Freight transport service performance is crucial to trade costs in manufacturing. Many voters are fearful and stressed as uncertainty looms about the 2020 election. 1846-48 - US acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico. 2005 August - Hundreds of people are killed when Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive storm to hit the US in decades, sweeps through gulf coast states. I estimate that the loss of their physical presence slashed total daily spending at city center restaurants, bars and shops by more than half. 1917-18 - US intervenes in World War I, rejects membership of League of Nations. 2001 October - US leads massive campaign of air strikes against Afghanistan and helps opposition forces defeat the Taleban regime and find Saudi-born dissident Osama Bin Laden, who is suspected of masterminding the 11 September attacks. Some $13bn is disbursed over four years and the plan is regarded as a success. 1989 - US troops invade Panama, oust its government and arrest its leader, one-time Central Intelligence Agency informant General Manuel Noriega, on drug-trafficking charges. Dive deeper with our features from Europe and beyond. 2004 2 November - Presidential elections: George W Bush wins a second term. 2002 January - State of the Union address: President George W Bush includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea in what he describes as an "axis of evil". Read more. 1929-33 - 13 million people become unemployed after the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 triggers what becomes known as the Great Depression. 1924 - Congress gives indigenous people right to citizenship. 1988 - Reagan's vice-president, George Bush, elected president. This upsurge in working from home is largely here to stay, and I see a longer-run decline in city centers. Travel restrictions are therefore likely to account for a substantial increase in trade costs for as long as they remain in place. The report notes that while COVID-19 has motivated both trade-restricting and import-facilitating changes in tariffs and regulatory practices, these measures have so far affected only a small subset of products. Most Popular Now | 56,514 people are reading stories on the site right now. 2011 May - US forces kill Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in an operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. They have disrupted freight transport, business travel and the supply of services that rely on the presence of individuals abroad. 1960 - Democratic Party candidate John F Kennedy elected president, narrowly defeating his rival Richard Nixon. //-->. 1791 - Bill of Rights guarantees individual freedom. High levels of uncertainty magnify the impact of trade costs on international trade. Our results show that more educated, higher-earning employees are far more likely to work from home – so they are continuing to get paid, develop their skills and advance their careers. The note estimates that travel and transport costs account for as much as a third of trade costs depending on the sector. 2009 January - First "Tea Party" rally held in protest at Obama administration's plans to bail out banks and introduce healthcare reform. 1980 November - Republican Party's Ronald Reagan elected president. US military presence in Vietnam exceeds 500,000 personnel. 2001 December - Energy giant Enron declared bankrupt after massive false-accounting comes to light. US and Russia announce agreement on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. 1961 - Bay of Pigs invasion: an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba by Cuban exiles, organised and financed by Washington. 1950-54 - Senator Joseph McCarthy carries out a crusade against alleged communists in government and public life; the campaign and its methods become known as McCarthyism. 1996 - Clinton re-elected, beating Republican rival Bob Dole. School bus full of children skids down icy hill in dramatic footage. My latest survey results seem to bear this out: employees reported a 25 percent drop in demand to work in high-rise offices in 2021, presumably after COVID. The quality of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and digital preparedness will thus be important factors in how well economies cope with the pandemic shock. 1984 - Ronald Reagan re-elected president, beating Democratic Party candidate Walter Mondale. We see an incredible 42 percent of the U.S. labor force now working from home full-time. The resulting increase in air freight prices is likely to subside only with a rebound in passenger transport, according to the report. Watch our 24/7 TV stream. 2008 September - Turmoil in the US and international financial markets as major Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers collapses and other big US financial players face growing troubles as a result of the "credit crunch". US forces advance into central Baghdad in early April. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Working from home is not only economically essential, it is a critical weapon in our fight against COVID-19 – and future pandemics. 1620 - Plymouth Colony, near Cape Cod, is founded by the Pilgrim Fathers, whose example is followed by other English Puritans in New England. 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