Money and Computing

Overall Economic Activity: Economic activity was about flat or up slightly since the previous report, down from the modest average pace of growth in the prior Beige Book period...Interest rates and inflation continued to weigh on activity, and many contacts expressed greater uncertainty or increased pessimism concerning the outlook...Inflation pushed low-to-moderate income consumers to substitute increasingly to lower-priced goods. Travel and tourism contacts, by contrast, reported moderate gains in activity, as restaurants and high-end hospitality venues enjoyed robust demand. Higher interest rates further dented home sales, which declined at a moderate pace overall but fell steeply in some districts; apartment leasing started to slow, as well. more »

Dr. Anthony Fauci notes that the emergence of HIV/AIDS in 1981 led to a sharp increase in interest in infectious diseases among people entering the field of medicine. Since then, infectious disease specialists have faced numerous medical challenges, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ebola, Zika, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19, he writes. Dr. Fauci notes that one success of the response was the rapid development, testing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines thanks to years of research and investment in new and highly adaptable vaccine platforms and structural biology tools to design vaccine immunogens. more »

A bill to establish a task force on child and family economic security and stability for economic growth; A concurrent resolution expressing support for the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family and urging that the United States be added as a signatory; A bill to extend, and provide additional support for the activities of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians; A bill to provide for the reissuance to households Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to replace benefits stolen by identity theft or typical skimming practices.     more »

"GAO examined 49 aircraft and found that only four met their annual mission capable goal in a majority of the years from fiscal years 2011 through 2021. As shown below, 26 aircraft did not meet their annual mission capable goal in any fiscal year. The mission capable rate — the percentage of total time when the aircraft can fly and perform at least one mission — is used to assess the health and readiness of an aircraft fleet." more »