Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Prices on everyday staples have climbed so sharply that a 35% jump on some basics no longer sounds like a shock, it sounds familiar. From milk and cereal to rent and medical bills, the cost of getting through an ordinary week has been reset higher, and the new “normal” is straining household budgets that have…
America’s national debt has climbed into territory that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago, and it is now a central fault line in debates over taxes, spending, and economic security. To understand how serious that is, I need to place the United States alongside its peers, comparing not just raw dollars but also how…
Venezuela’s latest inflation spike, now surging past 500 percent on an annual basis, is colliding with a dramatic escalation in United States pressure on the country’s oil lifeline. As prices for basic goods soar and the currency erodes, President Donald Trump is tightening the screws on Caracas with a naval blockade and sweeping sanctions that…
Elon Musk is already the richest person on the planet, but the numbers now swirling around SpaceX suggest his personal balance sheet is on the verge of entering a different universe. With a towering private valuation and a confirmed path to the public markets, a SpaceX IPO could be the catalyst that turns a several-hundred-billion-dollar…
The latest jobs report shows a labor market that is no longer sprinting ahead but starting to limp. Unemployment has climbed to 4.6%, the highest level in several years, and the shift is sharp enough that it is beginning to flash early warning signs for growth, markets, and household finances. The headline number still looks…
Cheaper fuel is quietly reshaping the economic mood in the United States, easing pressure at the pump and giving households a little more room to breathe. As gasoline prices retreat from their recent peaks, early signs point to a modest but meaningful lift in consumer confidence, even as inflation in other parts of the economy…
Elon Musk has crossed a threshold that barely seems real even in the rarefied world of billionaires, with his fortune now estimated at $648 billion. That single-year surge in wealth is so large that it eclipses the entire net worth of luxury titan Bernard Arnault, turning Musk’s personal balance sheet into a market force of…
President Donald Trump has repeatedly framed his sweeping tariffs as a kind of magic bullet for America’s finances, promising they would shrink the trade gap and help wipe out Washington’s red ink. The latest budget and trade data tell a different story, showing a stubbornly large federal deficit and only mixed progress on trade even…
The headline number for November’s jobs report looks modestly reassuring at first glance, with the United States adding 64,000 positions after a bruising autumn. Look closer, though, and the picture that emerges is of a labor market losing altitude, with slower hiring, higher unemployment and widening gaps between sectors. The surface stability masks a set…
Elon Musk is moving quickly to reassert himself as a central player in Republican politics, reportedly opening his checkbook for the 2026 midterm elections with an eye on reshaping Congress. His return to heavy spending on the right comes after a cycle in which his political ambitions, public feuds, and flirtations with third-party branding raised…