Category: Markets and Macro

Property tax bills are rising fastest in places where home values and local politics are pulling in opposite directions. Miami-Dade County’s latest numbers show how quickly tax bases can swell, while Georgia’s recent vote to limit home taxes shows how fragile relief can be when school districts and other local bodies need cash. This article…

The United States is heading into a decade in which federal debt is projected to swell to levels that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago. Nonpartisan forecasters now expect the total to reach $64 trillion within ten years, even as President Donald Trump backs policies that expand the gap between what Washington spends and…

Gold is supposed to struggle when inflation‑adjusted interest rates are high, yet the metal has been climbing as both inflation and yields rise. Even as U.S. Treasury yield curve data show real borrowing costs moving higher, gold has delivered a record run of new peaks. That flip in market behavior is what one widely followed…

The National Restaurant Association is warning that a Trump-era Federal Trade Commission “junk fees” rule could saddle restaurants with $168 million in new costs and eventually push higher prices onto diners. The group argues that a regulation pitched as a crackdown on hidden charges would instead force thousands of eateries to reprint menus, retrain staff,…

Mattel and Hasbro just turned in holiday scorecards that look less like one‑off misses and more like a warning flare for the Federal Reserve. When families pull back on toys at the peak of the shopping season, it hints at pressure on household budgets that higher interest rates can easily make worse. The numbers from…

The federal deficit is falling faster than many expected, even as warnings about long‑term debt grow louder. Through the first four months of fiscal year 2026, Washington’s shortfall has narrowed for a fourth straight month, helped by a softer January gap and stronger revenue. The question now is whether this streak reflects real progress or…

As governments race to shield their economies from shocks, they are no longer focused only on vaults of gold. Officials are also looking at wider reserves of raw materials, from industrial metals to energy and food staples, reshaping how prices move across global markets. That shift is colliding with fragile trading systems and exposing the…

Bank of America’s latest consumer data suggests the American middle class is no longer just “feeling squeezed.” Many households in the middle of the income ladder now appear stuck on the lower arm of a K‑shaped recovery. High earners continue to spend freely, while middle-income families pull back, trade down and reshuffle budgets to cover…

Donald Trump’s tariff agenda is often sold as a way to protect American jobs, but the price tag for households could be steep. Nonpartisan tax researchers now estimate that by 2026, the average family could face something like a $1,300 to $2,100 yearly hit in higher prices and taxes tied to tariffs. The debate over…

Ray Dalio is sounding an alarm about the U.S. economy that is hard to ignore. In a recent interview, he compared America’s rising debt to clogged arteries and warned that the country could face an “economic heart attack” within about three years if leaders do not change course. His warning raises a blunt question for…