Gavin/Solmonese

The dollar's rise to global reserve currency was neither immediate nor inevitable.

In American Banker, Senior Director Anne Eberhardt draws on her work to trace the dollar's 250-year journey. The story is a reminder that America's strength does not rest solely on its wealth, military power or natural resources. It evolved from a general willingness to adapt to changing circumstances, while preserving the foundations that provide confidence, both domestically and abroad.

With U.S. public debt now north of $31 trillion and debt-to-GDP at 120%, that lesson has rarely felt more relevant.

Read Anne's piece: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-history-of-the-us-dollar-is-the-history-of-our-countrys-growth

The history of the US dollar is the history of our country's growth In the year of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations, it's worth looking back at the long road the U.S. dollar took to global dominance, and the lessons we can learn from it.

756 rural hospitals are at risk of closure. More than 40% face immediate financial distress. In 2024 alone, 25 hospitals closed.

Ted Gavin breaks down the financial structure driving this crisis and what Chapter 11 can, and cannot, fix when a hospital's balance sheet breaks:

- Why private insurance reimbursement rates matter more than Medicaid rates
- What Steward Health Care's collapse revealed about sale-leaseback risk
- Why healthcare restructuring is categorically different from any other industry
- What the One Big Beautiful Bill's Medicaid cuts mean for the hospitals already barely surviving

Chapter 11 is a tool. In the right circumstances, it can shed unsustainable debt, renegotiate leases, and create a real path forward. What it cannot do is make an unviable business viable.

Knowing the difference is the work that actually matters.

https://gavinsolmonese.com/insights/rural-hospital-bankruptcy/

Why Rural Hospitals Are Failing: What Bankruptcy Can and Cannot Fix Rural hospital bankruptcy is rising as 756 facilities face closure risk. What Chapter 11 can fix in a failing hospital, and what it cannot.