Основним противником такого рішення є американська компанія Apple
…

The Biden administration and congressional Democrats are facing what may be the most politically fraught moment since they took unified control of Washington in January.

Lawmakers are battling to avoid a potential government shutdown and a default on the national debt at the same time that Democratic infighting is endangering two pieces of legislation meant to further the party’s key priorities.

The stakes, for both the U.S. economy and President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, could scarcely be higher.

A combination of a few missteps or delays in passing a budget resolution and raising the amount of money that the Treasury Department is allowed to borrow could have catastrophic economic impacts on the United States and the world economy. An estimate by Moody’s Analytics found that the worst-case scenario, in which the U.S. defaults on its debts, could result in a loss of 6 million jobs and destruction of as much as $15 trillion in household wealth.

If House Democrats are unable to muster the votes to pass a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that has been approved by the Senate and a $3.5 trillion bill that would lock in spending on social services, climate change mitigation and other party priorities, they will face voters in 2022 with little to show for two years of Democratic control of Washington.

Likely outcomes unclear

For sure, there are few experts in Washington who expect the battle over the budget and debt limit to actually end in a government default. Lawmakers have gone down this path many times, and have always pulled back at the last minute.

On the spending bills so important to the Biden administration, expectations are not so clear. Wednesday afternoon, Biden brought Democratic lawmakers to the White House to try to hammer out an agreement.

“This is where the rubber meets the road — when it comes to how he can get them together,” said Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. “Can he be the same dealmaker that united progressives and centrists throughout the [presidential] campaign? He has to do that same thing now in the White House.”

Budget problems

The most immediate problem facing lawmakers is that the federal government will lose the authority to spend money on many of its key functions unless a new budget resolution is passed before a September 30 deadline.

The federal government has shut down before, but never in the midst of a pandemic, and it is unclear just how damaging a significant halt in federal operations would be to the country’s public health response to the coronavirus.

Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed a “continuing resolution” that would allow the government to continue operating until December, giving lawmakers time to pass separate budget bills for different parts of the government.

However, Republicans in the Senate are expected to block that bill by denying Democrats the 60 votes they will need to end debate. The reason is that Democrats have attached it to legislative language that would waive enforcement of the debt ceiling until December 2022.

Debt ceiling

Senate Republicans, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have said that they will not supply any votes to raise the debt ceiling — even votes to cut off debate so that Democrats can pass the bill on their own.

McConnell has publicly said that the debt limit must be raised and that the government must not be allowed to default. However, he is demanding that the Democrats take full responsibility for making that happen — historically a politically onerous task — by using a budget reconciliation bill, which is immune to the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.

Democrats are refusing to use budget reconciliation for the debt limit because they believe Republicans should share responsibility for raising the debt limit, which will help pay for measures adopted and signed when Republicans had united control of Washington just a few years ago.

Battle lines firm

On Wednesday, six former Treasury secretaries wrote a letter to congressional leaders warning them that legislative brinkmanship might push the country into default, even accidentally, with dire consequences.

“Even a short-lived default could threaten economic growth,” they wrote. “It creates the risk of roiling markets, and of sapping economic confidence, and it would prevent Americans from receiving vital services. It would be very damaging to undermine trust in the full faith and credit of the United States, and this damage would be hard to repair.”

On Tuesday night, McConnell said he had introduced a continuing resolution of his own that would fund the government through December, but that “removes the debt limit language [which waives enforcement until December 2022] that Democrats have known since July will not receive bipartisan support from Senate Republicans.”

On Wednesday morning, however, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said it would be the House bill, not McConnell’s, that he brings to a vote in the Senate.

“That’s the bill that will be on the floor,” he said. “Those who will vote yes will vote to avoid default, to avoid a government shutdown. Those who vote no will be saying, ‘We’re OK with default and we’re OK with the government shutdown.’ To say, ‘Do it another way,’ that doesn’t cut it. This is what’s on the floor.”

Democratic squabbling

At the same time that lawmakers are trying to navigate around a government shutdown and potential default, Democratic leaders are working to avoid a derailment of the Biden administration’s domestic policy agenda.

Early in his term, Biden had insisted that Democrats in Congress find a way to compromise with Republicans on an infrastructure bill. As a result, the Senate passed a bipartisan $1.5 trillion bill funding infrastructure basics like roads, highways and bridges. That allowed Biden to claim that he had kept his campaign promise to work across the aisle.

However, the Senate bill left out an enormous number of provisions that Democrats wanted and on which Biden had campaigned, including increased social spending, funding to fight climate change and more.

