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For the federal government, raise the roof is anything but fun it means things could spiral into disaster.

It all concerns a legislative feature that has existed in American politics for over 100 years: the debt ceiling.

As a mechanism to enforce prudence over government spending, Congress establishes a statutory limit on the amount of money that the federal government owes.

When the government breaches that limit, the U.S. Treasury cannot raise more cash. Failure to pay the bills could then lead to default.

For the worlds largest economy, defaulting on the debt would not only be a domestic crisis, but a global one. During the 2021 debt ceiling debacle, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a failure to raise the debt ceiling would trigger widespread economic catastrophe.

The debt ceiling was first enacted in 1917 and establishes an aggregate limit on the amount that the U.S. government is allowed to borrow.

The debt ceiling is not the same as a budget resolution; it does not determine the volume of government spending or the nature of government spending.

For example, a Congress that has already appropriated money (for example, to defense spending or Social Security) will still need the U.S. Treasury to raise the funds to finance those projects even if doing so would breach the debt ceiling.

Congress has historically acknowledged the limited upside and catastrophic downside of refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Legislators have commonly voted on a bipartisan basis to raise the debt ceiling when the total debt appears close to the statutory limit.

The U.S. Treasury says that since 1960, Congress has moved 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit.

Congress has had a history of avoiding a breach in the debt ceiling, often times supporting a change in the statutory limit on a bipartisan basis. Source: U.S. Office of Management and Budget, The Washington Post

When the debt exceeds the statutory limit, the U.S. Treasury cannot issue more debt to finance existing obligations.

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For the U.S. government, those obligations often look like payments to bondholders that own Treasury securities (i.e. a 10-year U.S. Treasury). Those bondholders effectively lend to the government on the promise of being paid interest (i.e. coupon payments).

If the Treasury cannot raise more funds, it may not be able to make payments on those bonds. If payments are missed, the credit rating on the U.S. government could fall.

The debt ceiling was first enacted in 1917. Photo taken in Washington, D. C., United States Credit: Getty

As one of the most liquid markets in the world, disruption in the market for U.S. Treasuries would quickly spillover into global markets.

Although it did not lead to a default, a heated debt ceiling debate in 2011 pushed credit rating agency Standard & Poors to downgrade the U.S. from AAA (the safest rating) to AA+. As of 2021, the U.S. still had not been upgraded back to AAA.

The U.S. Treasury has extraordinary measures it can deploy to pay its bills even after a debt ceiling is breached.

For example, the Treasury can suspend daily reinvestment into the thrift savings plans for federal employees or draw down on a reserve known as the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

But those measures can only stave off a default for so long. In 2021, the U.S. breached the debt ceiling on Aug. 1, and estimates were that those extraordinary measures could only bridge the governments bills through October or November.

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Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc agreed to sell its ITP Aero unit in Spain to a group led by Bain Capital for 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion), netting the British jet-engine maker much-needed cash to help it recover from the coronavirus crisis.

The sale to Bain, JB Capital and Spanish defense firm Sapa will help Rolls rebuild its balance sheet, the key to restoring an investment-grade credit rating, according to a statement Monday. The shares jumped as much as 12% on the deal and an earlier contract win to upgrade engines on U.S. B-52 bombers.

The ITP Aero sale brings to an end a disposal program announced in August 2020, after the first wave of the virus outbreak grounded flights globally and tipped Rolls-Royce to a record loss. The enginemaker was hammered by the crisis, which deprived it of critical maintenance revenue on the large, long-distance aircraft that use its engines.

With ITP and a handful of smaller divestments, the company raised almost 1.8 billion pounds ($2.4 billion), close to the 2 billion-pound target set by Chief Executive Officer Warren East, a spokesman said. Rolls said in August it was near an agreement for a sale of ITP.

Shares of Rolls were up 8.9% as of 1:24 p.m. in London, where the company is headquartered. With the ITP sale and the up-to $2.6 billion U.S. contract win, the stock reached its highest intraday levels since March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 crisis.

Raising Cash

In August, Rolls sold its Bergen Engines unit to U.K.-based Langley Holdings for 63 million euros, after an earlier deal to sell it to a Russian firm raised national security concerns in Norway.

