Count how many times a value appears in a column

March 1 April 1 May 1 June 1 0% First stimulus checks received Half of states in process of reopening ZIP CODE INCOME LEVEL –5% Bottom 25% Bottom middle 25% –10% Top middle 25% –15% Change in consumer spending during the pandemic Top 25% –20% –25% –30% –35% March 1 April 1 May 1 June 1 0% First stimulus checks received Half of states in process of reopening ZIP CODE INCOME LEVEL –5% Bottom 25% Bottom middle 25% –10% Top middle 25% –15% Change in consumer spending during the pandemic Top 25% –20% –25% –30% –35% March 1 April 1 May 1 June 1 0% Half of states in process of reopening ZIP CODE INCOME LEVEL –5% Bottom 25% Bottom middle 25% –10% Top middle 25% –15% Top 25% –20% Change in consumer spending during the pandemic –25% –30% –35% … [Read more...] about The Rich Cut Their Spending. That Has Hurt All the Workers Who Count on It.

In the nearly six years since Donald Trump started his first campaign for the presidency, many Americans have woken up in a country that was, in one way or another, unfamiliar to them. They watched as a president of the United States shattered longstanding norms of civility; ignored decades-old prohibitions on nepotism; enriched himself by bending or breaking laws meant to set an ethical baseline for how the head of state should act; and stretched the boundaries of American democracy almost to their breaking point. But this week, it was his eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, who woke up in an unfamiliar country. Ivanka Trump – who, despite no qualifications or relevant experience, spent four years as a senior White House aide with the prestigious and sought-after title of assistant to the President – was largely insulated from the upheavals and controversies generated by her father’s presidency. She and her husband Jared Kushner – another beneficiary of Donald’s penchant for … [Read more...] about Time is running out for Ivanka Trump – and fast

As testament to the value of an HGTV-worthy makeover, a sweet Cape Cod-style home in Detroit is currently under contract. The sale price represents a tenfold increase over the amount the home was purchased for. Even with the serious price bump, the charming abode still looks like a great deal. As for the home's amazing transformation—all kudos should be directed at the guys from HGTV's " Bargain Block ." Sold for a mere $12,000 in September 2020, the 1,364-square-foot, two-story residence was decrepit and required serious work. That is where the partners Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas of "Bargain Block " stepped in. Once they'd worked their magic on it, they listed it for $119,990 in December 2021. The home didn't even last 20 days on the market before an offer was accepted. On the popular show, Bynum and Thomas play a vital role in restoring the iconic American city of Detroit by buying rundown and abandoned properties and transforming them into affordable, … [Read more...] about ‘Bargain Block’ House in Detroit Sells for 10 Times Its Previous Price

The >third Budget of the Narendra Modi government, which was delivered on Mond ay, was eagerly awaited. With increasing criticism of the perceived gap between promises made and action taken on the ground, this Budget was the key opportunity to regain lost ground and accelerate the process of converting the ‘Make in India’ dream into a reality. Indeed, there was little in the run-up to the Budget that generated cheer or optimism. The data from the manufacturing, banking, and real estate sectors were depressing. The > ill-timed notice from the Indian tax department of over Rs. 14,000 crore to Vodafone t wo weeks ago seriously cast doubts on whether the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry were pursuing a common agenda of making India an investment-friendly destination. The only large silver lining on the dark economic cloud was the drastic fall in oil prices. Arvind P. Datar The most important task before the nation is the creation of 120 million jobs in the … [Read more...] about Nothing radical or revolutionary

I’ve had easier assignments than tallying the “successes” of Donald Trump’s first six months in office—and that even before two more Republican senators, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran, announced Monday night that they could not vote for health-care reform, appearing to doom, for now at least, one of the president’s biggest promises . Aside from the fact that not many points have been put on the scoreboard, it’s also worth noting that most of the points were scored early in the first quarter. Back in April, I gave Trump’s first 100 days a fairly positive review. During that time, Trump signed 30 executive orders, including a travel ban that only recently had been allowed by the Supreme Court to be (partly) implemented. Trump also appears to have had a powerful effect on policy through rhetoric when it comes to illegal immigration, for instance, which is significantly down since January . Congress also rediscovered the Congressional Review Act (CRA)—a significant and … [Read more...] about It’s Been Six Months With Trump. Are You Tired of Winning Yet?

