Congress is back in session, and it has a weighty task before it — figuring out what to do about the economy as COVID-19 infections spike across the country and states roll back their reopenings . One central point of tension: the $600-per-week supplemental unemployment insurance benefit that was enacted in March as part of the CARES Act and is set to expire on July 31.
Democrats have proposed extending the payment until jobless rates in states fall below a certain threshold. Republicans, meanwhile, are leery of continuing the full payments , saying they will discourage people from returning to work. And it's true that research has shown that many workers are making more money on the beefed-up benefits than they would be at their old jobs.
In case you are keeping track:
Biden promises 3 million new jobs in caregiving, early education in 3rd pillar of his economic
"This man simply doesn't understand," Biden said of Trump in his remarks. "He can't deal with our economic crisis without serving and saving and solving the public health crisis. For all his bluster about his expertise on the economy, he's unable to explain how he'll actually help the working families hit the hardest. You know, he's quit on you and he's quit on this country."
Biden's plan, which senior Biden officials outlined to reporters on a call Monday night, centers around expanding access to long-term care for elderly and disabled Americans, as well as creating accessible, safe childcare options for working parents. The plan would create 1.5 million new jobs in both fields, and would also focus on increasing pay for caregivers and early childhood educators, say advisers.
Opinion | With the Coronavirus Pandemic, Republicans Are Flunking Microbe Economics - The New
In particular, he insists on letting gyms — closed spaces full of people huffing and puffing — stay open. Why? Because "if you are in good shape you have a very low likelihood of ending up in a significant condition."
Take the insane resistance to wearing masks. Some of this is about insecure masculinity — people refusing to take the simplest, cheapest of precautions because they think it will make them look silly. Some of it is about culture wars: liberals wear masks, so I won't. But a lot of it is about fetishization of individual choice.
Americans concerned about economic impact as coronavirus cases surge
WASHINGTON — Less than a quarter of adults believe the U.S. economy is "excellent" or "good" as the coronavirus pandemic and economic anxiety related to its spread loom large, new data from the NBC News|SurveyMonkey tracking poll show .
Overall, just 2 percent called the economy "excellent," with 21 percent calling it "good." The plurality, 43 percent, called the economy "fair," while 32 percent rated it "poor."
When asked what issue matters most to them, every subgroup across economic, age, education and racial lines said jobs and the economy — except for Democrats, liberals or those with postgraduate degrees. In those groups, health care rated first, followed by jobs and the economy.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Next coronavirus economic relief package will include a second stimulus payment; how much could
The U.S. Senate is back in session this week, and the legislative body's top leader has confirmed good news for millions of Americans.
According to The Hill , Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is a Republican from Kentucky, said Tuesday that his chamber will start discussing another coronavirus economic relief package, and added that it will include a second stimulus payment for eligible citizens.
"Speaking of building on what worked in the CARES Act, we want another round of direct payments, direct payments to help American families keep driving our national comeback," McConnell said, according to The Hill.
Coronavirus: OCR releases anti-discrimination guidance | Medical Economics
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued guidance aimed at ensuring that recipients of federal financial assistance comply with federal civil rights laws during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
According to a news release , recipients of federal financial assistance for HHS-funded COVID-19 programs must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The guidance is focused on compliance with this law.
Brent climbs to 4-month high on signs of economic recovery - HoustonChronicle.com
Oil climbed to the highest level since early March in London as indications of an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic helped drive a rally in commodities.
Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped more than 2% on Tuesday. European Union leaders agreed on an unprecedented stimulus package to pull their economies out of the worst recession in memory. At the same time, European regulators are eyeing a potential approval of the first Covid-19 vaccine this year, further adding to the positive sentiment.
China's economic blitzkrieg (July 20) | U.S. Embassy in Georgia
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exploited global business norms to drive its economic rise. Now the CCP is using its economic power to gain leverage over nations and businesses and limit freedoms around the world.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) "seeks to leverage the immense power, productivity and ingenuity of the Chinese people to overthrow the rules-based international system and to make the world safe for dictatorship," Barr said.
"It is clear that the PRC seeks not merely to join the ranks of other advanced industrial economies, but to replace them altogether," he added.
Happening on Twitter
Henry Farrell has a caustic blog post on economists who think they're smarter than epidemiologists, keying off a re… https://t.co/u6dfNHEDvS paulkrugman (from New York City) Tue Jul 21 12:42:21 +0000 2020
This is what chief economists think about the global economy right now https://t.co/QUeEWBzlsu #Economics #COVID19 https://t.co/HOGt6Tvu4M wef (from Geneva, Switzerland) Tue Jul 21 11:00:16 +0000 2020
Economists think Congress should keep paying unemployed workers $600 a week — or even more: https://t.co/zsncdzsMFf FiveThirtyEight (from New York, NY) Tue Jul 21 18:20:15 +0000 2020
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