That bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, proposes a tax credit for EVs worth up to $12,500. Part of that total — $4,500 — goes only to union-made vehicles assembled in the U.S. so Tesla, Toyota
TM,
+1.54%
and other companies with non-unionized workforces have complained in recent weeks. The Tesla
TSLA,
+4.24%
boss on Monday night also criticized a provision in a bipartisan infrastructure law that provides $7.5 billion for EV charging stations.

But Buttigieg, speaking at the same WSJ event on Tuesday morning, argued that while the auto market is going electric on its own, “there are three things that will not happen on their own.”

“One: For it to happen quickly enough to meet our climate challenges,” the Department of Transportation head said.

“Two: For it to happen in equitable terms that will actually reach the Americans who stand theoretically to benefit the most from EVs — low-income, urban Americans, rural drivers — but they only capture those benefits if they can afford to buy in the first place. And third, the importance of making sure that this electric-vehicle revolution is made in America and creating good-paying jobs. And, of course, we believe in the benefits of union jobs.”

Buttigieg continued: “These are things that don’t happen on their own. They require policy attention, and that’s part of our focus both in the charging network that is supported out of the infrastructure bill that the president signed, and the tax credits that will make these vehicles more affordable, that are proposed in Build Back Better.”

The former Democratic presidential hopeful said a $12,500 tax credit can buy down the cost of a $40,000 electric truck “into the high 20s,” and that means “millions of more Americans who can get in on the electric-vehicle revolution.”

This year marks the third year in a row that Ireland was the most generous country on GoFundMe’s list. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia were the other most generous countries on a per capita basis. 

The most generous person on GoFundMe made 434 donations in 2021, according to the report. GoFundMe didn’t specify which country that person lives in or how much total money they donated. The fastest growing fundraising categories in 2021 were “newlyweds and animals,” GoFundMe said.

“We turned hard-to-watch headlines into meaningful help when it mattered most,” GoFundMe said in the report. Standout moments of the past year included March 28, 2021, when a fundraiser for medical treatment for a U.K. baby with leukemia took in more than 100,000 donations, raising more than 1 million British pounds in 24 hours. The child died in April.

Medical bills are a common reason people turn to GoFundMe. More than a quarter (26.7%) of the fundraisers created on the platform between its launch in 2010 and 2018 were for healthcare-related expenses, according to a study published in 2021 on JAMA Open Network.

Users of the platform also rallied in 2021 to address the surge in violence and hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, raising more than $7 million through a variety of fundraisers launched around the globe, the GoFundMe giving report said. 

It’s free to start a fundraising page on GoFundMe, but the company takes a cut of the funds that are raised. For fundraisers on behalf of individuals or businesses in the U.S., GoFundMe charges a transaction fee of 2.9%, plus 30 cents per donation. Beneficiaries receive the total amount donated, minus those fees. 

The platform offers a guarantee for donors, and if the funds they donate are misused by recipients, they can apply for a refund.

There’s also a separate GoFundMe charity 

The platform also hosts larger fundraisers associated with celebrities that raise money for other charities. Donations to those fundraisers go to GoFundMe.org, a separate nonprofit that works with the for-profit GoFundMe fundraising platform.

GoFundMe.org then distributes those donations to other charities. One such fundraiser in 2020 was linked to actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of  Apple
AAPL,
+3.54%
co-founder Steve Jobs. The campaign, which is still active, has raised more than $45 million for anti-hunger groups including Feeding America, a network of food banks.

The GoFundMe.org charity said it had a 96% efficiency rate during its first year of operations in 2017, according to the charity’s frequently asked questions page.

“This means that $0.96 of every dollar you donated went directly to your cause,” it says. “The remaining 4% reflects a combination of (a) a standard transaction fee that allows for credit card processing and the safe transfer of funds over platforms; (b) bank fees; and (c) postage and other expenses incurred in the normal course of business.”

