Employment
Pew Trusts, Stateline: Poverty Grows Despite Economic Recovery; Left Behind
Even as average personal incomes rose during the pandemic largely because of government aid, millions of people who didn’t receive such help have fallen into poverty, struggling to pay for food and other basic expenses. That group, trying to get by with the help of local charities, may have been excluded from the federal payments because of immigration status, lack of time in the labor force needed to claim unemployment benefits, or just red tape in states that have been slow to pay jobless claims. And lawmakers in some states such as New York are proposing measures that would create relief funds for workers shut out of jobless payments. Houston-area food banks are employing some out-of-work restaurant employees to help with food distribution, regardless of immigration status, through a relief initiative called Get Shift Done. more »
Economic Research, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Shift in Confidence and Fear Could Prevent Consumers From Rebounding to Their Investment and Spending Habits
"The negative economic effects of the pandemic come from two sources: capital obsolescence and belief scarring. The pandemic and lockdowns forced consumers to work and consume differently, which can generate persistent changes in tastes and habits for years to come. Capital obsolescence reflects this long-lasting change in the economic value of installed capital. For example, in the post-pandemic world there might be more online shopping instead of in-store purchases. Hence, some installed capital, for example, commercial real estate such as shopping malls, could become obsolete." more »
Fed Reserve Gov Brainard: Strengthening the Financial System to Meet the Challenge of Climate Change; opportunities for private-sector investments in low-carbon innovation, infrastructure, energy, and transportation
"There is growing evidence that extreme weather events related to climate change are on the rise — droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and heatwaves are all becoming more common. Climate-related events are already adversely affecting the lives of many Americans. The economic and financial impacts are also increasingly evident: we are already seeing elevated financial losses associated with an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Some have described Pacific Gas and Electric's bankruptcy as the first climate-related bankruptcy of a major US corporation... more »
National Museum of American History: Even Though the Room Is Full, They Are “The Only One in the Room”
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will feature eight such women in its new display, “The Only One in the Room,” which opened on Nov. 20. This “New Perspectives” case will be on view in the museum’s business history exhibition, “National Museum of American History: Even Though the Room Is Full, They Are “The Only One in the Room”” through November 2021. Spanning three centuries of American history, the display will explore the stories of women who made a mark in their respective industries, including banking, beauty, advertising and manufacturing, and examine the obstacles they faced and the context of the times in which they lived. more »