The bottom line

Medicare’s prescription program, Part D, paid $32.5 billion for the top 50 prescribed drugs in 2016. If it had the option of negotiating directly with pharma companies—it’s now blocked by law from doing so—and got the same prices as the Veterans Administration, it would have paid $14.5 billion less.

Axios.com

The 800,000 federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay owe an estimated $438 million in monthly housing payments. About $249 million of that comes from mortgages; the remaining $189 million is owed to landlords for rent.

Zillow.com

New York’s Chrysler Building is for sale, with current owners hoping to earn back the $800 million they paid for a 90 percent share in 2008.

It is likely to come with a high-profile tenant: Amazon is close to signing a deal to lease 10,000 square feet in the iconic skyscraper.

Curbed.com

Onetime Fox News star Megyn Kelly, scooped up by NBC, will be paid the full $69 million she was promised for a threeyear contract. Her show was canceled in October, yet she is still set to receive a balance of up to $30 million.

Axios.com

Reuters.com

Daily News

Dollar stores are visible symbols of American inequality. In Chicago, the average household income of census tracts with a dollar store is $55,900; areas without one have an average income of $82,000. In New York City, tracts with dollar stores average $59,700 in income, versus $93,500 for others.

China’s exports, battered by the trade war, fell 4.4 percent in December, the most in two years. More surprising: Imports fell even more, dropping 7.6 percent—the biggest decline since July 2016 and a shock to analysts.