Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
When a political strategist argues that the “real” poverty line now sits around $140,000 a year, it captures a growing sense that traditional measures of hardship no longer match the lived reality of middle class families. The claim sounds extreme, but it taps into a concrete mix of housing costs, child care bills, medical expenses,…
The Federal Reserve has quietly pointed to a new source of strain in the economy, and it is not the usual debate over interest rates. Instead, policymakers are flagging a shift in credit conditions and business sentiment that suggests the expansion is more fragile than headline job and inflation numbers imply. I see this as…
The Republican Party is confronting a grinding, structural crisis that reaches far beyond the lurid headlines surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Internal polling, leadership messaging, and public feuds all point to a movement struggling to connect with voters’ daily realities while managing deep fractures inside its own ranks. The Epstein files may inflame existing tensions, but the…
President Donald Trump is arguing that the real payoff from his tariff strategy has yet to show up in the data, even as critics point to higher prices and political backlash at home. He is casting the policy as a long game, insisting that the headline numbers understate what he calls a coming windfall for…
Bitcoin’s latest slide has been sharp enough to rattle even seasoned traders, with the price down about 21% in November and wiping out a chunk of this year’s gains. Yet the core narrative that draws many buyers into the asset, the idea of long-term growth potential, still looms large over the short-term pain. I see…
Investors are bracing for another bout of price pressure, and the easy political story is to blame tariffs. Jason Bessent is pushing back on that narrative, arguing that the latest inflation flare-up is rooted in deeper forces inside the economy rather than in the White House’s trade brinkmanship. I see his argument as a test…
The headline numbers on growth and unemployment still look reassuring, but the surface strength of the U.S. economy hides pockets of outright decline. Several key industries tied to goods, trade, and housing are already shrinking, even as aggregate data suggest resilience. Taken together, these contractions show how a “rolling” downturn can coexist with overall expansion,…
On paper, the United States is in solid shape, with steady growth, low headline unemployment and resilient corporate profits. Yet for millions of households, the day-to-day experience feels closer to a slump than a boom, with higher prices, shakier job security and a persistent sense that the ground is shifting under their feet. A growing…
Unemployment in the United States has climbed to its highest level in nearly four years, a jarring milestone that lands after a long stretch of robust hiring and solid wage gains. The latest data show joblessness rising even as employers continue to add positions, a split-screen economy that feels very different depending on whether you…
The Saudi crown prince has just put a number on his ambition for the United States, and it is big enough to reset expectations on both sides of the relationship. By pledging a vast new wave of capital into American industry and technology, he is turning what used to be a transactional oil-for-security bargain into…