Daily Archives: February 12, 2014

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The 1981 Hyatt Regency Collapse of Kansas City

HistoryBy Joshua Kennon February 12, 2014 4 Comments

On July 17th, 1981, one of the premier hotels in Kansas City suffered a catastrophic structural collapse that killed dozens of people and became a textbook case study for universities throughout the world. I still pass the building and am struck by how many people were wiped out, instantly, with only a few seconds’ notice…

Eli Lilly and the Insanity of Foreign Taxes

Corporate Bonds, Music, TaxesBy Joshua Kennon February 12, 2014 29 Comments

I’m going through the corporate bond filings of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly just out of curiosity. They have a huge patent cliff coming up, during which time as much as 40% of their revenue base will be exposed to generic competition. I wondered what it would do to the risk metrics on the senior bonds so I pulled the Moody’s rating and reading over the figures as I listen to an old 1970s song called Snookeroo.