Episode 112

Ozempic, Fair Tax Act, Credit Card Rewards

Ravi and Rikki start with the weight-loss drug that’s sweeping TikTok, Hollywood, and the nation: Ozempic. Then we open our wallet and take a closer look at the dark side of rewards cards. Finally, we check in on the latest iteration of the Fair Tax Act and what it says about American policymaking today.

SHOW NOTES

Ozempic [03:29]

What To Know About Ozempic (Forbes, 1/18/23)
Wegovy works. But here’s what happens if you can’t afford to keep taking the drug (NPR, 1/30/23)
Hollywood’s Secret New Weight Loss Drug, Revealed: The Hype and Hazards of Ozempic (Variety, 11/21/22)
TikTok trend wipes out Ozempic supply, leaving people with diabetes dizzy, scared (LA Times, 12/23/22)
AMA #29: GLP-1 Agonists – The Future of Treating Obesity? (Peter Attia, 11/15/21)
Semaglutide (Rx) (Medscape)
America Isn’t Ready for the Weight-Loss-Drug Revolution That’s Coming (The Ringer/Plain English with Derek Thompson, 1/20/23)
Off-Label Drug Use: What You Need to Know (WebMd, 2009)
What to know about off-label drug use (Medical News Today, 6/30/20)
Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity (New England Journal of Medicine, 3/18/21)
Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adolescents with Obesity (New England Journal of Medicine, 12/15/22)
Highlights of Prescribing Medication (FDA, 12/17)
Unlocking the Obesity Challenge: a >$50bn Market (Morgan Stanley, 7/14/22)
Anti-Obesity Medication Use in 2.2 Million Adults Across 8 Large Healthcare Organizations: 2009-2015 (NCBI, 10/11/19)

Credit Card Rewards [23:14]

Your credit card rewards might not be worth it (Vox, 1/17/23)
The ugly truth behind your fancy rewards credit card (Vox, 6/3/21)
Is Congress Going To Kill Credit Cards Rewards? (Nerdwallet, 10/18/22)
How responsible credit card users profit off everyone else (Quartz)
The Dark Side of Cash-Back Credit Cards (The Motley Fool, 4/6/17)
Where Does Money for Credit Card Rewards Come From? (NerdWallet, 12/21/22)
Where Does the Money for Credit Card Rewards Come From? (The Balance, 6/30/21)
How credit card companies reward the rich and punish the rest of us (Brookings, 12/23/19)
Americans are piling up credit card debt — and it could prove very costly (NPR, 1/11/23)
A growing number of Americans face potentially crippling credit-card debt (The Hill, 1/21/23)
All the Hacks Podcast
Who Pays For Your Rewards? Redistribution in the Credit Card Market (SSRN, 12/6/22)

Fair Tax Act [38:02]

GOP national sales tax talk backfires, as Dems see political gold (Politico, 1/29/23)
Will the House GOP Really Walk the Plank for the Fair Tax? (The Bulwark, 1/12/23)
FairTax, the GOP plan for a 30 percent national sales tax, explained (Vox, 1/26/23)
A National Sales Tax Is a Terrible Idea (The Atlantic, 1/23/23)
H.R.25 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): FairTax Act of 2023 (Congress.gov)
Carter introduces Fair Tax Act (Rep. Buddy Carter Press Release, 1/10/23)
Post-Trump Republicans Are All About Lower Taxes (Bloomberg, 1/15/23)
What House Republicans Should Know about the Fair Tax (National Review, 1/19/23)
Whatever the Fate of the Fair Tax Act, Congress Should Still Abolish the IRS (Reason, 1/13/2023)
House Republicans Want a Vote On the FairTax. Is It Worth Supporting? (Reason, 1/11/23)
The GOP’s Fair Tax Masochism (Wall Street Journal, 1/20/23)
House Republicans to vote on bill abolishing IRS, eliminating income tax (Fox News, 1/10/23)
Liberal Hypocrisy is Fueling American Inequality. Here’s How. | NYT Opinion (The New York Times, 1/2022)

Voicemails [49:14]