Stock buybacks (2015-2017). Average annual amount spent on buybacks per worker (retail industry). DATASOURCE: Roosevelt Institute (S&P / SEC). WIDGET: factgraphs.org
Category: Economics
NYS: American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan for Hoosiers
Universal basic income
Excerpt
A more targeted effort that did not aim to be universal could do much more on that score. Ms Smith, along with 1,000 other residents of the Bronx, received a one-off $1,000 grant from Mr Yang’s outfit. This allowed her to buy food and to restore the internet, which her 14-year-old son needed for remote learning. This helped a great deal. But UBI advocates still have to explain why it would not be better to give families such as hers larger sums rather than a smaller payment that also goes to those who do not need it.
Congress needs to think bigger
Excerpt
There will also be pressure to institute government work projects on a scale not seen since the New Deal. Democrats will find a climate change-focused revival of the Civilian Conservation Corps alluring, and Republicans will begin to wonder whether they should endorse trillions of dollars in new infrastructure spending rather than let more than 10 million Americans sit on unemployment.
Why slash the unemployment bonus?
Excerpt
The government support created by The Cares Act has actually increased personal income since the start of the recession. But Americans haven’t been holding onto this money. They’re spending it, and spending it on important things, research suggests. Analysts from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University that analyzed how people spent their stimulus checks found that individual spending went up for food, household items, and bill payments, including rent, “suggesting that many people were using the funds to obtain necessities and catch up on bills.” Nor has it been a disincentive for Americans to go back to work because, well, they’ve started going back to work.