Category: Markets and Macro

Bond demand has swelled to the point where even the safest corporate giants are raising enormous sums, and that strength is spilling into riskier corners of the credit market. Oracle Corporation’s latest notes sale, totaling $25,000,000,000, shows how eager investors are for yield even as economic signals remain mixed. When money chases bonds this aggressively,…

A new pay bill from Capitol Hill could deliver raises to many government workers and change how Washington talks about public-sector pay. By tying the debate to fairness and retention instead of short-term budget cuts, the measure treats federal salaries as a basic tool for keeping the government running, not a political bargaining chip. Whether…

California Governor Gavin Newsom is again highlighting population growth, even as many residents continue to move out of the state. According to a recent release from his office, California added 108,000 residents in calendar year 2024. At the same time, U-Haul’s internal growth index has reportedly ranked California last for inbound moves for six straight…

Geoffrey Hinton helped design the neural networks now powering generative AI, and he is blunt about the risks: he has warned that these systems could threaten large areas of paid work, not just routine office tasks. At the same time, a prominent chief executive has said that even a 10 percent staff cut driven by…

The latest U.S. jobs report has reignited debate over whether the Federal Reserve should begin cutting interest rates soon. The January Employment Situation release shows that total nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 jobs in January 2026 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the official labor statistics agency. That relatively modest gain has led many…

The Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports were pitched as a way to reset trade terms, but they also rewired the basic mechanics of how goods enter the United States. As Section 301 duties climbed, importers suddenly faced much higher liabilities at the border, and the customs bonds meant to backstop those risks came under…

The “E-shaped” economy has become shorthand among economists for a recovery that skips over the middle. Corporate profits and high-end asset prices rebound at the top, safety-net programs catch some of the lowest earners, and the group in between absorbs the shock. The squeeze shows up not in slogans but in the tables of the…

Economist Dr. Elena Vasquez argues that artificial intelligence will not hit all workers equally. In her view, the first and hardest blow will land on the poorest workers, whose jobs are built around routine, tightly timed tasks that machines can mimic. She bases this on patterns in low-wage occupations and on how earlier rounds of…

President Donald Trump is selling his new beef trade push as a quick way to bring down grocery bills. The pitch sounds simple: import more beef, fill the gap left by a shrinking U.S. herd, and watch prices fall. The economics behind that promise are more complex, and the government’s own data suggests the plan…

Ford Motor Company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its electric-vehicle buildout has overshot current demand, leaving it with more capacity than it can profitably use and an expensive problem on its hands. In a Current Report to investors, the automaker described board-level decisions to scale back parts of its EV manufacturing plans and flagged…