“2020 marked the steepest increase in global billionaires’ share of wealth on record,” the report adds.

The world’s wealthiest 1% took 38% of all additional wealth accumulated since the mid-1990s, compared with the bottom 50%, which accumulated just 2% of it.

The report details income and wealth inequalities within economic groups and by gender, but it didn’t group people by race or other classifications.

See also: U.S. plans diplomatic boycott of Olympics over ‘egregious human rights abuses’

Female workers have seen their share of global earnings increase over the past 30 years, but the progress has been slow. Today, women make up about 35% of total global earnings, compared with 30% in 1990.

China was the only place featured in the 2022 World Inequality Report where women’s share of total labor income actually dropped since 1990.

See also: High housing costs are one reason behind the ‘Great Resignation’ — here’s where workers want to move

The full 236-page report comes out as news of the omicron variant that causes the coronavirus appears to be less severe than originally thought, causing market surges this December.

If she had been confirmed as comptroller of the currency, Omarova would not have had the authority to implement the ideas proposed in the paper, but Republicans said the paper and other past statements suggested a hostility to the banking sector that would be disqualifying for the role.

The OCC, housed within the Treasury Department, is the primary regulator of nationally chartered banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. 
GS,
+2.78%,
 Wells Fargo & Co.
WFC,
+2.95%
 and Bank of America Corp.
BAC,
+1.27%

“Taken in their totality, her ideas amount to a socialist manifesto for American financial services,” said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, during a November confirmation hearing. “She wants to nationalize the banking system, put in place price controls, create a command-and-control economy where the government allocates resources explicitly.”

The confirmation hearing became particularly contentious after Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned Omarova about growing up in the former Soviet Union and her childhood associations with the Communist Party. Kennedy asked whether Omarova was a member of the USSR’s “communist youth organization,” and said that he didn’t “know whether to call you professor or comrade.”

“As a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch defender of the safety and soundness of our financial system, Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday. “But unfortunately, from the very beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.”

It was moderate Democratic opposition to Omarova that doomed her candidacy. Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said during the hearings that “I have significant concerns about positions that you have taken…related to our financial system bank regulations,”  pointing to her criticism of a 2018 law that loosened regulations on financial firms with between $50 billion and $250 billion in assets.

Politico reported last month that upwards of seven Democrats had “reservations” about Omarova. She would have needed universal support from her party, given the current 50-50 split between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

But it takes more than a Google search to truly understand what’s going on in the world right now as more and more workers break free of their offices, accelerated by (but not started by) the pandemic that hit last year.

While Google might tell you about remote workers in Greece, Argentina, or Croatia, I look at the remote worker trend through a real estate lens and combine the phenomenon with my expertise in international real estate to identify the best places around the world to capitalize on the Zoom Boom through property.

Here are some of the places I recommend as Zoom Boom towns worth your interest as a real estate investor.

Tulum, Mexico

Tulum, on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, is easily one of the most popular work-from-home destinations in the world right now. It benefits from easy access by air, good weather, beautiful scenery, fun things to do, conveniences and amenities, and, of course, high-speed internet.

Importantly, it’s also in the same time zone as the U.S., which makes it far easier for folks to make the transition.

Even last year, during the height of the pandemic, Lonely Planet called Tulum a hotspot for digital nomads, and a New York Times reporter wrote about her experience working from the beach town.

There are signs up in Tulum for new malls and commercial areas. Luxury furniture stores are springing up on the highway on the way into town. These kinds of stores are rare in seasonal vacation destinations. In the past, folks here would have furnished their apartments by making a run to the city of Playa del Carmen an hour down the highway. Now, Tulum is becoming self-contained, and a city in its own right.

Renters in Tulum today don’t stay for just a couple of nights, but a couple of weeks, sometimes months. This means higher occupancy, even in the shoulder seasons. They stay long-term but are happy to pay short-term rates if it gives them flexibility.

