Congress narrowly avoided another government shutdown on Thursday – but did so by kicking the can down the road, leaving key issues of government spending and immigration policy to be dealt with over the next six weeks. Unusually, while the Senate is more often the dysfunctional body of Congress, it’s the House of Representatives that […]
As President Biden closes out this third calendar year as president, with reelection looming, what does his economic scorecard look like? While it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride, his economy is ending 2023 on a strong note. And although next year looks to be another year of solid performance, none of that has […]
The war in the Middle East and the antics of former President Trump have been dominating the news of late but behind those headlines, the economy continues – for the most part – to perform well, with inflation moderating and growth continuing. However, it’s important to note that the efforts by the Federal Reserve to […]
After two years of escalating prices, there’s modestly good news this holiday season for both Thanksgiving diners and gift-shoppers: Prices for many popular items are lower than last year (or at least only modestly higher). This may come as a surprise to shoppers; a survey by Deloitte found that 72% of Americans expect higher prices […]
The surge of migrants at America’s southern border looms large as a 2024 election issue. But the debate about our immigration policies and what is actually happening is filled with confusion and misinformation. A look at the data shows a reality considerably different from common perception; we are suffering from a complicated, overburdened system that […]
Mike Johnson, the new Republican Speaker of the House, has lost no time in taking aim at a favorite Republican whipping boy: the Internal Revenue Service. Under the guise of offsetting the cost of aid to Israel, Johnson has proposed budget cuts for the IRS (on top of cuts the Republicans won during the debt […]
Thanks to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Democrats, a shutdown of the federal government was barely averted last weekend. Why is this happening so soon after Republicans and Democrats were supposed to have resolved their fiscal differences during the debt ceiling drama less than four months ago? The short answer: because the hard-right Republicans decided […]
The federal government is careening toward a shutdown as soon as Saturday night. Why is this happening so soon after Republicans and Democrats were supposed to have resolved their fiscal differences during the debt ceiling drama less than four months ago? The short answer: because the hard-right Republicans decided to ignore that agreement. In the […]
As expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and also as expected, signaled that at least one more rate increase may be in the offing. But amidst continuing economic strength and inflation still well above the central bank’s 2% target, the Fed also indicated that rates are likely to remain higher for […]
Absent a surprise, the United Auto Workers are likely to strike one or more of the U.S. car companies at 11:59 pm, the latest in a string of labor actions. What has been going on with organized labor in the U.S. and why? After many quiescent years, working days lost to strikes have […]