After a year of ghostly airports, empty sports stadiums and constant Zoom meetings, growing signs suggest that the economy is strengthening. Here s where things
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It’s nearly that time of year again when Americans reset their clocks one hour ahead, grumble about losing an hour of sleep and wonder why on Earth we keep observing the outdated tradition of tinkering with time twice a year.
It’s a good question. There’s no practical benefit to the biannual clock-changing ritual beyond reminding people to check their smoke alarm batteries. But there are plenty of annoyances and maybe some health risks too. It sows confusion and discombobulation (is it spring forward, fall back or the other way round?). Some studies have found a correlation between changing the clocks and increased heart attacks, strokes and car accidents. That’s not proof, of course, but given how messing with time schedules can disrupt sleep, and messing with sleep can decrease alertness and impair physical health, it’s not hard to see a connection.
From job cuts to online commerce, virus reshaped US economy - Wilmington News Journal wnewsj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wnewsj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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HE ECONOMIC controls implemented during the second world war make today’s restrictions on restaurants and football stadiums look lax. In America the government rationed everything from coffee to shoes and forbade the production of fridges and bicycles. In 1943 its entire automobile industry sold only 139 cars. Two years later the war ended, and a consumer-led boom ensued. Americans put to use the personal savings they had accumulated in wartime. By 1950 carmakers were producing more than 8m vehicles a year.
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Governments today are slowly easing lockdowns, as vaccines reduce hospitalisations and deaths from covid-19. Attention is turning to the likely shape of the economic recovery. The big question is whether or not the rich world can repeat the post-war trick, with pent-up savings powering a rapid bounce-back.