Current Events in October 2018

Hidden in a new bill that will ban airlines from dragging passengers off overbooked airplanes is a potential threat to private drones.  

The Senate today passed the FAA Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan bill that extends funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and addresses some of consumers’ major gripes about air travel.

But the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation say they are alarmed about a clause in the bill that has received little attention; a measure giving the federal government the authority to  “disrupt” and “seize or otherwise confiscate” any drone deemed a “credible threat” without a warrant.

“These provisions give the government virtually carte blanche to surveil, seize, or even shoot a drone out of the sky — whether owned by journalists or commercial entities — with no oversight or due process,” an ACLU spokesman told TechCrunch.

Oversight necessary for new provision

Many journalists or citizen activists use drones to document scenes where physical access is not possible. Drone photographers were instrumental in challenging the police narrative at the Standing Rock Sioux protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline two years ago, for instance, documenting what they alleged was a violent, aggressive response from the Morton County Sheriff’s department and other police agencies.

Some footage captured by the drone photographers who were there appeared to show law enforcement officers shooting at the camera. The FAA said at the time they were investigating an instance in which an officer allegedly shot down a drone with a bean bag.

Currently, shooting at drones is considered a federal crime because they are considered aircraft. Law enforcement has “some latitude” to shoot at drones if they are acting out of concern for their safety,  a spokesman from the FAA had told ConsumerAffairs ,”but all such incidents are still subject to investigation."

The new legislation, civil liberties groups warn, would give federal authorities ample latitude to do as they please when they encounter a drone.

“If lawmakers want to give the government the power to hack or destroy private drones, then Congress and the public should have the opportunity to debate how best to provide adequate oversight and limit those powers to protect our right to use drones for journalism, activism, and recreation,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.

Despite a strong labor market, a sizable share of Americans -- 5.1 percent (or 7.9 million people) -- held down multiple jobs in August, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The publication cited “disappointingly moderate” worker pay gains and employers being slow to increase hours and benefits as primary reasons why many U.S. workers are forced to hold multiple jobs. The trend has surfaced despite the unemployment rate having hit an almost five-decade low of 3.9 percent.

Ryan Sweet, head of monetary policy research at Moody’s Analytics, told Bloomberg that millennials may find the notion of having multiple jobs “more appealing,” since this cohort tends to prefer having control over their time. Other younger consumers may be taking on additional work as a way to keep up with the cost of living, as well as student-loan payments.

Gig economy

The gig economy could also be keeping the trend in place, as there are now a plethora of job options that can easily be paired with a day job, such as working for a ride-sharing company like Uber or Lyft.

“Economists point out that the data also reflect cross-currents including the gig economy, educated people opting for the challenge of doing more, or younger workers seeking variety and a work-life balance,” Bloomberg reported.

But while many are holding down multiple jobs that fit together to amount to roughly 40 hours per week, others are forced to take on additional work on top of their full-time work.

A recent ProLogistix survey of nearly 16,000 warehouse employees found that nearly half of warehouse workers have a second job in order to make ends meet; 40 percent of those who hold down another job work 31 hours or more at that second job in addition to their full-time work.

Martha Gimbel, director of economic research at jobs-website Indeed’s Hiring Lab, noted that the higher the education level, the greater the likelihood of having multiple jobs, including in professional and business services, finance, insurance or real-estate, which “goes against stereotypes.”

“The picture remains complex,” the authors of the report concluded. Sweet said the fact that the number of multiple job holders has remained around 5 percent since 2009 may suggest “something more structural” tied to a shift in the economy and demographics.

Though going to the gas station is often associated with a signature smell, a new study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that what’s being pumped into the air at gas stations is much more toxic than many consumers would have thought.

This becomes particularly troublesome when considering that many parks, playgrounds, and schools are required to be a certain distance away from gas stations because of these emissions. According to these new findings, fumes from gas station vent pipes were found to be 10 times higher than what was previously estimated.

“We found evidence that much more benzene is released by gas stations than previously thought,” said the lead study author Markus Hilpert, PhD. “In addition, even during a relatively short period, we saw a number of instances in which people could be exposed to the chemical at locations beyond the setback distance of 3,000 feet.”

