For the World

The world is in the human imagination in ways it was not before it was seen for the first time from space. The current pandemic has made humans more aware of the earth’s fragility as well as its resilience. The word world evokes predicaments to its peace, health, economy, justice, relationships—to name a few.

At a press conference Cardinal Peter Turkson highlighted peace, harmony and security to which the Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission attends. Member of the Commission and economic professor Sister Alessandra Smerilli remarked about the perils to the global economy.

A #Vatican cardinal has said that the world is facing a “tsunami of humanitarian crises.” https://t.co/ItlOQCSHSE

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) July 7, 2020

Past Experience Offers Insight on “Unique” Situation

CSM Staff writer Mark Trumbull wrote near the end of March, “The United States has been through both pandemics and recessions before. But while they offer some insights into what the coronavirus is doing to the economy, the current situation is unique.”

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Wiki-image …picture of a closed sign… by “JamesAlan1986 at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0"

“No exit strategy from our planet”

The closing words of today’s Guardian editorial preview its seriousness. The welcome “immediate effect” of the pandemic points to the need for humans to make “a green recovery.”

The Guardian view on the climate and coronavirus: global warnings | Editorial https://t.co/9E9vUIIt7R

— The Guardian (@guardian) April 12, 2020

New Way for Economy

Economic recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic will be a steep challenge. Pope Francis and others at the Vatican want the ethical considerations to play a part.

“The governments that face the crisis” with social distancing and lockdowns “show the priority of their decisions: the people first,” Pope Francis wrote in a recent letter to an Argentinian judge. “This is important because we know that to defend the people supposes an economic setback.” Colleen [Dulle] and Gerry [O’Collins] discuss the pope’s letter and his understanding of how governments should balance economic interests and public health interests. [Source: Apple Podcast Preview]

The America Magazine post comments more and contains a link to listen to the podcast from a browser.

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Wiki-image Money by “pixabay free images | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Oil and Aspirations

Venezuela is an oil-rich nation. Venezuelan Jesuit, Raúl González Fabre, noted in 2008:

The last ninety years of Venezuelan history cannot be understood without reference to oil. As in all countries with a legal tradition of Spanish origin, the wealth under Venezuela’s soil belongs to the State. This means that the Venezuelan state derives an income from oil that is generous but as volatile as oil prices themselves.

Following his explanation of Venezuela’s “one-product economy,” Fabre described the ascendancy of recently deceased Hugo Chavez, and his “failure to modernize [Venezuela] during Chávez’s time in power.” His essay is worth reading to understand the situation with which Chávez’s successor must deal.

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Wiki-image of coat of arms of Venezuela in the public domain.

Lines With No Standing

E-commerce will continue to grow more profitable as this infographic presented by Stephanie Buck shows. 

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Wiki-image by Aaaahandbag of cotton polo used by CC BY-SA 3.0.

Greek Elections

The political cost of the Greek crisis (with similarities in other nations in the Eurozone) is broadcast loud and clear. What about the human cost? CNN International offers this brief interactive slideshow of nine Greeks and their descriptions of things.

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Wiki-image by fdecomite of Greek flag used by CC BY-SA 2.0.

Need To Know Aid

Economic news doesn’t seem good anywhere. Looking to 2012 in the United States Charles Davi of The Atlantic offered “A Glossary and Guide to the Key Issues in 2012.” Its subhead

was precise.

 What you need to know about the debt debate      that will dominate the 2012 election, thanks to the supercommittee’s failure to come up with a  deficit deal.

Explore the glossary-guide.

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Wiki-image of U.S. currency is in the public domain.

More Corn Fuels Cars Than Feeds Humans

Over the past year corn used for fuel edged out corn used for feed. Michael Graham Richard of TreeHugger.com referenced a paragraph from an essay in Scientific American indicating that. In his post Michael went on to ask

some probing questions regarding land use, the event of a future crop disaster as well as prices of all things grown.

Melissa C. Lott authored the Scientific American essay. She mentioned subsidies and members of Congress, "leading a movement to eliminate these subsidies and force domestically-produced ethanol to compete with foreign markets."

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Wiki-image of a 3D model of an ethanol molecule is in the public domain.

Brightening the Dismal Science

Inequality in incomes in the United States surprises, and saddens many people. Paul Salmon did one of his usually engaging, and thought provoking, reports on the PBS NewsHour earlier this week and put it into perspective.

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Law Sanctions Irresponsibility

Regarding tax revenue individual citizens may be more responsible in paying the Internal Revenue Service than some corporations. Presently, corporations who have received money from and do contract-business with the federal government have the law on their side "because federal law does not require [those delinquent corporations] to be current on tax bills in order to do business with the government."

How much revenue owed? A significant amount, according to one estimate:

At least 3,700 businesses that received government contracts or grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are delinquent on a whopping $750 million-plus in unpaid corporate income tax, payroll taxes, and excise and unemployment taxes, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

Read the entire AARP story, with links, including one to the already-publicized General Electric story that it owes no taxes.

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Wiki-image of IRS logo is in the public domain.