Economic and jobs news thread

[caltrek]

Wall Street Flirts with the Grinch, Rebounds to a Jolly Rally
by Nick Rummell
December 23, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/wall-str ... lly-rally/

Introduction:

MANHATTAN (Courthouse News) — Investors avoided a blue Christmas after a rocky start to the week, buoyed by promising data on the omicron strain of coronavirus.

Fears over omicron's rapid spread caused the initial rout. Investors regained their footing, however, amid news from Pfizer that its recently approved experimental treatment is effective against the variant, combined with British studies suggesting Covid-19 infections caused by the variant are less deadly than those wrought by delta.

Investors have latched onto the prediction omicron will likely be short-lived and result in fewer deaths than the delta wave. “As such, omicron may cause temporary disruptions in high-frequency economic data and some corporate earnings, but it’s very unlikely to be a sustainable headwind that derails the rally,” Tom Essaye of the Sevens Report wrote.

So far Wall Street’s resilience has proved itself. Wall Street posted large losses early in the week, but by the end of the trading on Thursday it reclaimed those declines and then some. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had lost about 400 points on Monday, finished the week up 585 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq took similar a track, gaining 105 points and 484 points, respectively. Markets are closed on Friday for Christmas Eve.

Further Extract:

Some experts, such as Simon MacAdam, senior global economist at Capital Economics, say 2022 will still be dominated by inflation. “If omicron further disrupts already stretched supply chains, goods inflation could be higher than we are forecasting, keeping overall inflation higher for longer,” he told investors in a note. “By 2023, most of the factors dragging on headline rates will have run their course, and goods inflation should ease as shortages improve.”

[caltrek]

'Not True': Sanders Counters Manchin's Bogus Inflation Argument Against Build Back Better
by Jake Johnson
December 24, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/ ... build-back

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday countered fellow Sen. Joe Manchin's recent Fox News appearance with an op-ed on the right-wing outlet's website aimed at rebutting the West Virginia Democrat's falsehood-laden talking points against the Build Back Better Act.

"Manchin, the Republicans, and corporate America say this bill will add to our national debt and make inflation worse. Not true," wrote Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee. "Unlike the bloated military budget that Manchin recently voted for, which adds $778 billion to the deficit this year alone and costs four times more than the Build Back Better Act over a 10-year period, the White House has said this bill is fully paid for" with tax hikes on the wealthy.

Manchin has voted for 11 consecutive military budgets, including the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which the West Virginia Democrat approved without complaining about the price tag.

"And to add insult to injury, this military budget came after we ended the longest war in recent U.S. history and was $25 billion more than what President Biden requested," the Vermont senator continued.

"I should also add that, despite Manchin's 'deep concerns' about the national debt, he voted for $53 billion in corporate welfare that would go to a handful of profitable microchip companies—completely unpaid for," Sanders wrote, a reference to the Senate-passed Endless Frontier Act, which would lavish taxpayer subsidies on U.S. semiconductor firms.

[caltrek]

Debate Over Build Back Better Continues
by Josh Wingrove, Jennifer Jacobs, and Bloomberg
December 20, 2021

https://fortune.com/2021/12/21/senator- ... k-better/

Extract:

(Fortune) President Joe Biden hit back against critics who say his Build Back Better Act would increase inflation in the U.S., saying on Tuesday that the bill would help families buy basic necessities like food and medicine, and that he still sees a path forward for the legislation.
“I still think there’s a possibility of getting Build Back Better done,” Biden said while answering questions from the press on Tuesday. “Senator [Joe] Manchin and I are going to get something done.”
…
There’s been a lot of talk about how the Build Back Better plan will increase inflation and cause debt, Biden said tuesday. But he pointed to the recent analysis by Goldman Sachs that actually lowered its estimates for U.S. economic output after it became clear Biden’s legislative package would not pass the Senate.

