Once again, it’s been a big week in numbers – from stellar revenue reports from Tesla, Apple, Facebook and Amazon to warnings from U.S. companies that the prices of everyday goods will skyrocket.
US President Joe Biden wants to raise capital gains tax to fund his US plan for families and start closing the yawning inequality gap, while in Brazil small town efforts seaside resort to strengthen its social safety net make it an exceptional success during the coronavirus. pandemic currently raging in the country.
Meanwhile, we see a growing gap between the economic rebounds of different nations. The US economic recovery is gaining momentum under the impact of mass vaccinations and a lot of stimulus, while Europe posted negative growth in the first quarter. And spare a thought for young Mexicans who plead for work.
We’ve got more stories you’ll want to know, so let’s dive into the numbers that counted this week.
39.6 percent
This is the highest tax rate that U.S. President Joe Biden wants to apply to long-term capital gains for households earning more than $ 1 million. This is almost double the current base rate.
The difference between income taxes, which is how most Americans make their money, and capital gains – how many rich people grow their personal fortunes – has long been criticized by critics as a factor of inequality. .
But will increasing the capital gains tax reduce the gap between the haves and have-nots?
Ben Piven of Al Jazeera has the short answer.
42,000
That’s the number of people in the Brazilian city of Marica receiving mumbucas – a virtual currency created by the oil-rich seaside town before the pandemic as a form of universal basic income (UBI).
Mumbacas and other measures designed to strengthen Marica’s social safety net have made the town socialist exceptional success during the pandemic, as Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew reports, as most Brazilians battle the virus, which has claimed the lives of at least 400,000 people and thrown more than 25 million into poverty.
6.4 percent
How much is it the US economy has grown In the first three months of this year, on an annual basis, ramping up coronavirus vaccinations and a ton of stimulus money have lured long-dormant consumers out of hibernation.
From January to March of this year, Americans went shopping, buying cars and trucks, and eating in restaurants and bars. But as businesses gear up to meet the needs of reinvigorated consumers, it leads to supply chain bottlenecks and price spikes. But the US Federal Reserve isn’t bothered by inflation at all – yet. Patricia Sabga, Business Editor-in-Chief of Al Jazeera explain why here.
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Saudi Arabia in talks to sell one percent of its state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco to a leading global energy company, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) announced earlier this week.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [File: Bandar Algaloud via Reuters]Aramco raised $ 25.6 billion during its 2019 initial public offering (IPO). The Crown Prince is increasingly relying on the world’s largest oil company to help finance its plan for economic diversification and development Vision 2030, which has had to face obstacles in recent years.
11
This is the number of missions it will take to complete a space station for which China on Thursday launched an unmanned module from its Wenchang space launch center on the southern island of Hainan.
Tianhe, also known as “Harmony of Heaven,” is home to the main living quarters of three crew members of the Chinese Permanent Space Station.
The plan is to complete the space station that will orbit Earth at an altitude of 340-450 km (211-280 miles) by the end of 2022, Chinese media reported this week.
People watch from a beach as the Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the base module of the Chinese space station Tianhe, takes off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province, China [File: China Daily via Reuters]1 of 6
One in six young people aged 18 to 29 in Latin America and the Caribbean have left work since the start of the pandemic, according to a recent study by Canadian charity Cuso.
“Young people were the first to lose their jobs,” Andrea Olmos, who lives in central Mexico City, told Ann Deslandes of Al Jazeera.
According to the Mexican Social Security Institute, more than half of all job losses in Mexico in the 10 months ending December 2020 were suffered by young people under the age of 29. Like Ann Deslandes from Al Jazeera Explain, job losses from a pandemic, combined with other systemic obstacles, have left many young Mexicans desperate for work.
