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Category: Economy (Page 1 of 21)

Adult skills in literacy and numeracy declining or stagnating in most OECD countries

2024-12-10 /

A new OECD Survey of Adult Skills shows literacy and numeracy skills among adults have largely declined or remained stagnated over the past decade in most OECD countries.

The Survey measured the skills of around 160,000 16-65 year-olds across 31 countries. It looked at how literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills are used at work. It aims to provide insight of how developing and using skills improves employment prospects and quality of life as well as boosting economic growth.

One of the findings is that only Finland and Denmark have seen significant improvements in adult literacy skills over the past decade.

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Wall Street is betting that, during Trump’s second term, more people will enter the United States than are deported from it

2024-12-04 /

Only 6% of Wall Street investors surveyed by Goldman Sachs expect net immigration will turn negative during Trump’s second term. Investors are betting that, even with Trump’s promised crackdown, more people will enter the U.S. than are deported from it.

Matt Egan, writing for CNN »

Over a fifth of investors told Goldman they think immigration under Trump will exceed the pre-pandemic rate of roughly 1 million per year.

Literacy in the USA

2024-12-02 /

The National Literacy Institute »

Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children

  • 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022
  • 54% of adults have a literacy below 6th grade level
  • 45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level
  • 44% of the American adults do not read a book in a year
  • The Top 3 states for highest child literacy rates were Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Hampshire, in that order (highest to lowest).
  • The Bottom 3 states for child literacy rates were Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico, (highest to lowest).

More » The National Literacy Institute »

Joe Biden’s administration just set tariffs of up to 271.2% for solar panels from Southeast Asia

2024-12-02 /

Climate change be damned.

This from the World’s second largest emitter of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. Expect more, worst, from the Trump administration.

Reuters »

U.S. trade officials announced on Friday a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian nations after American manufacturers complained that companies there are flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods.

It is the second of two preliminary decisions that President Joe Biden’s Commerce Department is making this year in a trade case brought by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar Inc and several smaller producers seeking to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing.

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Trump pledges 25 per cent tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico

2024-11-25 /

Reuters »

Trump on Monday pledged a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada from his first day in office, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, citing illegal immigration and the trade of illicit drugs.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said the tariffs would remain in place until the two countries clamp down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border illegally.

Also » The Guardian / The Guardian / CBC / Brandon Sun / Japan Times / BBC / Le Monde / France 24 / Deutsche Welle / Channel News Asia / Al Jazeera / Axios / The Hill

Video » CBC The National’s Adrienne Arsenault asks former Conservative industry minister James Moore about the potential economic impact of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods. ⤵️

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US Department of Justice and 30 state attorneys general announced a lawsuit against ticketing giant Live Nation on antitrust grounds

2024-05-23 /

The U.S. government filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, seeking to “break up” the company, accusing it of unlawfully dominating the market.

Alexander Mallin, writing for ABC News »

The lawsuit, filed by the DOJ and 30 state and district attorneys general in federal court in the Southern District of New York, accuses the company of creating a monopoly over the live entertainment market that has harmed music fans, artists and promoters around the United States through higher prices and frustrating consumer experiences.

“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “It is time to break up Live Nation.”

More » The Guardian / Le Monde / BBC / CBC / CNBC / Axios / Business Insider / The Verge / Gizmodo / Fortune / Fast Company / Al Jazeera / Matt Stoller

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