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US economy down 4.8% in first quarter and an “unprecedented” drop forecasted for the second quarter
The U.S. central bank that has already slashed interest rates to zero reiterated on Wednesday they will stay there until the economy is clearly back on track. It has also rolled out around US$ 2 trillion in lending commitments, and Fed chief Jerome Powell said it was ready to do more as needed. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules'Heads we win, tails you lose': how America's rich have turned pandemic into profit
May 01st, 2020 - 03:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“As 26 million Americans lose their jobs, the billionaire class has added $308bn to its wealth
According to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, between 18 March and 22 April the wealth of America’s plutocrats grew 10.5%.
The billionaire bonanza comes as a flotilla of big businesses, millionaires and billionaires sail through loopholes in a $349bn bailout meant to save hard-hit small businesses. About 150 public companies managed to bag more than $600m in forgivable loans before the funds ran out.
Meanwhile, billionaires have been unable to put a well-heeled foot wrong. Billionaire wealth soared 1,130% in 2020 dollars between 1990 and 2020, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. That increase is more than 200 times greater than the 5.37% growth of median wealth in the US over this same period. And the tax obligations of America’s billionaires, measured as a percentage of their wealth, decreased 79% between 1980 and 2018.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/26/heads-we-win-tails-you-lose-how-americas-rich-have-turned-pandemic-into-profit
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