“Goldman Sachs* and others said if we don't pass Build Back Better, we're in trouble because it's going to grow the economy. Without it, we're not going to grow. And what happened? Stock prices went way down—took a real dip,” Biden said Tuesday.
…

… experts, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have previously said the effect of the legislation on inflation is minimal. "As Secretary Yellen has said, the Build Back Better Act, which includes the advanceable Child Tax Credit, will lower costs for families and meaningfully reduce childhood poverty. As the Act is fully paid for over 10 years, and makes long-term investments, it is not expected to add to inflation pressures," a Treasury spokesman told Fortune.

* See https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/goldman ... plan-.html

Extract from CNBC article regarding Goldman Sachs forecast:

(CNBC) Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said in a note to clients on Sunday that the failure of the bill — which includes significant spending on climate infrastructure and social programs — would slow economic growth in 2022.
…
Goldman slightly lowered its real GDP growth forecast for each of the first three quarters in 2022. The firm now projects 2% growth in the first quarter, followed by 3% and 2.75% in the following two periods. Goldman previously expected growth of 3%, 3.5% and 3%.

[weatheriscool]

Home price growth in the U.S. has slowed for the third straight month.

Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index posted a 19.1% annual gain in October, down from 19.7% from September. (1) The 20-City Composite posted a 18.4% annual gain, down from 19.1% a month earlier. The 20-City results came in very close to analysts’ expectations of a 18.5% annual gain, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.

“In October 2021, U.S. home prices moved substantially higher, but at a decelerating rate,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P DJI. “All 20 cities saw price increases in the year ended October 2021. October’s increase ranked in the top quintile of historical experience for 19 cities, and in the top decile for 17 of them. As was the case last month, however, in 14 of 20 cities, prices decelerated — i.e., increased by less in October than they had done in September.”

{snip an interactive chart}

Despite the slowdown in the pace of growth, the October reading was the fourth-highest reading in the national index’s 34 years of data, according to Lazzara. The top three were the three months immediately preceding October. Historically low inventory, low interest rates and pent-up demand from the COVID-19 pandemic have been pushing home prices upward.

{snip}

(1) https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/docum ... e-0629.pdf

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/case-shi ... 05044.html

[weatheriscool]

Jobless claims: Another 198,000 individuals filed new claims last week

Alexandra Semenova · Reporter
Thu, December 30, 2021, 8:31 AM · 2 min read

First-time unemployment filings fell further from last week's reading, again below pre-pandemic lows, signaling continued recovery in the labor market as high demand for workers pours into the new year.

The Labor Department released its latest report on initial and continuing claims on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Dec. 25: 198,000 vs. 206,000 expected and 205,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Dec. 18: 1.716 million vs. 1.875 million expected and 1.859 million during prior week

First-time filings for unemployment continued to hover below the 2019 average of 218,000, when the unemployment rate was at a half-century low of 3.5%, according to Bloomberg data. The current unemployment rate is also expected to edge down to 4.1% in December as the labor market continues to tighten.

{snip an interactive chart}

At 205,000, last week's initial unemployment claims were on par with economist forecasts and below pre-pandemic levels yet again. Earlier in December, jobless claims fell sharply to 188,000, or the lowest level since 1969. The prints serve an early indication of the relative strength expected to show in December's jobs report, though the economic impact of the virus remains unclear.

"Fortunately, there's no evidence in this data of a new wave of fresh job loss," Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick said, commenting on last week's figures. "New claims are only slightly above the lowest point in decades notched a couple of weeks ago."

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-u ... 05705.html

[weatheriscool]

December private payrolls rose by 807,000, far exceeding expectations: ADP

Emily McCormick · Reporter

U.S. private employers added jobs at a much faster-than-anticipated rate in December, helping to alleviate some worker shortages as the tight U.S. labor market persisted.

The U.S. economy saw 807,000 private payrolls return in the final month of 2021, ADP said in its closely watched report on Wednesday. This compared to the 410,000 job gains consensus economists anticipated, based on Bloomberg data. Employers had brought back 505,000 jobs in November, according to ADP's revised estimate for that month.

