America's recovery is on borrowed time due to the pandemic
16 January 2021
Economic recovery will not be linear as the world continues to grapple with the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Why it matters: Despite being propped up by an extraordinary amount of fiscal stimulus and support from central banks, the state of the global economy remains fragile.
Warning signs about that fragility are flashing, as Dion Rabouin writes in his Axios Markets newsletter:
- World Bank president warns of potential defaults by countries that are over-leveraged.
- Goldman Sachs CEO warns of stock market being inflated and detached from reality.
- Lowest bankruptcy filings since 1986, thanks to the government printing money to save the economy from another Great Depression.
- Treasury yield rises above 1% overnight.
- Consumer confidence increases due to government stimulus checks.
The bottom line: America’s economy is operating under the influence of performance-enhancing steroids thanks to unprecedented monetary intervention.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.