Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, called on other countries to join Washington in establishing a global minimum corporate tax as she pledged to reaffirm America’s leadership in international economic policy.

“Together, we can use a global minimum tax to ensure that the global economy thrives on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth and prosperity,” said Yellen in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Monday.

Yellen’s call on the eve of the spring IMF and World Bank meetings came as the Biden administration has placed cracking down on tax evasion and tax shelters at the heart of its economic agenda.

According to Biden’s plans, the U.S. corporate tax rate would be go from 21% to 28%, a sharp turnaround from the cuts made during Donald Trump’s presidency. The proposal would also add an overall minimum tax of 21 percent, determined country by country, to target tax havens. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

  • Young people are the main cause of an increasing number of Covid-19 infections in parts of the we, public health officials have warned, with the country now reporting around 64,000 new cases per day.

  • North Korea withdrew of the Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, dashing Seoul’s hopes of using the event to improve inter-Korean relations and revive nuclear talks.

  • Jacinda Ardern announced this trip without quarantine will start again between New Zealand and Australia April 19.

  • Boris Johnson has confirmed that the confinement would facilitate in England on April 12, when premises including outdoor pubs, non-essential stores, hairdressers and indoor gymnasiums can reopen.

  • France will contribute € 4 billion to strengthening Air France-KLM’s balance sheet, potentially double your participation as he tries to guide the airline through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • A American pharmaceutical factory which produced ingredients for AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines will switch to provide exclusively J&J after an error of the workers wasted millions of doses of the jab.

  • The probability of coordination global economic rebound has declined as the slower roll-out of immunization and a wave of infections in some countries lead to “Very divergent growth prospects”, showed the Brookings-FT Tracking Index. Here’s what to know about the new IMF special drawing rights intended to boost the balance sheets of emerging economies.

Line graph of the composite index of the relative strength of a range of indicators, by type of economy showing that countries face extreme divergence in economic outlook

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In the news

Credit Suisse Sacks Investment Bank, Risk Managers Swiss credit revealed a loss of $ 4.7 billion following the explosion of the family office Capital Archegos and dumped two senior executives, as the bank reeling from twin crises involving Archegos and the supply chain finance company Green capital. (FT)

Lara Warner, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Credit Suisse

Lara Warner, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Credit Suisse, leaves the bank © Reuters

Google wins in US Supreme Court against Oracle The judges handed the victory to Google in a historical case for the software industry, ruling that the search giant had not broken the law by copying software interfaces belonging to Oracle for use in its operating system for Android smartphone. (FT)

GameStop shares drop when selling shares GameStop shares fell sharply on Monday after the video game retailer said it could sell up to $ 1 billion in additional shares because it appears to be capitalizing on a Reddit-induced shopping spree earlier this year. More generally, american stocks reached new heights. (FT)

Week 2 of the Derek Chauvin trial Minneapolis Police Chief testified Monday this former officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with the murder of George Floyd, violated department policy when he pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee and didn’t let go when Floyd stopped resisting. (PA)

Former Crown Prince of Jordan pledges loyalty The former crown prince of the country, accused of conspiracy to destabilize the kingdom, pledged his loyalty to King Abdullah II, according to the royal court, as the ruling family seeks to end an extraordinary internal dispute. Jordanian intrigue points to outside interference, says David Gardner. (FT)

Prince Hamzah, left, with his mother Queen Noor at his wedding ceremony in Amman in 2004 © AP

Prince Hamzah, left, with his mother Queen Noor at his wedding ceremony in Amman in 2004 © AP

Talks to continue Modi-Khan meeting The Pakistani army chief has launched behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Indian enemy to secure a possible meeting between the prime ministers of neighboring countries Imran Khan of Pakistan and India Narendra Modi, according to three people with direct knowledge of the subject. (FT)

Steelmaker Posco called on to sever relations with Burmese junta Investors urge South Korean industrial group Posco to leave a steel joint venture with a Burmese conglomerate controlled by the army as pressure mounts on multinationals to sever financial ties with the country’s junta. (FT)

The day to come

IMF Global Outlook Report The world economy will grow faster than expected in 2021, but the IMF – the world’s “lender of last resort” – is helping more countries than ever before, the IMF will say in its global outlook report Tuesday. (Politics)

US to join Iran nuclear deal negotiations U.S. officials to join international talks today in Vienna aiming to revive the historic Iran nuclear deal, abandoned three years ago by Donald Trump. (FT)

The new Israeli parliament A the new Israeli Knesset will be sworn in for the fourth time in two years – with no resolution to the dispute over who will be prime minister. (Jerusalem Post)

What else do we read

Is New York going after the rich? New York’s business leaders and wealthy residents feel strangely unknown for some time. Their angst is in part caused by plans of around $ 7 billion in taxes that would fall on their shoulders, prompting some to move to Florida. (FT)

Attendees were seen to spell #TaxTheRich in Times Square

Beyond the tax talk, wealthy New Yorkers say the political climate is turning hostile and they have been unfairly vilified for the cracks in an unequal city that have been torn apart by a historic pandemic © Erik McGregor / Sipa USA / Reuters

City spends money to fight racial divide In Evanston, Illinois, the life expectancy at birth for one (mostly white) side of the city is 86 years. On the predominantly African-American side of the city, it drops to 75.5 years. The city is not alone in this disparity, but it is seeking justice with a reparations program, says Patti waldmeir.

  • Further reading: In an era of changing global power, arguments over racial equity are also becoming part of the geopolitical struggle, writes Gideon Rachman. (FT)

Chinese comics find authorities no longer understand the joke There is a sense of unease in the popular news Chinese stand-up comedy scene. Its success has put the stand-up in the spotlight of authorities and socially conservative commentators amid the heavily charged undercurrent of Beijing-fueled nationalism. (FT)

Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong on stage.

Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong has returned to China and runs his own comedy club. Numerous local comics highlight his performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2010 as the start of the rise of the local stand-up scene © Joe’s Club

Supply chain finance: a new twist on a prehistoric idea The collapse of Greensill Capital brought to light a form of financing that dates back to Bronze Age Mesopotamia. The exchange of invoices through intermediaries helped finance medieval European trade, the expansion of the British Empire, and the American textile industry in the 20th century. (FT)

Why the ranking of employees by performance backfires When Bill Michael, the former chairman of KPMG, told staff to “stop moaning” in February, one of the issues they complained about was the “forced distribution” model used to assess their performance. This way of evaluating people is a zombie idea that should be killed, supports Sarah O’Connor. (FT)

Surviving the Xinjiang crackdown Anar Sabit grew up in Kuytun, China, a small town west of the Gobi Desert, nestled between Kazakhstan, Siberia and Mongolia. As an adult, she lived halfway across the world in Canada. But a return home after her father’s death left her trapped in detention, caught up in the crackdown in Xinjiang. (New Yorker)

Podcast of the day

Will having a baby break my finances? Jenny and her partner are planning to have a baby, but beyond buying diapers and a stroller, she has no idea what it will cost to become a parent. Claer Barrett, Consumer Editor at FT, speaks with Tobi Asare, founder of the parent finance blog My Bump Pay, and Maike Currie, FT columnist and chief investment officer at Fidelity International, in the last episode of the Silver Clinic. (FT)

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