Over the course of 2021, employers added back payrolls at a rate above historical trends, based on data from both ADP and the U.S. Labor Department, with the labor market regaining some lost ground after 2020's swift but severe recession amid the pandemic.

As many as 882,000 private payrolls came back in a single month in 2021 in May, ADP's data showed. But the rate of hiring has slowed in the months since, following an initial surge in hiring after vaccinations picked up in the U.S. last spring and stay-in-place orders eased.

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/december ... 59127.html

[weatheriscool]

Jobless claims: Another 207,000 Americans filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, January 6, 2022, 8:30 AM

New unemployment claims ticked up but remained near a 52-year low last week, with the weekly pace of new claims holding below pre-pandemic levels as the labor market sees job openings near a record high.

The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Jan. 1: 207,000 vs. 195,000 expected, 198,000 during the prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Dec. 25: 1.754 million vs. 1.678 million expected, 1.716 million during the prior week

The U.S. economy likely saw a back-to-back week with new jobless claims coming in below the psychologically important 200,000 level. In the pre-pandemic period throughout 2019, new claims averaged around 220,000 per week.

But given that this week's data encompasses the holiday period, some economists warned that this report may be subject to some additional distortions.

"Signal-to-noise ratio is high at this time of year, because seasonal adjustment over the holidays is extremely difficult, so all forecasts are tentative," Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Economics, wrote in a note. "The trend, though, is falling."

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-u ... 34695.html

[caltrek]

Lurking Behind Lackluster Jobs Gain are a Stagnating Labor Market and the Threat of Omicron
January 7, 2022

https://theconversation.com/lurking-beh ... ron-174534

Extract:

(The Conversation) The problem is employers are having a hard time finding the workers amid a somewhat stagnating labor market.

The number of people in the labor force increased a little in December, but not by much – only about 168,000. And with job openings outpacing this small increase in the labor market, there remains a significant risk that worker wages may begin to rise too quickly for the economy.

While this is great for workers, it poses a concern for those trying to tamp down the rising prices of goods. Higher wages in the hands of workers means more money to spend, which generally drives prices of goods upward.

The latest report shows that wages are up, hours worked remain constant and the participation rate was unchanged. Even the number of people not in the labor force but wanting a job changed little. It is very much a sellers market in labor right now. Strikes, wage pressure and more flexible work environments may become the new normal.

Separate data from November, released on Jan. 4, 2021, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides further evidence of a drying up labor market. There were 6.9 million hires that month but 10.6 million job openings – a clear imbalance. Meanwhile the share of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs continued to be high.

caltrek's comment: The underlying premise here is such bullshit. Not some much the way it is worded in this article, but the wider implications many draw from such observations. William Grider wrote a book entitled Secrets of the Temple. A key theme of the book was the prevalence of an ideology that demanded sacrifice by some for the good of all. "Unemployment must remain high so as to keep inflation under control" or its variation "wage growth must remain low so as to keep inflation under control."

The obvious alternatives are never considered:

• Lowering executive compensation and/or

• Raising taxes on the rich or on corporations so as to take spending power out of the economy

• Lowering expenditures on the military industrial or prison industrial complexes (with retraining and relocation options available for those who might be displaced)

• A UBI system wherein inflation no longer hurts the poor because benefits are automatically adjusted upwards

[caltrek]

Another obvious alternative to combat inflation that gets inadequate consideration: anti-trust action. Might not help in the short term, but down the line...

As Job Gains Slow, the Fed and Congress Apply the Wrong Medicine
by Robert Reich
January 11, 2022

https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/as-job ... -medicine/

Introduction:

(Alternet) Friday’s jobs report from the Department of Labor was a warning sign about the US economy. It should cause widespread concern about the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates to control inflation. And it should cause policymakers to rethink ending government supports such as extended unemployment insurance and the child tax credit. These will soon be needed to keep millions of families afloat.

