Privacy and civil liberties experts warn about vaccine passports. So do conspiracy theorists. In February, Liberty, the UK’s largest independent civil liberties organization, said that when it comes to vaccine passports, even the best intentions could go terribly awry. “Even the introduction of a voluntary passport to prove if you’ve had a … Continue reading Conspiracy theories are clouding real vaccine passport concerns

Like its predecessor, the Biden administration has largely dispensed with the idea of free trade as a goal in and of itself. Free trade has benefited mostly corporations at the expense of lost jobs at home. Finally people are waking up to the fact free trade has done more damage at home … Continue reading In Washington, ‘Free Trade’ Is No Longer Gospel – The New York Times

  Biden and Yellen need to raise revenue, but other countries with lower corporate taxes could lure multinational companies away. She’s holding talks. Makes sense as a lot of issues with things like wages being too low, for example, would be addressed if corporations had to pay taxes on profits each year, … Continue reading Janet Yellen working on overhauling global minimum corporate tax rate

The US has far less mobility and equality of opportunity today than almost the entire European Union The American Dream is now the European Dream. Source: The ‘American Dream’ of upward mobility is broken. Look at the numbers | US news | The Guardian Continue reading The ‘American Dream’ of upward mobility is broken. Look at the numbers | The Guardian

A group of bipartisan senators is reintroducing a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent. Daylight savings times is an antiquated system that was supposed to bring about benefits to society, but instead, didn’t. It really is time to do away with it, and it’s a bipartisan wish to do … Continue reading Daylight Saving Time: Senators once again introduce a bill, Sunshine Protection Act, to make DST permanent

At least 250 new laws have been proposed in 43 states to limit mail, early in-person and Election Day voting. In the interest of shoring “up public confidence in the integrity of elections after the 2020 presidential contest”, proposed voting law changes in 43 states would actually decrease the amount of people … Continue reading New proposed voting laws could create hurdles for tens of millions of voters

In 2013, the court gutted a key provision of the law, citing that Section 2 of the act still bars discrimination in voting nationwide. Now, Section 2 is in the conservative court’s crosshairs. The remaining part of the voting rights act that overwhelmingly protects minorities in rural areas is itself in danger … Continue reading Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act

The former Bernie Sanders adviser on why the pandemic has shown the US and UK governments can never run out of money. The pandemic showed the public that the government really does create money and doesn’t require tax dollars to run. Trump showed this to be a fact with the policies he enacted, even … Continue reading MMT economist Stephanie Kelton: “Donald Trump changed the terms of economic debate”

For months, our leaders have known that the Covid-19 crisis could force millions of people from their homes. They decided to let it happen. Capitalism at its finest. Source: How the United States Chose to Become a Country of Homelessness Continue reading How the United States Chose to Become a Country of Homelessness

The benefits of a $15 minimum would greatly outweigh the costs. The “common sense” fears, such as “low paid workers losing their jobs” with a hike in the minimum wage turn out to not actually happen in real life. A raise in the minimum wage turns out to not be the death … Continue reading The Counterintuitive Workings of the Minimum Wage – The Atlantic

Advocates of cheap and widely available vaccines thought the pandemic might change business as usual. They were wrong. Oxford University surprised and pleased advocates of overhauling the vaccine business in April by promising to donate the rights to its promising coronavirus vaccine to any drugmaker. A few weeks later, Oxford—urged on by … Continue reading Oxford University pledged to donate rights to their COVID vaccine but then sold them to AstraZeneca | Fortune

The pandemic has shown the limits of the market … a book that takes its cue from the Apollo 11 mission is full of vital ideas for progressives who want to change … Continue reading Mission Economy by Mariana Mazzucato review – the return of the state | The Guardian