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Today in Monopoly - Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Here are some stories we had our eye on today:

A Sense of Alarm as Rural Hospitals Keep Closing

New York Times, Austin Frakt

Since 2010, nearly 90 rural hospitals have shut their doors. By one estimate, hundreds of other rural hospitals are at risk of doing so. In its June report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found that of the 67 rural hospitals that closed since 2013, about one-third were more than 20 miles from the next closest hospital … the vast majority of recent hospital closings have been in states that have not expanded Medicaid.

Wisconsin’s $4.1 billion Foxconn boondoggle

The Verge, Bruce Murphy

The details of the deal were famously written on the back of a napkin when Gou and the Republican governor Scott Walker first met: a $3 billion state subsidy in return for Foxconn’s $10 billion investment in a Generation 10.5 LCD manufacturing plant that would create 13,000 jobs. Now, Foxconn no longer plans to build a Generation 10.5 factory manufacturing panels for 75-inch TVs. Instead, it plans to build a smaller factory manufacturing smaller panels and requiring far less investment.

 

U.S. to Block Sales to Chinese Tech Company Over Security Concerns

New York Times, Alan Rappeport

The United States said on Monday that it would block a Chinese state-owned technology company from buying American components because it posed a national security threat, the latest volley in an escalating dispute between the world’s two largest economies. The company, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, a manufacturer of semiconductors, “poses a significant risk” of becoming involved in activities that might infringe on national security, the Commerce Department said.

 

Here’s why tech billionaires are fighting over San Francisco’s Prop C ballot measure

Recode, Shirin Ghaffary

The San Francisco ballot measure on homelessness has sparked a rare public feud among some of tech’s biggest billionaires. Leaders in the tech community are being pulled into a debate about their corporate responsibility in San Francisco and beyond.

 

Scooter Firm Lime Hires Former Uber Business Chief

Wall Street Journal, Greg Bensinger

David Richter will serve as Lime’s chief of business, where he will oversee mergers and acquisitions, sales strategy and other finance operations. Richter help a similar role at Uber, the ride-hailing firm has invested in the scooter start up.