The company also shed a 23% stake in air-to-air refueling company AirTanker Holdings Ltd for 189 million pounds. A separate nuclear business sold in December 2020 garnered 70 million pounds, Rolls now says.

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Rolls-Royce has also raised cash by selling shares as maintenance revenue dried up and demand for large aircraft plummeted. Long-haul flights are recovering less quickly than shorter routes as vaccine distribution starts to ease the impact on air travel.

ITP Aero was formed in 1989 to make engines for the Eurofighter Typhoon military jet. The unit also worked with Rolls to develop turbines used on Airbus SE and Boeing Co. wide-body aircraft.

Bloomberg first reported on the prospect of its sale in July 2020. The company subsequently beefed up the arm by moving work there from other divisions to attract buyers.

Bain reached a deal after negotiations that included the Spanish government, which said Monday it trusts that the deal will provide ITP Aero with stability after two years of uncertainty about the future of the company.

ITP Aero will remain based in Zamudio, near Bilbao, and continue to be run by CEO Carlos Alzola.

The U.S. buyout firm will guarantee workforce levels and has plans for further growth, according to the statement. Bain is also open to adding further Spanish and Basque industrial partners to the consortium, reaching up to 30% of the equity, until the end of June next year.

The agreement with Bain was reported earlier by Sky News.

(Updates with additional context, previous divestments from 6th paragraph.)

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Rolls-Royce to Sell ITP Aero Unit to Bain for $2 Billion - Yahoo Finance

Missouri's economy rests primarily on industries, with Aerospace and transportation equipment being the main industries. Other popular industries in the state are fabricated metals, chemicals, printing and publishing, food products and electrical equipment. It is the only state in the Union with two Federal Reserve Banks, one in St. Louis and the other in Kansas City. Lets take a look at the 10 most profitable companies in Missouri.

Q2 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

We have used the latest available revenue numbers to rank the 10 most profitable companies in Missouri. Following are the 10 most profitable companies in Missouri:

Founded in 1890, the company offers securities brokerage, investment advisory, investment banking, trading and related financial services. Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF) has the following business segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other. Its shares are up more than 100% in the past one year and almost 1% in the past one month. Stifel Financial has its headquarters in St. Louis, and employs over 8,000 people.

Founded in 1979, this company makes, markets, installs and supports hardware and content solutions for health care organizations and consumers. Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) also offers value-added services, such as health care data analysis, transaction processing and more. The company has the following business segments: Domestic and International. Its shares are up more than 1% in the past one year but are down over 4% in the past one month. Cerner has its headquarters in North Kansas City, Mo. and employs over 27,000 people.

Founded in 1887, it is a transportation holding company that focuses on growing the north or south freight corridor connecting important commercial and industrial markets in the central U.S. with Mexico. Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) also deals in the freight rail transportation business. Its shares are up more than 45% in the past one year but are down over 7% in the past one year. Kansas City Southern has its headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. and employs over 7,000 people.

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Founded in 2017, it is a holding company that offers electricity through its subsidiaries. Evergy Inc (NYSE:EVRG) focuses on the regulation of electric utilities and development of electric transmission projects. Its shares are up more than 25% in the past one year but are down over 7% in the past one month. Evergy has its headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. and employs over 4,000 people.

Founded in 1902, it is a public utility holding company that deals in the provision of electric and natural gas services. Ameren Corp (NYSE:AEE) has the following business segments: Ameren Transmission, Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution and Other. Its shares are up more than 6% in the past one year but are down over 5% in the past one month. Ameren has its headquarters in St. Louis, and employs over 9,000 people.

Founded in 1973, it is a holding company that offers traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. Reinsurance Group of America Inc (NYSE:RGA) has the following business segments: Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; U.S. and Latin America; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. Its shares are up more than 13% in the past one year and are down over 4% in the past one month. Reinsurance Group of America has its headquarters in Chesterfield, Mo. and employs over 3,000 people.

Founded in 1997, it is a financial services firm that serves investment clients in the U.S. and Canada. Edward Jones focuses primarily on individual investors and small-business owners. It is a private company that has its headquarters in St. Louis, and has over 48,000 employees.

Founded in 1984, it is a healthcare enterprise that deals in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) has the following business segments: Managed Care and Specialty Services. Its shares are up more than 13% in the past one year and are down almost 1% in the past one month. Centene has its headquarters in St. Louis and has over 56,000 employees.

