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Thursday, October 2, 2025

Category: Economy
October 1, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Election 2024

The Teamsters Are Backing the Dockworkers’ Strike.

The Teamsters Union has announced it is backing the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike at 36 ports across the eastern seaboard of the United States. In a statement issued just hours before the strike began, the Teamsters indicated they would not cross picket lines. This means the logistics union won’t haul freight from ports where the dockworkers are on strike.

“The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the freight industry, stand in full solidarity with the International Longshoremen’s Association as they fight for a fair and just contract with the ocean carriers represented by USMX,” Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said in a statement late yesterday. Taking issue with what he characterized as meddling by the Biden-Harris government, O’Brien continued: “The U.S. government should stay the f**k out of this fight and allow union workers to withhold their labor for the wages and benefits they have earned.”

“Don’t forget—Teamsters do not cross picket lines. The Teamsters Union is 100 percent committed to standing with our Longshoremen brothers and sisters until they win the contract they deserve,” the Teamsters leader added.

The Biden-Harris government’s Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has met several times with the port operators—namely USMX—in the lead-up to the strike. Many in organized labor remain skeptical of Buttigieg, a former McKinsey & Company management consultant. The Longshoremen union’s hesitancy in dealing with the Biden-Harris cabinet secretary due to his corporate consulting ties has further complicated talks.

Earlier this month, the Teamsters announced they will not endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 election—the first time in nearly 30 years. The union’s internal polling, however, shows rank-and-file members overwhelming support President Donald J. Trump against Kamala Harris.

Image by Matt Michalski.

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The Teamsters Union has announced it is backing the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike at 36 ports across the eastern seaboard of the United States. In a statement issued just hours before the strike began, the Teamsters indicated they would not cross picket lines. This means the logistics union won't haul freight from ports where the dockworkers are on strike. show more
September 25, 2024
Economy
Media

Hollywood, Corporate Media Experiencing HUGE Layoffs.

Streaming, artificial intelligence, and ongoing strikes in Hollywood are decimating the media and film industry. Hundreds of journalists have already been laid off this year by corporate media companies. Significant cuts were seen at the Los Angeles Times, which reduced its newsroom staff by more than 20 percent in January.

Time magazine followed, laying off 15 percent of its workforce. Numerous other media entities have also witnessed significant staff reductions. Over the last twelve months, an estimated 500 journalist positions have been eliminated.

CNN revealed a 2.9 percent staff reduction, including that of media critic Brian Lowry as the network has struggled with low ratings. Media Matters for America, the hyper-partisan Democrat talking point outlet, also announced major layoffs, blaming them on a lawsuit from tech billionaire Elon Musk. The technology billionaire sued the George Soros-funded outlet for misrepresenting information to advertisers in a bid to scare them away from doing business with X after he had purchased the company.

Earlier this year, Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon announced hundreds of employees would be laid off and cease publishing on Vice.com, ending the legacy of a company that was once worth $5.7 billion. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery has experienced multiple rounds of layoffs since its merger, with the latest occurring in May when over 300 jobs were cut following the closure of Newshub in New Zealand.

Paramount Global also announced layoffs, targeting a 3 percent reduction in its global workforce. In August, Paramount laid off 15 percent of its U.S. staff and shuttered Paramount Television Studios. Disney Entertainment announced 140 layoffs, affecting departments such as National Geographic. Fox Entertainment cut 30 positions in July, impacting various divisions.

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Streaming, artificial intelligence, and ongoing strikes in Hollywood are decimating the media and film industry. Hundreds of journalists have already been laid off this year by corporate media companies. Significant cuts were seen at the Los Angeles Times, which reduced its newsroom staff by more than 20 percent in January. show more
September 19, 2024
Economy
Immigration
News

Map Suggests ‘Great Job Replacement’ of American Workers with Migrants in Small Towns and Cities.

A map showing the spread of migrants across the United States last year suggests they are displacing blue-collar workers in small towns and cities. Based on immigration court case data, the map provides a county-by-county breakdown of migrant populations.

