Новости за 01.01.2021

With vaccinations underway and the Biden administration about to assume power, attention will soon return to an assessment of the true damage that Covid-19 has wreaked on the American economy. At this moment, it’s important to take stock of the various rescue measures that have been extended by the federal government and consider how they should be amended in the future. Above and beyond the $900 billion stimulus signed by President Trump on Sunday, over the next two to four years it is likely... Читать дальше...

In 2011, as an anxious Republican from Utah, I fly with my husband and nine-month-old son to Majuro Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands. We fly D.C. to L.A., L.A. to Honolulu, then Honolulu southwest for 2,300 miles to Majuro. I don’t blink at the carbon footprint of my flights, not yet. I’m just grateful the baby sleeps, log-like, on a questionably hygienic hearth of two airline tray tables. I’m worried about the unknowns ahead, disasters to foresee and forestall: feral dogs, garbage pollution... Читать дальше...

Times are bad, which means, by the perverse logic of American capitalism, stock markets and speculative investments are flourishing. Bitcoin, the digital currency whose value is pegged to nothing but the amount its adherents are willing to pay for it, is at an all-time high, approaching $29,000 at the end of 2020. For those who held on and defended Bitcoin during its fallow periods, its time seems to have finally come, particularly as PayPal promises to allow customers to start buying and selling cryptocurrencies next year. Читать дальше...

On January 20, workers will disinfect every inch of the White House complex to prepare it for the new administration. While they’re doing that, President-elect Joe Biden could do some sanitizing of his own by signing a memorandum to promote government transparency, opening the windows of the executive branch to let some fresh air and sunshine in after four very cloudy years.