Founded in 1957, this company distributes and retails automotive aftermarket parts, equipment, accessories, tools and supplies. O'Reilly Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:ORLY) serves both do-it-yourself customers and professional installers. Its shares are up more than 36% in the past one year and over 4% in the past one month. O'Reilly Automotive has its headquarters in Springfield, Mo. and has over 67,000 employees.

Founded in 1890, it is a technology and engineering company that offers solutions in commercial, residential and industrial markets. Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) has the following business segments: Climate Technologies, Tools and Home Products, and Automation Solutions. Its shares are up more than 46% in the past one year and are down over 8% in the past one month. Emerson Electric has its headquarters in St. Louis and has over 85,000 employees.

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These Are The 10 Most Profitable Companies In Missouri - Yahoo Finance

Starbucks' (SBUX) famous Pumpkin Spice Latte has not only helped boost the coffee chain's foot traffic, but also social media conversations about the classic fall flavor.

Social media analytics company Sprout Social compiled data on volume, keywords and conversation trends between August 1 and September 21. The firm found that pumpkin is still the most talked about fall flavor despite the fact that Starbucks recently debuted its new Apple Crisp Macchiato this year.

Online conversations favored the chain's Pumpkin Spice Latte compared to the new addition by a large margin (40.53K to 17.58K, respectively). Pumpkin conversations have also tracked significantly more volume than apple conversations 146K compared to 24K, the company said.

For Starbucks, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has consistently been a strong driver for growth. The signature drink debuted in 2003, with more than 500 million sold to date.

Recently harvested orange pumpkins in a random pile

The social media data further highlighted consumers' obsession with fall with search trends related to seasonal flavors, like pumpkin spice or apple crisp, jumping toward the end of the summer.

According to Sprout Social, total conversation volume spiked 4,265% with 9.5K conversations on August 24 (the date Starbucks rolled out its fall flavors) compared to the day prior.

That momentum continued into the first week of September, with volume surging a whopping 347% versus the last week of August well before fall's official start on September 22.

Overall, sentiment surrounding the return of fall and those classic autumnal flavors came in largely positive at 43%. This was followed by 35% neutral and 21% negative.

With consumers ready and eager to embrace the change of season, companies have been quick to incorporate new fall items. Brands embracing pumpkin-flavored products this year include Pepperidge Farm (CPB), Dairy Queen (BRK-B), Tim Hortons (QSR) and Samuel Adams (SAM).

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Alexandra is a Producer & Entertainment Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193

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In battle of pumpkin spice vs. apple, one fall flavor has the edge - Yahoo Finance

(Reuters) - Instagram has hit pause on a new app it is creating for kids, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc said on Monday, in a move that comes amid growing opposition for the project.

Instagram Kids had been touted as requiring parental permission to join, and was supposed to provide ad-free, age-appropriate content, but U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged the social media giant to drop its launch plans, citing safety concerns.

"We won't stop pressuring Facebook until they permanently pull the plug," said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an advocacy group focused on kids.

Instagram said in a blog post that building Instagram Kids was the right thing to do, but that it was pausing the work and would continue building on its parental supervision tools.

"The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today," it said, noting that there were app versions of Alphabet Inc's YouTube and ByteDance's TikTok for those under 13.

Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, said on Monday that the company is exploring features that would "nudge" a teen away from content on Instagram that its tech system perceives could be negative, or encourage them to take a break from the app. He spoke in an interview at the Atlantic Festival.

Four Democratic lawmakers including U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal said on Monday they were pleased by Facebook's decision but said the pause "is insufficient."

"Facebook has completely forfeited the benefit of the doubt when it comes to protecting young people online and it must completely abandon this project," said the lawmakers, who also include U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor and Lori Trahan.

In 2017, Facebook had launched the standalone Messenger Kids app, an instant messaging platform for children under the age of 13, which is controlled by a parent's Facebook account.

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Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published a report that focused on data suggesting that Instagram had a harmful effect on teenagers, particularly teen girls, and that Facebook had made minimal efforts to address the issue.

Facebook said on Sunday that the report is "not accurate."

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru, David Shepardson in Washington and Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Matthew Lewis)

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is still hesitant to approve the many applications to start a much-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), and one major player in the space is calling on the SEC to give investors a choice.