Employers added only 199,000 jobs in December. That’s the fewest new jobs added in any month last year. In November, employers added 249,000. The average for 2021 was 537,000 jobs per month. Note also that the December survey was done in mid-December, before the latest surge in the Omicron variant of Covid caused millions of people to stay home.

…the Fed is about to prescribe the wrong medicine. It’s going to raise interest rates to slow the economy – even though millions of former workers have yet to return to the job market and even though job growth is slowing sharply. Higher interest rates will cause more job losses. Slowing the economy will make it harder for workers to get real wage increases. And it will put millions of Americans at risk.

The Fed has it backwards. Wage increases have not caused prices to rise. Price increases have caused real wages (what wages can actually purchase) to fall. Prices are increasing at the rate of 6.8% annually but wages are growing only between 3-4%.

The most important cause of inflation is corporate power to raise prices.

[caltrek]

One Percent Swing Report
January 13, 2022

https://www.morganstanley.com/content/m ... e-20220113

Introduction:

(Morgan Stanley)

• US stocks traded lower on Thursday as the S&P 500 declined 1.4% to close at 4,659. With the sell-off, the index is down 2.3% year to date.

• After a two-day rally, stocks reversed course on Thursday to finish more than 1% lower. There was no clear catalyst for the day's decline, although outsized weakness in technology shares drove the broad indexes lower during the session; to that end, the NASDAQ 100 sold-off 2.6%. Several Federal Reserve members have provided comments in recent days about the outlook on the economy and inflation and the potential need for the Fed to commit to a tighter monetary policy framework in 2022, which could have contributed to weakness Thursday. While technology stocks were the main laggards, interest rates actually moved lower across the curve.

• Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower on Thursday, with Utilities (+0.5%) and Consumer Staples (+0.2%) outperforming the broader market, while Consumer Discretionary (-2.1%) and Information Technology (-2.7%) lagged.

• Rates were lower across the curve, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 1.69% as of the 4 p.m. equity market close. Gold was slightly lower on the day while WTI (West Texas Intermediate) was also lower, now above $81 per barrel. The US dollar was flat on the trading session, as measured by the US Dollar Index.

Catalysts for Market Move

Equity markets traded lower on Thursday as the S&P 500 fell 1.4%. After a two day rally, stocks reversed lower with outsized weakness in technology stocks. There was no clear catalyst for the sell off, but in recent weeks growth stocks have been volatile as markets appear to be concerned that a hawkish pivot from the Federal Reserve could put pressure on stocks trading at elevated valuations, particularly in the growth cohort. Monday, equities staged a sharp intraday rally that was led by mega cap tech, with the Nasdaq 100 erasing a more than 2% loss to close higher on the day.

[caltrek]

One Percent Swing Report for January 21, 2022

https://www.morganstanley.com/content/m ... e-20220121

Introduction:

(Morgan Stanley) US stocks traded lower on Friday as the S&P 500 declined 1.9% to close at 4,398. With the sell-off, the index is now down 7.7% year to date.

US equities extended their losing streak into the weekend, as the S&P 500 fell for the fourth straight session. On a holiday shortened week, with markets closed on Monday in celebration of MLK day, the S&P 500 declined 5.7% while technology stocks continued their recent underperformance, as the Nasdaq 100 fell 7.5%. Recent weakness has coincided with markets digesting a hawkish Federal Reserve and a higher interest rate environment, while Q421 earnings has been in particular focus this week. Friday's sell off appeared to be magnified by a large cap media and streaming company missing subscriber estimates on Thursday afternoon, which weighed on related Communication Services stocks and the broad market. Q421 earnings will continue be the focal point as more than 30% of the S&P 500 market cap reports next week, while Wednesday's FOMC meeting will also be closely watched.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower on Friday, with Consumer Staples (+0.02%) and Real Estate (-0.04%) outperforming the broader market, while Consumer Discretionary (-3.1%) and Communication Services (-3.9%) lagged.

Rates were lower across the curve, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to 1.76% as of the 4 p.m. equity market close. Gold was modestly lower on the day while WTI oil was also lower at just under $85 per barrel. The US dollar was modestly weaker on the trading session, as measured by the US Dollar Index.

