Aug 31, 2018 - Economy & Business

Mom and pop aren't investors

Felix Salmon, author of Capital

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

SEC chairman Jay Clayton wants to make it easier for retail investors to put money into private companies.

Be smart: Investing is hard, and people without millions of dollars are never going to be good at it. They should invest in broad indices, rather than individual private or even public companies.

The SEC was created to create a level playing field for investors, back when that was a realistic goal. Clayton's modernization attempts need to be realistic about the fact that today, if individual investors blunder into private markets where they have no protection, they will overwhelmingly end up getting fleeced. Far from making such investments easier, he should be making them significantly more difficult.

The big picture: Individual investors have never had it so good, with a wide range of free or almost-free index funds to choose from. Public policy should encourage them to take full advantage of those offerings.

Go deeper

Marisa Fernandez
1 min ago - Health

Trump announces plan to distribute 150 million rapid coronavirus tests

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Trump announced on Monday that the federal government will distribute 150 million rapid, point-of-care coronavirus tests to states over the next few weeks, including to K-12 schools and vulnerable communities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Why it matters: The Trump administration has stressed the importance of reopening schools in allowing parents to return to work and jumpstarting the economy.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 48 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 p.m. ET: 33,217,895 — Total deaths: 999,273 — Total recoveries: 22,975,269 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 p.m. ET: 7,128,774 — Total deaths: 204,881 — Total recoveries: 2,766,280 — Total tests: 101,298,794 — Map.
  3. States: Cuomo extends New York moratorium on evictions until 2021.
  4. Business: Companies are still holding back earnings guidance.
  5. Health: The childless vaccine — Why kids get less severe coronavirus infections.
  6. World: India the second country after U.S. to hit 6 million cases.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
48 mins ago - Podcasts

Digging into Trump's taxes

President Trump paid no federal income tax in 10 of the past 15 years, and just $750 in 2016 and 2017, according to a new report from the New York Times. He also is reported to have hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding debts, most of which would come due during a second term.

Axios Re:Cap focuses on what is and isn't surprising about the revelations, plus how real estate developers are taxed, with Francine McKenna, an independent financial journalist and certified public accountant.