“A
society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome—ahead of freedom
will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve
equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes,
will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.”
Milton Friedman
Another month-end,
another day to goose the stock casino indexes higher.
With trillions more Magic
Money Tree money promised by President Biden to flood out of Washington later
this year, why not?
Still think the
revival of inflation will be temporary?
Asian shares slip but economic
optimism keeps world shares near record high
Alexander
Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our
country has ever been to being even.
Will
Rogers
Well, that didn’t
take long. One hundred days roughly. President Biden last night caved in to the
Democrat Socialist wing of the Democrat Party and committed US policy to
Democrat socialism. Good luck with that!
As usual, all the
bribes to proletariat voters are going to be paid for by taxing the rich and
corporations.
That it’s never
worked out everywhere socialism has been tried doesn’t mean that this time it
won’t be different, but that’s not the way to bet.
The rich, thanks to
their lawyers and accountants, have an uncanny ability of avoiding the
expectation of most taxes, while corporations have the ability and option of just
stop making “profits.”Far more likely,
they will just pass on the extra tax hit to consumers and reduce employment and
slow wages.
Not to worry though,
President Biden has Fed Chairman Powell fully onside and if necessary [most
likely,] any “unexpected” tax shortfalls will simply be monetised.After all, thanks to the Great Nixonian Error
of Fiat Money, communist money, there’s plenty more fiat money in the Magic
Money Tree forest.
Below, how US inflation
was put on steroids, and the US shinning City on the Hill ordered to be
demolished and down to be rebuilt in the boggy socialist plain.
Big Government Is Set for a Rerun
With Biden’s Economic Plan
Policy makers
signal risks from pandemic have diminished
·Inflation’s pickup attributed to ‘transitory
factors’
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues
upgraded their assessment of the U.S. economy but said they were not yet ready
to consider scaling back pandemic support.
“Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support,
indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened,” the Federal
Open Market Committee said in a statement Wednesday after holding its key
interest rate near zero and maintaining a $120 billion monthly pace of asset
purchases.
Marking a clear improvement since Covid-19 took hold more than
a year ago, the Fed said that “risks to the economic outlook remain,” softening
previous language that referred to the virus posing “considerable risks.”
The statement also noted that sectors hit hardest
by the Covid-19 pandemic had “shown improvement.” And on the risk of prices
rising, policy makers said: “Inflation has risen, largely reflecting transitory
factors.”
The
yield on 10-year Treasuries retreated to be slightly lower on the day as Powell
spoke to reporters after briefly touching a fresh session high when the
decision was announced and the Bloomberg dollar index slipped to a two-month
low. The pricing of Fed policy tightening in the coming years was pared
slightly, while the S&P 500 Index reversed an earlier gain to trade little
changed.
Powell and his colleagues met amid growing optimism for the
U.S. recovery, helped by widening vaccinations and aggressive monetary and
fiscal support. President Joe Biden will unveil a sweeping $1.8 trillion plan
to expand educational opportunities and child care when he addresses a joint
session of Congress later on Wednesday, while highlighting his $2.25 trillion
infrastructure proposal and the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package he signed
into law last month.
At the same time, a rise in coronavirus cases in some
regions around the world casts a shadow over global growth prospects, giving
policy makers reason to remain patient on withdrawing support. Fed officials
have also been largely dismissive of inflation risks for the time being, saying
a jump in consumer prices last month was distorted by a pandemic-related
decline in prices in March 2020.
Wednesday’s FOMC decision was unanimous.
‘Long Way’
Powell told a post-meeting press conference that the
recovery has been faster than expected but “it remains uneven and far from
complete” and the economy “is a long way from our goals.”
U.S. central
bankers repeated they would not change the pace of bond buying until
“substantial further progress” is made on their employment and inflation goals.
The target range of the benchmark federal funds rate was kept at zero to 0.25%,
where it’s been since March 2020.
Powell said that it was not yet time to discuss scaling back
asset purchases and “it will take some time before we see substantial further
progress.”
Economic
Growth
Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg expect the U.S. economy
this year to expand at the fastest pace in more than three decades, with the
Fed expected
to announce in late 2021 that it will start slowing the pace of asset
purchases.
U.S. central bankers have backed expansive fiscal policy,
noting that millions of Americans are still unemployed and run the risk of
remaining jobless for the long-term if they don’t find work soon.