As a result, progressive members of the House of Representatives announced that they would not support the $1.5 trillion Senate bill until the House and Senate both passed a separate $3.5 trillion package that contained all of the Democrats’ other priorities — something they expected to accomplish by using a budget reconciliation bill to bypass the filibuster.

Centrist Dems revolt

In both the Senate and the House, more centrist members objected to both the progressives’ tactics and their demands. House centrists demanded and received assurances from Democratic leaders that the $1.5 trillion bill would get a vote no later than September 27.

Months ago, it seemed at least possible that the larger $3.5 trillion bill could be passed by that date. However, in the Senate, Democratic lawmakers Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said that they would not support the larger bill, blocking progress.

Now, without the $3.5 trillion bill in hand, Democratic progressives are threatening to withhold support for the $1.5 trillion bill, raising the possibility that the Biden administration could be left with neither.

Losing bills ‘deadly for Biden’

Some experts are still expecting that the Democrats will find some sort of agreement, if only because the alternative is so bad.

“My assumption all along has been that Democrats know losing these bills is deadly for Biden, and for them,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“My sense of it is that in the end, reluctantly, they’ll find something to agree on, because the alternative is so disagreeable,” he said. “The compromise may not be tasty, but the alternative is poisonous.”
…

Europe is being buffeted by unprecedented recovery-related energy price spikes, prompting rising alarm about whether families will be able to remain warm as the northern hemisphere’s winter approaches.

Politicians are also anxious about the electoral repercussions and how spiking prices will fuel further inflation.

The price jumps in natural gas are due largely to a surge in demand in Asia and low supplies of in Europe, which has seen an astonishing 280% increase in wholesale gas prices. Electricity prices are also soaring because natural gas is used across the continent to generate a substantial percentage of its electricity.

Moscow’s decision to refrain from boosting natural gas shipments via Ukrainian pipelines is worsening the crunch and adding to claims that Russia is using the energy needs of its European neighbors to hold them to ransom.

Some European politicians are accusing the Kremlin of deliberately worsening Europe’s energy crisis as a tactic to pressure the European Union into speeding up certification of the just completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine and runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The International Energy Agency has called on Russia to boost gas exports. “The IEA believes that Russia could do more to increase gas availability to Europe and ensure storage is filled to adequate levels in preparation for the coming winter heating season,” it said in a statement.

U.S. officials have also called on Moscow to increase gas exports. “The reality is there are pipelines with enough capacity through Ukraine to supply Europe. Russia has consistently said it has enough gas supply to be able to do so, so if that is true, then they should, and they should do it quickly through Ukraine,” Amos Hochstein, senior adviser for energy security at the US Department of State, told Bloomberg TV this week.

Europe scrambles 

Some members of the European Parliament want the European Commission to investigate Russia’s majority state-owned energy company Gazprom. “We call on the European Commission to urgently open an investigation into possible deliberate market manipulation by Gazprom and potential violation of EU competition rules,” a group of lawmakers said in a letter.

Moscow aside, Europe would still be faced with an energy price crunch, one that has raised the specter of factories and businesses having to reduce production and prompting warnings of food shortages.

In Britain, ministers have been holding emergency talks with industry representatives about surging wholesale gas and electricity prices, which have been blamed on higher global demand, maintenance issues and lower than expected solar and wind energy output.

Seven British natural gas suppliers have gone bust in the past six weeks, a consequence of wholesale gas prices surging by more than 70% in August alone. There are fears another three suppliers may declare bankruptcy. Suppliers are unable to pass on to customers the full increases because of government-imposed price caps on what consumers can be charged.

Nonetheless, British consumers will face price hikes this winter running into several hundreds of dollars per household. British officials are considering offering some of Britain’s biggest energy retail companies state-backed loans to help them ride out the price tempest.

But there is a reluctance to use taxpayers’ money, and midweek, Britain’s business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a parliamentary panel that the energy industry must first “look to itself” for solutions.

Few observers believe Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservative government will stay its hand. It has already intervened and extended emergency state support to avert a shortage of poultry and meat triggered by the soaring gas prices. This week ministers agreed to subsidize a major US company, CF Industries, paying it to reopen one of its two fertilizer plants in Britain which also produce as a byproduct carbon dioxide, vital for the country’s food industry.

CF Industries closed both plants, which supply 60% of the CO2 needed to stun animals for slaughter and used to extend the shelf life of packaged fresh, chilled and baked goods. It is also used to produce carbonated drinks and to keep stored beer fresh. The closure of the plants prompted dire warnings from Britain’s supermarkets of looming shortages.