Real-time effects  

The researchers wanted to put a number to these fume releases at gas stations in an effort to learn more about the damaging effects to consumers. They also examined how often the areas around gas stations were exposed to benzene -- a carcinogen -- beyond the short-term limits.

The researchers performed the same experiment at two gas stations -- one in the Midwest and one in the Northwest -- for three weeks at a time. They attached meters to the venting pipes at the gas stations to measure the emissions releases.

The findings show that, on average, anywhere from 1.4 to 1.7 pounds of liquid gasoline are being evaporated into the air for every 1,000 gallons pumped into cars.

This greatly affects consumers for a number of reasons, but particularly when considering the implications this has in big cities. In their report, the researchers use California as an example, because the state’s estimates of gas station fumes proved to be much lower than this study’s findings.

The California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) created a 300 foot setback rule, which means that certain facilities cannot be built within 300 feet of a large gas station. They came to this figure based on estimates of 0.11 pounds of liquid gasoline emissions for every 1,000 gallons.

The researchers also measured the potential for exposure to benzene by simulating how the fumes are carried into the air. The measurements were assessed against three well-known systems: the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment one-hour Reference Exposure Level (REL), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Minimal Risk Level (MRL), and the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPG). The ERPG -- the most lenient measuring system -- was the only measuring system to not be exceeded by the simulated benzene levels.

The REL measures the chemical based on one straight hour of contact, and in this test, the levels were exceeded at both the Midwest and the Northwest gas station for over 50 meters. The MRL measures chemical exposure anywhere from two weeks to one year, and at both gas stations, saw exceeded levels between seven and eight miles away.

“Officials should reconsider their regulations based on these data with particular attention to the possibility of short spikes in emissions resulting from regular operations or improper procedures related to fuel deliveries and the use of pollution prevention technology,” Dr. Hilpert said.

Verizon’s voluntary severance package offering, made last month, was extended to roughly 44,000 employees, the company confirmed to The Wall Street Journal. That works out to more than a quarter of the carrier’s total workforce.

The severance packages are part of a four-year plan to save the company $10 billion and give it "an opportunity to find more efficiencies in the size and scope of our V Team and help expedite the building of an innovative operating model for our future," CEO Hans Vestberg wrote in a memo to employees and reviewed by the Journal.

Employees eligible for the severance packages were offered three weeks’ pay for every year at the company, up to 60 weeks.

Verizon -- which has more than 153,000 employees -- said the cost-cutting drive won’t affect sales executives or managers in "crucial company roles.”  

The same day the severance package offer was announced, the carrier notified about 2,500 of its IT employees that they were being transferred to Indian outsourcing giant Infosys as part of a $700 million outsourcing agreement. Employees that received this notification aren’t eligible for severance payments and will not receive their 2018 bonus if they are offered a job at Infosys and do not accept it.

Verizon is currently rolling out the nation's first 5G wireless service in a number of cities. Last month, the carrier began inviting people in the selected cities (Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento) to sign up for the service.

American Express (Amex) is saying goodbye to its “Premier Rewards Gold Card” and hello to the latest darling in the metal card design, the “American Express Gold Card.”

The new card was conceived primarily for consumers who love -- and spend money on -- travel and food.

“We designed the new Gold Card to reward our Card Members’ growing appetites for dining out, eating in and traveling near and far,” said Rachel Stocks, American Express’ executive vice president of Global Premium Products & Benefits.

“Our Card Members increasingly want to experience new cuisines and explore new places, so when creating this new product, we focused on adding value in these areas, like the new dining credit and 4X points accelerators at U.S. restaurants and supermarkets. This is just another way that we strive to have our customers’ backs during the moments they value most.”

The biggest casualty in the card’s rehab is the rewards that were previously given for gasoline purchases. The updated Gold Card is saying “so long” to those points effective October 4, 2019.

All-you-can-eat rewards points

Effective immediately, Gold Card Members will get twice the rewards points they do now, whether they’re eating out at a restaurant or buying foodstuffs at their local grocer. The new Gold Card now offers 4X (four times) the points at U.S. Restaurants, as well as U.S. supermarkets (on the first $25,000 in annual purchases). The buying habits of the growing millennial market might have played a hand in American Express’ refocus.

