powell by a quarter of a point, to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. The move reflects growing confidence by the Fed - the nation's central bank (see 101) - that the economy will continue to grow, with unemployment expected to drop to near 3.5% in 2019. Commercial (i.e. regular) banks borrow money from the Fed, so when interest rates are increased it becomes more expensive to borrow. It then becomes more expensive for businesses and individuals to borrow from banks - which can slow economic growth. While it sounds counterintuitive, it is meant to check inflation, which causes the dollar to lose value and occurs when too much growth happens too quickly. The rates are still below the historical average of 2-5% - the Fed generally raises or lowers rates in an effort to keep inflation around 2% per year. 

The Fed signaled that it would aim for at least two more hikes in 2018 - US markets were down about 0.3% on the news.

Chinese Tariffs.
The White House is expected to announce nearly $50B in annual tariffs on China today, according to reports. The move would effectively tax imported Chinese goods across nearly 100 categories - officials said the decision is partly in response to Chinese theft of intellectual property from US firms and would focus on high-technology sectors. US businesses have long complained that China forces companies to turn over proprietary secrets as part of doing business in the country, costing the US hundreds of billions each year (see report here). The US exported $170B in goods and services to China in 2016, importing $479B. Chinese officials said they would consider retaliating with tariffs against US agricultural imports (paywall) - China is the second-biggest market for US farmers at over $20B, mostly in pork and soybeans. 
 

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Uber releases dash cam of self-driving car involved in fatal pedestrian crash.

US News releases its annual rankings of the top graduate schools. 

Utah just passed the first free-range parenting law.

How the weirdest sounding US neighborhoods got their odd names. 

What Puerto Rico looks like six months after Maria.

 Winners of the Sony World Photography Awards for 2018.

The long list of people the now-bankrupt Weinstein Company owes money to.

Ranking the US states with the most and least fast food. 

Scientists figured out how to make an IPA without the hops.

Clickbait: Thai Airlines imposes "waistline restrictions" on its newest Dreamliner. 

Historybook: HBD William Shatner (1931); HBD Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948); HBD Bob Costas (1952); HBD Reese Witherspoon (1976); Terrorist drives car into crowd in London, killing 5 and injuring 50 (2017).
 

"There is a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference."
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
 

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