After wrapping up my grading for 2024 (both for my Augusta University/Hull College students and for my 2024 Predictions for the Augusta Business Daily), I am sitting on an oceanfront balcony on Hilton Head Island contemplating the year ahead. Unlike last year, when my prognostications spanned multiple areas (national economy, local economy, workplace trends, and the business of sports), this year, the scope of my predictions will be more limited. Given the election of Donald J. Trump as our President, I thought I would tackle predicting how President Trump might

Last week, I documented the initial impact of Hurricane Helene on the labor market. This week, I provide some thoughts on the long-term impacts on our health based on my reading of the academic literature. Rachel Young and Solomon Hsiang provide the first evidence of the long-term effect of tropical storms in an article in Nature. They find that mortality increases by 3.2% to 5.1% over 15 years following a hurricane. In Augusta, using all-cause mortality rates for Georgia, this would mean an extra 194 to 309 deaths per year,