By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday the U.S. economy
remains in crisis from the pandemic even as she defended developing plans for
future tax increases to pay for new public investments.
Yellen spoke at a hearing of the
House Financial Services Committee that was ostensibly to discuss the country’s
recovery from the coronavirus-triggered recession, but turned instead into a
skirmish over priorities far beyond it.
Republican members of the committee
challenged Yellen and Fed Chair Jerome Powell on issues like plans to build
climate change into financial regulation, and specifically quizzed Yellen on
how the United States can simultaneously be in crisis and healthy enough to
consider raising taxes.
The immediate hole remains deep,
Yellen said, with “a huge problem of joblessness” following the loss of
employment due to the pandemic.
“But once the economy is strong again
President Biden is likely to propose that we engage in long-term plans to
address longstanding investment shortfalls...in infrastructure, investment to
address climate risk, investments in people, R&D, manufacturing,” she said.
“It is necessary to pay for them.”
One possibility is boosting the
corporate tax rate back to 28% and fixing a “global race to the bottom” in what
companies pay.
It was the latest in a series of
quarterly hearings held by the committee to take stock of the coronavirus
economic response, but the sessions have become increasingly open-ended affairs
with members asking about issues from China’s role at the International
Monetary Fund to accounting rules.
On the broad economic environment,
Powell downplayed concerns of some lawmakers about the possibility of coming
inflation as the Fed’s loose monetary policy coincides with an economic
reopening expected to spark the strongest growth since the 1980s.
“We do
expect inflation will move up over the course of the year,” but it will be “neither
particularly large nor persistent,” Powell said in testimony after some members
said they were concerned about rising prices.
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-yellen-powell/yellen-says-post-crisis-plans-will-move-to-infrastructure-taxes-idUSKBN2BF1ZZ
In geopolitical news, the west is pushing China and Russia into an ever
more closer economic and military Eur-Asian alliance. The exact opposite of the
loose western pact’s interests.
For now, China and Russia are still politely pushing back, but both seem
to have run out of patience. Will either or both take advantage of the coming
wave of western inflation? My guess is
yes for both.
Russia, China push for U.N.
Security Council summit, lash out at West March
23, 2021 6:05 AM By Stella
Qiu ,
Andrew Osborn
BEIJING/MOSCOW
(Reuters) - Russia and China said on Tuesday they wanted a summit of permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council amid what they called heightened political
turbulence, with Moscow saying they both believed the United States was acting
in a destructive way.
The two allies, whose relations with
the West are under increasing strain, made the call for a summit in a joint
statement after talks between their foreign ministers in the city of Guilin.
“At a time of increasing global
political turbulence, a summit of the permanent members of the U.N. Security
Council is particularly necessary to establish direct dialogue about ways to
resolve humankind’s common problems in the interests of maintaining global
stability,” they said in a statement published on the Russian foreign
ministry’s website.
Moscow has long been pushing for
such a summit.
The statement did not mention the
United States by name. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news
conference after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Moscow and
Beijing were both unhappy with U.S. behaviour.
“We noted the destructive nature of
U.S. intentions, relying on the military-political alliances of the Cold War
era and creating new closed alliances in the same spirit, to undermine the
U.N.-centered international legal architecture,” said Lavrov.
“We emphasised that against the
background of active attempts by the West to promote its concept of a
‘rules-based world order’, the joint efforts of Russia and China...to preserve
the modern system of international law are becoming more and more relevant.”
Both countries’ ties with Washington
are strained.
U.S. and Chinese officials on Friday
concluded what Washington called “tough and direct” talks in Alaska, while
Russia’s ambassador is back in Moscow for talks after U.S. President Joe Biden
said he believed President Vladimir Putin was a killer.
Kicking off his two-day trip to
China on Monday, Lavrov issued a call for Moscow and Beijing to reduce their dependence
on the U.S. dollar.
Tuesday’s joint statement urged
other countries to refrain from interfering in the domestic affairs of Russia
and China.
Lavrov
said Russia and China regarded European and Western sanctions as unacceptable .
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-china-un/russia-china-push-for-u-n-security-council-summit-lash-out-at-west-idUSKBN2BF0GO
In rump-EUSSR news, the German government seems intent on
killing the patient. Well, the German economy anyway. Whatever happened to
German science, efficiency and logic? If
the German economy collapses, who’s going to prop up the rest of the EUSSR?
German businesses say Easter
lockdown will fuel bankruptcies March
23, 2021 9:36 AM By Reuters Staff
BERLIN
(Reuters) - Germany’s decision to extend the coronavirus lockdown and close
stores over Easter could drive more businesses to bankruptcy and be
counterproductive by encouraging people to flock to the shops beforehand, lobby
groups said on Tuesday.