Medellín, Colombia

Colombia has been squarely on my RETA beat for nearly a decade. And livable, internationalized cities like Medellín are drawing in mobile, creative, and productive remote workers untethered by the Zoom Boom.

Today, the old cartel and bad reputation that dogged this beautiful city in the days of Pablo Escobar have faded into history.

They have been replaced with a hip, “must visit” city that has much to appeal to the Zoom Boom crowd.

Modern Medellin is one of the most modern and sophisticated cities on my beat. Young digital nomads huddle in trendy watering holes plotting the next Facebook or hang out at the open-air workout areas that can be found here.

The locals are warm, welcoming, friendly, and honest. They feel genuinely happy that foreigners are beginning to visit them.

The Algarve, Portugal

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that the Algarve is where you’ll find the most profitable real estate deals in all of Portugal.

The Algarve is indeed something special. It offers perfect weather, amazing beaches, and world-class golf. It’s easy to get there, the cost of living is low, the food is great, and it’s safe…peaceful. All factors that attract Zoom Boom remote workers.

The Algarve is the kind of place that does well in good times and bad. It attracts a huge mix of markets. It’s an internationalized destination that draws Northern Europeans, North Americans, and even folks from as far away as Asia…

In particular, I’m laser-focused on the historic town of Lagos. It’s a place where the best-in-class property is in incredibly hot demand. By getting in early on the right condos, in the right locations, we can do very well. Demand is surging, supply is scarce, and there are constraints that put serious limitations on availability.

Last year, despite the lockdown, I hear some property owners in Lagos were still pulling in gross rental yields of 7%.

Given what was going on in the world, that’s impressive. And as the Zoom Boom strengthens the rental market here, I predict this will only get better.

I make it my business to stay ahead of trends that could spell real estate profits, and this Zoom Boom is one of the most promising I’ve seen in a while.

I suspect you’ll be hearing more from me about the places on this list as the trend develops.

This story was originally published on International Living.

Revenue soared 33% to a record $71.8 million from $53.8 million a year ago. It was the second straight quarter in which PagerDuty sales improved more than 30% year-over-year.

“There are strong signals that we are sustaining high growth rate,” PagerDuty Chief Executive Jennifer Tejada told MarketWatch. “Our product innovation continues to accelerate across use cases and departments as we empower enterprises to mature their digital operations and deliver superior customer experiences.”

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a net loss of 9 cents a share on revenue of $70.2 million.

The company also offered fourth-quarter guidance of $75.5 million to $76.5 million in revenue, representing a growth rate of 27% to 29% year-over-year and a net loss of 5 cents to 6 cents a share. FactSet analysts are projecting revenue of $73.7 million and a net loss of 8 cents a share.

Shares of PagerDuty are down 19.5% this year, while the broader S&P 500 index
SPX,
+2.07%
has gained 25%.

Russia’s decline

Various causes of Russia’s aggressiveness have been suggested, but the most important one focuses on Russian decline, and whether this has made the country more dangerous. Is Putin genuinely intent on attacking Ukraine? If so, what should Ukraine and the West do about it?

The decline is obvious. Russia’s economy has been completely stagnant since 2014 (and mostly stagnant since 2009), and Putin has made clear that he has no interest in delivering economic growth or improved living standards. In U.S. dollar terms, Russia’s gross domestic product fell from $2.3 trillion in 2013 to $1.5 trillion in 2020. Since Putin first invaded Ukraine and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, Russian households’ real (inflation-adjusted) disposable income has fallen by 10%.

With nothing good to say about the economy, Putin has touted Russia’s large international currency reserves and minimal public debt. These statistics appear to support his pursuit of national “greatness,” which has become synonymous with his own strongman rule.

Putin thus aspires to create a modern-day Sparta—a state focused solely on its military prowess. Since Russia’s August 2008 attack on Georgia, which revealed major military shortcomings, the Kremlin has undertaken substantial military modernization, while much of the rest of Europe has continued its post-Cold War disarmament.

