Daily Musings — Notable News of the Day
January 13, 2021
Upbeat Xi Says Time on China’s Side as Turmoil Grips U.S.
Besides the Capitol Hill chaos last week and the worsening coronavirus outbreak in America, a forecast released by the Centre for Economics and Business Research last month projected that China would overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy in dollar terms in 2028, five years earlier than a year ago.
U.S. labor market losing speed as COVID-19 spirals out of control
“Stripping out the wild monthly swings of the coronavirus recession, the rise in layoff activity is historically large and surpasses the increases seen at the height of the Great Recession.”
KC Fed’s George: Vaccine delays among most substantial risks to U.S. recovery
“Much of the optimism for eventual recovery this year is tied to a successful and widespread vaccination program. One of the most substantial risks to the outlook is a significant delay or disruption…It is difficult to imagine a sustained and robust recovery until the virus no longer interferes with day to day decisionmaking.”
The U.S. Should Invest in the Jobs of the Future
Even before the pandemic hit, the U.S. economy was in much worse shape than the low unemployment rate suggested. Almost all the income gains of the past several decades had gone to the wealthiest tenth of the population, leaving the bottom half hardly better off.
$2,000 stimulus checks would be a massive boost for America’s poorest
“That’s going to be a significant boost in their income…For people who work for Congress or people who work in policy, we can easily forget just how little money some people have.”
Measuring the stress in the rental industry
Rental income actually started declining in the fourth quarter of 2019, before anyone knew about COVID-19. So, there may be more to the story here than the pandemic.
Gunmakers see stock price increases in days after riots at US Capitol
It’s unclear whether investors believe gun manufacturers will benefit from Trump supporters purchasing weapons, general concern among other Americans about civil unrest, both or other reasons.
Jabs equal jobs? Fed sees possible economic boom if vaccine gets on track
“The recovery is directly linked to the pace of vaccinations and its effectiveness both in terms of numbers, but also in terms of the confidence it instills in consumers.”
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