Current Affairs

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Former Fed official warns of ‘urgent’ threat of another financial crisis

Investors cheered Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday, with markets interpreting it to mean that the central bank would not too quickly wind down its support of the economy. But not every speaker at the annual gathering gave cause for optimism.

Don Kohn, the Fed’s former vice chair for financial supervision, used the opportunity instead to warn of imminent risks to the stability of the global financial system, and called on regulators and lawmakers to take swift action to address those concerns.

“Dealing with risks to the financial stability is urgent,” he said during a speech to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. “The current situation is replete with…unusually large risks of the unexpected, which, if they come to pass, could result in the financial system amplifying shocks, putting the economy at risk.”…read more.

COVID-19 Was Not a Bioweapon But Exact Origin Unclear, Concludes Intelligence Community

The intelligence community’s review of the origins of COVID-19 said there is “broad agreement” among agencies that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon and that Chinese officials “did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of COVID-19 emerged.”

The unclassified Office of the Director of National Intelligence summary of the IC assessment said that COVID-19 “probably emerged and infected humans through an initial small-scale exposure that occurred no later than November 2019 with the first known cluster of COVID-19 cases arising in Wuhan, China in December 2019.”

“Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered; however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way,” the report states…read more.

Vancouver businesses say they won’t enforce BC’s vaccine passport

Following the provincial government’s announcement that B.C. residents will need to show proof of vaccination to attend certain social events, many small businesses took to social media to announce they will not be enforcing the order.

The movement was spurred by the Instagram account @savesmallbusinessbc which helped coordinate and promote anti-vax protests earlier this year. Off Instagram, over 64,000 have joined the Facebook group BC Businesses against Health Pass where the narrative is much the same. Posts from business owners say they will not “discriminate” against those who are vaccinated or unvaccinated…read more.

Amazon Is Reportedly Planning to Open Its Own Department Stores

Amazon is like that monster from horror movies that kills its victims then assumes their identity. The company is planning to open several large brick-and-mortar retail locations in the US that resemble department stores, the WSJ reports.

The physical stores will mostly sell clothing, household items, and electronics. Amazon execs hope these locations will allow them to collect even more data about their customers, from how long you spend comparing two smart speakers to your physical path to the register…read more.