USA

US economy shows resilience, despite Americans’ pessimism
16Feb mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
USA

US economy shows resilience, despite Americans’ pessimism

Recent economic data offered a buoyant picture of the US economy, even if many Americans remain pessimistic. Friday’s inflation report, which indicated that prices were 2.5% higher in January compared to the previous year, suggested it was plausible for inflation to get to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without inducing a recession, an achievement many economists thought “impossible” a few years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported. Employment remains strong, too. Yet worrying details hide beneath the surface: Job openings are falling, reflecting AI-related cost savings, while inflation is still high in some areas, including home electricity prices. “The economy looks solid. The markets look solid. Just don’t look too closely,” Axios said.
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How China could win the geopolitical game by default
16Feb mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, USA

How China could win the geopolitical game by default

Is China winning the geopolitical game? The US appears isolated as President Donald Trump attacks not just rivals but long-standing allies. Trump’s boorish behaviour towards other countries allows Chinese leaders to act as the responsible adults in the room. China clearly wants to assume the mantle of being the defender of multilateralism and free trade, and the linchpin of a stable world order.  The reality is more complex. The rest of the world is wary of China’s embrace. Beijing benefited from the rules underpinning the multilateral system, turning that system to its advantage. For instance, even as it gained access to worldwide markets for its exports, China kept its own markets mostly closed. In two important respects, though, China is winning the geopolitical game. First, Trump is s...
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Fading US dollar trust threatens world economy, ex-IMF official Zhu Min warns
14Feb mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, USA

Fading US dollar trust threatens world economy, ex-IMF official Zhu Min warns

Dwindling global trust in the US dollar is one of the most prominent risks facing a vulnerable world economy this year, according to Zhu Min, an ex-deputy director of the International Monetary Fund and former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China. He noted that the credibility of the US dollar was being challenged as its share of global foreign exchange reserves had fallen to 57 per cent – from 70 per cent in the past. On the other hand, “the proportions of gold, the euro and the yuan are rising, reflecting the market’s confidence that the US dollar is dropping”, Zhu wrote in an article for China’s International Finance magazine on Wednesday. Zhu added that the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts would be a critical measure for steadying the financial m...
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Op-ed: With world in ‘rupture’, too many economic roads lead away from Trump and back to China
13Feb mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China, USA

Op-ed: With world in ‘rupture’, too many economic roads lead away from Trump and back to China

The geopolitical tectonic plates are on the move again, and the early tremors are already visible across the global landscape with significant consequences for traditional alliances, global markets, and national power realignment.  What we are seeing unfold during the first quarter of 2026 increasingly feels like one of those historical earthquake moments, not because of any single headline associated with President Donald Trump, or a single moment like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “rupture” in the world order speech at Davos, or any one bilateral meeting or state visit. But taken together, along with the cumulative weight of high-level diplomatic gambits to Beijing now underway — and many more on the horizon...
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From blackouts to food shortages: How US blockade is crippling life in Cuba
9Feb mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
USA, World

From blackouts to food shortages: How US blockade is crippling life in Cuba

A US oil blockade is causing a severe energy crisis in Cuba, as the government has been forced to ration fuel and cut electricity for many hours a day, paralysing life in the communist-ruled island nation of 11 million. Bus stops are empty, and families are turning to wood and coal for cooking, living through near-constant power outages amid an economic crisis worsened by the Trump administration’s steps in recent weeks. President Miguel Diaz-Canel has imposed harsh emergency restrictions – from reduced office hours to fuel sales – in the backdrop of looming threats of regime change from the White House. The Caribbean region has been on edge since the US forces abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro last month and upped the pressure to isolate Havana and strangle its e...
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U.S. Intensifies Efforts to Track Iran’s Overseas Financial Flows
9Feb mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
USA, World

U.S. Intensifies Efforts to Track Iran’s Overseas Financial Flows

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it has intensified operations to identify and track financial flows associated with Iran’s assets being transferred abroad. In a statement released on Sunday, February 8, the department said the Iranian government has been transferring part of its financial resources outside the country in an effort to counter the effects of inflation and circumvent economic pressure. The announcement comes as the atmosphere surrounding negotiations between Tehran and Washington has been assessed as positive, with both sides preparing for a new round of talks. On the same day, Abdolrahim Mousavi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, stressed that despite Tehran’s “full defensive readiness,” Iran does not intend to initiate a regional war. He w...
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India-US trade deal poses serious threat to economy, sovereignty: CPI(M)
8Feb mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, USA, World

India-US trade deal poses serious threat to economy, sovereignty: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday claimed that India has made “sweeping concessions” to the US in the interim trade agreement between the two nations, posing a “serious threat to our economy, agriculture, and national sovereignty”. In a statement, the Left party said the Narendra Modi Government should not go ahead with the deal, and it should be presented before Parliament. India and the US announced on Saturday that they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost the two-way trade. “As details of the Indo-US trade deal slowly emerge, it is becoming evident that the BJP-led Union Government has made sweeping concessions to the United States in the so-called ‘interim deal’...
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How Trump Is Debasing the Dollar and Eroding U.S. Economic Dominance
4Feb mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
USA, World

How Trump Is Debasing the Dollar and Eroding U.S. Economic Dominance

The President’s coercive policies, including his latest threats against Greenland, are prompting some foreign investors to think twice about parking their money with Uncle Sam. t’s been a couple of weeks since Donald Trump and his cohort tried to bully the U.S.’s European allies into submission over Greenland, but the reverberations are still being felt. “There was a real sense that we were witnessing a moment of rupture,” Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University and the Brookings Institution, who was attending the annual World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, when Trump flew in, recounted to me. “One thing that was clear to Europeans was that they can no longer trust the U.S. as a reliable ally on military security, economic security, or any other major matter.”...
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Paralyzing winter storms put a big chill on the US economy, but how much?
28Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

Paralyzing winter storms put a big chill on the US economy, but how much?

The deadly and widespread winter storm paralyzing much of the American East with ice, snow and cold is also taking a multi-billion dollar bite out of the U.S. economy, experts figure. But how much? Economists and meteorologists are trying to get a handle on the disruption costs of winter weather disasters, which aren't as easy to calculate as buildings destroyed by hurricanes, floods and fires. "Events like this storm highlight just how interconnected our economy is with weather conditions. When major transportation hubs shut down or power grids fail, the cascading effects ripple through supply chains and business operations across multiple sectors simultaneously," said Jacob Fooks, a research economist for Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State U...
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China hits growth goal after exports defy US tariffs
20Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, USA, World

China hits growth goal after exports defy US tariffs

China said its economy expanded by 5% last year, meeting Beijing's official target as a record trade surplus boosted growth. The world's second-largest economy reached its goal despite growth slowing to 4.5% in the final three months of 2025. China's past year has been marked by struggles to boost domestic spending, a prolonged property crisis and turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Experts say the figures point to a "two-speed economy", with manufacturing and exports propping up expansion while people are still spending cautiously and the real estate market continues to weigh on the country. While China's official figures suggest it hit its growth goal, some analysts question the accuracy of the data given weak investment and consumer spending. ...
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