The HDE association of retailers
said 54% of fashion stores faced the danger of insolvency after 100 days of
lockdown.
“After one year with coronavirus,
the situation for many retailers is desperate. There is no longer any hope of
surviving this crisis economically,” HDE president Stefan Genth said.
After talks that lasted into the
early hours of Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would extend its
lockdown until April 18 and called on citizens to stay home and reduce contacts
as much as possible for five days from April 1.
The number of new infections in
Germany rose by 7,485 on Tuesday to 2.674 million, while another 250 people
died, bringing the death toll to 74,964. The number of cases per 100,000 in the
last seven days rose to 108 from 107 on Monday.
Genth said the government was
operating with “tunnel vision” by only focusing on the number of cases per
100,000 people, rather than other metrics and the fact retailers have taken
many steps to limit the risk of infection while shopping.
“The risk of infection during
shopping is low,” he said.
The HDE said the decision to close
supermarkets on the Thursday before Easter would be counterproductive as it
would mean the stores would be fuller on the Wednesday and Saturday.
The Association of the German Motor
Trade (ZDK) also attacked the extension and tightening of the lockdown.
“Politicians must not shut down our
country any longer,” ZDK president Juergen Karpinski told the newspapers of the
Funke Mediengruppe, warning of a wave of bankruptcies.
“If car dealerships contribute
practically nothing to infections, how is their closure supposed to help
contain the virus?”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-economy/german-businesses-say-easter-lockdown-will-fuel-bankruptcies-idUSKBN2BF11E?il=0
Finally, yet another hit to already struggling supply
chains.
Japanese carmakers assess impact
of fire at Renesas chip plant March
22, 2021 1:55 AM By Reuters Staff
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese carmakers scrambled on
Monday to assess the impact on their production of a fire at a Renesas
Electronics chip plant that could aggravate a global semiconductor shortage.
Renesas has said it will take at
least a month to resume production at a 300mm wafer line at its Naka plant in
northeast Japan after an electrical fault caused machinery to catch fire on
Friday and poured smoke into the sensitive clean room.
The fallout on carmakers could
spread beyond Japan to auto companies in Europe and the United States because
Renesas has about a 30% share of the global market for microcontroller unit
chips used in cars.
“We are gathering information and
trying to see if this will affect us or not,” a Honda spokesman said. Other
automakers including Toyota and Nissan said they too were assessing the
situation.
Two-thirds of production at the
affected line is automotive chips. Renesas also has a 200mm wafer line at its
Naka plant which has not been affected.
----
“It will probably take more than a month to return to normal supply. Given
that, even Toyota will face very unstable production in April and May,” said
Seiji Sugiura, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute. “I think
Honda, Nissan and other makers will also be facing a difficult situation.”
Semiconductors such as those made by
Renesas are used extensively in cars, including to monitor engine performance,
manage steering or automatic windows, and in sensors used in parking and
entertainment systems.
Nissan and Honda have already been
forced to scale back production plans because of the global chip shortage
resulting from burgeoning demand from electronic goods makers and an unexpected
rebound in car sales after a slump during the early months of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Toyota, which has agreements with
some parts suppliers to stockpile chips, has fared better so far.
“It could take three months or even
half a year for a full recovery,” said Akira Minamikawa, analyst at technology
research company Omdia. “This has happened when chip stockpiles are low, so the
impact is going to be significant.”
European carmakers said on Monday
they could not yet assess whether the fire would have any impact on global chip
supplies. Germany’s BMW said its plants were running even though semiconductor
supply in general remained tight.
A spokesman for France’s Renault
said it was currently difficult to asses the volume impact “given the complexity
of the supply chain of semi-conductors”.
Volkswagen, the world’s
second-largest carmaker, confirmed it does not have direct supply agreements
with semiconductor makers. “Of course every additional shortage in the sector
further tightens global supply,” it said.
Renesas
said its customers, which are mostly automotive parts makers rather than the
car companies, will begin to see chip shipments fall in about a month.
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-renesas-fire-autos/japanese-carmakers-assess-impact-of-fire-at-renesas-chip-plant-idUSKBN2BE05I?feedType=mktg&feedName=&WT.mc_id=Newsletter-US&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018%20Template:%20UK%20TECHNOLOGY%20ROUNDUP%202021-03-22&utm_term=NEW:%20UK%20Technology%20Roundup
“If
you're not gonna pull the trigger, don't point the gun.”
James
Baker. United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan,
and U.S. Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff under President
George H. W. Bush.
