Agenda in Peril, Biden Heads to US Capitol to Meet With Democrats

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President Joe Biden was scheduled to meet Friday with his fellow Democrats in Congress, progressives and moderates in his party remained divided over two massive spending bills that account for much of his domestic agenda.  Democrats have struggled to coalesce around those two bills. Progressives have vowed to block a $1 trillion infrastructure bill without an agreement to advance a larger social spending and climate change bill. Moderates say that bill’s current $3.5 trillion price tag is too high.  After a two-hour party meeting, Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives did not appear to have a clear plan. Representativemore

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America’s Investment in Infrastructure Doesn’t Always Pay Off

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About two centuries ago, American local, state and federal governments poured millions of dollars into building canals to move the nation’s people and goods. By 1840, there were 3,000 miles of canals in the United States. But, within 20 years, the rise of the railroads would make canals practically obsolete. In the 1840s, several U.S. states ended up defaulting on the loans they took to build canals and railroads. The defaults are an example of what can happen when governments spend on infrastructure — because trying to guess the future can be like shooting at a moving target.  “You try tomore

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Democrats Delay Vote on Infrastructure Plan, Bowing to Progressives

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Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives delayed a planned vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that had been set for Thursday, bowing to party progressives who had demanded action on a larger social policy bill first. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden have been scrambling to patch up differences between progressive lawmakers, who want a $3.5 trillion social spending package to go along with the infrastructure plan, and moderates wanting a smaller bill. The move gave Biden and Democratic leaders more time to try to assemble the votes to gain support for a keymore

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Young Investors Eager to Learn Stock Market

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Investors younger than 34 surveyed by a financial services company said student debt, health care costs and financial jargon are barriers between them and investing. Of the 898 surveyed, 61% of the young investors said education costs, or paying down student loans, are the biggest barriers to retirement, tied with health care costs (61%), according to ETrade Financial Services, which conducted the poll. And financial jargon continued to confound, respondents said. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of the Gen Z and millennial investors note that financial jargon hinders their ability to invest on their own. That was an increase of 8% frommore

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Harvard Gets $45 Million for Asian American Studies Program

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Harvard University, often ranked first among the best colleges and universities in the United States, has received more than $45 million to expand its Asian American studies program. The donations come from 14 Asian American alumni leaders who graduated from the university between 1990 and 2003. The money will support new professorships, graduate fellowships and academic research in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Asian American studies program. It will also attract respected scholars who will foment collaboration and innovation, according to FAS. The university reported that the initiative was cultivated by Claudine Gay, dean of the FAS, “to strengthenmore

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