04-15-20 | Reuters
Exclusive: Democrats, Furious with Trump, Much More Keen to Vote Now Than Four Years Ago – Reuters/Ipsos
Why Read: New analysis of Reuters/Ipsos national opinion survey results reveals that Democratic voters are motivated to vote in November. Democrats have for years outnumbered Republicans in the United States, but they also tend to be less politically active. Yet, for the first time since at least 2012, nearly the same percentage of Democrats and Republicans said that they planned to vote in 2020. While Republicans continue to support President Trump by an overwhelming margin, Democrats’ intention to vote is rising more than it is among Republicans, both nationally and in historically competitive battleground states, like Wisconsin, that Trump narrowly won in 2016.
04-14-20 | Bloomberg
Trump’s Key 2020 States Reel Under Twin Blows of Virus, Job Loss
Why Read: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — three battleground states that helped President Donald Trump win in 2016 and that are crucial to his 2020 re-election bid — are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus, in terms of COVID-19 cases and the economic toll. This Bloomberg article explains how the damage being done in those keys states, and especially among blue-collar workers, at this critical moment in the presidential campaign could impact the results in November.
04-14-20 | The Wall Street Journal
A Second Round of Coronavirus Layoffs Has Begun. Few Are Safe.
Why Read: Not even high-skilled jobs are immune to the coronavirus crisis. A second wave of job loss is hitting those who thought they were safe, showing the far-reaching reverberation of this pandemic. The longer shutdowns continue, the bigger this second wave could become, risking a repeat of the deep and prolonged labor downturn that accompanied the 2007-09 recession. Already, nearly 17 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits in the past three weeks, dwarfing any period of mass layoffs recorded since World War II.
04-14-20 | Bloomberg
Harvard Researchers Say Some Social Distancing May Be Needed Into 2022
Why Read: Bloomberg reports on an article published by Harvard disease researchers in the journal Science, that identifies likely trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic under alternative approaches. The Harvard researchers posit that the United States may need to continue some level of social distancing, perhaps intermittently, through 2022.
04-13-20 | The New York Times
‘There Will Be Losses’: How a Captain’s Plea Exposed a Rift in the Military
Why Read: The New York Times reports that, in addition to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, sailors aboard three other U.S. aircraft carriers — the Ronald Reagan, the Carl Vinson and the Nimitz — have had sailors test positive for the COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, French news outlets report that the entire crew of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has been quarantined after 50 infections were detected. A critical element of Western military power projection may be temporarily unavailable.
04-12-20 | Axios
Survival of the biggest: Coronavirus transforms retail
Why Read: America’s retail industry is on track to be massively reshaped — the largest retailers are getting stronger, while the mom and pop shops are scrambling to survive. Amazon has “essentially become infrastructure,” says one expert, as America’s reliance on Amazon is becoming increasingly apparent.
04-10-20 | The Atlantic
The Pandemic Will Cleave America in Two
Why Read: Americans are experiencing the COVID-19 crisis differently, depending on their job or profession. The answer to two questions are turning out to be the best predictors for how Americans will fare on the other side of the pandemic: (1) Are you still able to work? (2) And if so, can you work without risking exposure to the virus?.