Covid-19 Corner This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
U.S. health body questions
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine trial data March
23, 2021 4:49 AM By Miyoung Kim
(Reuters)
-AstraZeneca may have used “outdated information” in the results of a
large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trial, a U.S. health agency said on Tuesday,
casting fresh doubt on the shot, its potential U.S. rollout and plunging its
developers, once again, into controversy.
The highly unusual rebuke from federal
health officials comes just one day after interim data from the drugmaker
showed better-than-expected results from the U.S. trial which had been seen as
a scientific counter to concerns that have dogged the shot since late last
year.
The vaccine developed with partner Oxford
University was 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in the large
trial that also took place in Chile and Peru, according to the data. It was
also 100% effective against severe or critical forms of the disease and
hospitalisation, and posed no increased risk of blood clots.
The Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), an
independent committee overseeing the trial, has "expressed concern that
AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may
have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data," the U.S. National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in a statement bit.ly/3scE3ji released after midnight in the
United States.
“We urge the company to work with the DSMB
to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy
data be made public as quickly as possible,” it said, adding that the DSMB had
informed AstraZeneca of its concerns.
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment.
----
Although hailed as a milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic when
it emerged as a vaccine contender last year, the AstraZeneca shot has seen a
steady stream of questions raised about its efficacy, dosing regimen and
possible side effects.
---- Fauci, who also serves as chief medical
advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, said on Monday the U.S. trial found no
indication at all of the rare blood clots.
Before the blood clot concerns,
there were also earlier separate late-stage studies, run by partner Oxford
University, that had raised questions about its dosing regimen and the lack of
data about its efficacy for elderly people.
The latest data, which has yet to be
reviewed by independent researchers, was based on 141 infections among 32,449
participants.
Analysts had also noted
AstraZeneca’s achievement of producing strong trial data against a backdrop of
more infectious variants spreading in the United States and other countries.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, which is
already widely used outside the United States, is seen as crucial in tackling
the spread of COVID-19 across the globe because it is easier and cheaper to
transport than rival shots.
It has been granted conditional
marketing or emergency use authorisation in more than 70 countries. Many
countries are relying heavily on it to end the pandemic, and several state
leaders have taken the shot to boost confidence in the vaccine including South
Korea’s President Moon Jae-in who received it on Tuesday.
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-u-s/u-s-health-body-questions-astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-trial-data-idUSKBN2BF0CV
AstraZeneca to publish full U.S.
trial results after rare rebuke over 'outdated' data
March
23, 2021 1:24 PM
By Kate
Kelland , Julie Steenhuysen
LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - AstraZeneca will
publish up-to-date results from its major U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial within 48
hours after health officials publicly criticized the drugmaker for using
“outdated information” to show how well the immunization worked.
The rare public rebuke marks the
latest setback for the vaccine once hailed as a milestone in the fight against
the COVID-19 pandemic that has since been dogged by questions over its
effectiveness and possible side effects.
AstraZeneca said results it
published on Monday in which the vaccine had demonstrated 79% efficacy were
based on an interim analysis of data through Feb. 17, and it would now
“immediately engage” with the independent panel monitoring the trial to share
its full analysis.
The British-based drugmaker on
Tuesday said it had reviewed the preliminary assessment of its full, or
primary, analysis and found it to be consistent with the interim report.
But the Washington Post reported
that the data monitoring panel told federal officials they had been working
with the company through March, had seen data that showed the vaccine might be
69% to 74% effective, and had “strongly recommended” AstraZeneca include that
information in its public statement.
AstraZeneca shares fell 1.8% in
London trading.
---- One U.S.-based
investigator who was not authorized to speak publicly said AstraZeneca was not
wrong to publish an analysis it had described as interim and expressed concern
over the public controversy.
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-usa/astrazeneca-to-publish-full-u-s-trial-results-after-rare-rebuke-over-outdated-data-idUSKBN2BF1RE
The advice on taking ibuprofen,
paracetamol and alcohol after having a Covid vaccine As the vaccine is rolled out, here is everything you need
to know in the aftermath of getting the jab, from immunity to side-effects
By Luke Mintz and Alice Hall
The rollout of the
coronavirus vaccine is well and truly underway, with jabs set to be
extended to people over-60 this week.
As of Mar 22, 27,997,976 people had received the first dose
of the vaccine, with 2,281,384 second doses having been administered by the
same date, taking the total to 30,279,360. Over four in five of
those in the over 80s group have now been vaccinated.
But can you drink before the vaccine, how quickly are you
immune and are there any side effects? We have broken it down below...
