US President Biden stated that the omicron variants will cause more "breakthrough" infections in the vaccinated population, and the number "may be huge", but they are unlikely to develop severe illness. Biden said in a speech at the White House on Tuesday that breakthrough infections are most likely to mean "asymptomatic" or mild illness, especially for those who have received booster shots. He mentioned that former President Trump had publicly stated that he had received a booster shot. Biden said, "This may be one of the things he and I rarely agree on." However, for those who have not been vaccinated, Biden warned that waiting for them will be a severe winter with severe illness and death.

U.S. President Biden said that it is still possible to reach an agreement with Senator Manchin to allow Congress to pass the approximately $2 trillion "Build Back Better" plan. Biden told reporters at the White House: "I still think it is possible to rebuild a better future plan." He noted that Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for 2022 US economic growth after Manchin announced his opposition to the plan on Sunday. Biden once again referred to this legislation as a means to curb rising inflation. "Everything in the bill will reduce the prices and costs borne by the middle class and working class," he said. "Senator Manchin and I will make a difference."

This year's energy crisis in Europe poses a threat to economic recovery, with both natural gas and electricity prices hitting record highs. On Tuesday, after Russia restricted the delivery of natural gas to Europe, prices soared by more than 20%, and France, which is usually an electricity exporter, was forced to increase electricity imports and burn oil to maintain electricity. Rising prices have also forced some companies to close or limit production. At the same time, the euro zone inflation rate surged to a record high last month. As energy shortages have intensified, the omicron variant has spread across Europe, worsening the economic prospects of the entire region. Rising prices have also exacerbated supply chain failures, causing heavy losses to various industries such as automobiles and wind turbines.

U.S. companies repurchased their stocks at an alarming rate in the third quarter, while the key investment expenditures needed to create growth paled in comparison. Preliminary data released by S&P Dow Jones Indices on Tuesday showed that the share repurchase scale of S&P 500 index companies more than doubled from the same period last year, reaching a record high of $234.6 billion. At the same time, capital expenditures increased by 21% to US$189 billion, still 3% lower than the fourth quarter of 2019 before the epidemic brought the economy to a halt.

As risk appetite generally rebounded, Bitcoin recorded its biggest gain in more than a month on Tuesday, and briefly rebounded to above US$49,000 for the first time in five days. Bitcoin once rose 5% to 49,331 US dollars in New York trading, the largest intraday gain since November 18. After hitting a record high of nearly $69,000 in early November, Bitcoin has fallen by about 30% in the past five weeks.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday showed that the United States’ population growth rate in 2021 will be the lowest in history due to the impact of reduced immigration, aging population and low birth rate due to the new crown epidemic. This year, the population of the United States has grown by only 0.1%, or 392,665 people, which is lower than the increase during the influenza pandemic and World War I at the beginning of the last century. This is the first time since 1937 that the population increase has been less than 1 million.

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