Cox Settles with Arizona Attorney General for $13 Million over Dubious Charges

Arizona A.G. Kris Mayes

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a $13 million settlement with Cox Communications over “disguising price increases” as fees. 

Roughly $10 million of that settlement will be paid to the state government, but $3 million will be doled out to Cox customers who “signed up for television services” from 2017 to March 2021, even if they are still using the company’s services.

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Inflation Prompts Pennsylvania Legislators to Suggest Tax Holidays

Some Pennsylvania lawmakers are proposing that the commonwealth offset some of the inflationary burden on residents by pausing certain taxes.

One bill State Senator Lisa Boscola (D-Bethlehem) is currently drafting would stop sales taxation in June and July 2022 at a time the senator says the state can afford to do so. In a memorandum seeking co-sponsors for her bill, she cited Governor Tom Wolf’s (D) recent declaration that Pennsylvania will amass a budget surplus for Fiscal Year 2021-22 of over $2 billion and a similarly large surplus for the following year. Since budget years end on June 30, the legislation is thus timed to spread the financial loss to the state over both budget cycles. 

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Procter and Gamble to Raise Prices of Popular Goods Citing Increasing Transportation and Material Costs

Procter and Gamble said Tuesday it is raising prices on a variety of popular home goods due to a sharp increase in freight transportation and raw materials costs.

The company behind Tide detergent and Gillette razors announced it would increase prices for beauty, oral care and grooming products, like razors, according to The Wall Street Journal. Procter and Gamble (P&G) announced in July that it would charge more for consumer staples like diapers and toilet paper.

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Federal Reserve Could Soon Lose Control of Inflation Like in 1960s, Economic Historian Says

Prominent economic historian Niall Ferguson said current inflation could be in line with where it was in the 1960s during the period that preceded a decade of high consumer prices, CNBC reported.

“What is interesting about disasters is that one can lead to another,” Ferguson said in a Friday interview with CNBC. “You can go from a public health disaster to a fiscal, monetary and potentially inflationary disaster.”

During the 1960s, inflation stayed low before shooting up in the 1970s, according to government economic data. Consumer prices ultimately peaked in 1980 before rapidly declining.

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