[weatheriscool]

'That raise meant nothing': Inflation is wiping out pay increases for most Americans
Source: Washington Post

“That raise meant nothing,” said Stehlik, 23, whose roommate works at the same hotel. “I’ve got student loans. My roommate’s got medical debt. Most of my co-workers work two or three jobs, and they’re still having difficulty making ends meet.”

After years of barely budging, wage growth is finally at its highest level in decades. A global pandemic, combined with swift government stimulus and unexpected labor shortages have put workers in the driver’s seat, giving them the kind of negotiating power they had never imagined.

But in an unexpected twist, the same strong economic recovery that is emboldening workers is also driving up inflation, leaving most Americans with less spending power than they had a year ago.

Although average hourly wages rose 4.7 percent last year, overall wages fell 2.4 percent on average for all workers, when adjusted for inflation, according to the Labor Department.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... inflation/

[caltrek]

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2022

https://www.ssa.gov/cola/

Introduction:

(Social Security Administration) Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 5.9 percent in 2022.

The 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022.

Increased payments to approximately 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2021. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits)

The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $147,000.

[caltrek]

Twenty-one States Raised Their Minimum Wages on New Year’s Day
by David Cooper, Krista Faries, and Sebastian Martinez Hickey
January 6, 2022

https://www.epi.org/blog/states-minimum ... -jan-2022/

(Economic Policy Institute) On January 1, minimum wages went up in 21 states. The increases range from a $0.22 inflation adjustment in Michigan to a $1.50 per hour raise in Virginia, the equivalent of an annual increase ranging from $458 to $3,120 for a full-time, full-year minimum wage worker. The updates can be viewed in EPI’s interactive Minimum Wage Tracker and in Figure A and Table 1 below.

In prior years, we have estimated the number of workers who would directly benefit from these increases, as well as the total dollar amount and average wage increase for affected workers in each state. Unfortunately, ongoing data challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic make it difficult to accurately produce estimates of this year’s increases. The pandemic devastated labor markets throughout the country, with a large share of the job losses occurring in low-wage sectors, such as leisure and hospitality, where minimum wage hikes typically affect large shares of workers. Job levels in those sectors have rebounded somewhat over the past year, but that job growth has also been accompanied by stronger than usual wage growth, which—all else equal—will reduce the number of workers affected by minimum wage hikes, since would-be affected workers were already receiving wages at or above the new minimum. Because conditions in these industries are so different from what they were in the period reflected in our model’s underlying (pre-pandemic) data, we cannot use it to make estimations about effects happening right at this moment.

Even so, we know that minimum wage increases are as crucial as ever in the current context—to protect low-wage workers from exploitation and continue toward the goal of a living wage for all workers. From a macroeconomic perspective, it’s smart policy: Low-wage households—who disproportionately benefit from increases to the minimum wage—are highly likely to quickly spend the extra dollars they receive, bolstering consumer demand as the economy continues to recover.

[caltrek]

With Inflation Surging, Big Companies’ Wage Upticks Aren’t Nearly Enough
by Molly Kinder, Katie Bach, and Laura Stateler

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-aven ... ly-enough/

Extract:

(Brookings) Like millions of frontline workers around the country, Lisa Harris, a cashier at a Kroger grocery store outside of Richmond, Va., will bring home a larger paycheck this holiday season. For the first time in her 14-year career at Kroger, Harris finally earns more than $15 per hour—about $1.50 more than she did before the COVID-19 pandemic began. But despite the pay bump, Harris doesn’t feel she is getting ahead.

“My money isn’t going as far,” Harris told us in November, reflecting on the impact of quickly rising prices like gas and food. “It isn’t sustaining my day-to-day life. But also, my job is harder. We are extremely understaffed. I am being asked to do more people’s jobs than I already was before…Morale is on the floor and people are threatening to quit.”
…
So, are frontline workers better off economically today than when the pandemic began? And if they are, is “better” even good enough for what they deserve?