But Russia’s relative military might probably has already peaked. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russian military expenditures reached $62 billion in 2020, a year when U.S. military expenditures were $778 billion and China’s were $252 billion. Even India surpassed Russia with its $73 billion military budget.

The time to strike

Seeing the writing on the wall, Putin may now be thinking that if Russia is going to benefit from its military strength, it had better flex its muscles now, before the country’s economic foundation erodes further. Moreover, this year’s commodity price boom (particularly in energy
BRN00,
-0.81%
and metals
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+0.38%
) has strengthened the Kremlin’s incentive to strike while the iron is hot.

Like a cornered animal, declining powers are often the most dangerous ones. As Graham Allison of Harvard University reminds us in Destined for War, it was a declining power, Austria-Hungary, that started World War I by declaring war on Serbia. In the current context, the Russians appear to be planning a tank and artillery campaign reminiscent of World War II; if so, their war machine is as outdated as Putin’s view of Ukraine.

A contemporary, peace-loving Western reader might wonder why Putin would want to start a war.

Surely he is familiar with the legacy of Vyacheslav von Plehve, the Russian interior minister who, in 1904, famously argued that, “To avert a revolution, we need a small, victorious war!” Soon thereafter, von Plehve was assassinated by a revolutionary. Even so, the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War ensued. That conflict was neither small nor victorious—and it ended up catalyzing the revolution of 1905.

Putin is most likely focused more on his own small, successful wars in Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014, which led to his highest approval ratings ever. Since then, his approval has reached new lows, and with public discontent building, he has ratcheted up political repression to a level not seen since his hero, the late Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, was in power (1982-84).

Propaganda machine

To justify his increasingly extreme repression, Putin has cranked up the Kremlin’s propaganda machinery to Soviet levels. But anti-Western messaging will not persuade the population to support him. For that, he needs another highly successful war. And because Russia stands no chance in a big war against the whole West, it needs a much more limited conflict. Hence, Putin’s choice of Ukraine, which he calls a Western vassal.

But a small, victorious war is not possible in Ukraine, either. As Ukraine’s new defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, recently pointed out:

“The human cost for Ukraine would be catastrophic, but Ukrainians would not mourn alone. Russia would also suffer massive losses. Images of coffins returning to Russia from the front lines in Ukraine would spread like a virus across social media and would soon prove too much for even the Kremlin censors to contain. A major war in Ukraine would plunge the whole of Europe into crisis.”

U. S intelligence agencies warn that Russia is mobilizing some 175,000 troops near its border with Ukraine. But a force of that size would not suffice. Ukraine’s active military forces comprise 250,000 troops, many with ample battle experience, who would be defending their homeland against soldiers who may have no higher aim than collecting their salaries.

Russia’s mistake in 1904 was that it did not take Japan seriously as a military power. When Japan emerged victorious, the czar’s power was fatally weakened, allowing for the revolution that followed. A 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war could prove to be an even bigger folly, one that Putin is unlikely to survive.

In the meantime, the Kremlin must not be allowed to benefit domestically from its saber-rattling. The West responded with only limited sanctions following Putin’s previous aggression against Georgia and Ukraine. It must learn from those mistakes and stand fully with Ukraine.

In addition to providing military supplies and training for Ukraine, the West should impose truly devastating sanctions against Russia. Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have promised as much. They and America’s European allies now must follow through.

Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Stockholm Free World Forum, is the author of “Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy.“

This commentary was published with permission of Project Syndicate — Putin’s Last Gasp?

More on Russia

Biden tells Putin that U.S. will respond if Russia escalates military action against Ukraine

Wall Street Journal: Russia-Ukraine Tension: Could What’s Happening on the Border Lead to War? 