David LaValle, managing director and global head of ETFs at Grayscale, said the SEC should allow investors to choose their own exposure that meets their own investment needs and their own investment thesis.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has expressed lukewarm enthusiasm for investment vehicles that provide exposure to crypto assets.

In August, he suggested he may be more willing to support the formation of products tied to bitcoin futures (contracts that bet on the future price of bitcoin), but fretted over what he sees as a lack of investor protection in the Wild West of crypto.

The SEC has so far rejected a number of ETF applications hoping to track the price of bitcoin itself (often referred to as a spot ETF product).

LaValle said he would prefer that the SEC give its blessing to both a bitcoin futures ETF product and a bitcoin spot ETF product at the same time.

We think that the SEC should really take an equitable approach to allowing investors to choose which type of bitcoin exposure in the form of an ETF that they would like, said LaValle at Yahoo Finances All Markets Summit Plus: Crypto Investing (an event sponsored by Grayscale) Monday.

Grayscale currently offers investor exposure to bitcoin through its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). But private placement in the trust is only available to accredited investors, which is why LaValle hopes to convert the trust to an ETF if regulators approve it.

Bitcoin can be a little bit challenging for many investors to determine how to seek exposure or store it reliably and have a component of their investment portfolio in that asset class. I think the ETF opens up the pool to a much larger investment universe," LaValle said.

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Davis Polk Capital Markets Group Partner Joseph Hall told Yahoo Finance that there may be reason to be optimistic about the SEC coming around to approving bitcoin ETFs.

Hall noted that the commission has turned down previous bitcoin ETF applications on the basis of market manipulation, mostly in markets abroad. One example: wash trading, in which a trader buys and sells a coin for the sole purpose of pumping volume and intentionally misleading the market.

But Hall pointed out that manipulation would have an impact on futures markets as well, which means that any support of a bitcoin futures ETF could show a dwindling emphasis on the rationale the commission has used historically to deny a bitcoin spot ETF.

At least I would say theres some glimmer of hope in the orientation that Chair Gensler seems to have here, said Hall Monday in the same panel.

Brian Cheung is a reporter covering the Fed, economics, and banking for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.

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Less than two weeks after her incredible, historic run at the US Open, Emma Raducanu has split with her coach.

Raducanu, the 18-year-old who won the US Open earlier this month after entering as a qualifier, split with her coach, Andrew Richardson on Friday.

Richardson, a former Davis Cup player, had coached Raducanu for two years when she was competing at the youth level, and joined her on a short-term deal ahead of the US Open.

At the time, I thought Andrew would be a great coach to trial so we went to the States but never did I even dream of winning the U.S. Open and having the run I did, and now Im ranked No. 22 in the world, which is crazy to me, she said, via The Associated Press.

Raducanu beat Leylah Fernandez in straight sets to win the US Open earlier this month, which made her the first qualifier in tournament history to do so. She didnt drop a single set in the entire tournament, either, in what was a truly dominant run through Arthur Ashe Stadium.

She is now ranked No. 22 in the world, despite the US Open being her second grand slam event ever.

That immediate rise, she said, was a big part in why she wanted to split with Richardson. Though she doesnt have a new coach in mind, she knows that she wants someone who can help her navigate the highest level of tennis.

Im looking for someone who has been at that level and knows what it takes, she said, via The Associated Press. And especially right now because Im so new to it, I really need someone to guide me whos already been through that.

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Emma Raducanu splits with coach just two weeks after winning US Open - Yahoo Sports

The killing of Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old London teacher who police believe was murdered on a five-minute walk from her house to a pub last Friday, has sparked a renewed outcry over violence against women in the U.K., while also putting a spotlight on the disparity in coverage of cases involving people of color.

A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, London's Metropolitan Police announced Thursday. Detectives also released images taken from surveillance cameras of another man they would like to question in the case. The investigation in ongoing.

According to authorities, Nessa left her house just before 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 to meet a friend at a bar in nearby Pegler Square. Her body was found in a park the next day.

"Sabina's journey should have taken just over five minutes, but she never made it to her destination," Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity said in a statement. "We know the community are rightly shocked by this murder as are we."

