International Monetary Fund ( IMF) Warns U.S. Debt Path is a Rising Global Risk
The International Monetary Fund delivered a mixed but pointed message about the U.S. economy: the near-term growth outlook remains resilient, yet Washington’s fiscal deficits are large enough to threaten long-run stability and to worsen the country’s external imbalances. In its annual “Article IV” review, the IMF projected U.S. growth of 2.4% in 2026, broadly consistent […]
Trump’s First Year Back: Markets and Prices Up, Job Engine Slows
The Wall Street Journal’s year-one snapshot of President Trump’s second-term economy paints a picture of uneven performance: some headline indicators look stable or even strong, but several underlying pressures—especially jobs, housing, and trade—remain stubborn or have worsened. On the labor market, the biggest shift is slower job creation. The U.S. added 181,000 jobs in 2025, […]
White House Fires Back at NY Fed Research Arguing Americans Shoulder Most Tariff Costs
A political clash is brewing between the White House and central-bank researchers after Kevin Hassett publicly suggested punishment for the authors of a Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis that challenges the administration’s tariff narrative. In a February 18 interview with CNBC, Hassett said the research was “an embarrassment,” called it “the worst paper” […]
US Factory Output Jumps Most in 11 Months, Signaling a Tentative Manufacturing Rebound
The Next Global Race AI Isn’t Just Who Discovers More, But Who Discovers Faster
Physicist Nishant Sahdev argues that the speed of scientific discovery has become a strategic asset—and that artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the “super-accelerator” that will decide which nations lead and which become dependent. Writing from Chapel Hill, he points to a recent move by the US Department of Energy: the launch of 26 “science and […]
Even With an AI Productivity Surge, US Workers May Not Reclaim Their Shrinking Slice of The Economy
Even if the United States is entering a productivity upswing—possibly accelerated by artificial intelligence—workers should not expect it to reverse a long-running decline in labor’s share of national income. The piece highlights a stark benchmark: labor’s share has fallen to 53.8%, described as the lowest since records began, underscoring how much of the country’s income […]
Houston Launches “Brain Health” Push to Become Global Neuroscience Innovation Hub
Leaders across Houston are trying to add “brain health” to the city’s list of signature strengths—alongside its historic identity as an energy capital and the well-known medical expertise concentrated at Texas Medical Center. A new regional collaboration, Project Metis, has been launched to attract researchers, clinical trials, and brain-focused technology start-ups, with the larger goal […]
Chinese factory, consumer activity slow amid economy struggles
China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month, with key data Monday revealing factory output and consumption rising at their weakest pace for around a year. Beijing has struggled to fully reignite the world’s number two economy since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the once-booming property sector mired in a debt crisis […]
Asian markets on course to end week on a positive note
Asian markets headed into the weekend on a broadly positive note Friday, as investors took up New York’s latest record highs sparked by healthy US retail data and upbeat earnings from some of Wall Street’s big names. The readings helped divert attention away from Donald Trump’s tariffs saga, with dozens of countries yet to cut […]
US Fed official warns against cutting rates ‘too quickly’
The US Federal Reserve should be careful not to cut rates “too quickly” and risk reigniting stubborn inflation, a senior bank official said Wednesday. The Fed’s favored inflation gauge has dropped sharply following a series of interest rate hikes in recent years, and now sits just above its long-term target of two percent. At the […]
