Government
10 things we learned at Brookings in December
In this final week of a year that can’t end soon enough, here are 10 items from the past month to carry you into the new year. 1. Boosting long-run growth after the pandemic In an essay for the Blueprints for American Renewal & Prosperity series,…
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By Fred Dews
In this final week of a year that can’t end soon enough, here are 10 items from the past month to carry you into the new year.
1. Boosting long-run growth after the pandemic
In an essay for the Blueprints for American Renewal & Prosperity series, Martin Baily says that “once the pandemic is under control the problem of slow long-term growth will resurface.” Baily offers a number of policies to overcome this challenge, including worker training and re-training; loans and grants to struggling businesses, large and small; a reformed immigration policy that welcomes those with technical skills and entrepreneurial talents; and renewed federal support for R&D.
2. Amazon and Walmart profit during pandemic, but not their employees
Molly Kinder and Laura Stateler report that “many of America’s top retail and grocery companies have raked in billions during the pandemic but shared little of that windfall with their frontline workers, who risk their lives each day for wages that are often so low they can’t support a family.” These include, especially, Amazon and Walmart which together earned over $10 billion extra profit over 2019, but were among the least generous in extra compensation for workers. “Companies like Walmart and Amazon have the means—and the moral imperative—to provide higher hourly hazard pay and raise wages permanently,” Kinder and Stateler argue. “Their frontline essential workforce, who have helped nearly all the rest of us get through the pandemic, certainly deserve it.”
3. Transforming global education systems for the post-pandemic world
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many sectors, with particularly deep impacts on education worldwide. Jenny Perlman Robinson writes that the “disruption caused by the pandemic—and its far-reaching impact—requires large-scale, innovative education approaches that transform education systems to meet the needs of all children.” Learn more in this piece about a new partnership between Brookings and the Global Partnership for Education to address the concerns facing education systems around the world.
4. Rehiring foreign service officers to rebuild State Department is not a good idea
Jeffrey Feltman addresses one idea to restore the State Department after what he calls “the vandalism of the Trump years”—an “amnesty” to allow foreign service officers (FSOs) who resigned or retired since 2016 to rejoin the department. Feltman explains why this is a bad idea, and suggests alternatives. “Yes,” Feltman writes, “the foreign service suffered under the Trump administration. But an ‘amnesty’ for any ex-FSO will not revitalize America’s professional diplomacy in the ways most needed to meet contemporary challenges.”
5. How to eliminate the Electoral College
Elaine Kamarck and John Hudak argue that the Electoral College must be eliminated because it leaves the most populous states in the country dramatically underrepresented in the electoral system. In 1900, the state with the median population (Louisiana) held 19% of the population of the largest state (New York). However, by 2019, the median state (Kentucky) comprised only 11% of the most populous state (California). “These imbalances effectively ensure that some votes in presidential elections are worth more than others,” they say, “and as that imbalance scales up across the entire Electoral College, it can (under the right circumstances) provide the recipes for popular vote winners losing the Electoral College.” See also: “The Electoral College is a ticking time bomb,” by William Galston.
6. The future of natural resource governance
A new collaboration examines the future of natural resource governance at a time when the global pandemic is putting strain on economies and democratic institutions, especially in lower-income, resource-rich countries. The Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption project at Brookings, the Natural Resource Governance Institute, and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative are focused on “opening new ways of thinking about natural resource governance global (and local) architecture and better responding to the short- and long-term challenges posed by COVID-19.”
7. War powers must be address by new president and Congress
Michael O’Hanlon and Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps pilot and former candidate for U.S. Senate from Kentucky, acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of retired four-star general Lloyd Austin to be the next secretary of defense raises some valid concerns. But, they say, there is an even more pressing concern: war powers and who wields them. “Since World War II,” they write, “the executive branch has usurped war-making powers that the U.S. Constitution entrusted to the people’s branch of government, Congress. This pressing issue demands major, comprehensive new legislation from a new Congress and president come 2021.”
8. One billion people in poverty hotspots worldwide
Raj Desai, Homi Kharas, and Selen Özdoğan document poverty “hotspots” around the globe, places that were classified as low income in both 2000 and 2015. These areas were home to 1.12 billion people in 2015, and are spread across 77 countries, though concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. They offer three interventions to address regional development in these “subnational” areas: “those that improve human capital, those that compensate for geographical disadvantages through investments in technology and infrastructure, and those that improve the functioning of political institutions.”
