The Daily Update: Rescue Plan / Amazon

At a virtual lunch yesterday, President Biden told Senate Democrats that the Republicans' proposal of approximately USD600bn coronavirus rescue plan was ‘too small’, however, he wants to continue working toward a compromise and is willing to bend on the final total according to sources. The president made it clear he wants to find a bipartisan path to passing stimulus legislation, even though many Democrats are urging him to use the budget reconciliation process to bypass the GOP. He insisted that the White House would have some lines in the sand, like the minimum salaries.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen also waded in, stating ‘The CBO forecast is more evidence that we desperately need Congress to act on a rescue package. Last year, the economy shrunk more than any other since the end of World War II. With the growth that the CBO projects, it will be years before the country reaches full employment again. Then there are the more immediate concerns: Can we get the vaccine distributed quickly? Will people keep a roof over their heads? Will their unemployment benefits last until the end of the crisis? Will families go hungry? Will small businesses survive? All this is why we're proposing the American Rescue Plan: So Americans can make it to the other side of this crisis and be met there by a strong, growing economy’.

Lastly, the world’s richest man is stepping down from his position as chief executive of Amazon later this year. Jeff Bezos will move to an executive chairman role in the third quarter of 2021 to be replaced by Andy Jassy, the head of the company's successful cloud computing division. Bezos said he would have more time for his interests in other areas, including his philanthropic climate work, his ownership of the Washington Post newspaper and his rocket company Blue Origin. Good luck to him.