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Does it count if you don't count it? The Trump administration moves to stop tallying the costs when tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires and earthquakes strike. I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. The federal government will no longer track the cost of the most expensive disasters in the country. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will stop adding dollar damage tallies to its database of events that cause over a billion dollars in damage. Marketplace's Henry Epp is here with more.
The administration says it's retiring the database to align with, quote, evolving priorities, statutory mandates and staffing changes. What will be lost is a tool that gives the public an idea of the costs of events like storms, floods and droughts over time. And there's a clear trend here. Billion dollar disasters are happening more frequently. The NOAA counted 27 of these events last year. That's second only to the year before.
The administration notes that wealth gains and population growth in more vulnerable parts of the country are part of that equation. But the number of expensive disasters is also clearly increasing as the climate warms. But now we'll no longer have that tally to reference. Now, when I cover these terrible stories, I often turn to private sector data, for instance, calculations of insured versus non-insured losses. What did this government data do for us?
Several climate experts quoted in media reports about this move say that this particular database is valuable because of how comprehensive it is. It relies on data from federal and state agencies, as well as private data from insurance companies. And it's been kept up for years. It has inflation-adjusted metrics that go back to 1980. And as global warming continues to impact our economy, climate experts argue that having one less tool like this weakens our understanding of that impact.
And this is also part of a larger trend in the Trump administration. It's weakened the government's role in climate research. And that includes the dismissal last week of scientists who were working on a climate report that's mandated by Congress. All right. Marketplace is Henry up. Thank you.
Tourists from other countries are avoiding the United States amid the trade war and stricter U.S. border controls. Stock in the travel company Expedia closed down more than 9 percent yesterday after its quarterly sales were less than expected. Weaker demands, says the company. And there's separate news that New York City officials have cut their forecast for visitors there by 17 percent, perhaps 12 million tourists this year, down from a previous forecast of 14.6 million.
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The crucial emails came in typically last week, and now's the season for the college-bound to pick which one and which institutions of higher learning their family can afford. In many cases, there is an invisible hand playing a key role in this turning point in life. New York Times columnist Ron Lieber has been looking into this, and he joins us now. Ron, welcome.
Thanks for having me. It's like, I don't know, airline seats. When you go to college, the person next to you may be paying more or paying less. You found, Ron, that...
Many campuses get outside help from for-profit companies to figure out what to charge your kid? That's correct, David. This has become a data game, as it is in many other industries, for-profit or not. Basically, they're trying to suck as much information as they can in, whether it's information you tell them or information that they buy.
say, after you take the SAT or the ACT and you fill out a bunch of information on those forms before you take the test. I see. Things like, I mean, they really want to know if you're going to come, if they offer you the right baggage. That's probably the key thing. Right. That's the thing that they're ultimately trying to guess, right? They're cross-tabulating your zip code, which is a pretty good indication of your income, with your high school and the history of people coming
coming to a college and staying at the college for four years. From that school, they're looking at your grades to see the likelihood that you'll persist or flunk out or not. And then they're checking it against, you know, have you shown up on campus? How much interest have you demonstrated? And the machines, the algorithms that these consultants rent to the colleges, you know, sort of suck all of that in, do a bunch of computations, and then essentially tell the college what offer to make and at what price.
And parents and students would love to know more about whether it's fair. I mean, we would define that in different ways, but you don't want to think that the fix is in for someone else. And if you get the thin envelope in which the college says, no, thank you, you often will feel you were treated unfairly. Yeah. So as ever, David, I just want people to know what they are up against. And I think it's only fair to pull back the curtains,
and explain to readers and listeners what's happening and how these consulting firms and their clients talk about teenagers when they think that people like me and you and parents are not listening. And, you know, one of the morals of the story is that the first offer may not necessarily be
the best offer. Some computer somewhere is guessing and making some assumptions about you, and it's on you to go back to the school and say, actually, you got it wrong. Well, that's a profoundly important tip that you're offering there, right? You're saying that you don't just have to take what's in that envelope? Nope. So, you know, you have to be, you know, careful about it and polite and
You know, if you're sitting on a handful of offers from schools that are roughly similar and you've got one that's your first choice, but the net price for that one is higher than the others, it's worthwhile to go to the school and say, hey, did we do something wrong here? Because these other schools that you compete with are offering a little bit less. And
I or my kid has actually done a lot of really cool stuff, you know, since they applied several months ago. Let me tell you about it. And is there a way we could, you know, come to a different conclusion here? Ron Lieber writes the Your Money column for The New York Times. He's also author of the book The Price You Pay for College. Ron, always good to catch up. It's a pleasure and a privilege. Thank you, David. His New York Times piece was labeled Colleges Know How Much You're Willing to Pay. Here's How.
Some Republicans in Congress have sent letters to Ivy League schools asking for the data behind how they decide what students should pay at face value. There's interest in seeing if there is antitrust level collusion going on and who gets chosen for the freshman class. But this is also seen as part of the Trump administration's more general pressure on elite institutions, universities included.
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