9. Expand national service programs and EDUCATIONAL Awards
Young people are among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic wreckage, hurting jobs and job prospects, while also disrupting post-secondary educational attainment. In their essay for Blueprints for American Renewal & Prosperity, Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman argue that an expanded national service program—including more service positions, an increased living allowance, and more educational awards—can address both problems. “A more robust national service infrastructure,” they write, “will address key issues predating the pandemic, such as the need for more stability and guidance to help young adults gain a foothold in the labor market, and the need for structured opportunities that allow people to interact and work with a diverse group of peers.”
10. A post-pandemic plan for the middle class
“A prosperous middle class provides the foundation for a strong society and a healthy democracy,” say Richard Reeves and Isabel Sawhill. But they note that over the last few decades middle class incomes have grown half as fast as incomes at in the top 20% and in the bottom 20% of the income distribution. To revitalize the middle class, Reeves and Sawhill propose policies that include tax reductions on middle class incomes, educational benefits for national service, two years of free college, and more.
Government
Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study
Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study
Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
People with inadequate…
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Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
People with inadequate iron levels in their blood due to a COVID-19 infection could be at greater risk of long COVID.
A new study indicates that problems with iron levels in the bloodstream likely trigger chronic inflammation and other conditions associated with the post-COVID phenomenon. The findings, published on March 1 in Nature Immunology, could offer new ways to treat or prevent the condition.
Long COVID Patients Have Low Iron Levels
Researchers at the University of Cambridge pinpointed low iron as a potential link to long-COVID symptoms thanks to a study they initiated shortly after the start of the pandemic. They recruited people who tested positive for the virus to provide blood samples for analysis over a year, which allowed the researchers to look for post-infection changes in the blood. The researchers looked at 214 samples and found that 45 percent of patients reported symptoms of long COVID that lasted between three and 10 months.
In analyzing the blood samples, the research team noticed that people experiencing long COVID had low iron levels, contributing to anemia and low red blood cell production, just two weeks after they were diagnosed with COVID-19. This was true for patients regardless of age, sex, or the initial severity of their infection.
According to one of the study co-authors, the removal of iron from the bloodstream is a natural process and defense mechanism of the body.
But it can jeopardize a person’s recovery.
“When the body has an infection, it responds by removing iron from the bloodstream. This protects us from potentially lethal bacteria that capture the iron in the bloodstream and grow rapidly. It’s an evolutionary response that redistributes iron in the body, and the blood plasma becomes an iron desert,” University of Oxford professor Hal Drakesmith said in a press release. “However, if this goes on for a long time, there is less iron for red blood cells, so oxygen is transported less efficiently affecting metabolism and energy production, and for white blood cells, which need iron to work properly. The protective mechanism ends up becoming a problem.”
The research team believes that consistently low iron levels could explain why individuals with long COVID continue to experience fatigue and difficulty exercising. As such, the researchers suggested iron supplementation to help regulate and prevent the often debilitating symptoms associated with long COVID.
“It isn’t necessarily the case that individuals don’t have enough iron in their body, it’s just that it’s trapped in the wrong place,” Aimee Hanson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge who worked on the study, said in the press release. “What we need is a way to remobilize the iron and pull it back into the bloodstream, where it becomes more useful to the red blood cells.”
The research team pointed out that iron supplementation isn’t always straightforward. Achieving the right level of iron varies from person to person. Too much iron can cause stomach issues, ranging from constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain to gastritis and gastric lesions.
1 in 5 Still Affected by Long COVID
COVID-19 has affected nearly 40 percent of Americans, with one in five of those still suffering from symptoms of long COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Long COVID is marked by health issues that continue at least four weeks after an individual was initially diagnosed with COVID-19. Symptoms can last for days, weeks, months, or years and may include fatigue, cough or chest pain, headache, brain fog, depression or anxiety, digestive issues, and joint or muscle pain.
Government
Walmart joins Costco in sharing key pricing news
The massive retailers have both shared information that some retailers keep very close to the vest.
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As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters.
The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.
The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.
Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing
It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.
You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.
Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.
However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Walmart sees lower prices
McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.
During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.
"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.
He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.
"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."
McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.
"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.
Costco sees almost no inflation impact
McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco (COST) Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.
The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.
"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.
Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.
"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.
bankruptcy pandemic trumpGovernment
Walmart has really good news for shoppers (and Joe Biden)
The giant retailer joins Costco in making a statement that has political overtones, even if that’s not the intent.
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As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters.
The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.
The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.
Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing
It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.
You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.
Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.
However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Walmart sees lower prices
McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.
During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.
"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.
He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.
"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."
McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.
"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.
Costco sees almost no inflation impact
McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco (COST) Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.
The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.
"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.
Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.
"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.
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