USA

US, China have framework for TikTok deal
16Sep mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, USA

US, China have framework for TikTok deal

The US and China have a framework for a deal for TikTok. On Monday, President Trump alluded to the move via a post on Truth Social, saying that the countries had reached an deal for a "'certain' company that young people our Country very much wanted to be saved." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the countries had the makings of a deal saying, that China wants to keep some Chinese cultural aspects of the app. TikTok is set to go offline Sept. 17 unless parent company ByteDance divests itself of majority ownership of the social media app or Trump extends the deadline. He's already given the app a number of lifelines by extending its drop-dead date and has refused to enforce a law banning it. Trump initially raised concerns about TikTok during his first administra...
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4Sep mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

How Trump turned August into a drama-filled month for the U.S. economy

For the U.S. economy, it was far from a tranquil August. Aside from debuting a new sound system in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump has replicated his zeal for White House renovations in his ongoing shake-up of the U.S. economy. Over the past month, he's enacted tariffs on dozens of trading partners, fired the chief nonpartisan statistician, and opened a new front in his near-daily bombardment against the Federal Reserve. It was a dramatic month with Trump taking fresh gambles that risk undermining U.S. financial credibility and make everyday life more expensive for Americans. "Trump is clearly willing to take risks with the economy," Peter Harrell, an ex-international economics aide to President Biden, told Quartz. "He's clearly willing to put some uncertainty over th...
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US immigrant population drops by over a million people amid Trump crackdown, first dip in 50 years
25Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

US immigrant population drops by over a million people amid Trump crackdown, first dip in 50 years

Data from the Pew Research Centrer suggests that US immigrant population has fallen by over a million people since Trump took over as President. US President Donald Trump has led a massive crackdown against illegal immigration since taking over in January — with officials arresting or detaining more than a 100,000 people. The stringent curbs have now prompted a decline in the immigration population for the first time in over 50 years. Data from the Pew Research Centrer suggests that US immigrant population has fallen by over a million people since Trump took over as President. What does the data say?According to a new study, the year had begun with a record 53.3 million immigrants living in the United States. This number has declined sharply in the ensuing months as more immigra...
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China’s economy and its influence on global markets
23Aug mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, USA, World

China’s economy and its influence on global markets

China remains among the largest global economies, but it faces significant economic headwinds. The country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, a common economic activity measure, slowed from double-digit annual increases during the 2000s to 5.3% in this year’s second quarter. Nevertheless, China remains a major global trading partner and ranks as the second-largest economy worldwide, trailing only the United States.  ’s agenda emphasizes reframing Chinese trade relations. To reduce dependence on Chinese-made goods and promote domestic manufacturing, President Trump implemented varying  on Chinese imports. Early in the new administration, the U.S. added 10% tariffs to China. That quickly doubled to 20% and eventually totaled 145%, threatening to cripple trade ...
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Recent patterns in global risk behaviour in financial markets
17Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

Recent patterns in global risk behaviour in financial markets

Recent patterns in global risk behaviour in financial markets Following the US tariff announcements in early April, the US dollar strongly depreciated while US Treasury yields rose. This column zooms in on the April episode, analysing the co-movement of asset prices with an estimated market ‘safe-haven factor’. It shows that the co-movement of the US dollar with the ‘safe-haven factor’ changed in April, and that instances of changing co-movement have been at times observed in the past. It further illustrates that available US portfolio investment data for April showed high shifts in demand for US assets, but such shifts were not unprecedented in scale and appear to have normalised since May. In recent months, global financial markets have witnessed episodes of heightened volatil...
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Intellect Design Arena Launches Purple Fabric AI Platform in U.S. Financial Sector
16Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

Intellect Design Arena Launches Purple Fabric AI Platform in U.S. Financial Sector

Intellect Design Arena Ltd, a global leader in financial technology, has officially introduced its AI platform, Purple Fabric, to the U.S. market. Developed by its AI division, IntellectAI, Purple Fabric is positioned as the first open platform specifically built to deliver measurable business impact through AI within the financial services sector. Already in use by Tier 1 financial institutions across the UK and Indian Subcontinent, the U.S. launch marks a major expansion into one of the world’s most mature financial ecosystems. The platform has been adopted by over 45 clients globally and is designed to help American banks and insurers transition from fragmented AI pilots to fully integrated enterprise deployments. The announcement was made during Ai4 2025, North America’s pre...
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After job reports suggested possible problems, Trump used graphs to argue that the US economy is doing well.
9Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA, World

After job reports suggested possible problems, Trump used graphs to argue that the US economy is doing well.

President Donald Trump unexpectedly summoned reporters to the Oval Office on Thursday to present them with charts that he says show the U.S. economy is solid following a jobs report last week that raised red flags and led to the Republican firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Joining Trump to talk about the economy was Stephen Moore, a senior visiting fellow in economics at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and the co-author of the 2018 book “ Trumponomics.” Flipping through a series of charts on an easel, Moore sought to elevate Trump’s performance as president and diminish the economic track record of former President Joe Biden. Trump stood next to Moore and interjected with approvals. The moment in the Oval Office spoke to the president’s ho...
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As the US economy begins to struggle, new taxes on imports, put in place by Trump, are starting.
8Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA, World

As the US economy begins to struggle, new taxes on imports, put in place by Trump, are starting.

US President Donald Trump began imposing higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats has begun to cause visible damage to the American economy. Just after midnight, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union became subject to tariff rates of 10% or higher. Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. Trump also expects the EU, Japan and South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States. “I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,” Trump said Wednesday. He said the US was “taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs,” but did not provide a specific figure for revenues bec...
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Is the US headed toward a recession? Experts weigh in
7Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

Is the US headed toward a recession? Experts weigh in

A weak jobs report in recent days raised alarm among some analysts that the U.S. economy may be slipping toward a recession. Hiring slowed sharply over the summer, federal government data showed. The jobs report came days after fresh gross domestic product data indicated average annualized growth of 1.2% over the first half of 2025, well below 2.8% growth last year. Analysts who spoke to ABC News said the economy could dip into a downturn but the outlook remains uncertain. They differed sharply on the likelihood of a recession, ranging from dire warnings to skepticism about whether the recent data suggests significant cause for concern. "It's too early to see whether this is a trend," Harry Holzer, a professor of economics at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Brooking...
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Banana republic? Trump puts credibility of US economic data on the line
5Aug mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
USA

Banana republic? Trump puts credibility of US economic data on the line

Trump’s firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics raises fears for the integrity of official statistics. The firing of a top United States statistics official by President Donald Trump last week has drawn concerns from economists and policymakers regarding the credibility of data in the world’s biggest economy. Trump’s dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the release of disappointing employment figures on Friday has raised fears over the integrity of Washington’s economic data, which are relied on by countless businesses and investors in the US and across the world. The National Association for Business Economics warned that McEntarfer’s “baseless” ouster risked doing “lasting harm to the institutions that support American economi...
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