Can I take ibuprofen and/or
paracetamol after I've had the vaccine? Mild side effects after the vaccine, such as arm soreness,
fever, chills, nausea and fatigue, are signs that the vaccine is working by
stimulating your immune response. Usually, they are only temporary – but
sometimes pain relief may be necessary. The official NHS website advises:
“You can take painkillers, such as paracetamol, if you need to”.
In the past, some drugs have been shown to affect the
body's immune response to other vaccines. A study on mice in the Journal
of Virology found that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such
as ibuprofen, could lower the production of antibodies – the substances
that fight the virus when it attempts to infect cells.
However, there is no research yet that focuses
specifically on the coronavirus jab. Experts are confident that a couple of
paracetamol after the injection won't do any harm, as long as you don't
exceed the recommended dose.
Can I drink alcohol after the
Covid vaccine? Alcohol is unlikely to make any difference to your health
after you receive the vaccine, say experts, but out of an abundance of caution,
some alcohol charities recommend leaving it two
weeks before getting a drink .
Dr Fiona Sim, speaking in her capacity as chair of the
independent medical advisory panel for alcohol charity Drinkaware, said: “We
advise that you don't drink any alcohol for at least two days before, and at
least two weeks after, you've been vaccinated, to try to ensure your immune
system is at its best to respond to the vaccine and protect you.”
How long does it take to develop
immunity? Public Health England says it will take “a few weeks” to
develop immunity after your Covid vaccination - advice shared by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America's influential equivalent.
If you look at the trial data for the three Covid-19
vaccines currently approved for use in the UK, “you can see there’s a clear
difference after three weeks,” says Trudie Lang, professor of Global Health
Research at the University of Oxford.
More
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/ibuprofen-paracetamol-drink-alcohol-after-covid-vaccine/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-onward-journey
Next, some vaccine links
kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most
informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.
World
Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines . https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines
NY
Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker . https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
Stanford
Website . https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132
Regulatory
Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker . https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
Some other useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
resource centre
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Rt Covid-19
https://rt.live/
Centers for Disease Control
Coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The Spectator
https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national
Technology Update.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Updates as they get reported.
Research finds surprising
electron interaction in 'magic-angle' graphene Date:
March 18, 2021
Source:
Brown University
Summary:
New research describes a technique that weakens the repulsive force between
electrons in 'magic-angle' graphene superconductors, providing physicists with
exciting new details about this strange state of matter.
In 2018, physicists showed that
something interesting happens when two sheets of the nanomaterial graphene are
placed on top of each other. When one layer is rotated to a "magic
angle" of around 1.1 degrees with respect to the other, the system becomes
a superconductor -- meaning it conducts electricity with zero resistance. Even
more exciting, there was evidence that it was an unconventional form of
superconductivity -- a type that can happen at temperatures well above absolute
zero, where most superconducting materials function.
Since the initial discovery,
researchers have been working to understand this exotic state of matter. Now, a
research team led by Brown University physicists has found a new way to
precisely probe the nature of the superconducting state in magic-angle
graphene. The technique enables researchers to manipulate the repulsive force
between elections -- the Coulomb interaction -- in the system. In a study
published in the journal Science , the researchers show that magic-angle
superconductivity grows more robust when Coulomb interaction is reduced, an
important piece of information in understanding how this superconductor works.
"This is the first time anyone
has demonstrated that you can directly manipulate the strength of Coulomb
interaction in a strongly correlated electronic system," said Jia Li, an
assistant professor of physics at Brown and corresponding author of the
research. "Superconductivity is driven by the interactions between
electrons, so when we can manipulate that interaction, it tells us something
really important about that system. In this case, demonstrating that weaker
Coulomb interaction strengthens superconductivity provides an important new
theoretical constraint on this system."
The original 2018 finding of
potentially unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene generated
significant interest in the physics community. Graphene -- one-atom-thick
sheets of carbon -- is a relatively simple material. If it did indeed support
unconventional superconductivity, graphene's simplicity would make it an ideal
place to explore how the phenomenon works, Li says.
"Unconventional superconductors
are exciting because of their high transition temperature and potential
applications in quantum computers, lossless power grids and elsewhere," Li
said. "But we still don't have a microscopic theory for how they work.
That's why everybody was so excited when something that looked like
unconventional superconductivity was happening in magic-angle graphene. Its
simple chemical composition and tunability in twist angle promise a clearer
picture."
More
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210318185326.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29
GB and the world can probably never get to carbon neutral no
matter how many trillions are spent. Google "The New Energy Economy:An
Exercise in Magical Thinking," for the science of why not.
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