“While it’s becoming common for higher-end travel cards to come with some form of statement credit for travel purchases, this is the first time we’ve seen a dining credit,” said John Ganotis, Founder of CreditCardInsider.com, in comments to ConsumerAffairs.

The new Gold Card also throws in a new $120 annual dining credit which gifts its members up to $10 per month in statement credits when they use their card at participating Shake Shack locations, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Grubhub/Seamless.

Like to travel?

In addition to Amex’s new dining and food bonuses, the Gold Card is upping the ante for travel lovers. Those fringe benefits include:

• 3X Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines and amextravel.com;

• $100 airline fee credit: up to $100 in statement credits per year for incidental expenses like baggage fees at one selected airline;

• The Hotel Collection: Gold Card Members get a $75 hotel credit on qualifying charges, plus a room upgrade upon check-in, when available, when they book a stay of at least two consecutive nights at hotels in the collection;

• Personalized Travel Service: provides access to a team of Travel Professionals who can help with travel bookings and vacation packages across air, hotels, transportation, cruise and tour; and

• Gratis membership to The Travel Collection by Travel Leaders Group where cardholders can pick up additional discounts and amenities when booking their travel.

The perks are nice, but they’ll cost you

The old Premier Reward Gold Card’s annual fee was $195 and, if that was a little too much to swing, hang on to your hat.

The refreshed Gold Card will cost you an annual fee of $250. The new fee will go into effect for current Premier Rewards Gold Card Members starting April 1, 2019, the card’s annual account renewal date.

Stress affects the body in countless ways, and as researchers continue to explore the various ways both bodies and minds are affected by stress, it’s more important than ever to stay informed of the potentially damaging side effects.

In a new study done by Binghamton University, researchers wanted to see if there was a link between life stressors -- health, money, work, family, and romance --, low self-esteem, and opioid use.

The study was based off of the Threat Appraisal and Coping Theory that suggests life stressors, coupled with low self-esteem, often leads people to cope in unhealthy ways that are satisfying in the short-term but have devastating consequences over time.

Pushing stress to the limit

The researchers surveyed 1,047 adults, all of whom completed online surveys reporting their life stressors, self-esteem, demographics, and opioid use.

The group of participants broke down to include 54.3 percent women, 76.7 percent white, 60.2 percent with $50,000 or more annual income, and 53.3 percent over 45 years old. Responses indicated that 11.1 percent of participants used opioids.

Throughout the study, the researchers evaluated participants’ life stressors and their association with opioid use. They then set out to determine if low self-esteem was a driving factor.

Ultimately, the researchers found that high life stressors led to poor self-esteem, which led to opioid use. Additionally, poor self-esteem was the link between each of the life stressors that led the participants to opioid use.

Binghamton University graduate student and researcher Damla Aksen noted that because of the way opioids affect people’s brain chemistry, people are attracted to the drugs because they have the ability to change the way they feel about themselves.

“In other words, opioids may serve as self-medication in response to social stressors and its cascade of negative consequences,” Aksen said.

Possible solutions

The researchers suggest that those who are led to opioids because of life stressors should seek out support groups or other programs that can help them learn healthier coping skills.

Exercising, social support, or counselors trained in both self-esteem issues and drug use could also be beneficial to help boost self-esteem. The goal is to manage stress in a healthy way and learn ways to deal with these common life stressors.

“Results from this new study suggest that one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to the particular life stressors that increase an individual’s risk for opioid abuse,” Aksen said.  

The cost of employer-provided family health coverage rose 5 percent in 2018 to an average of $19,616, while single coverage premiums rose 3 percent to $6,896, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

The annual survey, which drew on responses from more than 4,000 employers with three or more workers, found that workers are contributing an average of $5,547 toward the cost of family coverage while the rest is being paid by employers. For single coverage, workers are contributing roughly $1,200 a year.

Over the last decade, the general annual deductible for workers has climbed about eight times as fast as wages, Kaiser said. And with employer-sponsored health coverage being the most common form of health insurance in the U.S., that means more workers are pulling from their take-home pay in order to pay medical bills, despite having coverage.