Since their March meeting, officials have seen the S&P 500 stock index
continue to rally while yields on the government 10-year note, after a sharp
move up in the first quarter, have traded in a range around 1.6%. The labor
market in March added the most jobs in seven months as improvements across most
industries boosted nonfarm payrolls by 916,000.
Officials have also said policy changes will be based on
outcomes, not a forecast meaning a string of powerful monthly labor market
gains would be needed to merit “substantial further progress.”
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our
spendthrift politicians, inflation now
needs an entire section of its own.
The only difference between death and taxes is that death
doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.
Will Rogers
Biden’s big bet: He can remake
the economy without any negative side effects
Heather Long
President Biden, fresh off a victory on a large stimulus
package, is pitching another $4 trillion in spending to make bold investments
in the nation’s physical infrastructure and human capital in an effort that he
says will spur growth, create a more equitable economy and make the United
States more competitive with China — without any negative side effects.
It’s an experiment that hasn’t been tested in the modern
U.S. economy. This year and next, forecasters are predicting a burst
in hiring and growth that will rapidly heal most financial wounds
from the pandemic. But how Biden’s big tax and spending proposals would affect
the economic recovery for years to come is much debated.
The latest proposal in Biden’s economic agenda would spend another
$1.8 trillion, mostly on education, child care, and family and
medical leave programs, but that would be on top of
$2.3 trillion in proposed infrastructure investment and the $1.9
trillion that Congress passed in March as an emergency response to the
pandemic.
The biggest concern is that the economy will overheat from
so much stimulus, triggering rapid price increases that would make it difficult
for middle-class families to afford goods and force policymakers to slow growth
to contain inflation. Already there are pockets of concern, with used-car
prices up
nearly 10 percent and meat, including beef and pork chops, up
almost 6 percent over the past year.
To pay for this new spending, Biden wants significant tax
increases on the wealthy and corporations, but some economists and business
leaders warn this has the potential to backfire. Higher taxes can stymie new
investment in the private sector, curb enthusiasm for starting new businesses
and even push existing U.S. companies to move overseas.
Separately, some economists worry that spending so much to
strengthen the government safety net, especially along with increased
unemployment aid, has the potential to dissuade some lower-income workers from
working, especially those in lower-paying jobs that continue to dominate much
of the service sector.
“The philosophy behind the Biden administration is everyone
can have more. We can have the cake and eat it, too. There is no price to pay
in terms of inflation, higher interest rates or slower growth,” said Sung Won
Sohn, a professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University and a
former bank executive. “If they are wrong, the price tag will be pretty high.”
The White House argues there is minimal risk of these
negative consequences coming to pass and that the benefits for the economy —
and people’s well-being — far outweigh any costs. Biden’s team also wants to
see tangible improvements in reducing inequality and climate change, not just
faster growth. But this debate about how big to go and what the trade-offs are
will play out in the coming months, and the arguments will shape the thinking
of key Senate votes, such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
----So far, the tab to repair damage from the pandemic is nearly
$6 trillion, making Republicans and some Democrats queasy about
spending another $4 trillion so soon. While the White House proposes raising
some taxes to pay for the latest initiatives, there is nothing in the package
to address
the existing debt, which is already at the highest level since World
War II, and widened by the recovery efforts.
“The big sea change is the Democrats have very much let go
of the worries about the size of the federal deficit or inflation that’s
associated with it,” said Tim Duy, a professor at the University of Oregon and
chief U.S. economist at SGH Macro Advisors. “There’s room for Biden to turn
this into a 21st-century New Deal. Whether he can follow through on that
remains to be seen.”
The American Families Plan that Biden unveiled Wednesday is
his most progressive yet in many ways. It would dramatically expand education
in the United States, offering two years of free community college and
preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds. It would eventually
make 12 weeks of paid family leave available to all, along with reducing
child-care costs for most and increasing government payments to low- and
middle-income families with kids.
If it’s not vaccinations dominating
conversations these days, it’s housing.
The national average selling price
for existing homes last month was about 32 per cent higher than in March, 2020,
and owners in communities across the country are feeling the benefits.
Average prices in Chilliwack, B.C., Bancroft, Ont., and Yarmouth, N.S., were at
least $100,000 higher than a year earlier, right in line with big cities such
as Vancouver.
By handing owners these lottery-like
gains in equity, the housing market has validated the almost religious belief
of Canadians that owning a house is the foundation of financial success. But
housing is also ripping the financial fabric of life apart in ways people are
only just starting to talk about.
