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The World
Congress gave final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, as Democrats acted over unified Republican opposition to push through an aid plan that carries out a vast expansion of the country’s social safety net. By a vote of 220 to 211, the House sent the measure to Biden for his signature, cementing one of the largest injections of federal aid since the Great Depression. (New York Times)
Democrats tucked a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations into the relief package that together are worth $60 billion. One takes away deductions for publicly traded companies that pay top employees more than $1 million. Another provision cracks down on how multinational corporations do their taxes. A third targets how owners of unincorporated businesses account for their losses. (Politico)
Confidence among large US employers surged in the past three months, boosting companies’ willingness to hire and invest. A quarterly poll of chief executives by the Business Roundtable, reported a 21 point jump in its economic outlook index since December. The index’s new reading of 107 is far above both the 50-point level that indicates growth and the historical average of 82. The rebound was “among the sharpest and quickest recoveries in optimism in the history of our survey”, said Josh Bolten, the BRT’s chief executive. (Financial Times)
The Dow Jones climbed more than 450 points to a record close — 32297.02, marking its 11th record of 2021 and first close above 32000 — after fresh inflation data showed a muted increase and eased fears of a rapid rise in interest rates. The gains for staid Dow stocks and losses for momentum-driven tech stocks are becoming a familiar pattern. Markets have seesawed in the past few weeks as investors have watched yields on U.S. government debt surge amid expectations of both higher inflation and an economic recovery. (Wall Street Journal)
The Senate confirmed Merrick Garland as attorney general; Michael Regan to lead EPA, the first Black man to head the agency; and Marcia Fudge as HUD secretary, the first Black woman in more than 40 years to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Washington Post)
U.S. officials announced they'll hold their first high-level, in-person summit next week with China — and cyberattacks, human rights and Chinese actions in Taiwan and Hong Kong are likely on the agenda. China's leaders may see the current moment as a window of opportunity to persuade a new administration the United States has much to gain from supporting Beijing's global goals and much to lose if the U.S. tries to thwart them. (Axios, South China Morning Post)
Border Patrol reports 28% rise in migrant crossings in Texas. The magnitude of the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border came into clearer focus as the Biden administration was holding record numbers of unaccompanied migrant teens and children in detention cells for far longer than legally allowed and federal health officials fell further behind in their race to find space for them in shelters. More than 8,500 migrant teens and children who crossed the border without their parents are being housed in Department of Health and Human Services shelters as they wait to be placed with relatives or vetted sponsors. Nearly 3,500 more are stuck at Border Patrol stations waiting for beds in those shelters to open up, the highest figure ever. (Houston Chronicle, Washington Post)
Russia has struck a deal with China to build a lunar research station as the Kremlin seeks to emulate Soviet-era space triumphs after years of decline. The Russian space agency said the International Lunar Research Station would be built on the surface of the moon or in its orbit. (The Times)
A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc. In addition, hackers were able to view video from inside women’s health clinics, psychiatric hospitals and the offices of Verkada itself. Some of the cameras, including in hospitals, use facial-recognition technology to identify and categorize people captured on the footage. The hackers say they also have access to the full video archive of all Verkada customers. (Bloomberg)
Expect long college wait lists: Many college admissions officers are stumped this spring over how many applicants to admit. Their mathematical models to predict which admitted students might accept their offers and enroll as freshmen are proving useless because the coronavirus pandemic threw most traditional elements of the admissions process—campus visits, standardized tests, essays about busy extracurricular schedules—into disarray. “I think it will be a nail-biter,” said MJ Knoll-Finn, senior vice president for enrollment management and student success at New York University. (Wall Street Journal)
The Texas Rangers became the first major professional team in North America to announce plans to allow 100% stadium capacity at games in 2021, citing Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order permitting Texas businesses to fully open. The club will mandate mask-wearing, but also stressed the need for “voluntary compliance” from fans as it hopes to welcome up to 40,518 fans for the April 5 home opener at Globe Life Field. Club officials said there would be a “three-strike” policy on warnings about masks before any action is taken. (Dallas Morning News)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened to sue Austin over mask mandate. The city isn't backing down. Austin and Travis County officials said they would continue to require masks even after Gov. Greg Abbott ended his statewide mandate. (Texas Tribune)