Burden of deductibles

KFF found that premium increases exceeded both wage increases (2.6 percent) and inflation (2.5 percent) over the past year and decade. Moreover, employers are increasingly heaping more out-of-pocket costs onto employees.

The report said that 85 percent of workers have plans with deductibles compared to 81 percent in 2017 and 57 percent a decade ago.

“Health costs don’t rise in a vacuum. As long as out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, drugs, surprise bills and more continue to outpace wage growth, people will be frustrated by their medical bills and see health costs as huge pocketbook and political issues,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement.

Cognizant of the challenge posed by the current healthcare system, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase announced earlier this year that they were forming a joint venture to give their employees better health care choices and bring down costs.

In its report, Kaiser said it believed companies will soon need to find other ways to shift costs.

"If underlying healthcare prices and service use begin to grow as part of stronger economic growth, employer and health plans may need to look for tools other than higher cost sharing to address the pressures that would lead to higher premium growth," the authors wrote.

Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling 387 model year 2018 Mercedes-Benz C300, C300 4MATIC, C63 AMG and C63S AMG vehicles.

Incorrect bonding of the rear window may cause the window to loosen and detach from the vehicle.

A window detaching from the vehicle can become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will rework the rear window bonding, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin November 2, 2018.

Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.

Monsieur Émile Smokehouse is recalling Monsieur Émile Smokehouse brand and unbranded Smoked Salmon.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

There are no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The following products, sold refrigerated in Quebec, are being recalled:

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions may contact Edith Couture at (418) 782-1412.

Toys R Us, the defunct toy store chain, may live again.

The lenders that took control of the company in bankruptcy earlier this year and set out to liquidate the assets have had a change of heart. They've canceled their plans to auction off the assets.

In a filing with the bankruptcy court, these lenders said the new plan is to reorganize what's left of Toys R Us and Babies R Us into new retail stores.

Initially, the owners of the Toys R Us assets planned to sell them individually and recoup as much of their loans as possible. But after a careful analysis, they've told the court they believe putting the company bank together and selling it would produce more money.

"The qualified bids were not reasonably likely to yield a superior alternative," the lenders said in the court document.

The auction is off

The court agreed with the lenders and has canceled the auction.

But is it too late? Consumers watched the slow demise of the Toys R Us chain and other retailers have stepped in to seize the market.

In August, Walmart announced it would beef up its selection of toys in stores by 30 percent and increase the toys available online by 40 percent in a bid to replace Toys R Us. It said it would set up hands-on demos of toys in many of its stores.

Walmart is also eyeing the late retailer's baby market, expanding its retail options for parents of infants. The nursery page on the Walmart website got a makeover and the options for car seats and strollers are being upgraded.

Other retailers scramble

Both JCPenney and Kohl’s announced additions to their baby and toy offerings over the summer, while Party City plans to open nearly 50 toy pop-up shops.

In the end, however, the lenders said they found that the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands still hold significant value. Both are highly recognized among consumers.

Beyond that, old Toys R Us assets include licensing agreements with most toy manufacturers. By putting the pieces back together -- this time without the debt -- they believe they will have a profitable enterprise.

Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2017, dragged down by $5 billion in debt. Much of the debt existed from a leveraged buyout, not because of a dramatic decline in revenue.

The old adage promoting “everything in moderation” may be particularly popular at Wine-O’Clock and Happy Hour, but researchers are warning that the message should not apply to alcohol.

The latest buzzkill comes from researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Their study, published Wednesday in the journal Alcoholism, evaluated 400,000 people and found that those who imbibed four times per week were 20 percent more likely to die prematurely, even if they only had one or two drinks each day.

“Daily drinking, even at low levels, is detrimental to one's health,” the study concludes.

Even light drinking may be dangerous

Earlier research had suggested a link between light drinking and improved cardiovascular health. The researchers say that those previous findings may be valid but that people need to look at the bigger picture.

“It used to seem like having one or two drinks per day was no big deal, and there even have been some studies suggesting it can improve health,” lead author Dr. Sarah M. Hartz said in a statement.

While Hartz acknowledges that there may be situations in which “occasional drinking potentially could be helpful” depending on a person’s individual health history, she says that the general idea that a glass or two of wine is healthy is misguided.

