(2020-03-23). US unemployment rate may skyrocket to 30% amid 'huge shock' to economy. rt.com 
The United States is expected to see an unprecedented 50 percent drop in gross domestic product in the second quarter due to coronavirus outbreak, says Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard. | According to his projections, the US unemployment rate could hit 30 percent in Q2 as a result of massive shutdowns to combat the virus. | Bullard has called for a powerful fiscal response to replace the $2.5 trillion in lost income to assure a strong eventual US recovery. He said that the Fed should be poised to do more to ensure markets function during a period of high volatility. | "This is a planne…
(2020-03-23). US must lift sanctions if they truly want to help Iran fight against coronavirus pandemic — Rouhani. rt.com 
Washington's offers to help Tehran against the deadly Covid-19 disease are disingenuous, because it is the US sanctions that undermine people's access to medical care, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said. | "When the Americans say they are ready to help Iran against the coronavirus, it is one of the greatest lies in history," Rouhani said on Monday, urging Washington to "stop getting in the way of Iranian people doing business." | If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions. | Rouhani blamed the sweeping US sanctions for exacerbating unemployment and "creating problems with the sup…
(2020-03-23). Death of the "Usual": Economic Evolution and the Emergence of the New. dissidentvoice.org Humanity is faced with a series of self-made, interrelated crises, from the environmental catastrophe to poverty, inequality, the absence of peace and an unprecedented level of displaced persons, among other pressing issues. All have been brought about by the negative behaviour of mankind, by the pervasive modes of living, the corrosive values and ideologies that …
(2020-03-23). Reaching 'beyond the possible' in Hawaii to meet sustainability goals. news.un.org The people and government of the US state of Hawaii will reach "beyond the possible" to make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality; The SDGs are a set of targets agreed by countries around the world to reduce poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all, by 2030. Hawaii introduced its own initiative, Sustainable Hawaii, in 2016 in support of the SDGs.
(2020-03-23). No corporate bailouts! Direct financial resources to the working people, not the capitalist elite! wsws.org The ruling class is seeking to exploit this crisis to engineer another multitrillion-dollar redistribution of wealth, on a scale even greater than the 2008 bank bailout.
(2020-03-23). While Dumping Their Stocks, US Senators Misled the Public on Coronavirus Crisis. globalresearch.ca The actions of prominent US lawmakers, Democrats as well as Republicans, in seeking to secure their personal wealth while concealing from the public the catastrophic implications of the coronavirus pandemic and the measures needed to combat it, sum up the …
(2020-03-21). COVID-19 Will Increase Poverty & Unemployment in LatAm: ECLAC. telesurenglish.net The executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena, said Friday that COVID-19 would directly impact the already weakened world economy. She claims increasing poverty in the region for 35 million people, as well as endangering an essential global public good: human health. | RELATED: | Barcena added that supply and demand will be affected, "either thr…
(2020-03-20). Unemployment Insurance applications surge. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Thursday, March 19, the Department of Labor reported a surge of applications for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits as the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite into the economy. For the week ending March 14, a seasonally adjusted 281,000 claims were filed, up 70,000 (or one-third) from the week before and much greater than the predicted 220,000. A National Public Radio poll also conducted last week showed that 18% of all households had already lost income from layoffs or reduced work hours. | But this is just the beginning of the tidal wave of layoffs in the works. In the first three workdays of th…
(2020-03-20). FIRST PERSON: The 'inseparable bond' between Hawaiian culture and native plants. news.un.org The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it's anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living aspects of the goals in their everyday work.
(2020-03-19). Joseph Stiglitz: Trump's "Trickle-Down" Economic Plans Are Not Enough to Meet Coronavirus Challenge. democracynow.org 
The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economis…
(2020-03-19). Proposals for the 2020 US Elections. dissidentvoice.org 
The broad left has been uniting behind the Democratic Party for the past four decades without having achieved much real progress for its base constituencies. In fact, there has been considerable regress: increased inequality of wealth and income, diminished collective bargaining, increased homeless numbers, rising student debt burdens, reduced abortion access, increasingly unaffordable costs of …
(2020-03-19). "Coronavirus Capitalism": Naomi Klein's Case for Transformative Change Amid Coronavirus Pandemic. democracynow.org 
Author, activist and journalist Naomi Klein says the coronavirus crisis, like earlier ones, could be a catalyst to shower aid on the wealthiest interests in society, including those most responsible for our current vulnerabilities, while offering next to nothing to most workers and small businesses. In 2007, Klein wrote "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." Now she argues President Trump's plan is a pandemic shock doctrine. In a new video for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, Klein argues it's vital for people to fight for the kind of transformative change that can not only curb…
(2020-03-19). US Aims to 'Maximize Suffering' With Iran Sanctions as Outbreak Deepens — Scholar. iranian.com On Tuesday, the US added even more sanctions on Iran, which is in the midst of a severe COVID-19 outbreak. US sanctions were already killing the sick in Iran even before the pandemic, but one Iranian scholar told Sputnik the bigger problem is regional poverty, which is also largely Washington's doing. US Secretary of State …
(2020-03-12). Bernie Sanders: We Are Winning "Ideological" & "Generational" Debate, Now Need to Win "Electability" democracynow.org 
After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those peopl…