The data, which show where 1.8 million migrants have settled, reveals significant clusters in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast metro areas, as well as the Midwest and Rust Belt regions. Swing states received 12 percent of all migrants, with significant numbers going to blue counties. The Biden-Harris government and non-governmental organizations seem to have worked to strategically place migrants in smaller towns and cities where they can potentially displace local blue-collar workers.

Reports indicate that, for instance, Haitian migrants transplanted to Charleroi, Pennsylvania, are being used to staff food-packing plants, displacing local workers. Former President Donald J. Trump has personally highlighted how the “small 4,000-person town of Charleroi… has experienced a 2,000 percent increase in the population of Haitian migrants under Kamala Harris,” leaving “the schools scrambling to hire translators for the influx of students who don’t speak English, costing local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Source: Bloomberg.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics American-born workers have lost around 1.2 million jobs while migrant workers have gained 1.3 million jobs over the last year. Illegal immigrant labor also plays a significant factor, with some sectors, such as food delivery, seeing an explosion in illegal migrant workers despite lacking valid work permits or vehicle insurance.

In the Biden-Harris economy, Americans have been forced, in some cases, to take on two or more jobs to make ends meet, with many struggling to find enough work hours to pay their bills.

Image by Ted Eytan.

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A map showing the spread of migrants across the United States last year suggests they are displacing blue-collar workers in small towns and cities. Based on immigration court case data, the map provides a county-by-county breakdown of migrant populations. show more
September 18, 2024
William Upton
Breaking
Economy

BREAKING: Federal Reserve Announces First Interest Rate Cut Since 2020 Despite Lingering Inflation Concerns.

The Federal Reserve is announcing a 50 basis point (bps) cut to its effective funds rate, which will lower interest rates in the United States. At the moment, internet rates sit between 5.25 and 5.50 percent. Rates were last cut in March 2020 before rapidly increasing as rampant price inflation took hold under the Biden-Harris government.

It should be noted that past 50 bps cuts by the central bank have often signaled a looming recession. Concerningly, an anonymous vote of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) suggests the central bank will cut rates by an additional 50 bps before the end of the year. This is the largest rate cut in 16 years.

Currently, the Federal Funds Effective Rate—which predominately determines U.S. interest rates—sits at 5.33 percent. While the Federal Reserve has insisted interest rates would not be reduced until it could reach its 2 percent inflation target, the central bank appears to be spooked by serious concerns of weakness in the U.S. job market—prompting the premature cut.

The National Pulse reported last month that the Biden-Harris government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics revised U.S. employment growth over the past year downwards by nearly one million jobs. Following the massive revision, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the central bank would shift towards rate cuts while speaking at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in late August.

While markets typically strengthen in the lead-up to a Federal Reserve rate cut, weaker-than-expected earnings among technology companies and other factors have seen significant volatility in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 over the past month. Markets typically respond negatively in the immediate aftermath of a rate cut, with the move often seen as signaling weakening economic conditions.

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The Federal Reserve is announcing a 50 basis point (bps) cut to its effective funds rate, which will lower interest rates in the United States. At the moment, internet rates sit between 5.25 and 5.50 percent. Rates were last cut in March 2020 before rapidly increasing as rampant price inflation took hold under the Biden-Harris government. show more
September 18, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Economy
Election 2024

Top Investor Warns of Mass Investment Pullout If Kamala Wins.

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson intends to withdraw his investments from the stock market should Kamala Harris win the presidential election. “If Harris was elected, I would pull my money from the market… because I think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets and likely lower markets,” said the Republican donor.

“The difference between the Trump administration and Harris is very, very different,” he explains in a Fox Business interview. “The Biden-Harris group wants to change the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent, and the capital gains rate from 20 percent initially to 39 percent, now back to 28 percent.”

Paulson is especially concerned about Harris’s proposed tax on unrealized gains, saying: “[I]f they do implement a 25 percent tax on unrealized gains that would cause mass selling of almost everything. Stocks, bonds, homes, art. I think it would result in a crash in the markets and an immediate, pretty quick recession.”

Taxing unrealized gains would mean that, for instance, shareholders would be taxed on the assumed value of their shares without them being sold. If they were ultimately sold at a loss, the shareholder would essentially have been legally overtaxed on the asset.

