• Suspicions Confirmed: A New York Times reporter, describing in June the rising prices of prescription pharmaceuticals, noted that a popular pain reliever (probably describing oxycodone) was available on the Paterson, New Jersey, black market for $25 a pill, while heroin was going for $2 a baggie.
• The economic growth rate in Ireland for 2015 was revised -- upward -- in July. Growth of its gross domestic product was originally estimated at 7.8 percent, but subsequently -- adding the paper value of several "inversions" (U.S. companies "moving" to Ireland to reduce U.S. taxes) -- Ireland found that it was actually growing at 26.7 percent. [New York Times, 6-14-2016] [New York Times, 7-13-2016]