Economy
Goldman Sachs will commit $10 billion in investment capital over the coming decade to help address the disproportionate biases that Black women have faced for generations. The bank also will put $100 million toward philanthropy under the program, which has a goal of impacting the lives of 1 million Black women by 2030. As part of the initiative, New York-based Goldman is working with nonprofit organization Hope Enterprise Corp., mayors and historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. South to distribute and lend capital. (Bloomberg)
McKinsey’s partners elected Bob Sternfels as their next leader, handing him the challenge of stabilizing a consultancy shaken by reputational crises that have raised questions about its culture, growth strategy and governance. The San Francisco-based 51-year-old, whose current role is akin to a chief operating officer, beat Sven Smit, the Amsterdam-based co-chair of the McKinsey Global Institute, the private partnership’s research arm. (Financial Times)
Progressive Corp. said chief marketing officer Jeff Charney — the executive who launched successful, humorous campaigns, often using improvisation actors, featuring creations including the saleswoman Flo and life coach Dr. Rick, who helps homeowners learn how not to become their parents — will retire after more than a decade at the insurance giant, leaving open a top marketing job in one of the most competitive industries for advertisers. (Wall Street Journal)
Kohl’s chief executive defended the retailer against activist investors pushing to take over its board, saying the company’s existing strategy is already paying off. The shareholders called for Kohl’s to add directors with retail experience, for the company to consider a sale-leaseback of some of its real estate holdings and for the chain to reduce inventories, among other changes. Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass said the company was already pursuing several of those initiatives and had concluded that others, such as the sale-leaseback, wouldn’t add value. The company has also said it added six new independent directors since 2016. (Wall Street Journal)
Technology
Russia said it was slowing down the speed of Twitter in retaliation for what it described as a failure to remove banned content, threatening to block the U.S. platform outright if it did not comply with its deletion demands. The move escalates a growing stand-off between Moscow and U.S. social media firms. It comes weeks after Russian authorities accused Twitter and others of failing to delete posts that Moscow said illegally urged children to take part in anti-Kremlin protests. (Reuters)
Roblox jumps to $38 billion market cap as public investors get their first crack at the popular kids game app. (CNBC)
A lot of video games, particularly mobile games, are just mobile versions of what has been available for decades; at the same time, video games have incorporated a lot of things that are only possible on the Internet. Multi-player games have been widespread for over twenty years, and the entire concept of in-app purchases has transformed business models. Both are uniquely enabled by the Internet. Even with that caveat, though, Roblox is something entirely new. (Stratechery)
Apple is slashing its planned production of the iPhone 12 mini for the first half of this year as part of a broader adjustment to output plans it formulated late last year. The U.S. tech giant is cutting orders for all iPhones by around 20% compared to its plans in December, with the majority coming from the mini, its cheapest 5G-enabled phone. (Nikkei Asian Review)
A rash of new start-ups are making it easier for digital creators to monetize every aspect of their life — down to what they eat, who they hang out with and who they respond to on TikTok. Tens of millions of people around the globe consider themselves creators, and the creator economy represents the “fastest-growing type of small business,” according to a 2020 report by the venture capital firm SignalFire. But as the market gets more and more competitive — and the platforms and their algorithms remain unreliable — creators are devising new, hyper-specific revenue streams. (New York Times, SignalFire)
Smart Links
Banks adopt new debt terms to avoid repeat of Citi’s $900m payment mishap. (Financial Times)
Surge in mortgage rates threatens to slow U.S. housing rally. (Bloomberg)
LinkedIn suspends new sign-ups to its China service. (LinkedIn)
How much longer will the Hubble Space Telescope last? (MIT Technology Review)
BuzzFeed is in talks to go public via 890 5th Avenue SPAC. (Bloomberg)
Apple again denies Parler’s application to get back on its App Store. (Washington Post)
Live Events
Today (4 pm ET): First 100 Days: Biden's Immigration Agenda. Panelists: U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Emmy Ruiz, White House Director for Political Strategy and Outreach; U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA-38). (Register: Harvard Kennedy School)
Today (4 pm ET): Travel Talks with Thomas Forrest Kelly: Vienna in 1824: The premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. This talk will consider what it was like to be in Vienna in May of 1824, and attend Mr. Beethoven’s concert to hear his latest symphony. (Register: Harvard Alumni Travels)