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 State tax shortfalls in the US were expected as consumer purchases dropped sharply in 2020 from the impact of coronavirus lockdowns. Yet this has not happened as total taxes for all states have remained essentially flat, only down less than 1% in 2020 over 2019. Widespread intervention by the US government helped households, businesses and financial markets, helping avoid the pessimistic projections. Stable employment for the more affluent households with steady jobs working from home brought in stronger tax revenues. The situation improved for most states in the second half of 2020, with roughly half the states taking in more revenue in 2020 than in 2019.  Idaho and Utah which attracted workers from the West Coast, had some of the highest tax revenue increases. The pandemic spared the high income jobs which generate most of the revenue helping to create surpluses in Colorado, Vermont, Georgia, Maine, California, Maryland and Virginia. In California a surge in initial public offerings in 2020 helped total tax revenue increase by 2.5%. Even a state like Illinois had personal tax collections higher in 2020 than 2019. This sets aside some of the fears that the pandemic caused about loss of jobs in state and local governments. With assistance from the Biden administration to state and local governments in the  $1.9 trillion aid package for 2021 this job loss could be restored to aid economic recovery. ...

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OECD forecasts show an acceleration of US economic growth in 2021 with the $1.9 trillion aid package of the Biden administration. OECD forecasts show pre-pandemic levels of output reached by mid 2021, 6 months earlier than expected. Global output is expected to grow by 5.6% in 2021, after declining 3.4% in 2020. Main reason- US economy is seen expanding at 6.5%, twice as fast as previously forecast and fastest since 1984. OECD sees the importance of stimulus coinciding with vaccination of the population. The pace in the US with 18 million vaccinated in March and the goal of vaccinating the whole population by May is part of the reason given for the vigorous growth. Astonishingly the OECD sees the US economy larger in end of year 2022 now than it had forecast before the pandemic. For other countries such as India with slower vaccination progress and large population, OECD forecast is for 8% shortfall in growth from what was expected before the pandemic at end of 2022.  This is an amazing bit of good news amid all the dismay and confusion surrounding the coronavirus lockdowns. ...

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Us efforts led by Piedmont Lithium in North Carolina to build supplies for the lithium needed in electric vehicle batteries. The effort to get the first US big new lithium mine into operation is part of a broader effort to  build a US supply chain for the ultra light lithium metal that is highly conductive. In fact the modern lithium mining industry started in the rolling hills of the Piedmont region in North Carolina. At that time in the 1950's it was needed for nuclear bombs. Today China mines 10% of world's supplies. Abermarle Corp of the US based in Charlotte extracts lithium from mines in Australia and Chile which have large deposits of lithium. President Biden has signed an executive order calling for a review of supply chains for critical materials, including lithium as the US looks to build its own supply chains and become independent of supplies of metals from China. The lack of such supplies has become a strategic vulnerability for the US.  The growth of the electric vehicle industry and the efforts to reduce climate change emissions means higher demand for lithium. ...

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A look at graphs showing how much and where the $1.9 trillion aid for the pandemic is going for households, businesses, local governments and programs. This package of aid is ready to pass the US Congress in March 2021.

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The UK vaccination drive gives a strong boost to business and household confidence in the economic recovery for 2021.

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South Korea will share an increased part of the cost of stationing US troops and bases in the country. This was a key demand of the Trump administration as it sought to reach agreement on fair shared cost of the defense costs. South Korea paid $913 million a year and the new amount is likely to be at least over 15% higher.

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Passage through Congress of the $1.9 trillion relief bill is expected with a close vote as some Democrats in the House of Representatives oppose the concessions made on the minimum wage and reducing jobless benefits to $300 instead of $400 a week. Senator Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia asked for these concessions in the Senate, saying he would join the Republicans if these concessions were not made. This shows how close the vote is in the Senate which voted 50 to 49  to pass the Biden bill. Overall the bill does much to bring relief to Americans suffering from the effects on income from the coronavirus, and supports local governments. It funds more vaccination sites and more vaccination teams. Unemployment benefits are extended from March 14 to September 6 at $300 a week. About 85% of the population qualifies for a one time cheque of $ 1400. It also increases rent support for struggling tenants and includes $510 million for the homeless. State and local governments can now rehire1.3 million employees using $350 billion in federal aid. ...

