Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Federal investigators say they created fake Obamacare customers and watched as the government sent them an average of $2,350 a month in premium help, a vivid illustration of how easily the Affordable Care Act’s subsidy system can be gamed. The same watchdog is now warning that those test cases sit on top of a much…
The White House is leaning hard on a fresh batch of economic data to argue that the recovery is not just intact but accelerating, pointing to rapid growth, easing inflation and a pickup in private investment as proof that momentum is real. The latest figures show output and hiring holding up even as borrowing costs…
President Donald Trump is betting that his sweeping tariff regime will not only reshape the global economy but also define the political battlefield in 2026. He has framed the levies as a generator of “great wealth” for the United States and argued that voters will ultimately judge him and his party on the prices they…
The Federal Reserve is finally saying the quiet part out loud: the tools it used to tame inflation have helped fracture the recovery, and there is no quick way to repair the damage. After a historic cycle of rate hikes and a late pivot to cuts, the central bank is confronting an economy where growth…
Gold and stocks are not supposed to soar together. When both hit records at the same time, it suggests investors are chasing returns while also bracing for trouble, a combination that often precedes sharp reversals. The latest surge in bullion and equities has many economists warning that this rare alignment is less a sign of…
Stock ownership in the United States is often framed as a path to broad prosperity, yet the reality is that most of the market’s value sits in relatively few hands. Imagining what would happen if every share were split evenly across the population exposes just how concentrated that wealth is and how different the economy…
The boxing spectacle between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua did more than deliver a viral knockout, it exposed just how fragile the balance can be between sportsbooks and the betting public. For a few tense hours, one of the biggest operators in the United States stared at a potential nine‑figure loss while everyday bettors piled…
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is threatening an unprecedented financial penalty against one of its own holiday mainstays, seeking $1 million in damages after jazz musician Chuck Redd pulled out of his Christmas Eve show in protest of the venue’s new Trump-branded name. The clash has turned a long-running seasonal tradition into a…
Southern manufacturers are absorbing a rare, concentrated shock after a key chemical supplier shut three plants, triggering a $415 million hit that is rippling through everything from plastics to building materials. The closures have exposed how tightly regional factories are tied to a handful of upstream producers, and how quickly a disruption in basic chemicals…
Private-equity partners and ultra-wealthy families have quietly turned a sparsely populated Midwestern state into one of the most powerful financial engines in the country. South Dakota, better known for Mount Rushmore and cornfields, now rivals classic offshore centers as a preferred place to park fortunes for generations. The state’s trust industry has grown into a…
Retirement Shield
The money news that hits your wallet
The free Retirement Shield newsletter covers the benefits, tax, and cost-of-living changes that affect what you keep, a couple of times a week.