Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
China is tightening its grip on discounted Russian crude just as the global energy map is being scrambled by war, sanctions and tariff threats. The country is not only buying more barrels, it is also reshaping storage, trade and diplomacy to turn that flow into long term leverage. The result is a fragile bargain in…
Senator Elizabeth Warren is turning a procedural breach into a broader indictment of President Donald Trump’s stewardship of the economy, arguing that his early disclosure of confidential jobs data is part of a pattern of disregard for rules meant to protect ordinary investors. In a series of public remarks, she has framed the leak as…
Artificial intelligence is colliding with a very old constraint: the electric grid. As Microsoft races to build out massive AI data centers across the United States, communities are increasingly worried that the power needed to train large models will show up on their monthly bills. In response, the company is rolling out a sweeping “community-first”…
Baby boomers now control a towering share of American wealth, a stockpile that has become shorthand for generational tension. The question is whether that $85.4 trillion hoard will ultimately entrench inequality or give younger Americans the financial break they have struggled to find. The answer depends less on the size of the pot than on…
Jimmy Donaldson has become the rare creator whose name doubles as a global media brand, yet he is now telling fans he cannot cover everyday expenses in cash. The YouTuber better known as MrBeast is widely reported to have a $2.6 billion net worth, but he says his personal accounts are in the red and…
Grocery bills are still climbing, and for many households the weekly shop has become the most visible sign of stubborn inflation. At the same time, a new Grocery Code of Conduct is being rolled out with the promise of fairer dealing behind the scenes, even as experts warn that it will not magically shrink receipts…
New car sticker prices have surged into territory that would have sounded absurd just a few years ago, with average deals now hovering around $50,000 and shoppers feeling the squeeze. The jump reflects a collision of long running supply problems, a shift toward bigger and more luxurious vehicles, and the bite of 25% tariffs that…
Marijuana is on track to move from the federal government’s most restrictive drug category to a more permissive one, under a sweeping directive from the White House that could reshape everything from medical research to small business balance sheets. President Trump’s new executive order instructs federal agencies to complete the process of shifting cannabis to…
Headline GDP and inflation figures are sending mixed signals as the United States heads into 2026. Growth looks surprisingly strong on paper while price pressures hover near 3 percent, a level that feels manageable to markets but stubborn to central bankers. I want to unpack what those numbers really say about the economy behind them,…
The Pentagon’s scramble to expand weapons production is converging with a broader bet on commercial tech, and few relationships illustrate that shift more vividly than the one between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk. Rather than a single dramatic summit, their interaction is unfolding through factory tours, cost-cutting task forces and AI experiments that…