Author: News Room

President Trump’s promise to hit the United States’ trading partners with tit-for-tat tariffs — including penalties for taxes that he claims the European Union unfairly imposes on American imports — could hardly come at a worse time for the continent.Mr. Trump on Thursday signed a memo directing his teams to prepare by April “reciprocal” tariffs on foreign countries, essentially imposing the same level of tax on imports that those countries place on American goods. The move threatens to upset a system of global trade established at the end of World War II.The announcement comes as Europe’s economies, including the bloc’s…

Economic jargon is usually confined to textbooks and business school seminars. But every once in a while, something happens in the world that drives the lingo out of obscurity and into popular discussions.One such emergence happened late last month when, following a weekend of alarm over the viability of A.I. investments, Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, told followers in a post on X: “Jevons paradox strikes again! As A.I. gets more efficient and accessible, we will see its use skyrocket, turning it into a commodity we just can’t get enough of.”How it’s pronounced/je-vənz per-ə-däks/The Jevons Paradox is named after the…

This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.In 1949, as the chef Lena Richard stirred steaming pots of okra gumbo and shrimp bisque on live TV in New Orleans, viewers across the city — mostly white housewives and the few Black women who could afford a television set — scribbled down ingredients and instructions, eager to bring her Creole flavors into their own homes.After the studio lights cooled on the set of her show, “Lena Richard’s New Orleans Cook Book,” on WDSU-TV, cameramen pushed past…

Watch out for interest rates.Not the short-term rates controlled by the Federal Reserve. Barring an unforeseen financial crisis, they’re not going anywhere, especially not after the jump in inflation reported by the government on Wednesday.Instead, pay attention to the 10-year Treasury yield, which has been bouncing around since the election from about 4.8 to 4.2 percent. That’s not an unreasonable level over the last century or so.But it’s much higher than the 2.9 percent average of the last 20 years, according to FactSet data. At its upper range, that 10-year yield may be high enough to dampen the enthusiasm of…

It’s possible to amass $1 million in special health savings accounts to use in retirement, a new analysis finds, with several big caveats.You have to start young, contribute the maximum each year and leave the money untouched for decades instead of spending it on medical needs.Health savings accounts, known as H.S.A.s, let people set aside pretax money for health and medical care.To open an H.S.A., you must have a specific type of health plan with a high deductible — an amount you must cover out of pocket before insurance pays. The money can be saved or invested to grow tax-free,…

Elon Musk’s growing power in government appears to be making some of his businesses more of a magnet for investors. Case in point: Banks have managed to sell off most of the $12.5 billion worth of debt owed by X, his social network, to eager buyers. Investors are essentially betting that the company’s future is brighter because of his role at the heart of government.It’s a different situation from what worries many Musk skeptics — that he will use his vast influence to directly benefit companies like SpaceX. It’s also worth flagging that the scrutiny on Musk may have ended…

In recent weeks, Elon Musk and his aides have gained access to many federal agencies’ systems and unknown amounts of data. Many readers have written in to share their fears that the agencies — and the personal data they possess on hundreds of millions of taxpayers — are now vulnerable.When people tinker with vital systems, things can go wrong. New vulnerabilities can emerge that thieves could exploit, or existing tax or loan payments could disappear. And one wrong move can bring a whole website down for days or longer.The level of risk isn’t clear, and in uncertain situations, it’s tempting…

President Trump is pursuing a far more aggressive trade policy than he embraced in his first term, allowing his unfettered instincts about how to put America at the forefront to guide him with little pretense of investigations or extended deliberations.Since taking office, Mr. Trump has threatened punishing tariffs on goods from every global trading partner. That includes proposals to tax more than $1.3 trillion of imports from Canada, Mexico and China — many times the volume of trade his tariffs affected in his entire first term.On Thursday, Mr. Trump proposed his most aggressive and consequential measure to date with a…

When President Trump announced he would impose new tariffs on imports from countries around the world, he launched a frontal attack on the global free trade system created in the aftermath of World War II.Mr. Trump’s move, announced Thursday and set to begin as soon as April, represents a bet that the United States will gain leverage by replacing global tariffs with its own tariffs, which are taxes on imports.The United States, the world’s largest importer, has for decades bought far more from the rest of the world than it sells. Mr. Trump wants to change that and is calculating…

For the past five years, Molly Culver, owner of Molly Oliver Flowers in Brooklyn, has mounted a quiet battle against the goliath of Valentine’s Day flowers: the rose. Classically red, multilayered, prickly and velvety, millions of roses, most imported from overseas, will be sold for the annual day of love. But Ms. Culver is among the growing number of florists and flower enthusiasts who want to know: Would you consider tulips instead?Consumers in the United States are expected to spend nearly $3 billion on flowers for the holiday this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Most of that will…