The crab bisque index is flashing a warning signal for Real Money Columnist Jonathan Heller. Real Money Columnist Jonathan Heller has been looking back to the 1970s to gain some perspective of rising inflation rates these days. He’s using some familiar consumer products to take the measure of rising prices. “Recently, I have been served […]
Here’s one fact about inflation – it reduces the real value of debt. So in these times of historic high inflation, our colleagues Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong over at The Indicator From Planet Money wanted to explore if inflation can be a good thing for borrowers, specifically those big borrowers, national governments. WAILIN WONG, […]
With President Joe Biden considering canceling up to $10,000 in federal student loans per borrower, a long sought after policy dream for millions of Americans who struggled with years of repayment could become a reality. But student loan cancellation isn’t a magic wand that makes those loans disappear—they’ll have to be paid for somehow. But the […]
This is the full transcript for episode 2 of season 3 of the Quartz Obsession podcast, National debt: Acceptable imbalance. Kira Bindrim: You could be forgiven for thinking that hanging onto debt, any debt, is a bad thing. When people go into debt, like many do to attend college, make major purchases, or put a down payment on a home, they’re often […]
KEY TAKEAWAYS Real wages are down 4.5% since President Joe Biden took office, and inflation is hitting all 50 states. Despite the damage that inflation is doing to working families across the country, Biden is calling for even bigger spending increases. Congress has repeatedly added to the national debt as a way to avoid making tough choices. The debt […]
For many of us, filing our taxes this year has felt like adding insult to injury. Government spending has created an inflation crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in forty years. Americans are paying more for just about everything. Gas prices at some stations in Minnesota are now topping $4 a gallon. Essential […]
With millions of people filing their federal taxes this week, it’s a good time to check in on the nation’s finances. Last year, the federal government ran a nearly $2.8 trillion deficit. That pushed publicly held debt to an incomprehensible $24 trillion , or more than $70,000 per person. Washington is projected to spend at least $1 […]
President Biden’s 2023 budget request aims to shrink the federal budget deficit by $1 trillion over a decade as the administration looks to mitigate the impact of America’s yearslong borrowing binge. The budget estimates deficits totaling $14.4 trillion over the next decade, down from the current estimate of $15.4 trillion. It also notes that the […]
The federal government ran a $192.68 billion deficit in March, according to the latest Treasury statement. Somehow, this is supposed to be good news. Bloomberg looked at this latest Treasury statement and came up with this headline: US Budget Gap Shrinks by More Than Half So Far in Fiscal Year. Sounds good, right? Until you realize that through […]
On the morning of Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, after some troubling trade data and Washington rumors over the previous week, stock markets around the world went into free-fall. Over that one day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6 percent, the largest one-day drop in the history of the index. Fourteen markets around the world fell […]
