All articles tagged with #economic policy
A Washington Post analysis finds that while the pandemic pause on federal student loan payments reduced immediate financial strain, many borrowers used the extra time to incur other debts, and delinquencies have risen since payments resumed, with older and lower-income borrowers most affected. Although the pause was extended, new repayment options may still strain household finances.
Cuba is advancing sweeping free-market reforms—the largest economic shift since the revolution—to revive a faltering economy. Analysts say real impact hinges on lifting U.S. sanctions and attracting investor interest, but challenges like mistrust, bureaucracy, and a tight reform window could limit progress even as leaders push for tangible results soon.
Anthropic released a US-focused economic-policy framework to mitigate AI-related job loss, presenting three scenarios (5%, 10%, and ‘unprecedented’ unemployment) with a $350 million funding commitment and ideas like birth-capital accounts, wage insurance, retraining grants, licensing reform, and incentives for firms to redeploy workers; in a worst-case, it contemplates income replacement and new tax or wealth-sharing mechanisms, stressing global applicability.
US investors are flocking to Caracas as sanctions ease and direct flights resume, signaling a potential rebound, but ordinary Venezuelans still face high inflation, low wages, and scarce credit, so the promised boom hasn’t materialized for most people.
The Trump administration will impose tariffs on goods from roughly 60 trading partners, including the EU, China, Japan and Britain, citing insufficient prohibitions on forced labor; tariffs range from about 10% to 12.5% depending on the country, marking a broad expansion of the U.S. tariff regime after a Section 301 review and a Supreme Court ruling invalidating earlier tariffs.
The Justice Department paused the nearly $1.8 billion payout fund after a court order, and Republican lawmakers are pressing the White House to abandon the plan amid bipartisan backlash, signaling a broader pullback on the effort.
As the Senate returns from the Memorial Day recess, GOP lawmakers float proposals to modify or scrap President Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion payout fund for those claiming DOJ targeting; more than a dozen Republican senators have privately urged the White House to end the fund, with potential legal challenges and ongoing White House input shaping the debate.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged redefining the Canada–US partnership as Donald Trump weighs renewing a bilateral trade agreement, delivering the call during a speech at the Economic Club of New York to foster closer economic coordination and growth.
The Washington Post reports that Trump administration officials pressed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring Trump’s portrait—the first living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years—despite the printing director’s resistance, who was reassigned last month. Staff were shown mockups of the note, and a designer described himself as a royal portrait artist who discussed the design with Trump, according to four current and former employees, making this an exclusive investigative look at the currency proposal.
A Memorial Day edition of Face the Nation covers a potential U.S.–Iran peace deal with talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and unfrozen assets alongside ongoing nuclear negotiations; Sen. Chris Van Hollen criticizes the approach and pushes guardrails on a roughly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund as Republicans push back. The show also features Reps. Gottheimer and Lawler discussing war powers and bipartisan efforts to address antisemitism, plus Kevin Hassett defending the economy amid high gas prices and war-related uncertainty. Dr. Deborah Birx details the Congo Ebola outbreak, travel restrictions, and preparedness, and the program closes with a Memorial Day interview with Medal of Honor recipients Will Swenson and Matt Williams reflecting on service and optimism for America.
Prosecutors sought access to the Federal Reserve building amid a DOJ probe into a $2.5 billion Fed renovation, as President Donald Trump again threatens to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell once his term as chair ends next month; Powell says he will remain as chair until a successor is confirmed and argues the investigation is a pretext to undermine Fed independence. The situation unfolds against broader debates about the Fed’s autonomy and comes as the Supreme Court weighs a separate case involving another central bank governor, Lisa Cook.
President Trump sought to soothe investors amid the Iran crisis with public speeches and assurances, but markets remain volatile and little relief has materialized, underscoring skepticism that rhetoric alone can steady prices during heightened geopolitical risk.
The Treasury will allow the sale of about 140 million barrels of Iranian crude already loaded on vessels, a move the Biden administration says is meant to ease soaring oil prices—though critics warn the measure could boost Iran’s war effort against the U.S.
Rising oil prices tied to the Iran-related conflict send global markets lower after the G-7 declines tapping emergency oil stockpiles, with energy costs climbing and gas prices edging toward $4 a gallon.
The U.S. Senate is nearing passage of a White House-backed, bipartisan package to lower housing costs, featuring new grants and a ban on large institutional investors from buying hundreds of homes in an effort to boost affordability ahead of the midterm elections.