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Corona: "Saturday Is a Crucial Day" - Interview with Chancellor Merkel's Chief of Staff

Helge Braun, 47, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, speaks with DER SPIEGEL about the rapidly rising number of coronavirus infections and about whether more stringent measures will have to be implemented.




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Scientific Experts Release Proposals for Loosening the Lockdown

The Leopoldina National Academy, Germany’s academy of sciences, recommends that schools be reopened soon. Businesses and public authorities are also expected to be reopened gradually. Travel should also be permitted under certain conditions, according to the report, which DER SPIEGEL obtained in advance of publication.




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Hogle Home Safari: Adaptations




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Inequality and the Safety Net Throughout the Income Distribution, 1929-1940 -- by James J. Feigenbaum, Price V. Fishback, Keoka Grayson

We explored two measures of inequality that described the full income distribution in cities. One measure is an income gini based on family incomes in 1929 for 33 cities and in 1933 for up to 48 cities in 1933 were spread throughout the country. We also estimated gini coefficients that made use of contract rents for renters and implicit rents for home owners for up to 955 cities throughout the country. We were able to expand to all counties when looking at a top-end inequality measure, the number of taxpayers per family. All three measures varied substantially across the country. We show the correlations between the various measures and also estimate the relationship between the measures and various relief programs developed by governments at all levels during the period.




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The American Patient: How Trump Is Fueling a Corona Disaster

Donald Trump’s disastrous crisis management has made the United States the new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. The country is facing an unprecedented economic crash. Are we witnessing the implosion of a superpower? By DER SPIEGEL Staff




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The Value of Time: Evidence From Auctioned Cab Rides -- by Nicholas Buchholz, Laura Doval, Jakub Kastl, Filip Matějka, Tobias Salz

We estimate valuations of time using detailed consumer choice data from a large European ride hail platform, where drivers bid on trips and consumers choose between a set of potential rides with different prices and waiting times. We estimate consumer demand as a function of prices and waiting times. While demand is responsive to both, price elasticities are on average four times higher than waiting-time elasticities. We show how these estimates can be mapped into values of time that vary by place, person, and time of day. Regarding variation within a day, the value of time during non-work hours is 16% lower than during work hours. Regarding the spatial dimension, our value of time measures are highly correlated both with real estate prices and urban GPS travel flows. A variance decomposition reveals that most of the substantial heterogeneity in the value of time is explained by individual differences as opposed to place or time of day. In contrast with other studies that focus on long run choices we do not find evidence of spatial sorting. We apply our measures to quantify the opportunity cost of traffic congestion in Prague, which we estimate at $483,000 per day.




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Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and Dellin Betances among Dominican stars helping Pedro Martinez with coronavirus relief

Dominican Yankees and Mets stars are working with Pedro Martinez to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in their homeland.




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Dropouts Need Not Apply? The Minimum Wage and Skill Upgrading -- by Jeffrey Clemens, Lisa B. Kahn, Jonathan Meer

We explore whether minimum wage increases result in substitution from lower-skilled to slightly higher-skilled labor. Using 2011-2016 American Community Survey data (ACS), we show that workers employed in low-wage occupations are older and more likely to have a high school diploma following recent statutory minimum wage increases. To better understand the role of firms, we examine the Burning Glass vacancy data. We find increases in a high school diploma requirement following minimum wage hikes, consistent with our ACS evidence on stocks of employed workers. We see substantial adjustments to requirements both within and across firms.




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Do Differences in School Quality Generate Heterogeneity in the Causal Returns to Education? -- by Philip DeCicca, Harry Krashinsky

Estimating the returns to education remains an active area of research amongst applied economists. Most studies that estimate the causal return to education exploit changes in schooling and/or labor laws to generate exogenous differences in education. An implicit assumption is that more time in school may translate into greater earnings potential. None of these studies, however, explicitly consider the quality of schooling to which impacted students are exposed. To extend this literature, we examine the interaction between school quality and policy-induced returns to schooling, using temporally-available school quality measures from Card and Krueger (1992). We find that additional compulsory schooling, via either schooling or labor laws, increases earnings only if educational inputs are of sufficiently high quality. In particular, we find a consistent role for teacher quality, as measured by relative teacher pay across states, in generating consistently positive returns to compulsory schooling.