Young adults increasingly feel shut
out of home ownership in big cities, even as their parents can’t stop talking
about how much money they’ve made as owners. An exodus of buyers to smaller
communities is pricing out local residents. People who can afford to buy are
forced to make rushed, high-stress decisions about the biggest financial
transactions in their lives, and then to take on debt loads that could limit
their ability to save for retirement and deliver the spending the economy needs
to recover from the pandemic. A whole new parental financial burden has been
invented: making sure your adult kids get into the housing market.
Rising
prices have been eroding affordability for years if you measure the cost of a
house in relation to income. Statistics Canada has reported that house
prices increased 69.1 per cent between 2007 and 2017, while median income rose
by 27.6 per cent. The old guideline about a house costing no more than three or
four times your income is junk now. In Vancouver, houses go for almost 12
times household income and the national average is more than seven times
income.
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying
for.
Will Rogers
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
The Latest: Pakistan counts 201
dead in highest 1-day toll
By The
Associated Press April 28, 2021
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities on Wednesday
reported 201 deaths from coronavirus, the country’s highest single-day toll of
the pandemic.
According to National Command and Control
Center, 5,292 new cases of infection were reported in the past 24 hours.
Since last year, Pakistan has reported 17,530
deaths from COVID-19 among 810,231 cases.
The current surge has forced the government of
Prime Minister Imran Khan to deploy troops to help ensure people follow social
distancing rules in cities hard hit by coronavirus cases.
Pakistan is planning a lockdown in the
worst-hit cities in the first week of May. Khan has resisted demands for a
nationwide lockdown, citing its economic impact, but he has also warned that he
will be forced to impose a lockdown if people do not stop violating social
distancing rules.
Covid: One dose of vaccine halves
transmission - study
28
April, 2021
A single dose of a coronavirus
vaccine can reduce household transmission of the virus by up to half, a study
shows.
Those given a first dose of either
the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines - and who became infected three weeks later
- were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus on than unvaccinated
people, PHE found.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
described the study's results as "terrific news".
He has urged "everybody to get
their vaccines as soon as they are eligible".
In the study, protection against
Covid was seen from about 14 days after vaccination, with similar levels of
protection regardless of age of cases or contacts, PHE said in a statement.
It added that this protection was on
top of the reduced risk of a vaccinated person developing symptomatic infection
in the first place, which is around 60 to 65% - four weeks after one dose of
either vaccine.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation
at PHE, said: "Vaccines are vital in helping us return to a normal way of
life. Not only do vaccines reduce the severity of illness and prevent hundreds
of deaths every day, we now see they also have an additional impact on reducing
the chance of passing Covid-19 on to others."
But, while she said the findings
were "encouraging", she said it was important people continue to act
like they have the virus, "practise good hand hygiene and follow social
distancing guidance".
Households are high-risk settings
for transmission, meaning the study provides early evidence on the impact of
vaccines in preventing onward transmission, PHE said.
Similar results could be expected in
other settings with similar transmission risks, such as shared accommodation
and prisons, it added.
----The study, which
has yet to be fully peer-reviewed, included more than 57,000 contacts from
24,000 households in which there was a lab-confirmed coronavirus case that had
received a vaccination, compared with nearly one million contacts of
unvaccinated cases.
Study: Nerve cells in spinal cord
could be path COVID-19 uses to reach brain
April 27, 2021 / 3:07 PM
April 27 (UPI) --COVID-19
infects both the nerve cells that power the brain and the spinal cord, which
protects them, found a study presented Tuesday during the American Physiological
Society annual meeting, held online due to the pandemic.
In experiments that exposed various human cells to the
coronavirus, the virus attached itself to proteins on the surface of neurons,
or nerve cells, which may explain how it appears to easily spread to the brain,
the researchers said.
In addition, the virus also linked with proteins on the
surface of astrocytes, which are cells in the spinal cord that, among other
things, protect neurons from damage.
Both of these findings may provide clues as to how COVID-19
causes significant neurological damage in some patients, according to the
researchers.
"While astrocytes display a higher resistance to
infection, neurons seem to be more susceptible," study co-author Ricardo
Costa said in a statement.
"These observations could explain why while some
patients do not have any neurological symptoms, others seem to have severe
ones," said Costa, a postdoctoral fellow at Louisiana State University
Health in Shreveport.
Up to 10% of those infected with COVID-19 suffer brain
damage during the course of their illness, research suggests.
---- As part of their experiments, they exposed samples
of astrocytes and neurons to a version of the coronavirus that had been
modified so that they could handle it safely, the researchers said.
