The New York Times - USA (2020-10-25)

2 BUN THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

SO FAR THIS YEAR

Stocks are up.

S&P 500 INDEX, +7.3%

Mortgage rates

are down.

BANKRATE.COM 30-YEAR

FIXED, 3.03%, –0.83 POINTS

Jobless claims

are up.

FOUR-WEEK MOVING

AVERAGE, +237.0%

Anti-Monopoly Moves

The federal government is finally mak-

ing good on its threats to crack down

on big tech. The Justice Department

announced a major antitrust lawsuit

against Google and accused the com-

pany of deploying unfair business

tactics to squelch its competitors. (The

only precedent for a case like this oc-

curred nearly two decades ago, when

the government sued Microsoft.)

Google rejected the allegations and

said the suit would “artificially prop up

lower-quality search alternatives, raise

phone prices” and hurt consumers. But

many consumer advocates say it’s high

time to regulate big tech more ag-

gressively. Next up: The Federal Trade

Commission is planning to vote on

whether to file an antitrust lawsuit

against Facebook.

Bitter Medicine

Purdue Pharma, the drugmaker be-

hind the highly addictive painkiller

OxyContin, has pleaded guilty to fel-

ony charges and will be required to pay

more than $8 billion in settlement fees.

The company admitted to rewarding

doctors for pushing prescriptions for its

drugs, thereby contributing to an opi-

oid crisis that has resulted in the

deaths of more than 450,000 Ameri-

cans. It still faces thousands of lawsuits

in several states. As for the wealthy

Sackler family, who own the company:

They’re being held accountable in a

separate settlement, to the tune of

$225 million in penalties.

Epstein’s Long Arm

It’s been over a year since the financier

Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide after

being charged with sexually abusing

teenage girls, but his case continues to

haunt his business and personal asso-

ciates. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine

Maxwell, remains under arrest and has

been silent on charges that she re-

cruited victims for Mr. Epstein. But in

a four-year-old deposition, released

this past week, she vehemently denied

any wrongdoing. Elsewhere, new reve-

lations about financial ties between Mr.

Epstein and Leon Black, the founder of

Apollo Global Management, prompted

one pension fund to halt new invest-

ments with the firm and others to con-

sider doing the same. Apollo’s board

announced that it was investigating

Mr. Black’s relationship to Mr. Epstein.

What’s Up

LAST WEEK'S ESSENTIAL NEWS

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/

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In the Hot Seat

Social media platforms are struggling

to fight the spread of misinformation

leading up to the election, particularly

as Russia and Iran have mounted new

interference campaigns to hurt the

Democratic presidential nominee,

Joseph R. Biden Jr. But nobody’s

happy with how it’s going, particularly

lawmakers. Now, the Senate has called

for the chief executives of Facebook,

Google and Twitter (Mark Zuckerberg,

Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey) to

testify on Wednesday about how

they’re handling hate speech, misinfor-

mation and privacy. The hearing will

focus on a law that shields tech compa-

nies from liability over the content

posted by their users, while also allow-

ing them to moderate it. President

Trump has claimed the rule is unfair,

and wants an overhaul.

How Are We Doing?

The first report on the United States’

third-quarter gross domestic product

— the broadest assessment of the

economy’s health — will be released

on Thursday, and is anticipated to

show the fastest growth on record. But

that’s because it follows a record drop

in the second quarter, when many

businesses were forced to close under

lockdown measures. Either way, don’t

get too excited by the numbers. The

economy is expected to slow consider-

ably in the fourth quarter, as a wave of

new infections hampers reopenings

and, in some cases, brings shutdowns.

Selling Art to Survive

Like many art institutions, the Brook-

lyn Museum is struggling to absorb the

pandemic’s impact on its revenue. But

unlike many of its peers, it has resorted

to selling notable pieces to pay its staff

and care for the rest of its collection.

This week, Sotheby’s will auction off a

selection of the museum’s Impression-

ist and modern artworks, including

paintings by Henri Matisse and Claude

Monet. While the Association of Art

Museum Directors usually prohibits

de-accessioning, it has made an excep-

tion because of the pandemic and will

allow such sales through 2022.

CHARLOTTE COWLES

What’s Next

A PREVIEW OF THE WEEK TO COME

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WHAT ELSE?

Like many retailers, Gap is facing bad

brick-and-mortar sales, and announced

that it will close 30 percent of its stores.

And Amazon workers are threatening to

shut down warehouses if they don’t get

paid time off to vote.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GIACOMO BAGNARA

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