Author: News Room
There are not many certainties in the world of money, but this traditionally has been one of them: When life turns scary, people take refuge in American government bonds.Investors buy U.S. Treasuries on the assumption that, come what may — financial panic, war, natural disaster — the federal government will endure and stand by its debts, making its bonds the closest thing to a covenant with the heavens.Yet turmoil in bond markets last week revealed the extent to which President Trump has shaken faith in that basic proposition, challenging the previously unimpeachable solidity of U.S. government debt. His trade war…
Last December, I asked my students at Wharton to nominate and vote on topics for our final class. The runaway top choice was leadership lessons from Elon Musk. It’s become a hot topic among the corporate elite, too. At a recent leadership conference, the founder of a lucrative start-up said in passing that Mr. Musk was making dictators cool again. The chief executive of a large company said Mr. Musk was giving people like him their power back. A major investor concluded that Mr. Musk’s success is proof that it’s better to be feared than loved.They are not speaking metaphorically.…
After more than a week of ratcheting up tariffs on products imported from China, the Trump administration issued a rule late Friday that spared smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other electronics from some of the fees, in a significant break for tech companies like Apple and Dell and the prices of iPhones and other consumer electronics.A message posted late Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection included a long list of products that would not face the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed in recent days on Chinese goods as part of a worsening trade war. The exclusions would also apply to…
The British government moved swiftly on Saturday to take control of operations at the country’s last large crude steel producing facility, in what appeared to be a major step toward nationalizing the plant.In an unusual and dramatic move, the government had summoned lawmakers back from vacation on Saturday to approve the government’s emergency legislation. The government said it was acting to prevent the owners of the British Steel complex in Scunthorpe, a Chinese company called Jingye, from taking steps unilaterally to close the blast furnaces, potentially costing 2,700 jobs.“Steel is fundamental to Britain’s industrial strength, to our security and to…
At the end of a three-hour hearing last month, Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, sided with a group of Republicans in a hotly contested debate. He voted to advance the GENIUS Act, a bill backed by the cryptocurrency industry.“It’s clear that digital assets are here to stay,” Mr. Gallego said after the Senate Banking Committee hearing. Breaking from the committee’s top Democrat, he called the bill a “step in the right direction.”The vote, 18 to 6, was only preliminary, advancing a bill that will require approval from the full Senate. But in the crypto world, it was celebrated as…
Even before this year’s economic turmoil hit, financial anxiety among Americans was running high. Really high.Four out of five Americans in a survey for Discover last year said they were worried about their money situation, with inflation, everyday expenses and the state of the economy leading a litany of concerns. Nearly two-thirds said they would be financially unprepared if they lost their job, and more than half felt the same way about a recession.Now, tariffs and a global trade war, which could raise prices and discourage consumer and corporate spending, have economists raising their odds of such a downturn this…
Just months ago, professional golf seemed to be on the brink of resolving a bitter conflict that had torn the sport apart. The PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, rival leagues that had been feuding over stars and audience share for several years, finally submitted a proposal for a deal to the Justice Department.Golf executives hoped President Trump would help move things along — and the president was confident he could.“I could probably get it done,” Trump said on the “Let’s Go!” podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray in November. “I would say it would take me the…
Under blue skies, where low-rolling hills rise south of the Canadian border in the tiny town of Adams, N.D., a couple braves the stench of old honey, wax, smoke and bee muck.Nancy and Keith Budke, married 43 years, are migratory beekeepers. They produce honey with the taste of canola nectar, sweet clover and other flowers that their bees pollinate first in North Dakota, then in Texas, after being hauled there by truck, and eventually in California — if the bees make it that far and if nobody snatches them.This season, the chances of the bees making it to California were…
The traditional gathering of former Treasury secretaries to welcome a newly minted one into the fold is usually a lighthearted and pleasant affair. But when the group convened this month, on President Trump’s “Liberation Day,” the tone was strikingly serious.The dinner, organized by former Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, took place at a moment of tumult for the U.S. economy. The president had upended global trade with punishing tariffs on both allies and adversaries, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was at the center of it, defending a policy that many in the room viewed as economic malpractice.“The mood was somber,”…
Emily Moen, a coffee shop manager in Omaha, was scrolling through TikTok earlier this week when she came across a video informing her that President Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices for essential baby products.Ms. Moen, who is 15 weeks pregnant, said that she had not planned to buy a car seat soon. But after watching the video, she researched the one made by Graco that she had been eyeing, and learned that it was manufactured in China. Worried that the $200 seat could get even more expensive, she bought the item on Amazon the same day.“It was like…