Her work follows a study published this year in The Lancet which also claimed that no amount of drinking is safe.

The studies come after years of headlines promoting a variation of “red wine kills cancer” made rounds on social media. The skin and seed of grapes contain the antioxidant resveratrol, leading many wine-lovers to conclude that red wine has cancer-fighting benefits. But the MD Anderson Cancer Center says that “researchers are still trying to confirm whether the resveratrol in red wine actually reduces cancer risk.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently trying to overhaul the way that chemicals are regulated and is reportedly relying on the expertise of a toxicologist who argues that small amounts of radiation are beneficial.

The Associated Press reports that Edward Calabrese, a toxicologist at the University of Massachusetts, is set to testify before Congress today as the EPA’s lead witness over proposed new rule changes that the federal government claims will bring more “transparency” to the regulation of toxic chemicals.  

Calabrese has argued for years that the current standard for evaluating radiation risks, referred to by scientists as the linear no-threshold model, is overly cautious.

As the site Phys.org reported last year, “Calabrese has for many years advocated for hormesis,” an alternative approach to evaluating the risk of radiation exposure. It’s a model that Calabrese says “provides evidence that low-dose exposure of some chemicals and ionizing radiation is benign or even helpful,” according to Phys.org.

Arguing for radiation

Currently, federal laws regarding radiation exposure operate on the principle that no amount of radiation is safe. While plenty of research has linked health risks to low doses of radiation, some researchers have tried to make the case that, when it comes to radiation, the dose makes the poison.

Calabrese is among the researchers in the latter group in promoting his alternative hormesis model. In a 2016 interview, he reportedly said that it “would have a positive effect on human health as well as save billions and billions and billions of dollars.”

In statements to the Associated Press, the EPA said it has no intention of changing the way that radiation exposure is currently regulated. Its “transparency” proposal does not name any substance or chemical specifically. However, the Associated Press notes that Calabrese is quoted heavily in an EPA news release announcing the proposed rule changes.

In a news release that the EPA issued in April, Calabrese is quoted as saying that the agency is making a “a major scientific step forward” in the field of "chemicals and radiation” with its proposed new methods for evaluating health risks of certain substances.

Strengthening transparency or protecting companies?

At issue is a proposed regulation that the EPA claims will “strengthen transparency in regulatory science.” The proposal, introduced when Scott Pruitt was still leading the agency, would require that all researchers investigating the health effects of substances make their data public if they want the research to be considered by federal regulators.  

Numerous researchers say that such a proposal is simply a backhanded way to protect industries that work with toxic substances from facing any regulations. Researchers say that when it comes to studies on humans, for instance, they never make the data completely public because doing so would violate the privacy of their subjects.

“If EPA excludes studies because the data cannot be made public, people may be exposed to real harm,” a coalition of 69 professional doctors’ associations and health organizations warned in a statement they released in July.

Industry groups, meanwhile, are throwing their support behind the EPA’s proposal. The American Chemistry Council, the industry trade group that has long defended the safety of synthetic chemicals commonly used in consumer products, says that the “EPA’s proposed rule is a major step toward enhancing the public’s understanding of the science used to support regulations issued by the agency and increasing public confidence in agency decisions.”

The EPA says they are currently reviewing nearly 600,000 comments that people have submitted in response to the proposal.

Less than a year after pet deaths went unmentioned in Delta’s service animal crackdown, the airline is introducing new technology to improve the monitoring and tracking of pet travel.

While more than a half-million pets are transported by airlines every year, the complaints regarding pets and airlines isn’t even a Top 10 complaint among fliers, according to the U.S.Department of Transportation. Despite that, the number of flight-related pet casualties and injuries in the last year has produced enough bad press to get the airlines’ attention.

Delta Airlines is stepping up to be counted as the first to turn things around.

The airline has struck a deal with CarePod, a new pet technology service that will help the airline’s Delta Cargo arm keep a better bead on a pet’s travel and keep pet owners updated in real-time.

“Demand for pet shipments is strong and we are always looking for ways to create a best-in-class travel experience for pets and their owners,” wrote Shawn Cole, Vice President of Delta Cargo. “Working with a start-up like CarePod allows Delta the flexibility to enhance our service in new and innovative ways. We are able to think big, start small and learn fast to solve specific customer needs.”

