The debt ceiling edition. There just might be some good news on the COVID-19 front. New cases, hospitalizations, stays in ICUs and test positivity are all down sharply, compared with two weeks ago. This follows a post holiday bump reported in early to mid January. Meanwhile, the “tripledemic” of RSV, flu, and COVID-19 is easing off, as hospitals nationwide report improving conditions. 

For some time, human needs advocates and many economists have maintained that the U.S. tax code discriminates on the basis of race and ethnicity by increasing disparities between families with wealth – more often White families – and families without wealth. Now, for the first time ever, a U.S. Treasury Department study has confirmed these suspicions: White Americans disproportionately benefit from a variety of tax breaks, including those aimed at investors. 

When inflation began ravaging Americans’ pocketbooks and wallets in early 2021, it was middle-income Americans who mostly bore the brunt. That’s because inflation then was in part driven by gas costs and a shortage of used cars, which led to higher prices. Americans with low incomes, while hurt, were affected slightly less. Last year, that changed, according to a new report by the New York Fed. 

If you work for a big corporation, there’s a very good chance your boss has already raked in more cash than you will all year. If the typical CEO of a large U.S. corporation clocked in at 9 am on January 2, by 3:37 pm that afternoon he’d made $58,260 — the average annual salary for all U.S. occupations. In less than seven hours on the first workday of the year, that CEO made as much as the average U.S. worker will make all year long.