(2021-05-08). The Indian ruling elite's criminal response to the pandemic—a global catastrophe. wsws.org Whilst the mass of the population is condemned to want, hunger and death, a tiny minority gorge on wealth that would put the Mughals or even the more rapacious British colonial East India Company to shame.
(2021-05-08). New York City Restaurants See Drop in Employment Rates After Unemployment Benefits Increase. sputniknews.com When US President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act in March, it offered a $1,400 stimulus check to Americans who earn less than $75,000 a year. The package also granted an extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits through September 6.
(2021-05-07). Social unrest continues in Colombia. challenge-magazine.org Huge numbers of protestors have taken to the streets of Colombia over the last week after President Duque attempted to pass a bill that would further increase inequality in the country by making the working class pay for the covid-19-induced fiscal deficit. A general strike began on the 28th April in response to Duque's presentation of the ironically titled 'Sustainable Solidarity Bill'. The proposed bill has intensified grievances about the state of inequality in the country, with 2.8 million people having already been pushed into extreme poverty during the last year alone. The bill proposes increasing VAT on…
(2021-05-07). GDP Versus Lasting Growth Rooted In Love — OpEd. eurasiareview.com In what feels like a throwback to another era, banks and big business are once again talking about 'growth', and economic development. Both of which amount to the same thing to the men and women of money — profit. | After over a year of utter turmoil, death, illness, heartache, social and economic lockdowns, some nations — the wealthy nations who, unlike poor countries, have been able to stock-pile vaccinations and immunize there populations, are opening up. The impact Covid has had on their coffers has been measured and, as the twisted wheels of consumerism begin to churn again, they are evaluatin…
(2021-05-07). As pandemic continues and nearly 500,000 file for unemployment, US states seek to blackmail workers back on the job. wsws.org Unemployment payments, as opposed to dangerous, low-paid and degrading work are being blamed for difficulties reopening restaurants and other businesses even as the pandemic continues, with the US approaching 600,000 official COVID-19 deaths.
(2021-05-07). Canada Loses Over 200,000 Jobs in April, Unemployment Climbs Amid Pandemic's 'Third Wave'. sputniknews.com TORONTO (Sputnik) – The Canadian economy lost 207,000 jobs in March, raising the country's unemployment rate by 0.6 percent as the country labours through the so-called "third wave" of the coronavirus pandemic, the state statistics agency said on Friday.
(2021-05-07). Biden's Big Steps On TRIPS: Getting The World Vaccinated — Analysis. eurasiareview.com President Biden made a huge step yesterday when his trade representative, Katherine Tai, announced that the United States would be supporting a resolution at the World Trade Organization (WTO), to suspend intellectual property rules on vaccines for the duration of the pandemic. This resolution had been introduced by India and South Africa back in October. | The United States had previously been leading wealthy countries in opposition to the resolution. With Biden now reversing the position of the Trump administration, the resolution is likely to be approved. | However, the approval is not necessarily a foregon…
(2021-05-07). Libyans Struggling in Poverty 10 Years after NATO Intervention. telesurenglish.net During the past 10 years, the Libyans have been plagued by political and economic collapse, inter-militia and intertribal warfare, and humanitarian crisis. In 2010, Libya's GDP per capita exceeded US$12,000. However, in 2011 it dropped to about US$5,500. | RELATED: | Ali Al-Khalfouni, a 56-year-old Libyan elementary school teacher, used to make about US$700 per month 10 years ago, an income high enough to cover the expens…
(2021-05-07). Landlords cheer as federal court trashes eviction moratorium. peoplesworld.org 
Up to ten million people could soon be out on the streets if a judge's ruling trashing the federal moratorium on evictions is upheld. The ban on throwing people out of their homes was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control last September as spiraling unemployment jeopardized families' ability to pay their rent. …
(2021-05-07). Big biz answer to low April job numbers: End unemployment benefits! peoplesworld.org 
The Chamber of Commerce and the Republicans are seizing on what they say is a poor April jobs report to call for ending unemployment benefits they say are too generous. Their idea is that by heaping more pain and suffering on U.S. workers they will be forced to go back to work even if only …
