2021
October
13
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

October 13, 2021
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The word “shortage” is showing up these days in, well, no shortage of places, from berths to unload ships in Los Angeles to energy supplies in Europe. This, in turn, feeds both consumer anxiety and price inflation. 

Many factors need to be addressed – such as fixing bottlenecks in shipping and bringing production in line with reviving demand in the economy. But one of the most basic issues is that the dearth of “stuff” stems partly from a shortage of workers: truckers, factory operators, restaurant servers, retail staff

As economic demand has revived, the supply of workers has – to the surprise of some – been slow to catch up. Concern about health risks of public-facing work during a pandemic clearly seems to have weighed on workers, in addition to other challenges.

But here’s another factor to consider: The pandemic also strained family life. Moms, especially, are feeling exhausted amid struggles to tend to both kids and jobs. Many are now on the labor sidelines. Among moms who aren’t currently working for pay, “more than a quarter said they would prefer to be working at least part time,” one new survey finds. 

So policies that help working parents might be part of the answer for ending the shortage of workers.

Universal access to pre-K education and paid leave, for instance, are things that Princeton University economist Alan Blinder calls an honest-to-goodness form of “supply-side economics” – policies that can boost the economy by expanding its productive capacity. 

It’s not a one-step panacea. And ideas differ on the wisest ways to approach this policy puzzle. Democrats are wrangling over a budget bill that might boost funding for child care, pre-K, and continuing per-child tax credits of $300 per month. Republicans are warier of big spending, but a few have their own ideas for direct aid to parents to use as they see fit. Stay tuned: This is a priority that may well outlast the pandemic.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

J. Scott Applewhite/AP
GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota looks at the final version of the bill to increase the debt limit as the House Rules Committee meets at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 12, 2021. With Tuesday's party-line vote in the House, the federal government will be able to pay its bills through early December.

Congress has resolved an immediate crisis over covering federal debt payments. But the deeper issues behind the recent impasse –  questions of trust and responsibility – will need to be faced again before the new year. 

Fred Weir
Dmitry Lobusov, captain of the 50 Years of Victory, a giant nuclear-powered icebreaker, stands on the vast bridge of his ship in Murmansk, Russia, Aug. 27, 2021.

With the Arctic melting, the Kremlin hopes the Northeast Passage could rival the Suez Canal. But Russia’s military presence in the north has its rivals questioning its priorities. Part two of two.

The Explainer

Shafkat Anowar/AP
Kimberly Holmes-Ross, shown at home on April 23, 2021, is planning to apply for reparations Evanston, Illinois, is offering Black residents who experienced housing discrimination. Another longtime resident, Jo-Ann Cromer (not pictured), said she also plans to apply. “Real estate represents wealth," Ms. Cromer said. "I don’t think people understand if Black people had been allowed to buy property, there would be a lot of wealthy Black people in Evanston.”

Like most self-perpetuating systems, systemic racism masquerades as the norm. But as the history of housing discrimination illustrates, it’s a human-made system, not a natural one. 

SOURCE:

U.S. Census Bureau, Urban Institute

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff

A deeper look

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Para rower Pearl Outlaw (left boat, front), who is blind, trains with Brooke Moss on the Charles River, on Sept. 28, 2021, in Brighton, Massachusetts. High-performing para rowers train with Community Rowing Inc., where rowers with physical, sensory, and cognitive challenges learn from coaches experienced in working with athletes with disabilities.

Fortitude, courage, patience, persistence – all sorts of individual qualities fuel resilience. But for these para rowers, success depends on more than themselves. 

Books

Karen Norris/Staff

Why do we love libraries? They are places of refuge, learning, and personal discovery. But their most vital role may be in the building of community, as explored in four captivating novels.


The Monitor's View

AP
At an Oct. 9 qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup, Israel's goalkeeper gathers the ball under pressure from a player from Scotland.

The head of world soccer’s governing body was in Israel this week – the first visit by a FIFA leader – and hinted at the possibility of Israel co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with the United Arab Emirates or other Arab states. “Why not Israel?” said Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA. “The World Cup is magical in that it brings people together, is such a uniting event, and transcends every notion of negativity.”

His idea builds on last year’s Abraham Accords, which saw four Arab states, including the UAE, sign deals to normalize ties with Israel. In particular, the UAE and Israel are racing to find areas of cooperation, from water technology to religious coexistence. This diplomatic momentum even led Saudi Arabia, which did not sign the accords, to hold a video conference this month with Israel’s sports minister to discuss cooperation. Saudi Arabia has its eye on hosting global football’s quadrennial event in 2030.

The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by three neighboring countries – Canada, Mexico, and the United States – so the idea of Middle East nations sharing the responsibility is not far-fetched. The host of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar, is welcoming Israelis to attend matches in the Gulf state. “We do not mix sport and politics, but we would hope that Palestinians are able to make it too,” said a Qatari official in 2019.

Hosting a mega-sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympics is often driven by nationalism. It is used to gain international prestige and display dominance. In the competitions themselves, players from Arab nations or Iran have sometimes snubbed Israeli players. The notion of Israel and an Arab state cooperating to host the World Cup would help turn sports into a platform to melt stereotypes and build bridges of trust. Instead of seeing sports as simply “war by other means,” sports could be a means of peace.

In the hot spots of the world like the Middle East, sharing a sporting event can be a welcome icebreaker between peoples.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Negative character traits can sometimes seem like an inevitable part of who we are. But we are divinely empowered to live the goodness that’s natural to all of us as God’s children.


A message of love

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Horses graze in a field with colorful cottonwood trees in the distance outside Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 10, 2021.

A look ahead

T​hanks for being with us today! Tomorrow, you won’t want to miss Ryan Lenora Brown’s story and photos profiling a canoe club that symbolizes widening opportunities in post-apartheid South Africa.

More issues

2021
October
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