In the experiments, both astrocytes
and neurons expressed the ACE2 receptor and, as a result, both can become
infected with the coronavirus, though astrocytes were less likely to become
infected, they said.
Astrocytes are responsible for
shuttling nutrients from the bloodstream to the neurons while keeping harmful
particles out.
If they can resist infection,
astrocytes could help keep the coronavirus out of the brain. However, once
infected, they could easily pass the virus along to many neurons, the
researchers said.
"Our findings suggest that
astrocytes are a pathway through which COVID-19 causes neurological
damage," Costa said.
"Only [a] few astrocytes getting infected could be
sufficient for the infection to quickly spread to neurons and multiply
quickly," he said.
Urine test may detect people at
risk for severe COVID-19, study finds
April 27, 2021 / 10:34 AM
April 27 (UPI) -- A simple urine test may help predict which people infected with COVID-19 will
develop severe illness from the disease, researchers said Tuesday.
Those infected with the coronavirus have higher levels of a
specific type of protein associated with inflammation in their urine than those
who did not have the virus, the scientists said.
In addition, amounts of these proteins, called cytokines,
were higher in patients with pre-existing chronic health conditions, such as
high blood pressure and diabetes.
People with these health conditions are thought to be at
higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19, according to the researchers.
In all cases, cytokine levels declined to normal ranges
once the infection resolves.
"We have observed, albeit in a small cohort of
patients that we examined, that the urinary cytokine levels increase as the
infection progresses, and that they decrease as the infection resolves,"
study co-author Dragana Komnenov told UPI in an email.
"This suggests that the urinary cytokine signature
could potentially have diagnostic and-or prognostic value," said Komnenov,
an assistant professor of research at Wayne State University in Detroit.
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.
With events happening
fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.
Updates as they get reported.
Fully recyclable printed
electronics developed
New technique
reclaims nearly 100% of all-carbon-based transistors while retaining future
functionality of the materials
Date:April 26, 2021
Source:Duke University
Summary:Engineers have developed fully recyclable
printed electronics. By demonstrating a crucial and relatively complex computer
component -- the transistor -- created with three carbon-based inks, the
researchers hope to inspire a new generation of recyclable electronics to help
fight the growing global epidemic of electronic waste.
Engineers at Duke University have
developed the world's first fully recyclable printed electronics. By
demonstrating a crucial and relatively complex computer component -- the
transistor -- created with three carbon-based inks, the researchers hope to
inspire a new generation of recyclable electronics to help fight the growing
global epidemic of electronic waste.
The work appears online April 26 in
the journal Nature Electronics.
"Silicon-based computer
components are probably never going away, and we don't expect easily recyclable
electronics like ours to replace the technology and devices that are already
widely used," said Aaron Franklin, the Addy Professor of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at Duke. "But we hope that by creating new, fully
recyclable, easily printed electronics and showing what they can do, that they
might become widely used in future applications."
As people worldwide adopt more
electronics into their lives, there's an ever-growing pile of discarded devices
that either don't work anymore or have been cast away in favor of a newer
model. According to a United Nations estimate, less than a quarter of the
millions of pounds of electronics thrown away each year is recycled. And the
problem is only going to get worse as the world upgrades to 5G devices and the
Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand.
Part of the problem is that
electronic devices are difficult to recycle. Large plants employ hundreds of
workers who hack at bulky devices. But while scraps of copper, aluminum and
steel can be recycled, the silicon chips at the heart of the devices cannot.
In the new study, Franklin and his
laboratory demonstrate a completely recyclable, fully functional transistor
made out of three carbon-based inks that can be easily printed onto paper or
other flexible, environmentally friendly surfaces. Carbon nanotubes and graphene
inks are used for the semiconductors and conductors, respectively. While these
materials are not new to the world of printed electronics, Franklin says, the
path to recyclability was opened with the development of a wood-derived
insulating dielectric ink called nanocellulose.
"Nanocellulose is biodegradable
and has been used in applications like packaging for years," said
Franklin. "And while people have long known about its potential
applications as an insulator in electronics, nobody has figured out how to use
it in a printable ink before. That's one of the keys to making these fully
recyclable devices functional."
Following the markets on both sides of the Atlantic since 1968. A dinosaur, who evolved with the financial system as it was perverted from capitalism to banksterism after the great Nixonian error of abandoning the dollar's link to gold instead of simply revaluing gold. Our money is too important to be left to probity challenged central banksters and crooked politicians.