(2021-05-07). Police in Brazil Kill Two Dozen in Deadliest Favela Raid in Rio's History. truthout.org 
More than 100 heavily armed Brazilian police officers stormed a sprawling Rio de Janeiro favela Thursday and killed at least two dozen people, a raid that human rights activists, researchers, and journalists described as the The hourslong operation, purportedly aimed at drug traffickers in the poverty-stricken Jacarezinho favela, ultimat…
(2021-05-07). Less-Educated Workers Were Hardest Hit in Recession. That Hasn't Changed. truthout.org 
The April employment report was considerably weaker than had generally been expected, with the economy adding just 266,000 jobs. Furthermore, the prior two months numbers were revised down by 78,000. The unemployment rate edged up to 6.1 percent, but this was entirely due to more people entering the labor force. The employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) also edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 57.9 percent. That is still 2.9 percentage points below its average for 2019. | Performance Across Sec…
(2021-05-07). Harris Urges Central America to Tackle 'Root Causes' of Migration as Mexico Accuses US of Meddling. sputniknews.com The so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, consisting of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, has been long been plagued by social unrest, poverty, violence, and corruption, partially attributable to centuries of US meddling in the region's affairs. The crisis has caused many people from these countries to flee in search of a better life.
(2021-05-07). Executives at Canada's Loblaws food retail giant gorge on bonuses, while condemning grocery workers to poverty wages. wsws.org The grocery store chain is making money hand over fist, yet is stridently refusing to offer any pay increases to its low-paid, largely precariously employed workforce.
(2021-05-07). Economy Adds Just 266,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Edges Up to 6.1 Percent. cepr.net Unemployment due to voluntary quits remains extraordinarily low. The April employment report was considerably weaker than had generally been expected, with the economy adding just 266,000 jobs. Furthermore, the prior two months numbers were revised down by 78,000. The unemployment rate edged up to 6.1 percent, but this was entirely due to more people entering …
(2021-05-07). Patriotic Millionaires Blast Chamber of Commerce on Call to End Expanded Unemployment Benefits. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-05-07). Pay a Living Wage or 'Flip Your Own Damn Burgers': Progressives Blast Right-Wing Narrative on Jobs. commondreams.org "If one in four recipients are making more off unemployment than they did working, that's not an indictment of $300 a week in UI benefits. It's an indictment of corporations paying starvation wages." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/living_wages_damn_burgers.jpg …
(2021-05-07). As Hiring Undershoots Expectations, Biden Urged to Go Big With $10 Trillion Jobs Plan. commondreams.org "Millions of people are out of work, and the unemployment rate is rising. The real risk isn't doing too much—it's doing too little." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/jobs_report_biden_0.jpg …
(2021-05-07). Three Reasons Why The Biden Tax Increase Makes No Sense — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Daniel Lacalle* | Anyone who believes the "rich" and large corporations will pay for $28 trillion in debt or the $2 trillion in new deficit has a real problem with math. | Biden's announcement of a massive tax increase on businesses and wealthier segments of the population simply makes no sense. The tax hikes will have a significant impact on economic growth, investment, and job creation and do not even scratch the surface of the structural deficit. Even if we believe the gross domestic product growth and revenue estimates announced by the Biden administration, the impact on debt and deficit is negligible.
(2021-05-07). The real problem with Bill Gates and neoliberal optimism. nationofchange.org The progressive left needs to confront the fact that plutocratic philanthropists like Gates care much more about preserving the systems that continue to multiply their wealth.
(2021-05-07). Big Tech's Monopoly Creep. strategic-culture.org From "kill-zones" to "waterbeds," the giants of the digital marketplace have ways of making you squirm. | By Napoleon LINARTHATOS | If we manage not to descend into some kind of tech dystopia, then the generations that come after us will have the opportunity to wonder how on earth we had been duped for so long and so pathetically by a few Big Tech monopolists, how it was possible to have such a grand accumulation of power and wealth preserved by a system so bluntly corrupt in its modus operandi. Were we so transfixed by the shiny digital objects as to be oblivious to what was going on around us? Were we so kee…