Even with the emergency intervention running into hundreds of millions of dollars of public money, British ministers warned Wednesday that food producers need to prepare themselves for a 400% rise in carbon dioxide pricing.

State intervention

Other European governments are also considering how to intervene in energy markets to keep homes warm and lit, and factories running through the winter. They also fear domestic political fallout from sharp jumps in household costs and are considering billions of dollars in aid. EU energy ministers will meet this week to discuss national responses amid concerns that the energy crisis will severely disrupt the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery.

In Spain and Portugal, average wholesale electricity prices are triple the level of half a year ago at $206 per megawatt-hour. Spain’s government plans to cut taxes on utility bills.

Norway this week offered some relief by announcing that its state-owned energy company will boost the production of natural gas from two North Sea fields.

In Italy, ministers have warned of electricity prices jumping by 40% in the final quarter of 2021 and – like their southern European neighbors – are drafting emergency plans to soften the price blow for consumers. Some officials say $5.27 billion is being earmarked to support households with their costs, on top of a $1.17 billion the government has already spent to cushion consumers and businesses from the rising costs of energy imports. Italy imports two-thirds of its energy needs.

Last week, ecological transition minister Roberto Cingolani prompted an outcry from climate action groups when he said carbon taxes have contributed to the higher energy costs for households and businesses. Carbon pricing and taxes are employed to try to dis-incentivize the use of fossil fuels. Faced with rising criticism, Cingolani later stressed the need to “accelerate with the installation of renewables, so that we unhook ourselves as soon as possible from the cost of gas.”

Information from Reuters and Ansa was used in this report
…

As cryptocurrencies come under increasing scrutiny from regulators across the world, in Lebanon they are providing a lifeline for people trying to survive a paralyzed banking system and tanking economy. Jacob Russell reports from Beirut.   

Camera: Jacob Russell

 
…

Торги на міжбанківському ринку завершилися на рівні 26 гривень 58–60 копійок за долар
…

21 вересня розпочала роботу місія МВФ для продовження здійснення першого перегляду спільної програми stand-by
…

Fast-food giant McDonald’s said Tuesday it would phase out plastic toys from its signature Happy Meals by 2025. 

“Starting now, and phased in across the globe by the end of 2025, our ambition is that every toy sold in a Happy Meal will be sustainable, made from more renewable, recycled, or certified materials like bio-based and plant-derived materials and certified fiber,” the company said in a statement. 

McDonald’s said that this process had already begun in Britain and Ireland, and that all its Happy Meal toys in France were already made sustainably. 

The signature meal for children typically contains a plastic toy, often an action figure. But the new plan means that figurines may be made of cardboard for the child to assemble.

McDonald’s, which has been serving Happy Meals since 1979, said that its new plan to make toys out of renewable materials will reduce fossil fuel-based plastic in its toys by 90%. 

But a large part of McDonald’s packaging remains plastic, the company acknowledges, saying that it has “set goals” for all its packaging to be from “renewable, recycled, or certified sources” by 2025. 

 
…

Changes to the main U.S. flood insurance program will raise rates for 77% of policyholders, according to a new study issued on Tuesday, although property owners in some poorer neighborhoods will see premiums decrease. 

The study by the QuoteWizard unit of financial services provider LendingTree, Inc. reviewed price changes due for the roughly 5 million participants in the National Flood Insurance Program, set up in 1968. 

Under the new “Risk Rating 2.0” system from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) taking effect October 1, new premiums will be based on a property’s value, risk of flooding and other factors, rather than simply on a home’s elevation. 

Meant to account for climate-change-driven shifts like increasing flood frequency, the new plans also will make the program more equitable, said Nick VinZant, QuoteWizard senior research analyst. 

“Now the smaller, lower-value homes and neighborhoods aren’t going to be funding the mansions anymore,” VinZant said in an interview. 

With the weather impact of climate change worsening, flooding losses are expected to rise.

Recent storms, including Hurricane Ida, have caused massive flooding from Louisiana and Tennessee to New York City. FEMA said it aimed to “equitably distribute premiums across all policyholders” with the changes. Of the roughly 5 million policyholders in the program, 3.3 million will see monthly payments rise up to $10, and 3,199 will see an increase of $100 or more per month, VinZant said.

Meanwhile, 196,000 people will see their monthly premiums fall $100 or more, he added. 

FEMA representatives did not immediately comment on the study. As of April, its flood insurance program provided $1.3 trillion in coverage but has been losing money. 

The proposed changes have drawn concerns in the U.S. Congress, including from representatives from Louisiana and Texas, who have asked FEMA to delay the new rates to avoid higher bills for some policyholders. 
…