Even Democrat-aligned economists are worrying about Harris’s economic agenda. Jason Furman, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama, warns her price control plans are “not sensible policy.”

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Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson intends to withdraw his investments from the stock market should Kamala Harris win the presidential election. “If Harris was elected, I would pull my money from the market... because I think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets and likely lower markets,” said the Republican donor. show more
immigration
September 16, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
Economy
Immigration
UK

Low Paid Migrants Cost Taxpayers Nearly $200k by Retirement Age.

Low-paid migrants are costing taxpayers nearly $200,000 each by the time they reach retirement age in the United Kingdom, as they contribute far less than they receive in government services like healthcare. Losses reach over $650,000 each if they live to 80 years old, and well over $1 million if they live to 100.

The figures come from the United Kingdom’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). They state that “average” British-born workers create a net surplus for the state of just under $370,000 by the time they retire. While skilled migrants can provide a boost to the British economy, low-skilled migrant workers account for as much as 60 percent of the total migrant workforce in Britain, according to the watchdog Migration Watch UK.

Notably, the OBR reached these conclusions despite loading the statistics in migrants’ favor, by treating British-born residents’ childhood education and healthcare as a debt but assuming the migrant workers would not have any dependants, such as children, jobless spouses, or elderly relatives.

Low-skilled migration could present the United Kingdom with long-term economic problems if over half of the migrants earn less than the average salary. Debt could expand to 350 percent of GDP by 2074.

The country is also dealing with the costs associated with illegal boat migrant arrivals, which cost millions of dollars daily.

According to another report, released earlier this month, migrants who do not work at all are costing British taxpayers billions per year. Government Office for National Statistics (ONS) data estimates that jobless migrants cost $11.1 billion annually.

When social services, healthcare, transport, and other factors are considered, the amount could rise to over $26.6 billion annually.

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Low-paid migrants are costing taxpayers nearly $200,000 each by the time they reach retirement age in the United Kingdom, as they contribute far less than they receive in government services like healthcare. Losses reach over $650,000 each if they live to 80 years old, and well over $1 million if they live to 100. show more
September 11, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Election 2024

Biden-Harris’s Own Data Shows Families Better Off Under Trump.

U.S. Census Bureau data shows the average American family was better off economically when former President Donald J. Trump was in the White House. The government agency data reveals that in 2019 the median household income was $81,210. Meanwhile, in 2023—under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris—household median income dropped to $80,610.

Additionally, while the data shows household income across most demographics recovering post-COVID-19 pandemic, this is not the case for Asian and Hispanic Americans. This may, in part, explain the accelerated shift of Hispanic and Latino voters away from the Democratic Party and towards former President Trump.

Under Trump’s White House, household incomes increased markedly for all racial and ethnic demographics until the pandemic.

The National Pulse has previously reported that the inflation crisis kicked off by Biden andHarris’s reckless spending policies drastically increased the income level needed to maintain a satisfactory quality of life for a family of four in the U.S. An inability by the Federal Reserve to reign in the crisis resulted in interest rates remaining significantly elevated in the country for well over a year—restricting business access to capital and making loans, such as mortgages, prohibitively expensive for most Americans.

Even more concerning, the Biden-Harris government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics now admits nearly one million fewer jobs than initially reported were added to the U.S. economy over the past year. This news has raised concerns about a significant slowing in the labor market, prompting the Federal Reserve to consider cutting interest rates later this month despite not having inflation under control.

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U.S. Census Bureau data shows the average American family was better off economically when former President Donald J. Trump was in the White House. The government agency data reveals that in 2019 the median household income was $81,210. Meanwhile, in 2023—under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris—household median income dropped to $80,610. show more
September 9, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Economy
Election 2024
TECH

REPORT: Trump Victory Will Send Bitcoin to $90K While Kamala’s Win Would HALVE The Price.

Bitcoin could soar to a new high of $90,000 by the fourth quarter if former President Donald J. Trump is reelected in November, according to research by Bernstein. However, the brokers warn that if Vice President Kamala Harris succeeds Joe Biden, the cryptocurrency could crash to $30,000.