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Islam and the State: Religious Education in the Age of Mass Schooling -- by Samuel Bazzi, Benjamin Marx, Masyhur Hilmy

Public schooling systems are an essential feature of modern states. These systems often developed at the expense of religious schools, which undertook the bulk of education historically and still cater to large student populations worldwide. This paper examines how Indonesia’s long-standing Islamic school system responded to the construction of 61,000 public elementary schools in the mid-1970s. The policy was designed in part to foster nation building and to curb religious influence in society. We are the first to study the market response to these ideological objectives. Using novel data on Islamic school construction and curriculum, we identify both short-run effects on exposed cohorts as well as dynamic, long-run effects on education markets. While primary enrollment shifted towards state schools, religious education increased on net as Islamic secondary schools absorbed the increased demand for continued education. The Islamic sector not only entered new markets to compete with the state but also increased religious curriculum at newly created schools. Our results suggest that the Islamic sector response increased religiosity at the expense of a secular national identity. Overall, this ideological competition in education undermined the nation-building impacts of mass schooling.




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Monsanto Merger Migraine: Roundup Is Toxic for Bayer

German multinational Bayer underestimated the risks of acquiring Monsanto. Now, the company is desperately seeking to contain the damage by selling business divisions and cutting jobs. So far, though, none of these moves have helped.




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Nouriel Roubini on Coronavirus: "This Crisis Will Spill Over and Result in a Disaster"

Economist Nouriel Roubini correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Now, he believes that stock markets will plunge by 30 to 40 percent because of the coronavirus. And that Trump will lose his re-election bid.




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Lufthansa CEO on How Coronavirus Has Radically Upended the Aviation Industry

The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted massive damage on the aviation industry. But Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr says that the German flag carrier is in a good position to survive, even if it will take several years for the industry to recover.




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Live coronavirus updates for Thursday, May 7: Utah minorities especially affected by COVID-19, panelists say




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Start the movie! Redwood Drive In is open, with COVID-19 safety precautions in place




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The ‘Big One’ still likely because Magna quake didn’t relieve much stress on Wasatch fault lines




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Republican candidates for governor say they want to change Utah’s election law




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After controversial contracts, Utah’s governor says coronavirus purchases will return to normal




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Salt Lake City school board selects new member




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Blood, sweat and swabs: UFC seeks safe shows in pandemic




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Scott D. Pierce: It’s irresponsible for Salt Lake City TV stations to celebrate the 5-year-old who stole his family’s SUV




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Utah man pleads guilty to vandalizing Logan Latter-day Saint temple




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Utah man charged with murder. He says he shot and killed a man breaking into his house.




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Baseball execs with Salt Lake Bees, Ogden Raptors and Orem Owlz hoping for best, preparing for worst




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Three former Salt Lake Bees take the field in the Korean Baseball League




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New book: War against yellowface in the arts won a victory in Salt Lake City




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Live coronavirus updates for Saturday, May 9: Five more Utahns die from COVID-19, bringing state’s death toll to 66




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Kobe Bryant’s death raises concerns about helicopter safety

The frequency of fatal helicopter accidents has slipped in recent decades.




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Robert De Niro says he’d play Gov. Cuomo in a coronavirus movie: ‘He’s doing what a president should do’

De Niro, 76, also voiced his support for Joe Biden as a presidential candidate on "The Late Show," and was critical of President Trump’s handling of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak.




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Woman goes mad after being told McDonald’s is closed, shoots and injures 3 employees, OKC cops say

Things were not OK.




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Fired aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier takes Navy job in San Diego

The former captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was relieved from his duties in response to his concerns about coronavirus spreading on his ship.




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Florida teen allegedly stabs younger brother to death, authorities say

An extensive search was launched Thursday for a teenager who allegedly stabbed his younger brother to death in the Florida Keys community of Islamorada, authorities said.




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All buzz and no sting? Experts say ‘murder hornets’ are overhyped

They don’t want people bugging out.




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Man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery killing also under investigation, Georgia official says

A day after a father and son were charged in the February killing of unarmed jogger Ahmaud Arbery, a Georgia official promised a thorough probe into the case and said the man who filmed the horrific incident is also under investigation. In a news conference Friday morning, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds said “every stone will be turned over" and if the facts lead agents to make another arrest “they will do that.”




