Daily Archives: December 26, 2020

2020-12-26: News Headlines

Dean Baker (2020-12-26). The New York Times Hasn't Heard About China's Vaccines. cepr.net That is the implication of a major piece on how the coronavirus vaccines are leading to greater worldwide inequality, since the rich countries have reserved the vast majority of the 2021 supplies of vaccines of the leading U.S.-European vaccines. While this is in fact a serious problem, as my co-authors and I have noted, China …

Online News Editor (2020-12-25). Japan unemployment falls to 2.9 pct in November. laprensalatina.com Tokyo, Dec 25 (efe-epa).- The unemployment rate in Japan fell in November to 2.9 percent of the workforce, two tenths less than the level registered last October, according to data released Friday by the government. The 3.1 percent unemployment rate registered in October, linked to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the highest …

news.un (2020-12-25). The virus that shut down the world: The yawning gulf between rich and poor. news.un.org Inequality between the rich and poor worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and poverty increased, for the first time in decades. In part two of our series on how the virus has changed the world, we look at the ways the pandemic has pushed back efforts to create more equitable societies.

Andrew Moss (2020-12-25). Justice for All Essential Workers. counterpunch.org Each day the pandemic brings new mixtures of hope and dread: new reports on the vaccine rollout, new and dire accounts of surging cases and deaths. And threading through this skein of news reports is an ongoing story of persisting injustice: economic and racial inequality, deep inequalities of risk. You don't need to look far

David Skripac (2020-12-25). COVID-19: A Fabricated Second "Tidal Wave" of Poverty and Injustice. globalresearch.ca Here we are at the end of a year filled with upheaval, facing yet another round of lockdowns, this time ostensibly intended to fight off a supposed "second wave of COVID-19." | In the foreground, we have the completely co-opted mainstream …

Robert Reich (2020-12-25). How the Richest 1 Percent Came Out Big Winners in the Covid Relief Bill. commondreams.org Republicans didn't blink twice when they handed out $6.3 billion in tax breaks to their wealthy corporate backers, but when it came to getting direct relief to struggling Americans $600 was the best they could do. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mcconnell.png

Ellen Brown (2020-12-25). Tackling the Infrastructure and Unemployment Crises: The "American System" Solution. dissidentvoice.org A self-funding national infrastructure bank modeled on the "American System" of Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt would help solve two of the country's biggest problems. Millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and government relief checks and savings are running out; meanwhile, the country still needs trillions of dollars …

teleSUR (2020-12-25). Russia Pledges to Invest $200 Billion to Reduce Poverty. telesurenglish.net The Russian government is planning to spend a total of 15.3 trillion rubles (nearly $207 billion) over the next five years to reduce poverty and improve citizens' incomes, the country's Accounts Chamber reported this Thursday. | The document indicates that the measures will be implemented through national and federal projects as well as state programs, and intend to help reduce the number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence level. | According to figures provided by economic analysts, poverty levels could be reduced by 2.32 percentage points, while real disposable incomes would increase by 1.04 perce…

Michael Albert (2020-12-25). Participatory Economics 101 | Pt. 2. zcomm.org 'What do you want?' is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation, and degradation…

Sarah Anderson (2020-12-24). Why Can't CEO's Pay for Their Own Lunch? counterpunch.org While the world is reeling from the pandemic, corporate lobbyists have been focused on making taxpayers subsidize lavish lunches for wealthy executives. And their work has paid off in the new Covid relief deal. Buried in the details of this modest aid plan is a provision to give executives unlimited tax deductions for their business

Arielle Robinson (2020-12-23). With racism, red-baiting/Georgia run-off elections fail to focus on people's needs. workers.org By Arielle Robinson and Dianne Mathiowetz Atlanta, Georgia So what's it like living in the political circus of the Jan. 5, 2021, run-off in Georgia for U.S. Senate—while the deadly scourge of the pandemic rages, fear of mass evictions and the rise of poverty and unemployment grow, and incessant charges . . . |

_____ (2020-12-23). 2020 In Review: Workers Struggle Under The Weight Of The Pandemic. popularresistance.org Workers will feel the ramifications of this unprecedented year long into the future. | The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 300,000 lives, destroyed millions of jobs, busted gaping holes in public budgets, and magnified the myriad inequalities that have come to define life in the United States. | Notwithstanding a few bright spots, the labor movement struggled to find its footing in the biggest workplace health and safety crisis of our lifetimes. | The year started with 3.5 percent unemployment—the lowest in a half-century—and hopes that workers might be able to use the tight labor market to recover s…

Miko Peled (2020-12-23). The Gaza Strip is "Uninhabitable": Israel's Genocide in Gaza Goes Uninterrupted, but Is Europe Finally Taking Notice? globalresearch.ca A long and cruel siege, constant Israeli attacks resulting in the killing of countless civilians, destruction of homes and infrastructure, extreme poverty, and trauma remain the daily bread of Palestinians in Gaza. | *** | A

William Manson (2020-12-23). Beyond the "Fear and Greed Index" dissidentvoice.org Investors are driven by two emotions: fear and greed. — CNN-Money These days, for the 5% of Americans who have substantial cash to invest, it has become increasingly easy to acquire large capital-gains in stock-market equities, even over the short-term. Super-wealthy investors, with periodic bolstering from the Fed, nowadays produce the frequent bubbles of absurdly inflated …