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The Conservatives get a big boost from the 2021 budget. This budget increased the corporate tax to 25% by 2023 from 20% under previous Conservative governments of Cameron, and 19% under May. A survey by YouGov shows 55% of the British public thinks this budget is "fair," only 16% saying it is "unfair." This is the highest rating for any British budget since 2009. For Boris Johnson's Conservatives this means a 4% increase in popularity just in the last week up to 45% and Labour under Keith Starmer dropping 4% to 32%. This has opened a 13 point lead for the Conservatives likely to show up in the local elections coming up. This Conservative lead is higher than the 44% vote share for Boris Johnson's Conservatives in the general election.

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Slow progress of vaccination drives in the European Union has led to rising frustration. This is leading to action from the EU. The EU and Italy have halted export of 250,000 doses of vaccine bottled at a factory in Rome, that is part of the Astra Zeneca supply chain.

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This group of 26 leading scientists from Australia, France, Britain and the US are calling for a new international full, open and unrestricted forensic investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in its original location of Wuhan. This happens as scientists on the WHO investigation team in Wuhan say they did not have unrestricted access to conduct their investigation. The Biden administration has restored ties to the World Health Organization after the Trump administration cut ties on this issue of transparency. The Biden administration says transparency is an essential condition for the US as it seeks to continue US participation in WHO. The US, India, France, Britain and other European nations have a long history of participation in WHO and were original founders. Recent flawed election processes at WHO and the lack of effective leadership from western foundations have led to the lack of effective leadership of WHO that prevailed in post war world for the first five decades of the organization. Much of that leadership was from western nations, India and Japan, during a period in which the pandemics were managed limiting their spread from the areas of origin. ...

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Amazing pictures of the planet Mars from the Mars rover Perseverance.

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This story shows how NASA's Mars rover Perseverance landed on Mars after covering 127 million miles. The $2.7 billion Mars Rover mission is the result of a decade's work and was launched in July 2020.

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British prime minister Boris Johnson says he is cutting down on carbohydrates, chocolate and late night cheese, and urges Britain to take up healthy diets. In a video posted on Twitter he says he is "doing everything I can to lose weight, and to feel fitter and healthier. I've been eating less carbs, avoiding chocolate, no more late night cheese."

As a result of the new lifestyle and eating habits which includes taking early morning runs, he says he feels a lot more energetic and healthier, "I feel full of beans" as he calls it using the British expression, and he "thoroughly, thoroughly recommends it."

Allegra Stratton, the prime minister's press secretary says she has lost more than a stone by filling half of her plate with vegetables.

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Rishi Sunak, Britain's finance minister, defends the increase in the corporate tax rate to 25%, saying the increased receipts from corporate tax in recent years were because of cyclical recovery of corporate profits which took a hit in the financial crisis. He says that the cuts in the rate by George Osborne, former Tory finance minister, have not led to increased business investment. Osborne cut taxes to 20% from 29%, lowest in G20 countries and Hammond who succeeded Osborne as finance minister cut the rate to 19%. At 25% the corporate tax will still be the lowest in the G7 countries. France, Japan and Germany have corporate tax rate of 30-31%. Higher taxes would help finance needs for government investment in infrastructure and health services, public services, and tackle the financial situation arising out of the pandemic support. The last time taxes were raised was in 1973. This also shows that the UK and the rest of the world is looking at the mixed results shown from cutting taxes. Business investment has not resulted from the business tax cuts in the way that would support creating job growth, some of the investment only supporting automation. The investment in infrastructure is lacking from the business sector leading to the need for government to use taxes for renewal in updating infrastructure. The rise of China with new infrastructure has only shown the problems with simply cutting taxes in the hope that job growth, economic growth, infrastructure growth would happen as hoped. This is why the Tories under Boris Johnson are trying a new approach to get the job done. ...