Business & Economy

Business & Economy

File photo. Washington state's richest residents, including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, would pay a wealth tax on certain financial assets worth more than $1 billion under a 2021 proposed bill whose sponsor says she is seeking a fair and equitable tax code. Under the bill, starting Jan. 1, 2022, for taxes due in 2023, a 1% tax would be levied not on income, but on "extraordinary" assets ranging from cash, publicly traded options, futures contracts, and stocks and bonds. CREDIT: Elains Thompson/AP

Why Bill Gates Is Investing Big Time In Farmland Across Washington And The Country

Seattle’s technology billionaires are many things: innovators, visionaries, philanthropists and some less polite descriptors, depending on whom you ask. But thanks to some scrupulous digging by industry journal The Land Report, which tracks land ownership across the country, we now know that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has another feather in his multi hyphenated career cap: America’s Top Private Owner of Farmland.  Continue Reading Why Bill Gates Is Investing Big Time In Farmland Across Washington And The Country

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Sign on restaurant door in Spokane saying when it will reopen from covid closure with multiple dates crossed out and finally saying "who knows"

All Washington Counties Can Advance To Phase 2 Reopening As State Fixes Hospital Data

The south-central region of Washington’s 8-region area for coronavirus restrictions can immediately reopen. That news came Sunday from the state Department of Health. It means the counties encompassing Walla Walla, the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Ellensburg can advance to Phase 2. Continue Reading All Washington Counties Can Advance To Phase 2 Reopening As State Fixes Hospital Data

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Arianna Laureano outside of her boyfriend’s Seattle home on Feb. 3, 2021. Laureano has been relying on Washington’s eviction moratorium, which is set to end on March 31. CREDIT: Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut

Washington Scrambles To Avoid Mass Evictions As Moratorium Nears End

After Gov. Jay Inslee extended the moratorium multiple times, most lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates expect March 31 will mark its true end — at least at the state level. Then the question of what will happen to renters without the moratorium’s blunt relief will go from hypothetical to very much real. Continue Reading Washington Scrambles To Avoid Mass Evictions As Moratorium Nears End

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Occupy Wall Street march in 2012

‘The Game Is Rigged’: How Fury Over The Great Recession Fueled The Reddit Trade

WallStreetBets started as an investment forum — and its moderators continue to insist it is just that as the group has now grown to boast nearly 9 million members. But interviews with some of its members and an examination of its threads also show something else — that it’s morphed into a movement of sorts, riding a giant wave of unresolved anger from the Great Recession. Continue Reading ‘The Game Is Rigged’: How Fury Over The Great Recession Fueled The Reddit Trade

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Vice President Kamala Harris in Senate

Congress Approves Budget, Paving The Way For President Biden’s COVID-19 Relief Package

The House quickly approved a budget resolution intended to speed the drafting of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The Senate approved the same budget resolution early Friday morning. With the Senate evenly divided, Vice President Harris cast the tiebreaking vote. Continue Reading Congress Approves Budget, Paving The Way For President Biden’s COVID-19 Relief Package

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