“Take the profit out of war,” said Kevin Zeese, one of the more important activists of the Occupy Movement in the United States, “and you take out war.” His audience was made up mainly of U.S. war veterans gathered in New York to observe — and protest — the 11th anniversary of the conflict in Afghanistan. That is the longest war the United States has ever waged. The veterans ranged from those who had seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan to many who had fought in Vietnam. There was also one 88-year-old World War II veteran. That link between profit and war sticks out in a recent Center for Public Integrity (CPI) investigation. The U.S. Congress could be spending $3 billion on tanks the army does not want. That includes repairing many M1 Abrams tanks the army won’t use. As Aaron Mehta, one of the authors of the CPI report puts it: the army “has decided it wants to save as much as $3 billion by freezing refurbishment of the M1 from 2014 to 2017, so it can redesign the hulking, clanking … [Read more...] about When war passes for foreign policy

The man who might be Labour’s next leader, Jeremy Corbyn, wants to reverse the privatisation of the railways and renationalise the energy companies. Meanwhile, George Osborne boasts that he is embarking on the biggest privatisation of public assets since the 1980s. The Student Loan Book, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the remainder of the Royal Mail, the Green Investment Bank. Everything must go! Some suspect the Chancellor even has secret plans to privatise the BBC and the National Health Service. To privatise or not to privatise? It’s still one of the most contentious issues in politics; an ideological electric fence. Sadly, there’s more tribal emotion than economics in the debate. One of the major fallacies – and one that the Chancellor himself has promoted in recent years – is the idea that selling public assets benefits the public finances. It’s generally a bad idea to compare the finances of a government to the finances of a household. But there are occasionally times … [Read more...] about Privatisation is not good or bad in itself. Rather there are good and bad privatisations

Pandemic winners are losing The future path of the pandemic is uncertain, but investors may have already made up their minds about the prospects for companies that had prospered months earlier. Netflix and Peloton plunged late in the day yesterday, on signs that “stay at home” stocks, which were already under pressure , could take a turn for the worse as people begin to venture out again. Netflix reported its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closed, and warned that subscriber growth was about to slow. This sent the streaming giant’s stock down 20 percent, erasing more than $40 billion in market cap. Ed Lee , a media watcher at The Times, says the report suggests that the company is more vulnerable to competition than its investors are comfortable with: Rivals are eating into Netflix’s business. The company, which now has 222 million subscribers, forecast that it would gain only 2.5 million customers in the current quarter, far from analysts’ … [Read more...] about When Pandemic Stars’ Shines Dim

Republicans and Democrats have a problem with “who” is doing the voting and, in the process, the value and worth of citizenship and the franchise is taking a beating. On the GOP’s side of the ledger, restricting access to the ballot and electoral intimidation are features, not bugs. Indeed, in Florida and Georgia, Republicans are calling for Stasi-styled police units to handle claims of election fraud . The spirit of Jan. 6 lives on. When Sen. Mitch McConnell publicly drew an inartful divide between “African American voters” and “Americans,” he said the quiet part aloud . From the look of things, the embers of America’s Civil War continue to glow . Hard-fought and gained voting rights are again up for grabs . Newly enacted restrictions are more than mere impediments—they are an attempt to dilute the “wrong” votes and diminish the voice of the “wrong” citizens in the process. Meanwhile, in deep blue New York City, voting for city offices has been thrown open to all legal … [Read more...] about Republicans Aren’t the Only Ones Diluting Citizens’ Votes

On Tuesday, manslaughter charges were filed against three police officers in suburban Philadelphia after investigators say the trio heard gunshots outside of a high school football game last summer and returned fire in the direction of a crowd. Errant police bullets fatally struck an 8-year-old girl and injured three others, according to charging documents. It became the first publicly known case in the country this year in which an officer was charged with either manslaughter or murder in connection with an on-duty shooting. In past years, such a shooting might have been brushed aside as a tragedy by prosecutors and grand juries who were inclined to take the word of officers, said Cedric Alexander, a former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement and an MSNBC law enforcement analyst. But that may be changing. "We are all paying more attention to the process, and prosecutors know that investigations must be done thoroughly and in a more balanced … [Read more...] about More officers were charged in fatal police shootings in 2021. Not everyone sees progress.