The world this weekBusinessJanet Yellen, Joe Biden’s pick as treasury secretary, urged senators to pass the new president’s $1.9trn stimulus package,saying there should be no compromise in helping people who are struggling through the pandemic.The measures have run into stiff opposition from Republicans, even among moderates,who balk at adding more stimulus to December’s $935bn package.Mr Biden’s plan should easily clear the House.The Democrats also control the Senate, but may have to deploy a legislative tactic to get the bill through.Filling out his nominees to head America’s regulatory agencies, Mr Biden chose Rohit Chopra to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Mr Chopra is a staunch ally of Senator Elizabeth Warren, who helped set up the CFPB in the wake of the financial crisis a decade ago.Along with other Biden appointments, the nomination of Mr Chopra suggests that Wall Street will face tougher scrutiny in the new administration.One of Mr Biden’s first orders as president was to kill the Keystone XL oil pipeline,a project to carry crude from Canada to Nebraska that has been delayed for years because of opposition from greens and Native Americans.The decision is a blow to Alberta’s oil industry, which will lose thousands of jobs as a result.Seemingly unfazed by the pandemic, America’s big banks reported another solid round of earnings.