Why pet air travel is risky

It’s taken nearly four years of evangelizing for improved pet safety, but Singapore-based CarePod’s patience has paid off. With Delta on board, CarePod has answered one of the three most important areas it feels puts pets at risk when being transported by air: inconsistency.

The new partnership allows consistent care for pet travel, claims CarePod, and Delta is responding with amped up pet-related training of its crews, going as far as educating ground handlers on whose job it is to take care of pets along every point of the journey.

The only two steps left in CarePod’s quest for the perfect pet travel experience are:

1. Heat -- the most critical factor that can quickly escalate to a “dead-on-arrival” situation

2. Stress -- unfamiliar visuals plus higher noise levels add more anxiety to an already nervous pet

Delta is answering the heat issue by building out temperature-controlled holding areas in several locations and adding overnight kenneling services. The airline’s new Cargo Control Center in Atlanta will also give the airline non-stop visibility of all pet shipments.

General Motors is teaming up with Honda to develop and build a wide-use autonomous vehicle and deploy it worldwide, the companies announced on Wednesday.

Honda will contribute $2.75 billion in the partnership over the next 12 years and will make an immediate equity investment in Cruise, GM’s self-driving car division, of $750 million. Honda’s investment in Cruise raises the company’s valuation to $14.6 billion.

Cruise’s upcoming self-driving vehicle, which will be manufactured at a General Motors plant, will be “purpose-built,” GM said. The vehicle will be designed to serve a "wide variety of use cases and be manufactured at high volume for global deployment.”

Space-efficient

On a conference call with the media, GM president Dan Ammann described the vehicle as the “next evolution in the future of transportation.” GM and Honda say they plan to “explore global opportunities for commercial deployment of the Cruise network” under the new deal.

No date was given for the deployment of the autonomous vehicle, nor did Ammann provide specific details on its design. The companies did say the vehicle would be “beautiful” and “space-efficient.”

In a post on Medium, Kyle Vogt, Cruise founder and CEO, said the vehicle is being designed to deliver “an exceptional experience and minimizes congestion on crowded city streets.”

Deepening partnership

The automakers had previously announced a collaboration on battery development for electric vehicles. In June, the companies said that they had signed a deal for Honda to use battery cells and modules from GM in electric vehicles built for the North American market. Prior to that announcement, GM and Honda had already been working together to produce advanced hydrogen fuel cell systems.

"This is the logical next step in General Motors and Honda's relationship, given our joint work on electric vehicles, and our close integration with Cruise," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra.

"Together, we can provide Cruise with the world's best design, engineering and manufacturing expertise, and global reach to establish them as the leader in autonomous vehicle technology — while they move to deploy self-driving vehicles at scale,” Barra added.

One in every three adults in the United States, or about 37 percent, consume fast food on any given day, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That works out to approximately 84.8 million adults, according to Cheryl Fryar, lead author of the report and a health statistician at the CDC.

The report -- which drew its findings from information collected from 10,000 adults between 2013 and 2016 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey -- found that fast food intake was higher among consumers in middle- and higher-income brackets.

According to the report:

• About 32 percent of lower-income consumers ate fast food daily

• More than 36 percent of middle-income consumers had fast food on a given day

• 42 percent of those with higher incomes consumed fast food daily

Fast food consumption by age

When asked to recall what they had eaten in the past 24 hours, about 45 percent of consumers in their 20s and 30s reported having eaten fast food over the past day.

The study suggested that fast food consumption tends to dwindle with age, as that number fell to under 38 percent for those in their 40s and 50s. Among those 60 and older, just 24 percent said they had eaten fast food in the last day.

Breaking down the statistics even further, Fryer’s team found that black consumers were more likely to have eaten fast food on a given day than white consumers (42 percent compared to 38 percent, respectively). Roughly 35 percent of Hispanic consumers and 31 percent of Asian-American consumers said they had eaten fast food the prior day.

Fast food consumption also varied by sex. The researchers found that men eat more fast food than women. Black men consumed the most fast food, with nearly 42 percent stating that they had eaten fast food in the past 24 hours.