Nessa lived with her father, a chef at an Indian restaurant.

No mother or father should have to go through this, her sister tweeted. May Allah grant my parents ease.

In an appearance on "Good Morning Britain" Thursday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that it was time to "make misogyny a hate crime."

Nessa's death comes six months after the murder of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old white woman who went missing after leaving a friend's house in South London. Her body was found a week later, and a police officer pleaded guilty to her kidnap, rape and murder.

Sabina Nessa, Sarah Everard. (Met Police, Facebook)

Everard's killing prompted an outpouring from women across social media sharing harrowing experiences of sexual assault, and put the U.K.'s epidemic of harassment against women in the global spotlight. According to data released by the U.N. Women U.K. in March, 97 percent of British women between the ages of 18 and 24 said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces.

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The intense media interest in Everard's murder also prompted criticism about coverage of similar cases involving women of color. The same questions are now being raised in the wake of Nessa's killing.

"It is quite astounding that the Sabina Nessa murder is not dominating the news," tweeted Hannah Al-Othman, a journalist for the Sunday Times.

"The muted press reaction and lack of public outcry for Sabina Nessa demonstrates, once again, that not all victims are treated with the same respect and reverence," tweeted Mandu Reid, leader of the U.K. Women's Equality Party.

The treatment of Sabinas death has not been on the same level as others, and time and time again we see how victims from Black and [minority] communities do not receive the same level of attention and support, Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Womens Aid, told the Guardian newspaper. It is simply not good enough, and it has to change. Sabinas death is as unacceptable and shocking as that of any other woman, and our headlines, TV coverage and outrage in our social media posts should reflect this.

The debate over U.K. coverage of the Nessa case comes as the case of Gabby Petito has drawn widespread media attention, particularly in the United States.

Petito's body was found in a remote camping area in Wyoming Sunday, nearly three weeks after the 22-year-old's fianc, Brian Laundrie, returned home to Florida from their cross-country trip without her.

Laundrie, who was named a person of interest by police, was last seen on Sept. 14, when he told his parents he was going to a nearby nature reserve to meditate. His parents reported him missing three days later, and police have been scouring the 24,565-acre reserve for him.

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie. (Facebook)

The wall-to-wall coverage of the Petito case has also prompted criticism of news outlets for not covering similar cases involving people of color.

Some critics have suggested the Petito case is a classic example of "missing white woman syndrome," a phrase coined by the late journalist and PBS NewsHour co-host Gwen Ifill to describe the medias fascination with missing white women while ignoring cases involving people of color.

The Petito family certainly deserve answers and justice, MSNBC host Joy Reid said on air. But the way the [Petito] story has captivated the nation has many wondering: Why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?

Gabby Petito. (Instragram)

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Nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the federal eviction moratorium designed to keep struggling tenants in their homes as COVID-19 surges anew, assistance is slowly going out to millions of people behind on their rent.

More than $2.3 billion in federal emergency rental assistance went out in August to some 420,000 households, the most of any month to date since the money was made available, according to the Treasury Department.

Despite the uptick in disbursements, however, millions are still living in fear of being evicted in the near future. To date, $7.7 billion in payments have been made to help those in need, out of the $46 billion that was approved last December and March.

And while state and local programs continue to struggle to get money out the door, cash-strapped small and medium-sized landlords and property owners who have been vilified even as many have gone for over a year without payment have had enough.

In New York, a landlord advocacy group is aiming to block the states ongoing freeze on evictions for tenants facing financial hardships due to the pandemic. The Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) filed a motion this month with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging the recently extended moratorium implemented by new Governor Kathy Hochul.

The president of the group, Joseph Strasburg, said the Empire States moratorium, which runs through mid-January 2022, does absolutely nothing to improve on previous measure.

This eviction protection measure was put in place at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis to prevent tenants from losing their home. Yet state legislators have reworked the measure in the wake of the Supreme Courts invalidation of the federal moratorium.

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Under N.Y. 's old policy, tenants who were facing eviction cases could submit a filing to their landlords that attested financial hardship from income loss or say moving would harm their health. That allowed them, in most cases, to avoid a housing court.

