May 21 Trump's tariffs will test U.S. allies at G7 finance ministers' summit By Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press The annual meetings of the Group of 7 finance ministers, known as the G7, are typically congenial and in previous years have produced joint commitments to combat inflation and counter the COVID pandemic. There may be less agreement this year. Continue reading
May 21 Bitcoin hits all-time high as crypto industry notches political wins By Alan Suderman, Associated Press The digital asset traded above $109,400 Wednesday morning, a huge increase from recent lows. Continue reading
May 19 Stocks, bonds and the dollar drift after the latest downgrade to the U.S. credit rating By Stan Choe, Associated Press After recovering from an initial jolt, U.S. stocks drifted through quiet trading following the latest reminder that the U.S. government may be hurtling toward an unsustainable mountain of debt. Continue reading
May 18 Bessent acknowledges Trump's tariffs may mean shoppers will pay more at Walmart By Josh Boak, Associated Press Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Sunday that Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, may pass along some of the costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to its shoppers through higher prices. Continue reading
May 18 Analysis: Trump's truce with China on tariffs comes at a cost to U.S. credibility By Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Council on Foreign Relations U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva resulted in a temporary slash of tariff rates, but the ripple effect of this tit-for-tat escalation won’t disappear anytime soon. Continue reading
May 18 Watch 5:54 Consumer confidence hits near-record low amid worries over Trump trade policy By Ali Rogin, Veronica Vela Treasury Secretary Bessent seemed to acknowledge Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs may lead to some prices going up, but downplayed fears that it would fuel inflation. This past week, a closely watched measure of consumer sentiment slid to a near-record… Continue watching
May 17 'I'll be watching': Trump tells Walmart to eat the cost of his tariffs instead of raising prices By Josh Boak, Associated Press As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses. Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those… Continue reading
May 16 Moody's strips U.S. government of top credit rating over failure to rein in debt By Paul Wiseman, Associated Press Moody’s is the last of the three major rating agencies to lower the federal government’s credit. Standard & Poor’s downgraded federal debt in 2011 and Fitch Ratings followed in 2023. Continue reading
May 15 Watch 6:30 News Wrap: Walmart says it is raising prices due to tariffs In our news wrap Thursday, Walmart is planning to raise prices in the coming weeks citing President Trump's policies as a driving factor, a judge in Wisconsin pleaded not guilty today to federal charges over accusations she helped a man… Continue watching
May 15 Watch 3:45 A Brief But Spectacular take on building a birthright to capital By Brief But Spectacular Darrick Hamilton is an economic scholar and director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy. Growing up in Brooklyn, he witnessed firsthand how economic circumstances shaped communities, inspiring his groundbreaking work on "Baby Bonds," government-funded savings accounts provided… Continue watching