Fed Chair Powell says raising wages is the key to solving the cost-of-living crisis. However, the job market has stalled, pay growth is slowing, and rising tariffs threaten to reignite inflation, which could erase any wage gains. The path to affordability remains unclear.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/15/economy/affordability-jobs-inflation
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Three years after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down, a patient has become the first person in China to receive a brain-computer interface implant billed under the countryβs new national pricing scheme.
The procedure was performed at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, where surgeons implanted a device designed to link neural signals to hand movement and sensory function. The surgery cost 6,552 yuan ($925), fully covered by research funding.
China proposes an "ElectroYuan" strategy: using its green tech dominance (solar, EVs) to make the yuan the world's primary currency for financing the energy transition. This offers the Global South cheaper loans and technology, but risks creating new dependencies and intensifying geopolitical competition with the West.
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