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Senior Labour figures accepted valuable gifts from Google

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  Senior Labour figures accepted valuable gifts from Google in the days before abandoning a plan to tax digital giants more, openDemocracy can reveal. Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, his senior parliamentary assistant (who is his wife), and Keir Starmer’s political director all attended Glastonbury festival in June as guests of YouTube, which is owned by Google. Including accommodation and ‘hospitality’, Reynolds estimates his Glastonbury package for two was worth £3,377 – significantly more than the cost of two regular tickets, which were £335 each. The next day, reports emerged that Labour had ditched its proposal to hike tax on digital businesses like Google. The Digital Services Tax, introduced in 2020, is a 2% levy on the UK income of online companies like search engines and social media platforms. In August last year, Reynolds and his shadow chancellor colleague Rachel Reeves had called for an increase in the tax to 10%, saying the income would be used t...
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UK Excess Deaths

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In January 2023, there were 63,177 deaths registered in England, 6,632 deaths (11.7%) above the January five-year average (2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2022). In January 2023, there were 4,230 deaths registered in Wales, 506 deaths (13.6%) above the January average. In January 2023, the leading cause of death in both England and Wales was dementia and Alzheimer's disease (13.0% and 11.3% of all deaths, in England and Wales respectively). In January 2023, the leading cause of excess death in England was influenza or pneumonia, at 1,802 excess deaths (59.2% above average). In January 2023, the leading cause of excess death in Wales was chronic lower respiratory diseases, at 95 excess deaths (40.8% above average).  
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News for Week Mon 13 Mar 2023

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  Consumer Price Index (CPI)  data is due out this Tuesday. The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) , i.e. the Fed, announces its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday afternoon. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) : Over the weekend, the Treasury Department indicated that depositors will get their money back, but will let the bank itself fail. US Employment Report (for February) : The latest US employment report came out last Friday, and showed that the US economy is still strong (which is good and bad for all the obvious reasons to investors).
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non-invasive glucose monitoring on Apple Watch

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  e what others are saying about this topic:  Open on Linkedin Huge breakthrough for non-invasive glucose monitoring on Apple Watch Apple just made a huge breakthrough for non-invasive glucose monitoring on Apple Watch, and this will be their Next BIG Thing 🤯 The tech powerhouse reportedly has a moonshot-style project underway that dates back to the Steve Jobs era: noninvasive and continuous blood glucose monitoring🩸 Dubbed E5, this secret endeavor’s ultimate goal is to measure how much glucose is in someone’s body without needing to prick the skin for blood. After hitting major milestones recently, the company now believes it could eventually bring glucose monitoring to market as part of the Apple Watch ⌚️ The technology is still years away...
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High Volatility is normally bad

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High Volatility is normally bad  This is perhaps the most important stock market chart in the world right now. It's ticker symbol VIX. It tracks stock market volatility. And as you can see in the chart above, volatility hasn't been this consistently high since the years following the 2008 crash. It's bad news for investors.
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Tipping getting out of hand

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 Tipping getting out of hand In the 18th century, a tip was a gratuity given to a servant. The OED's earliest usage of tip involving waiters comes from 1825: "Sir Harry was liberal in his ‘tips’, and consequently a great favorite of Phillips (the waiter)." In this period, however, the word could also denote a bribe, as in this usage from 1819: "To take the tip is to receive a bribe in any shape."  People complaining about needless ‘back & forth credit card game’ at restaurants. Or pretend ignorance by coffee shop staff when the iPad spins around. Or the prevalence of POS software in new types of shops that  never requested tips before . “Okay, the screen is just gonna ask you a few questions.” ​ Uh-huh, right,, like we both don’t know what this is all about. That last point is the most salient. See, it used to be just a few types of businesses that expected tips. Restaurants, cab drivers, valet parking, housekeeping, etc. But now Americans are seeing prompts...
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The origins of the pink knickers tax

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  The origins of the pink knickers tax The tariff gap originates from industry lobbying in the 1930s and ’40s,  according  to Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell. At the time, domestic producers were concerned about foreign competition for goods that required more labor-intensive production (women’s undies tend to have more intricate designs) and those targeting price-sensitive consumers. Zoom out:  The problem is bigger than just underwear. According to Gresser, apparel tariffs account for 75% of the total cost imposed on US consumers by import taxes, and two-thirds of that comes from women’s clothes. —SK
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