Health risks

Fryer said she and her colleagues chose to look into fast food consumption statistics because this type of fare has been linked with increased intake of calories, fat, and sodium.

"We focused on fast food for this report because fast food has played an important role in the American diet in recent decades," Fryer said. "Fast food has been associated with poor diet and increased risk of obesity."

Automakers may be selling fewer cars than in the recent past, but they're getting more for them. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) reports the average new car transaction price (ATP) is approaching $36,000.

Tim Fleming, an analyst for KBB, says he expects the final September sales figures to show a dip in the volume of sales. But the ATP rose to $35,742, a 2 percent increase over September 2017.

“With interest rates on the rise and manufacturer incentives at a healthy level, thanks to tighter production, monthly payments for consumers are immediately impacted," Fleming said. "If gas prices stay high in the fourth quarter, affordability will likely be a concern for new-car buyers and could lead to fewer sales at year-end.”

Honda and GM lead the way

Honda and GM did best with consumers last month, thanks to several redesigned models and the strength of trucks and SUVs. Also among the top three, Ford grew its ATP by 3 percent, getting a strong boost from a big increase in spending on the Lincoln Navigator. The ATP was up 12 percent for the Navigator.

But Ford's top performer was the new Expedition, whose ATP surged 16 percent. Consumers paid 9 percent more for Mustangs.

Consumers seeking a good deal this month might take a look at Volkswagen. It was the only major automaker to see its year-over-year ATP go down, falling 1 percent in September. In particular, Audi dealers may be prepared to deal as prices fell by 4 percent.

In terms of vehicle types, the ATP for electric vehicles dropped nearly 2 percent and the prices paid for minivans plunged 2.8 percent. Consumers paid 6.9 percent more to drive away in a high-performance car, 4.2 percent more for a luxury crossover, and 3.3 percent more for a mid-size pickup truck.

More truck and SUV leases

When it comes to leases, Swapalease, an online lease marketplace, reports consumers are increasing the trend of opting for trucks and SUVs. That's perhaps because the monthly payment for these expensive vehicles is lower when they are leased.

Roughly 27.5 percent of Swapalease.com drivers listed their vehicle under the category of “luxury sports sedan” during the second quarter of 2016, while another 24 percent listed their vehicle as either a truck or an SUV. Two years later these numbers essentially reversed, with 22.8 percent listing a luxury sports sedan and 27.2 percent listing a truck or an SUV as their current vehicle lease.

“America continues to say they want to drive trucks and SUVs rather than smaller cars, and this is especially true in a lease environment,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. “We still see very attractive and aggressive deals on smaller car leases, and we certainly don’t think these will go away any time soon.

Across the entire internet, Netflix consumes 15 percent of the total downstream volume of traffic worldwide, according to October’s Global Internet Phenomena Report from Sandvine. That percentage is more than any other single application and represents a 3 percent increase from the previous year’s report.

The streaming service is responsible for an even larger number of total traffic in the U.S., at 19.1 percent. Peak times -- such as when a new, highly anticipated show is released on Netflix -- drive that number even higher.

“At peak hour on fixed networks, this number can spike as high as 40% on some operator networks in the region,” the authors of the report wrote.

Amazon, YouTube also large consumers

The research firm said that the sheer volume of Netflix traffic in North and South America is what’s behind its market domination on a global scale. And due to its superior stream compression technology, Sandvine believes “Netflix could easily be 3x their current volume at 40% of network traffic all the time.”

Additional findings from the report showed that Netflix ranks third in the Americas top 10 up-streamers, while Amazon Prime Video ranks 4th. Amazon Prime Video consumes more data (7.7 percent of downstream traffic) than YouTube (7.5 percent).

HTTP media streams, such as embedded videos on websites, also eat up a sizable amount of bandwidth, at 13.1 percent, according to the report.

As of July, Netflix boasts over 125 million users. The company recently said it expects to add 10 million new subscribers in the current quarter compared to the quarter before it. Earlier this year, the streaming video giant disclosed that it signed up 26 million new subscribers in the past year.

In April, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed that Amazon Prime had passed 100 million global subscribers.