Inflation Reduction Act, Student Loans, and Supersonic Jets

Your Daily Brief

August 17th, 2022

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Today, we’re covering a group of stranded migrants in Europe, a lawsuit from two music producers, supersonic commercial airplanes, and more. Here’s what we have for you:

In Today’s Brief

Greece: 38 migrants found stranded along the Turkish-Greek border
Jill Biden: First Lady tests positive for Covid-19 on vacation
Triller: Sued by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland
Oil: Price of futures hit 6-month low
Ezra Miller: Seeking treatment for mental health issues
Top Tips: Inflation Reduction Act is signed into law; American Airlines orders 20 supersonic jets that fly 1,304 mph; Education Department cancels $3.9B in student debt for 208,000 borrowers

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President Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act into law

After more than a year of debate between lawmakers, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law yesterday.

The new law–which emerged from the President’s proposed $1.75T “Build Back Better” plan–includes a $369B investment in climate and energy policies, $64B to extend a policy under the Affordable Care Act to reduce health insurance costs, and a 15% minimum tax for corporations earning over $1B a year in revenue. According to a press release on the White House website, “no one making under $400,000 per year will pay a penny more in taxes” under the new law.

While the White House asserts the Inflation Reduction Act will address rising prices by lowering energy and healthcare costs for families and reducing the deficit, the Congressional Budget Office says the law will have a negligible effect on inflation in 2022 and 2023.

American Airlines orders up to 20 supersonic aircraft from Boom Supersonic

American Airlines announced yesterday that it has placed an order for up to 20 supersonic Overture jets from Boom Supersonic, with the option of purchasing an additional 40.

The deal marks the second order that Boom has received in two years; United Airlines last year made a commitment to purchase 15 Overture jets. While neither American nor Boom disclosed how much this most recent agreement was worth, American said the deposit is non-refundable and added that Boom “must meet industry-standard operating, performance and safety requirements as well as American’s other customary conditions” before any Overtures are delivered.

Should the jets pass inspection, Boom plans to roll them out in 2025 and expects them to carry passengers by 2029. By then, Boom says the Overture jet will fly as fast as Mach 1.7–or 1,304 mph–and be able to travel from Seattle to Tokyo in six hours instead of the typical 10.

Department of Education cancels $3.9B in student debt for over 200,000 borrowers

The United States Department of Education has canceled $3.9B in debt for 208,000 students who took out loans to attend ITT Technical Institute.

According to a statement from the Education Department, students who attended ITT between January 1, 2005, through its closure in September 2016 will have 100% of their loans canceled and will receive $3.9B in full loan discharges. Per the statement, the decision “includes borrowers who have not yet applied for a borrower defense to repayment discharge. These borrowers will have the federal student loans they received to attend ITT discharged without any additional action on their part.”

President Biden has now canceled nearly $32B of student loans since he took office, including $6B in June for 200,000 borrowers under borrower defense, which allows student debt to be erased if an educational institution misrepresents or lies about its educational degrees.

Around the Globe

38 migrants were found stranded on an unnamed island along the Turkish-Greek border; the group of men, women, and children were subsequently taken to mainland Greece and said they had been on the Evros river islet since mid-July
The body of Mexican journalist Juan Arjon Lopez was found one week after he went missing in the northern border state of Sonora, according to local authorities
An arms store at a military facility in Russian-occupied Crimea was hit by a series of fire-induced explosions; Russia called the blasts “sabotage,” while Kyiv has not formally confirmed responsibility

On the Homefront

Primary elections took place last night in Alaska and Wyoming; see the results here
First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for Covid-19 while on vacation with the president and their family, according to a statement from her office
An appeals court in Florida upheld a decision stating a 16-year-old teenager–identified as Jane Doe 22-B–could not get an abortion because she lacked the maturity to make such a decision

Glitz and Games

Superman and Lois will recast the role of Jonathan Kent for the show’s upcoming third season after series regular Jordan Elsass did not report back to work by the deadline given to the cast
Music producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland sued Triller for $28M, claiming the video-sharing social networking service defaulted on an original deal between the parties as well as a settlement and payment agreement
Wolfgang Petersen, the director responsible for films such as Das Boot, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, and Troy, has died at age 81

Money Moves

Major indexes in the stock market ended mixed after a choppy trading session (Dow +0.71%, Nasdaq -0.19%, S&P 500 +0.19%)
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures–the benchmark price for crude oil in the United States–fell to $86.53 per barrel, their lowest level since January 25th
Shopify has launched a new service called “Shopify Collabs,” which offers to connect creators with merchants on its platform and give them a new way to earn revenue

Tips & Tricks

Sneak Peek: See the first look photo of Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Bump This: Make your Wednesday smooth and sultry with the new track “Hoodie” by Ari Lennox - listen on Apple Music and Spotify
Go Deep: Check out these floating SeaPods from Panama-based “aquatect” firm Ocean Builders that provide luxury living quarters in the middle of the ocean
Cash Grab: SpaceX is willing to shell out $25,000 to anyone who can hack into the company’s Starlink internet satellite network (jeez, we knew we should’ve been hackers)
Say What: “It’s a scary time to have an opinion or to say the wrong thing or to make controversial art or statements or thoughts or anything. It’s mostly scary because art is about conversation. That should, in my opinion, always be the point. The internet is the opposite of conversation. The internet is people putting things out and not taking anything in,” actress Zoë Kravitz said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal
Hot Goss: The Flash star Ezra Miller issued an apology for their recent behavior and says they are seeking treatment for what they call “complex mental health issues”
Life Hack: If you find yourself in a game of hangman, “rhythm,” “zephyr,” and “sphynx” are the three best possible words to ensure your victory

Looking Back…

On August 17th: George Orwell publishes the anti-utopian satire Animal Farm (1945); Indonesia declares independence from the Netherlands (1945); swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the first athlete to win eight medals in a single Olympic Games (2008); actor Robert De Niro is born (1943).

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