Category: COVID-19

COVID-19 recession: One of America’s deepest downturns was also its shortest after bailout-driven bounceback

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Thanks to a roaring economy, plunging joblessness and a consumer spending spree, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 recession is officially over.

We didn’t know this, formally, however, until July 19, 2021, when a group of America’s top economists determined that the pandemic recession ended two months after it began, making it the shortest downturn on record.

As an economist who has written a macroeconomics textbook, I was eagerly waiting to know the official dates. This is in part because I recently asked my Boston University MBA students to make guesses, and we all wanted to know who was closest to the mark. While many of my students ended up nailing it, I was off by a month. Continue reading.

As Virus Resurges, G.O.P. Lawmakers Allow Vaccine Skepticism to Flourish

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As the coronavirus’s Delta variant rips through conservative communities, most Republicans remain reluctant to confront vaccine misinformation and skepticism in their midst.

WASHINGTON — As the coronavirus surges in their states and districts, fanned by a more contagious variant exploiting paltry vaccination rates, many congressional Republicans have declined to push back against vaccine skeptics in their party who are sowing mistrust about the shots’ safety and effectiveness.

Amid a widening partisan divide over coronavirus vaccination, most Republicans have either stoked or ignored the flood of misinformation reaching their constituents and instead focused their message about the vaccine on disparaging President Biden, characterizing his drive to inoculate Americans as politically motivated and heavy-handed.

On Tuesday, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican who said he had received his first Pfizer vaccine shot only on Sunday, blamed the hesitance on Mr. Biden and his criticism of Donald J. Trump’s vaccine drive last year. Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, said skeptics would not get their shots until “this administration acknowledges the efforts of the last one.” Continue reading.

Driven by covid deaths, U.S. life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years in 2020

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Life expectancy in the United States dropped by a year and a half in 2020 — a continuation of a worrisome decline that was observed in the first half of last year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the country, according to federal data released Wednesday.

The decline, which is the largest seen in a single year since World War II, reflects the pandemic’s sustained toll on Americans, particularly the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on communities of color. Black Americans lost 2.9 years of life expectancy while Latinos, who have longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic Blacks or Whites, saw a drop of three years. There was a decrease of 1.2 years among White people.

“It’s horrific,” said Anne Case, a professor emeritus of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. “It’s not entirely unexpected given what we have already seen about mortality rates as the year went on, but that still doesn’t stop it from being just horrific, especially for non-Hispanic Blacks and for Hispanics.” Continue reading.

Ex-Fox News Reporter Rips Tucker Carlson: ‘Leading Lemmings To Their Own Slaughter’

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Ex-Fox News Reporter Rips Tucker Carlson: ‘Leading Lemmings To Their Own Slaughter’

Former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron on Monday called out Tucker Carlson’s doubtful diatribes against COVID-19 vaccines, saying his ex-colleague at the conservative network was “gaslighting” viewers for ratings and revenue.

“It’s about ratings and ratings ultimately become revenue, and that’s the name of the game,” Cameron told CNN’s “New Day” about personalities on Fox and other hyperpartisan media outlets that have questioned the shots. Vaccine resistance has now become a GOP rallying cry, even though the shots have been shown safe and effective.

“Whoever gets the most clicks on social media, makes the most money, gets the most fame, gets the most attention and that type of activity is not journalism,” Cameron continued. “It’s not news. It’s gaslighting. It’s propaganda.” Continue reading.

Staffers in White House, Pelosi’s office test positive for coronavirus

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A White House staffer and an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tested positive for the coronavirus this week, officials confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

Neither individual had close contact with President Biden or Pelosi, officials said, but the cases reflect the ongoing threat of the virus to lawmakers, administration officials and their staff as coronavirus cases spike across the country.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters there had been other positive tests among White House staffers, though she did not provide details on how many or when they happened. Continue reading.

Fauci: Paul doesn’t know what he’s talking about

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday escalated his ongoing feud with the nation’s top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci about the role the National Institutes of Health (NIH) played in funding controversial research in Wuhan, China.

The two traded barbs during a tense exchange, triggering a shouting match in which Fauci accused Paul of lying in order to further his agenda. 

During a Senate Health Committee hearing about the federal COVID-19 response, Paul said the NIH funded illegal gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which created a highly dangerous and transmissible virus able to infect humans. Gain-of-function is a controversial method where researchers make a pathogen more infectious, often to develop more effective treatments and vaccines. Continue reading.

‘Maybe you have that information to provide?’: Jen Psaki expertly dismantles reporter’s pro-Trump anti-vaxx claim

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday politely explained to a reporter insisting anti-vaxx Trump voters are refusing to get inoculated because the former president allegedly did not get enough “credit” for the vaccine.

The reporter wanted to know if the White House would “consider highlighting or acknowledging, in a greater way,” Trump’s “role in creating the vaccines,” as a means “to assure the rural voters who still support President Trump and are hesitant to get the vaccine.”

Psaki was not buying the reporter’s claims, which did not appear to be based on any facts. Continue reading.

Frontline Worker Pay Working Group schedules first public hearing for July 28 at 12:00 p.m.

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA. — Members of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group are scheduled to meet for the first time Wednesday, July 28 from 12-2pm. An agenda is under development and expected to be finalized closer to the meeting date. Members of the public who are interested in testifying at this meeting or providing written testimony should email Sandy Most at sandy.most@lcc.leg.mn no later than 4pm on Tuesday, July 27. Please include your name, email address, the group of workers or organization you represent, and whether you are requesting to testify in-person or remotely.

The working group was established during the June 2021 special session to make recommendations to the Legislature on how to disburse $250,000,000 in direct financial support to frontline workers. In developing its recommendation, the working group must consider factors including a frontline worker’s increased financial burden and increased risk of virus exposure due to the nature of their work.

The working group must submit proposed legislative language implementing its recommendations to the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate Majority Leader by September 6, 2021. The Legislature would need to meet in a special session to pass and send a bill to Gov. Walz. 

What: Frontline Worker Pay Working Group holds its first public hearing
When: Wednesday, July 28 at 12pm
Where: Minnesota Capitol, Room G-3
Who: Members of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group

Canada to open border to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens on Aug. 9

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TORONTO — Canada on Monday said it will begin to ease pandemic restrictions at the U.S.-Canada border next month, allowing U.S. citizens and permanent residents living in the United States who are fully vaccinated with Canadian-authorized vaccines to enter for nonessential travel without quarantining.

The decision, which takes effect Aug. 9, follows months of criticism from U.S. lawmakers across the political spectrum, business groups and some travelers over what they said was an overly cautious approach to lifting curbs that have split families, battered the tourism sector and upended life in close-knit border communities.

To be eligible for entry, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents must be asymptomatic and present a negative coronavirus molecular test taken within 72 hours of flight departure or arrival at a land crossing. Continue reading.