Daily Pulse: A Glimpse into the Fed, FDA Approves Female Viagra, You Can Yelp the DMV

It’s the Fed watchers’ favorite day again. Minutes from the FOMC July meeting will be released at 2 p.m. ET. The general sentiment after the meeting was that the central bankers were feeling fairly confident about US economic data and getting ready to raise interest rates again – maybe in September, maybe not.

The Fed likes to keep its options open. Minutes would give more details one way or the other – except they’re already outdated. The July meeting happened before the bottom fell out of the Chinese yuan, which may make the Fed less eager to strengthen the dollar even more in comparison. Right now, it’s 50-50.

One FOMC member has made his opinion very clear at least. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed, said September is much too early. “Given the prevailing economic conditions, higher interest rates would push the economy away from the FOMC’s economic goals, not toward them,” he writes. First among those goals is a 2% inflation target that has not been met.

“I’m often asked by members of the public about the biggest danger facing the economy. My answer is that monetary policy itself poses the biggest danger.”
- Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed

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Uncle Sam wants you to speak up. In a deal with Yelp, the federal government agreed to submit itself to user reviews, respond to comments on the site and app and take them into considerations to improve its "customer satisfaction." In exchange, Yelp won't serve advertising against government pages to avoid the appearance of an endorsement. Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina wasted no time in submitting her review of the TSA.

The US administration has made strides in embracing tech. Just this week, President Obama made the White House Presidential Fellows a permanent fixture of the federal government beyond his administration. The program brings together top technologists, designers and innovators with public servants to solve public sector issues with private sector efficiency.

There certainly is room for improvement: if you have 23 minutes, listen to this recent episode of podcast "Reply All" for your edification (subscribe while you're at it, this is an unpaid endorsement.) And go ahead, tell Yelp what you really think of the DMV... 

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Germany has voted to approve the Greek bailout. By a 3-1 margin, MPs formally removed the last major stumbling block to the $95 billion deal. The Dutch also vote today, the last formal approval needed for Athens to receive the first payout in a three-year deal.

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#Stat

$2.74 billion and 10,000 farm jobs.
The estimated cost for 2015 alone of the California drought, which is in its fourth year.

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The FDA approved the “female Viagra.” Addyi, or flibanserin, is actually a libido pill for both sexes which targets brain chemistry. But its maker, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, positioned its insistent FDA lobbying campaign on the gender front: the agency just couldn’t keep ignoring women’s sexual drives, it argued, while men have had their Viagra and other ED or testosterone deficit medication for nearly two decades. Opponents argue the drug’s benefits are hardly proven and its side effects too dangerous. Sprout isn’t yet giving a price for the drug, which has to be taken every day.

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Sex doesn’t sell though. Neither does violence, according to a study out of Ohio State University. Researchers found that advertising using sexual or violent content, or placed within a sexual or violent, was less effective – or at best equally effective – than more neutral themes. Why? Because when you see sexual or violent content, that’s all your brain remembers – not the brand.  

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Photo: Aerial view overlooking landscaping on April 4, 2015 in San Diego, California. Gov. Jerry Brown has demanded a 25 percent cut in urban water usage due to a severe drought affecting much of California and the West.