Issue III: Spring 2021

Beyond individual lives, what will be the true economic impact of the American Rescue Plan? To answer this, we need to look at what makes a fiscal stimulus effective, the effectiveness of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) from May 2020, and what are the differences between that package and the current one.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “the impacts of the pandemic and the economic fallout have been widespread, but are particularly prevalent among Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant households.”

The vaccine provides hope for many to return to work or to seek new employment opportunities. The rollout of the vaccine -- including the production, transportation, and administration -- created over 50,000 new job opportunities alone (Miranda 2021). Further, over 916,000 new jobs were created in March 2021, which is the largest amount since August 2020 (Casselman 2021).

Colloquially, inflation is generally ignored and misunderstood as a topic for stuffy economists. As consumers, we rarely notice the couple-cent increase in the price of our groceries, but this time we might.

A 70-year-old Seattle man emerged from the hospital to cheers last month after 62 days of fighting COVID-19 on his way to getting a clean bill of health. Then he received a 181-page bill for $1,122,501.04 for his stay.

In the face of multiple pressures on its economic growth, including the global recession, China would be able to enlarge its market size by releasing the inertia of its accumulated wealth. To achieve this, it would be vital to lower the cost of the healthcare system so people would feel less worried about saving money for medication.

In essence, urban Chinese have bet everything on their homes. They now have nearly 78% of their wealth tied up in residential property, versus 35% in the U.S., where more people invest in stocks and pensions.

Out of the 450 IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) that occurred across all US markets in 2020, 55% were Special Purpose Acquisition Company or “SPAC” IPOs. In 2021, the SPAC craze has reached new heights, with SPACs accounting for 78% of all IPOs (SPAC Analytics n.d.).

Gone are the days of Warren Buffet, Bill Miller, and Peter Lynch, who encouraged young investors to stay up to date on shareholder letters and read educational investing books. Today, “Wall Street gurus,” like Dave Portnoy, have little to no financial reasoning behind their irrational investments and instead rely on their humorous efforts to capture the hearts and minds of young investors.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.

In August 2020, Citigroup accidentally wired $900 million to the lenders of the cosmetic brand Revlon Inc. while trying to transfer a $7.8 million interest payment that was owed on a 2016 loan.

It is inhumane to only pay employees for the time they are actively interfacing with customers or completing tasks, only compensating them for a portion of the total time they are mandated to be ostensibly ‘at work’.

A rise in unemployment, a decline in women’s economic success, and an uncertain future will only further contribute to a tense political atmosphere.

Do you support the implementation of a divestment plan from fossil fuels by the Wesleyan endowment?

Yes (93.75%) No (6.25%)

What do you think is a reasonable timeline for divestment from fossil fuels by Wesleyan’s endowment?

2-10 years (83.63%) 10+ years or no opinion (16.37%)

By moving away from the well-known “oil industry,” and reinventing operations, companies such as Shell, BP, and others have been able to both improve their public image and create new revenue streams from the rising renewable energy industry.

How can environmental change be implemented in the cutthroat, greed-filled, and, in many ways, anti-environmental society that we are living in?

In the 1930’s a German research group by the name of Frankfurt School found that unhappy workers turned to stores to spend away their sadness.

Back in September when California was being ravaged by wildfires, CME group, the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, announced that futures contracts for water would be available for trading starting December 7th, 2020.

The EV industry is here to stay. At this point, it’s hard to tell who might strike gold next, but there are certainly still a few diamonds in the rough.

It has been a bad year for Intel. Despite the Silicon Valley Giants near record-high stock price, Intel could be on the defensive and playing catchup in the industry it once dominated.

The Human Genome Project, a $3 billion project that took place from 1990 to 2003, sequenced the human genome for the first time. With significant advances in computing capabilities, the cost of producing a high-quality ‘draft’ human genome sequence has drastically decreased, costing only $1,500 in late 2015

While there are many reasons for the mammoth influence of Chinese companies, Ant Group’s story serves as a great anecdote for how and why these giants rise and fall.

In September of 2020, Snowflake had an immensely successful IPO starting at $120 per share and rising as high as $245.

Mike Winkelmann, known to many as “Beeple,” just became the third most valuable living artist in the world. His latest piece sold for a whopping $69 million.

Bitcoin is about to run into the greatest challenge the cryptocurrency will ever face - economic policy and regulation.