To find out, we analyzed wages for U.S. hourly workers at 13 of the largest and most profitable retail, grocery, and fast food companies in America. (We conducted this analysis as part of a larger report on frontline workers in the pandemic economy, forthcoming in early 2022.) The 13 companies are all household names and among the most influential employers in their industries; together, they employ nearly 5 million U.S. workers. Using company-wide pay policies, we calculated the nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) change in average pay at each company between January 2020 and the end of October 2021. We confirmed the data through direct company communications.

INFLATION HAS ERASED AT LEAST HALF OF THE AVERAGE WAGE GAINS FOR FRONTLINE WORKERS

We found that nominal pay (not factoring inflation) did increase, sometimes significantly, at all but two of the 13 companies. But inflation has erased most of the average gains. Since January 2020, inflation has risen over 7% through October 2021, and nearly 8% through November 2021. Over nearly two years as workers faced a global pandemic, the average wage increase, in real terms, at the average company we assessed was only 3% through October. (Assuming the 13 companies did not raise wages further in the last month, the average wage increase would have been just under 3% through November.) Without inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, the average pay increase would have been 10%

caltrek: While the article correctly stresses the "not enough" aspect of the wage increases, note that those increases are estimated to exceed inflation.

[caltrek]

File this under every little bit helps

IRS Tax Inflation Adjustments

https://www.aotax.com/irs-provides-tax- ... edents.%20

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provid ... -year-2022

Extract:

(IRS)
• For the married couples who are filing their tax returns jointly for the tax year 2021, the Standard Deduction rises to $25,100 which is an increase of $300 from the previous year.
• For the married couples who are filing their tax returns separately or for the single individuals, the Standard Deduction would rise to $12,550 which is a rise of $150 from the prior year.
• For the heads of the households, the Standard Deduction would be $18,800 for the tax year 2021 which is an increase of $150 from the previous year.

• The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2022 rises to $25,900 up $800 from the prior year. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $12,950 for 2022, up $400, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $19,400 for tax year 2022, up $600.

caltrek's comment: Bummer that the most significant increase in deductions will not kick in until 2022.

[caltrek]

Of course, some folks don't have to worry too much about a trifling thing like inflation.

The Curse of Financial Entrepreneurship
by Robert Reich
January 12, 2022

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/curs ... reneurship

Introduction:

Wall Street may be having a bad week, but top bankers are doing wonderfully well. After a blockbuster year, the five biggest Wall Street banks just paid out $142 billion in bonuses and compensation for 2021. This was $18 billion more than in 2020. JPMorgan Chase reported record profits, and Citigroup’s annual profit more than doubled. Let me remind you (as if you need reminding) that 2020 and 2021 were not exactly blockbuster years for the rest of America.

In the first three decades after World War II, American companies made money by making things, selling them at a profit, and investing the profits in additional productive capacity. This helped create the largest middle class the world had ever seen. In those years, the financial sector accounted for 15 percent of U.S. corporate profits.

Then something happened. By the mid-1980s, the financial sector claimed 30 percent of corporate profits. By 2001, 40 percent — more than four times the profits made in all U.S. manufacturing.

Conclusion:

We are still living with the political and social consequences of America’s turn to financial entrepreneurship. The five biggest Wall Street banks could not have scored record profits these past two years were they not back to many of the same practices that caused them to implode in 2008 and the rest of America to pay the price. Inequalities of income and wealth are far wider now than they were when Wall Street’s bubble burst. I suspect even more Americans today feel the system is rigged by the rich and powerful than they did a few years ago.

It doesn’t have to remain this way. We are not prisoners of bad decisions made in the past. We can and should rein in Wall Street, break up its five giant “too-big-to-fail” banks, support local and state banks, resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act’s divide between investment and commercial banking, tax all financial transactions — and rebuild jobs and wages on the product side of the American economy.

