Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Chicago leaders are weighing a new way to plug a yawning budget gap: a flat $1.25 charge on nearly every package that lands on a resident’s doorstep. The proposal would effectively turn the city’s booming home delivery habit into a dedicated revenue stream, testing how far officials can lean on e-commerce without sparking a consumer…
Amazon is preparing to email millions of Prime subscribers to tell them they are getting money back, the most visible consumer moment yet in a record federal settlement over how the company handled its flagship membership program. The automatic refunds will land in accounts without customers having to file paperwork, but the details of who…
AT&T is again raising the cost of staying online, even as its core business delivers hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh revenue and steady profit growth. The company’s latest round of price increases has landed badly with customers, who are venting across social media and warning they are ready to walk. I see a…
Credit card issuers are increasingly scrutinizing how customers pay their bills, and one particular tactic can trigger the harshest response: a sudden pattern of cycling large sums through your card just to harvest rewards or float cash. Instead of a quiet warning, some banks are choosing to shut accounts down, leaving cardholders without access to…
Households across the United States are falling behind on their debts at a pace that recalls the most stressful moments of the last two decades, as higher borrowing costs collide with stubbornly high prices for essentials. The surge in missed payments is not confined to one corner of the credit market, and the pattern now…
A sweeping new grocery law is about to change how millions of Americans shop, from the brands they see on shelves to the way they pay at the register. Instead of quiet tweaks at the margins, lawmakers have approved a package that touches prices, data privacy, labor rules, and even the design of supermarket apps,…
The White House is racing to cancel student debt through a mix of targeted relief and regulatory rewrites, and the result is a patchwork of programs that can wipe out balances far faster than the old system. I want to walk through how these efforts fit together, who actually qualifies, and what steps borrowers need…
Debit cards feel safe because they are familiar, fast and backed by a bank account that quietly absorbs every tap and swipe. Yet the very design that makes them convenient also exposes you to risks that credit cards and newer payment tools handle differently. When money leaves your checking balance in real time, mistakes, fraud…
When a credit card balance creeps past its limit, the damage rarely stops at a single declined purchase. Going over the line can trigger fees, higher interest, account restrictions, and a long tail of credit score fallout that makes every future loan more expensive. I want to walk through what actually happens behind the scenes,…
Walmart is quietly reshaping the cost of a basic shopping trip, adding bag fees in some markets while warning that theft has swelled into a multibillion‑dollar problem. The retailer is trying to plug what it describes as a roughly $3 billion hole from merchandise losses, even as it leans harder on self‑checkout and other cost‑saving…