Japan sees deflation as it grapples with coronavirus surge - July 16, 2021

The Internal Revenue Service issued $15 billion in child tax credits, part of the Senate relief package passed in March, to the largest number of working families ever. The stimulus will likely provide the most benefit to low-income families as the credit is now fully refundable, making it more accessible to families whose income was previously too low to receive the full child tax credit. The Biden Administration called for the credit to be made permanent to help reduce U.S. child poverty. Monthly child tax credit payments are one of the best forms of government spending, economist says - CNBC We Need More Than A Child Tax Credit To Boost Education Outcomes - Forbes @RBReich: The first child tax credit payments went out to 65 million kids yesterday. It could cut the overall poverty rate by *40 percent*. This is a huge deal and it’s not being talked about nearly enough. Apple employees said the company is cracking down on remote work requests after rolling out its hybrid work model to return to the office three days a week in September, leading some employees to say they will quit if Apple doesn't change its position. An internal Google survey found that many engineers feel as productive working from home as they do in the office. Yet 75% of employees also said they want more collaboration and social connections at work, leading the company to push for a return to the office. Google Wants People in Office, Despite Productivity Gains at Home - Bloomberg While Apple and Google employees aren't happy about going back to a standard work week, the law is on the Employer's side - Patently Apple @ztlaidlaw: If anything good came out of the pandemic, it proved that many businesses and employees can work with the same efficiency (if not more) with a fully remote schedule. It’s going to be hard forcing employees to go back to the way it was. U.S. manufacturing dropped unexpectedly in June while motor vehicle production fell amid the continuing global semiconductor shortage. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Compan