[weatheriscool]

U.S. banks close record number of retail branches in 2021, Wells Fargo shutters most

U.S. banks closed a record number of retail branches in 2021 as customers increasingly turn to digital banking and the industry consolidates.

On net, U.S. banks shuttered 2,927 branches last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Banks closed nearly 4,000 branches and opened more than 1,000 branches, the analysis found...

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/21/banks-c ... fargo.html

[caltrek]

In addition to some minor tax relief through adjustment of the standard deductions, the year 2021 also saw the expansion of the Child Tax Credit. Unfortunately, this Biden administration agenda item is now under threat.


If Congress Fails to Act, Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments Will Stop, Child Poverty Reductions Will Be Lost
by Kris Cox, Chuck Marr, Arloc Sherman, and Stephanie Hingten
December 3, 2021

https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-t ... stop-child

Extract:

(Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) The American Rescue Plan, enacted in March 2021, increased the Child Tax Credit for more than 65 million U.S. children — roughly 90 percent of children — and established advance monthly payments. The enhanced tax credit has enabled parents across the country to pay for food, clothing, housing, and other basic necessities and is expected to lower the number of children experiencing poverty by more than 40 percent as compared to child poverty levels in the absence of the expansion. But Congress must pass the Build Back Better bill to maintain this progress.
…
The Build Back Better legislation would extend the Rescue Plan’s temporary expansions of the Child Tax Credit, which changed the credit parameters in three main ways for 2021. First, it made the full credit available to families with low or no earnings in a given year, often called making the credit “fully refundable.” Previously, 27 million children — including roughly half of Black and Latino children and half of children in rural communities — received less than the full credit amount, which higher-income children received, because their parents’ income were too low. This change drives most of the significant reduction in child poverty expected from the enhanced Child Tax Credit. Build Back Better would permanently make the credit fully available to children in families with low incomes.

Second, the Rescue Plan increased the maximum credit amount from $2,000 per child to $3,600 for a child under age 6 ($3,000 for a child aged 6-17) for head of household tax filers making less than $112,500 and married tax filers making less than $150,000. Third, it allowed families to claim their 17-year-old children for the credit for the first time. Build Back Better would extend these improvements for one year.

[caltrek]

Biden Praised for $15 Minimum Wage Hike for all Federal Workers
by Brett Wilkins
January 22, 2022

https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/biden-15-minimum-wage/

Introduction:

(Alternet) As a record number of U.S. states and cities raise their minimum wages following a decade of grassroots organizing by the #FightFor15 movement, the Biden administration on Friday directed federal agencies to pay government employees at least $15 an hour.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued new guidance to the heads of all executive departments and agencies instructing them to implement the new wage by January 30. Nearly 700,000 federal workers are expected to receive a raise as a result of the new policy, which was first reported by Axios.

OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said in a statement that "as the largest employer in the country, how the federal government treats its workforce has real impact. Raising pay rates across the federal government to a minimum of $15 per hour reflects our appreciation for the federal workforce and our values as a nation."

caltrek's comment: While commendable, there is a problem with this sector-by-sector approach. Some might get left behind. As early as the 1940s, Frederick Hayek warned of resentments that such an approach can engender. Examples based on recent headlines might read as follows:

• Why should families with children get such credits when those of us without such families are out of luck?

• Well, that is nice that Social Security recipients get such COLA adjustments, but I don't have such benefits at my workplace.

• Why should federal employees benefit from an upward adjustment in minimum wage when many in the private sector still work at slavery level rates of compensation?

So, there is something to be said about a UBI approach that ensures everybody benefits, or at least everybody under a certain high level of compensation. Build Back Better also has so many provisions that affect so many different sectors that such complaints, while numerous, can at least be offset by widespread benefits. Unfortunately, those who scream the loudest about the negative effects of inflation are often the least inclined to embrace a more comprehensive approach. Often, because they want to keep tax rates for the ultrarich and corporations low. This leaves well intentioned centrists like Biden with little option but to pursue a sector-by-sector approach, utilizing what authority they do have to benefit some sectors, such as federal employees.