However, once the Supreme Court ruled this measure to be unconstitutional, New York state legislators went back to the drawing board, and crafted a new eviction ban.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2020/07/01: Cancel Rent banner drop in Bushwick. Tenants and Housing Activists dropped banners from their buildings and organized a march in the streets of Bushwick demanding the city to cancel rent immediately as the financial situation for many New Yorkers remains the same, strapped for cash and out of work. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

More than 8 million households are behind on rent, according to the latest Census Bureau data from the first half of September. However, some property owners have challenged the idea that all tenants who havent paid rent could not do so, because some were working and either refused to pay, or simply never sought rental assistance.

That notion is supported by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data, which showed that renters credit scores actually jumped by 16 points during the pandemic, compared to 10 points for homeowners with mortgages. Credit scores increased even more for renters with children (25 points) and those earning less than $40,000 (18 points).

The Hochul administration promised several benefits to both landlords and tenants in the new bill, which extends rent assistance through January 15 of next year. Landlords have been given more rights: They can challenge hardship claims, and if theyre deemed false property owners can evict

Yet some property owners are far from impressed.

That's a sham because the courts are closed. I'm being targeted by the city because I have a massive debt, Lincoln Eccles, who owns a 14-unit building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, said in an interview.

I'm already in debt to New York City for about $180,000 in property tax. That's not including my operational costs and other ongoing business expenses where I'm already in debt there, Eccles added.

The RSAs new court filings argue that New Yorks new ban is essentially the continuation of the previous one and equally as unconstitutional.

I'm barely scraping by.Lincoln Eccles, New York landlord

It imposes an obligation on the part of the owner to certify under oath in an affidavit under criminal penalties that in fact, the tenant is lying, the RSAs Strasburg told Yahoo Finance Live this week.

It puts the burden solely on the shoulders of the owners and it's really a red herring, he added.

Changes have been made to the former eviction ordinance, but landlords remain skeptical with federal relief dollars still waiting to be distributed.

I have some tenants that have [applied for assistance] and some tenants, it looks like they have put in something so that they can get an eviction protection, but they haven't filed in the documentation, Eccles said.

Still, the burden of proof now lies with landlords, who have to show evidence showing that their tenants are falsely claiming benefits.

So saying we could challenge that when we don't have a court to go to doesnt make any sense and you starve us from funds, said Eccles. I'm barely scraping by.

According to a June Treasury Department report, New York ranked dead last in its distribution of federal rental assistance money from December 2020. Less than 1% had been allocated to landlords.

Roughly over 600,000 households statewide are behind on rent, and each of those owes a rough average of $3,300. Thats a total estimated rent debt of nearly $2.0 billion in New York.

Another concern is already sky-high rent prices, especially in major cities like the Big Apple and San Francisco. Billionaire bond fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach told Yahoo Finance recently, that once moratoriums are fully lifted, there will be all kinds of consequences that will include rents going way up.

New York officials have highlighted the $2.1 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program, a pot of both federal and state money aimed at giving aid to struggling tenants and landlords.

But the state has struggled to give out aid, they have been deluged with applications and could not meet the demand.

They put these requirements on it, which are nice in terms of trying to make sure that the exact right person is pinpointed to get the funds, but it creates so many problems in getting the funds that money ends up not getting out to people, Ian Wilder, executive director of Long Island Housing Services, told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

While Emergency Rental Assistance Program money has been slow to trickle down to those who need it, the state says rent relief is on the way for those who qualify. But struggling landlords and tenants remain stuck in the middle.

I have to try to figure out what does E.R.A.P really need because it's not really clear, said Eccles.

The website is horrible. It might as well be a DMV website because I've never had success with DMV's, he added. It's the same type of mentality.

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv

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Why NY's eviction ban 'does absolutely nothing' for landlords as rental crisis drags on - Yahoo Finance

With more than 18 months of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, researchers have been steadily gathering new and important insights into the effects of COVID-19 on the body and brain. These findings are raising concerns about the long-term impacts that the coronavirus might have on biological processes such as aging.

As a cognitive neuroscientist, my past research has focused on understanding how normal brain changes related to aging affect peoples ability to think and move particularly in middle age and beyond. But as more evidence came in showing that COVID-19 could affect the body and brain for months or longer following infection, my research team became interested in exploring how it might also impact the natural process of aging.

In August 2021, a preliminary but large-scale study investigating brain changes in people who had experienced COVID-19 drew a great deal of attention within the neuroscience community.