“After the last three years of regulatory purge, a positive crypto regulatory policy can spur innovation again and bring the users back to financial products on the blockchain,” the researchers said, stressing Trump’s commitment to making the United States the “Bitcoin and crypto capital of the world.”

Speaking at The Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July, Trump committed to creating a “strategic national Bitcoin reserve,” comparing the nascent crypto industry to the steel industry of a century ago and predicting it will probably “overtake gold” in the future.

“There’s never been anything like it,” he said. Bernstein also notes that Vice President Harris has never referenced crypto in her speeches, in contrast to Trump.

Mining Bitcoin is energy-intensive—an issue Trump recognizes, saying low-cost energy is key to achieving his ambition to center mining operations in the U.S. Meanwhile, Harris’s support of the Green New Deal and net zero government policies would likely harm the cryptocurrency industry.

In June, BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey said he plans on “raising over $100 million and turning out more than 5,000,000 voters” for Trump.

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Bitcoin could soar to a new high of $90,000 by the fourth quarter if former President Donald J. Trump is reelected in November, according to research by Bernstein. However, the brokers warn that if Vice President Kamala Harris succeeds Joe Biden, the cryptocurrency could crash to $30,000. show more
September 6, 2024
William Upton
Data
Economy

1.3 MILLION Native-Born Americans Lost Their Jobs Under Biden-Harris In August.

An estimated 1.3 million native-born American workers lost their jobs in August, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Meanwhile, the number of foreign-born workers increased by 635,000.

While the August jobs report shows unemployment falling to 4.2 percent last month, this drop is primarily due to a spike in part-time employment. According to the BLS data, the number of full-time workers decreased slightly.

Since June of last year, full-time employment in the United States has fallen by 1.5 million jobs, while part-time employment has increased by two million. The data suggests that the labor market is far weaker than the Biden–Harris government portrays.

Overall, the U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs last month, falling short of expectations. Consensus forecasts estimated that around 160,000 jobs would be added in August.

The jobs data has cooled expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut later this month. Expectations that the central bank would cut rates by 50 basis points (bps) rose following the release of the BLS’s benchmark employment revision last month, as the total number of jobs added to the economy over the past year were revised downward by a shocking 818,000.

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An estimated 1.3 million native-born American workers lost their jobs in August, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Meanwhile, the number of foreign-born workers increased by 635,000. show more
September 5, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Immigration

Here’s How the Biden-Harris Open Border Has WILDLY Changed the U.S. Labor Market.

Data produced by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—and based on census numbers—is shedding more light on claims that a bulk of American job growth under the Biden–Harris government hasn’t gone to or benefited native-born Americans at all. The CBO numbers reveal that labor force participation among foreign-born residents has hit nearly 70 percent. Meanwhile, the rate among native-born Americans remains below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

While foreigners are becoming a larger share of the U.S. labor force, they’re also more likely than native-born American workers to lack a high school diploma. Additionally, the unemployment rate among immigrants remains almost double that of native workers. The CBO estimates support concerns that the U.S. economy is becoming increasingly overreliant on cheap imported labor, comprising an increasing share of the country’s lower economic class.

The open borders policies of the Biden–Harris government have fundamentally altered the U.S. labor market and the economy overall. Legal and illegal immigrants have become a source of cheap labor for countless American corporations. At the same time, Democratic Party leaders hope the relatively poor constituency will become a natural base for their candidate.

According to the data, a net 9 million immigrants—both legal and illegal—have entered the U.S. since the beginning of 2021. Of that number, over two-thirds are illegal immigrants. It should be noted that the CBO estimate is a net assessment that accounts for immigrants who have left the country over the same period.

Most recent immigrants have come from Central America, South America, or the Caribbean. Just over 14 percent of immigrants come from Venezuela, while nearly 13 percent come from Mexico. However, the number of immigrants from Asia and Africa is also growing compared to years past.

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Data produced by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—and based on census numbers—is shedding more light on claims that a bulk of American job growth under the Biden-Harris government hasn't gone to or benefited native-born Americans at all. The CBO numbers reveal that labor force participation among foreign-born residents has hit nearly 70 percent. Meanwhile, the rate among native-born Americans remains below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. show more