Putin warns NATO and U.S. that Ukraine encroachment is a ‘red line’ for Russia

“It goes against having that direct relationship with our partners that has served us so well for decades and allowed us to build this great company,” Mr. Johnson said in an interview Monday, referring to Starbucks employees.

On Wednesday, Starbucks baristas in New York’s second-largest city are slated to conclude voting on whether to unionize under Workers United Upstate New York, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. About 100 workers are eligible to vote across three stores in the 19-location market. Workers supporting the proposed Starbucks Workers United union say they are looking for better staffing, training and pay, particularly for employees who have been with the company for years. They also want the right to directly negotiate their pay and benefits with the company.

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.

Also popular at WSJ.com:

China seeks first military base on Africa’s Atlantic Coast.

New York City Sets COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private-sector workers.

The Dow is up 3.7% so far in December, FactSet data show, which would represent the best first five trading sessions on the month for the blue-chip stock market index, since a 4.17% gain in 1997.

At last check, the Dow was up 544 points, or 1.6%, to around 35,768, up nearly 1,200 points in the past two sessions.

The surge comes after blue chips finished a withering stretch to end November, which brought the Dow half way to a correction, down 5.1%, as of last Friday’s close. But conditions that have been deemed “oversold” on Wall Street have reignited the bulls, which had chastened by the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Concerns about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy plans also haven helping to cap gains for investors. The Fed is expected to accelerate the tapering of monthly purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, which had buttressed the market during the height of pandemic volatility but have been deemed unnecessary as evidence of surging inflation grows.

It isn’t clear if the narrative for stocks has changed demonstrably for the bulls but bond yields remain at historically low levels, perhaps supporting a return to risky assets like information technology and energy stocks, which were leading the charge higher on Tuesday.

So how does the Dow perform when it sees a gain of at least 3% in the first five sessions in December?

The blue-chip index tends to post an average gain for the entire month of 4.7% or a median gain of 5.2%, when the DJIA gains 3% or more through the first five trading days of December.

For its part, the Dow has been a laggard so far in 2021, falling behind the year-to-date returns of its peer benchmarks, which were also in rally mode on Tuesday. For the year, the Dow is up 16.9%, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+1.85%
has gained nearly 25% and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+2.76%
has climbed 21%.

—Ken Jimenez contributed to this article

To the extent that the “Great Resignation” may continue into 2022, one major driving force could be behind the pattern: High living costs. A new report from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
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+2.89%
found that 41% of employed Americans would take a pay cut or accept a job with a lower salary so that they could relocate to a region that is more affordable.

As for where workers were most inclined to relocate, certain metro areas across the country appear poised to benefit from this trend more than others. Miami and Austin, Texas, were the two most popular destinations. Meanwhile, nearly half of employed Americans who lived in the Northeast and West suggested that they would make a trade-off between their salary and the cost of living.

Notably, Coldwell Banker reported differences in preferences based on a respondent’s gender, race and parental status. For instance, Black Americans were most interested in relocating to Atlanta. Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C., were much more popular with women than men. And workers with kids cited Dallas-Ft. Worth as a desirable destination alongside Miami and Austin.

‘Americans are still prioritizing homeownership’

Younger workers were more likely to want to move. Over half of employed people between the ages of 18 and 34 said they would trade lower pay for more affordable living, and the same way true of 47% of workers between the ages of 35 and 44. The study was based on a survey of more than 2,000 adults, conducted online by The Harris Poll.

Growing families could be one factor behind why younger workers are more inclined to consider a move. Coldwell Banker — which obviously has a vested interest in people moving and buying homes — reported that 57% of young homeowners said that their housing needs were changing because their family was getting larger, up from 50% of these individuals back in February.

“Young adults no longer feel constrained to living in the same city, even if it means taking a lower salary in exchange for living in a more affordable location,” M. Ryan Gorman, president and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, said in the report. “Younger folks may be redefining the American Dream, but one thing remains clear: Americans are still prioritizing homeownership.”