In that study, researchers relied on an existing database called the UK Biobank, which contains brain imaging data from over 45,000 people in the U.K. going back to 2014. This means crucially that there was baseline data and brain imaging of all of those people from before the pandemic.

The research team analyzed the brain imaging data and then brought back those who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 for additional brain scans. They compared people who had experienced COVID-19 to participants who had not, carefully matching the groups based on age, sex, baseline test date and study location, as well as common risk factors for disease, such as health variables and socioeconomic status.

The team found marked differences in gray matter which is made up of the cell bodies of neurons that process information in the brain between those who had been infected with COVID-19 and those who had not. Specifically, the thickness of the gray matter tissue in brain regions known as the frontal and temporal lobes was reduced in the COVID-19 group, differing from the typical patterns seen in the group that hadnt experienced COVID-19.

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In the general population, it is normal to see some change in gray matter volume or thickness over time as people age, but the changes were larger than normal in those who had been infected with COVID-19.

Interestingly, when the researchers separated the individuals who had severe enough illness to require hospitalization, the results were the same as for those who had experienced milder COVID-19. That is, people who had been infected with COVID-19 showed a loss of brain volume even when the disease was not severe enough to require hospitalization.

Finally, researchers also investigated changes in performance on cognitive tasks and found that those who had contracted COVID-19 were slower in processing information, relative to those who had not.

While we have to be careful interpreting these findings as they await formal peer review, the large sample, pre- and post-illness data in the same people and careful matching with people who had not had COVID-19 have made this preliminary work particularly valuable.

Early on in the pandemic, one of the most common reports from those infected with COVID-19 was the loss of sense of taste and smell.

Strikingly, the brain regions that the U.K. researchers found to be impacted by COVID-19 are all linked to the olfactory bulb, a structure near the front of the brain that passes signals about smells from the nose to other brain regions. The olfactory bulb has connections to regions of the temporal lobe. We often talk about the temporal lobe in the context of aging and Alzheimers disease because it is where the hippocampus is located. The hippocampus is likely to play a key role in aging, given its involvement in memory and cognitive processes.

The sense of smell is also important to Alzheimers research, as some data has suggested that those at risk for the disease have a reduced sense of smell. While it is far too early to draw any conclusions about the long-term impacts of these COVID-related changes, investigating possible connections between COVID-19-related brain changes and memory is of great interest particularly given the regions implicated and their importance in memory and Alzheimers disease.

These new findings bring about important yet unanswered questions: What do these brain changes following COVID-19 mean for the process and pace of aging? And, over time does the brain recover to some extent from viral infection?

These are active and open areas of research, some of which we are beginning to do in my own laboratory in conjunction with our ongoing work investigating brain aging.

Brain scans from a person in their 30s and a person in their 80s, showing reduced brain volume in the older adult brain

Our labs work demonstrates that as people age, the brain thinks and processes information differently. In addition, weve observed changes over time in how peoples bodies move and how people learn new motor skills. Several decades of work have demonstrated that older adults have a harder time processing and manipulating information such as updating a mental grocery list but they typically maintain their knowledge of facts and vocabulary. With respect to motor skills, we know that older adults still learn, but they do so more slowly then young adults.

When it comes to brain structure, we typically see a decrease in the size of the brain in adults over age 65. This decrease is not just localized to one area. Differences can be seen across many regions of the brain. There is also typically an increase in cerebrospinal fluid that fills space due to the loss of brain tissue. In addition, white matter, the insulation on axons long cables that carry electrical impulses between nerve cells is also less intact in older adults.

As life expectancy has increased in the past decades, more individuals are reaching older age. While the goal is for all to live long and healthy lives, even in the best-case scenario where one ages without disease or disability, older adulthood brings on changes in how we think and move.

Learning how all of these puzzle pieces fit together will help us unravel the mysteries of aging so that we can help improve quality of life and function for aging individuals. And now, in the context of COVID-19, it will help us understand the degree to which the brain may recover after illness as well.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Jessica Bernard, Texas A&M University.

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Jessica Bernard receives funding from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Preliminary research finds that even mild cases of COVID-19 leave a mark on the brain but it's not yet clear how long it lasts - Yahoo News