As COVID-19 vaccination programmes accelerate across the industrialised world, vaccination hesitancy is rapidly emerging as a key challenge. This column explores the relationship between pre-pandemic intensive care unit capacity and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK. Despite widespread pre-pandemic scepticism about vaccines in general, willingness to become vaccinated against COVID-19 overall was strikingly high, even amongst those who rejected vaccines before the pandemic. The results point to a surprising synergy: where the emergency care systems of public healthcare providers were less strained during the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, vaccination hesitancy is systematically less today.

Understanding how central banks use their balance sheets

June 01, 2021

Since the Global Crisis, the size of central bank balance sheets has grown significantly. Traditional goals of price and financial stability are insufficient for assessing the success of modern central banking operations. This column introduces a new framework for categorising and understanding central bank balance sheet operations. Monetary policy decisions are separated from facilities for lender of last resort, market maker of last resort, providing selective credit, and ensuring emergency government financing. To maintain legitimacy and accountability, central banks should formally distinguish these operations by clearly setting out their purposes, objectives, and constraints.

On this day: June 1

June 01, 2021

June 1

James Clark Ross

1676 – Scanian War: The Swedish warship Kronan, one of the largest ships in the world at the time, sank at the Battle of Öland with the loss of around 800 men.
1813 – War of 1812: Mortally wounded, U.S. Navy captain James Lawrence ordered his crew "Don't give up the ship!" as USS Chesapeake was captured by HMS Shannon off the coast of Boston.
1831 – British explorer James Clark Ross (pictured) led the first expedition to reach the north magnetic pole.
1974– In an informal article in ...

On this day: June 1

June 01, 2021

June 1

James Clark Ross

1676 – Scanian War: The Swedish warship Kronan, one of the largest ships in the world at the time, sank at the Battle of Öland with the loss of around 800 men.
1813 – War of 1812: Mortally wounded, U.S. Navy captain James Lawrence ordered his crew "Don't give up the ship!" as USS Chesapeake was captured by HMS Shannon off the coast of Boston.
1831 – British explorer James Clark Ross (pictured) led the first expedition to reach the north magnetic pole.
1974– In an informal article in ...

June 1 Wikipedia featured article

June 01, 2021

Map showing territory ceded by Carthage under the treaty in pink

The Treaty of Lutatius was the agreement of 241 BC between Carthage and Rome which ended the First Punic War after 23 years. The Romans had defeated a Carthaginian fleet attempting to lift the blockade of its last strongholds on Sicily. Accepting defeat, the Carthaginian Senate ordered the local commander to negotiate a peace treaty. One was rapidly agreed, but when referred to Rome for ratification, it was rejected. Rome then sent a commission which agreed that Carthage would cede what it held of Sicily, relinquish ...

Wikipedia picture of the day for June 1

June 01, 2021

This historical depiction of the coat of arms of Kentucky was illustrated by the American engraver Henry Mitchell in State Arms of the Union, published in 1876 by Louis Prang. The design depicts two men embracing, with the motto "United we stand, divided we fall". The original Kentucky state seal, adopted in 1792 and designed in 1793, was lost in a fire that destroyed the state capitol in 1814. Because the description originally adopted by the General Assembly did not specify how the "two friends" should look or how they should be embracing, several variants have ...

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