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Vanessa Bryant files legal claim over images from Kobe Bryant chopper crash: report

The claim seeks damages in connection with the release of cellphone pictures taken by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene of the Jan. 26 tragedy in Calabasas.




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Chris Cornell’s widow fires back at Soundgarden members in escalating legal war, says they’re tying to ‘browbeat’ her into giving up music

Chris Cornell’s widow is firing back at her husband’s Soundgarden bandmates, calling the lawsuit they filed against her Wednesday an attempt to “browbeat” her into giving up “copyrighted works.”




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Ohio State to pay almost $41 million to 162 alleged sexual assault victims of university doctor

Ohio State University will pay about $41 million to settle a dozen lawsuits by 162 men alleging sexual abuse by a team doctor, Richard Strauss.




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Lufthansa seeks €9 billion bailout amid political talks

Lufthansa is negotiating a €9 billion bailout with Germany's economic stabilisation fund to ensure its future, the airline said, confirming an earlier Reuters report.




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Donohoe says Covid funding can't go on indefinitely

The Minister for Finance has said the State can afford to continue to fund the measures put in place by the Government to deal with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.




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Gov. Cuomo, don’t cry over spilled milk: Edie Falco says N.Y. shouldn’t prop up dairy farmers

Like many New Yorkers — indeed, many Americans — I’ve looked to Gov. Cuomo’s decisive leadership during the coronavirus crisis. But his Nourish New York initiative, while well-intentioned, is a step in the wrong direction. With federal funds stretched to the limit, why would the governor squander $25 million to bail out the dairy industry, which is rife with disease and cruelty?




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Bring on the e-scooters: A Bird executive explains how New York City can smartly and safely welcome the micromobility devices

Electric scooters are coming to New York and, with a little planning and preparation, they can safely thrive here. To understand how, it helps to start with some context.




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How to save the world: A VE Day salute to the men and women who defeated Hitler

The monster who started it, Hitler, was dead, with a coward’s bullet to the head. Also gone was FDR, the man who mobilized a nation and built a worldwide coalition to defeat Germany. As were millions of men who fought in the second war to end all wars to crush an insane regime that had murdered millions of civilian men, women and children, Jew and gentile. Churchill, who stood sometimes alone against the threat, would soon be turned out by the voters.




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Losing jobs, saving jobs: As unemployment soars, the nation and individual states try to balance health and economic concerns

The patient, laid up in the ICU, gets sicker. Thursday, 3.2 million more people joined the ranks of the unemployed, bringing to 33.5 million the number of Americans who’ve lost jobs since mid-March. Believe it: One in five of those employed before this living, dying hell began is now seeking jobless benefits.




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We could use a few more Good Samaritans

“The Parable of the Good Samaritan is about a Jewish man unexpectedly receiving help from a despised enemy with whom he had serious religious differences.”




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GREENE: Same profiling, same brutality, same disrespect — social distancing enforcement shows NYC ‘not as far as we think we are’

As much as Mayor de Blasio wants to pretend these arrests are just a drop in the bucket, from the point of view of those being constantly dropped in the bucket, the city’s heavy-handed coronavirus crackdown is just more of the same.Same profiling. Same brutality. Same disrespect.




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Vanessa Bryant files legal claim over images from Kobe Bryant chopper crash: report

The claim seeks damages in connection with the release of cellphone pictures taken by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene of the Jan. 26 tragedy in Calabasas.




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Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek sells Chicago condo for $827,000

Lysacek, originally from Naperville, took a loss on the two-bedroom condo.




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‘Sleepless in Seattle’ house is for sale in Baltimore

The Fells Point house that played Meg Ryan’s character’s home in 1993's “Sleepless in Seattle" is for sale, with an asking price of $575,000.




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This Florida Keys private island with a rich history is for sale. Asking price: $17 million.

A private island in Islamorada on the Florida Keys is for sale for $17 million. The island is called Terra's Key, after its owner John Terra, and has historical significance dating back to the 1800s.




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Georgia mall featured in ‘Stranger Things’ to go up for sale

Most of the Georgia mall heavily featured in the latest season of Netflix's "Stranger Things" is going up for sale.