Biden on the ropes

Biden’s economic package looks like it’s in trouble again. In addition to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the two senators who’ve been dragging their fellow Democrat from pillar to post, others are raising legal questions about a proposed billionaire tax. Looking for a way to fund the bill’s now-shaved down plans to expand healthcare and climate protections, focus has turned to a surtax on people earning more than $10 million. Now the wait to see who opposes that, all with Biden wanting an agreement before he travels to Europe. There’s an IRS provision that Manchin seems to have squashed as well. And paid family leave? Also dead. Plus that whole budget crisis can that got kicked down the road? It’s back. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

The number of working hours lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be “significantly higher” than projected just a few months ago, with estimates that global hours worked this year will be 4.3% below their pre-pandemic level, the equivalent of 125 million full-time jobs. Africa, the Americas and Arab States were the regions that experienced the biggest declines. In the U.K., Novavax filed for authorization of its coronavirus shot and Merck reached a licensing agreement aimed at widening access to its promising pill treatment. Health advocates hope the pact will spur other pharmaceutical companies to act. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

Robinhood’s users would very much like the opportunity to spend their money on a joke—specifically, one based on another joke. Individual investors are calling for the retail trader-favorite to list the meme coin of the moment, Shiba Inu—a cryptocurrency that takes its name from the canine mascot of Dogecoin, itself a parody of Bitcoin.

Your next Uber could be a Tesla. Fresh off a blockbuster order for 100,000 Teslas, a move that made the carmaker a $1 trillion company (and its billionaire owner even richer), Hertz has now reached a deal to supply Uber drivers with electric vehicles.

U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called China’s purported test of a hypersonic weapon “very concerning.” The system, seen as another advance that matches or—as in this case—surpasses American capabilities, may be close to a “Sputnik moment,” Milley said, a reference to the Soviet Union’s initial lead in the space race.

British consumers are under stress. Prices are up, confidence is down and shortages ranging from food to fuel have strained households trying to make plans for both the short and long term.

A top Chinese hot pot chain has seen $4 billion in its market value evaporate in just three days as the government’s escalating Covid-19 curbs take a toll. Haidilao International Holding tumbled 7.5% on Wednesday to the lowest since March 2019.

U.S. prices on virtually all types of food and consumer goods are going up—and many Americans don’t seem to mind. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola shares jumped after the companies reported rising demand even in the face of price hikes.

The developer of one of the biggest homes ever built in the U.S.—featuring a moat and 30-car garage—filed for bankruptcy to keep lenders from foreclosing on the Los Angeles property, once floated at $500 million. It was dubbed “The One.”

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