U.S. Personal Income Higher

Mar 24, 2021

U.S. personal income continues to move higher despite the ongoing economic disruptions and unemployment caused by COVID-19. Real disposable personal income (inflation adjusted) was up 11.4 percent in January compared to December (Figure 2). Personal income consists of total earnings due to wages, investments, and other ventures. Spikes in personal income are evident in March of last year and January of this year due to the stimulus payments provided in the COVID-19 assistance packages.

Taxpayers received $1,200 per person in the first relief package, and $600 per person in the second one. For persons who did not lose a job, the vast majority, the assistance simply boosted income. It appears most people deposited the increased income into savings. The Economist reports that excess savings reached $1.6 trillion last month.

Figure 2. Total. U.S. Real Personal Income

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Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.