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Category: Economy
March 16, 2024
Economy
Politics

You Won’t Be Getting an Uber, Nor a Lyft, In Minneapolis Anymore. Here’s Why.

Uber and Lyft have pledged to suspend operations in Minneapolis following a year-long dispute with city officials over driver compensation. Last August, the Minneapolis city council passed legislation mandating Uber and Lyft to pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute. Per the city’s estimates, these rates would ensure drivers earn a minimum wage of $15.57 after costs. The new rules would also see drivers being paid while waiting, rather than, as currently, only being paid once they have a passenger.

Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the measure, asserting it required more refinement. The council members nonetheless introduced another resolution which was approved last week after a 9-4 vote. The city council then proceeded to overrule the Mayor’s veto on Thursday.

Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin announced the company’s decision to cease operations in Minneapolis when the law comes into force on May 1. Uber, expressing its disappointment, echoed a similar sentiment. The companies have previously challenged minimum wage rules and other legislation in various cities across the U.S, and treated their drivers as independent contractors, thereby not providing employee benefits like health insurance or paid sick leave.

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Uber and Lyft have pledged to suspend operations in Minneapolis following a year-long dispute with city officials over driver compensation. Last August, the Minneapolis city council passed legislation mandating Uber and Lyft to pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute. Per the city's estimates, these rates would ensure drivers earn a minimum wage of $15.57 after costs. The new rules would also see drivers being paid while waiting, rather than, as currently, only being paid once they have a passenger. show more
sad irishman
March 16, 2024
Data
Economy

Joe’s Bidenflation is Hurting St. Patrick’s Day!

Bidenflation is hurting St. Patrick’s Day, according to the Trump campaign, which has released a set of numbers sure to wipe the smile off the face of even the most jubilant little leprechaun.

The Trump team pointed to the “skyrocketing” prices for traditional Irish fare, including inflation-suffering onions, potatoes, corned beef, beef for Irish stew, cabbage, and carrots.

In March 2021, just two months after Trump left office, onions cost $0.81 per pound. Today, they’re $1.31 a pound – reflecting a 62 percent price hike. Similarly, potatoes were up 53 percent from two years ago.

  • Corned Beef is up 35 percent;
  • Beef for Irish Stew is up 33 percent;
  • Cabbage is up 29 percent;
  • and carrots are up 19 percent.
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Bidenflation is hurting St. Patrick's Day, according to the Trump campaign, which has released a set of numbers sure to wipe the smile off the face of even the most jubilant little leprechaun. show more
March 15, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Election 2024

Biden Declares Opposition to Japan’s Takeover of U.S. Steel.

President Joe Biden announced that he opposes the takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel company. Biden had not previously taken a stance on the buyout, which was announced in December 2023. In January, former President Donald Trump said he’d block the deal if he defeats Biden in the 2024 election.

The Nippon Steel takeover has become a significant election issue in several critical swing states — including Pennsylvania, which it would directly impact. Headquartered in the crucial swing state, US Steel also has operations in Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota.

While meeting with the Teamsters Union in January, former President Trump — who leads Biden in most swing-state polls — said he’d “block it instantaneously,” referring to the Japanese company’s proposed buyout. “We saved the steel industry. Now, U.S. Steel is being bought by Japan. So terrible,” he added.

The former president has emphasized the success of his foreign tariffs in revitalizing U.S. industry during his first term in office. Trump has promised to continue the policy if re-elected, outlining what he called “Patriotic Protectionism” in a campaign speech in Michigan in September of last year.

For his part, Biden released a statement announcing his opposition to Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel. “It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steelworkers,” the Democrat incumbent said. He added: “I told our steelworkers I have their backs, and I meant it. US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”

Along with former President Trump, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was one of the first and only lawmakers on Capitol Hill to oppose the U.S. Steel takeover.

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President Joe Biden announced that he opposes the takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel company. Biden had not previously taken a stance on the buyout, which was announced in December 2023. In January, former President Donald Trump said he’d block the deal if he defeats Biden in the 2024 election. show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
So as I’ve said multiple times now, Biden is desperately trying to position himself as far more “America First” than he has governed, after Democrat internal polling has showed him looking especially weak on economics, national security, and corruption
for exclusive members-only insights
So as I’ve said multiple times now, Biden is desperately trying to position himself as far more “America First” than he has governed, after Democrat internal polling has showed him looking especially weak on economics, national security, and corruption show more
for exclusive members-only insights
March 15, 2024
William Upton
Economy

Commercial Real Estate Shows Signs of Collapse.

The United States economy may be seeing the start of a collapse in the commercial real estate sector — raising concerns about the potential impact on banks and city budgets. Elevated interest rates, slow corporate growth, and post-pandemic ‘work-from-home’ trends have drastically reduced the office and retail space market.

In San Francisco, a 20-story office tower that was purchased for $146 million ten years ago was recently on the market for merely $80 million, almost a 45 percent reduction in value. Similarly, in Chicago, a 200,000-square-foot-office building sold for close to $90 million in 2004, was bought last month for just $20 million, a staggering 78 percent drop in cost. In Washington, D.C., a 12-story retail and office building just blocks from the White House sold for $36 million, a significant decline in value since its $100 million sale in 2018.

Hammering City Budgets.

This depreciation in commercial property values is severely affecting municipal budgets that rely heavily on the taxes attached to these commercial real estate properties. Financial shortfalls are becoming a reality for many cities as lower assessments of property values shrink tax income. Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, notes a potential $1 billion shortfall in San Francisco’s $14 billion budget over the next few years, mainly due to decreased commercial real estate tax revenue.

Renewed Banking Crisis Risk.

Additionally, there are mounting concerns that a crisis in commercial real estate could cause cross-contamination in the U.S. banking sector — especially among small and regional banks. Since the middle of last year, small and mid-sized regionals have increased holdings in commercial real estate despite the market cooling. If holdings in commercial real estate increasingly become toxic assets, U.S. regulators could face a renewed banking crisis similar to the one experienced last year when several regional banks — including Silicon Valley Bank — experienced banking runs before ultimately being seized by the Biden government as they collapsed.

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The United States economy may be seeing the start of a collapse in the commercial real estate sector — raising concerns about the potential impact on banks and city budgets. Elevated interest rates, slow corporate growth, and post-pandemic ‘work-from-home’ trends have drastically reduced the office and retail space market. show more
Bidenomics
March 12, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Economy
Politics

BREAKING: Inflation Jumps to 3.2%.

Prices increased by 3.2 percent in February despite being expected to remain steady. New Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures reported by the Labor Department show a 0.4 percent increase in “core prices,” compared to 0.3 percent in January. Food prices also increased from 0.3 to 0.4 percent.

The numbers indicate inflation could again become a significant issue for the Joe Biden regime. Despite poor polling on the economy, the 81-year-old Democrat has built much of his pitch to the American public ahead of the November elections on inflation having begun to decrease from a peak of 9.1 percent earlier in his presidency.

As Biden was claiming a soft landing for the American people during his recent State of the Union address, Donald Trump warned inflation under the incumbent is “killing America.”

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Prices increased by 3.2 percent in February despite being expected to remain steady. New Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures reported by the Labor Department show a 0.4 percent increase in "core prices," compared to 0.3 percent in January. Food prices also increased from 0.3 to 0.4 percent. show more
March 11, 2024
Ed Kozak
Economy
Politics

Snickers Just Took A Bite Out of Biden.

Snickers manufacturer Mars has called out Joe Biden for lying about the size of its candy bars.

During his recent State of the Union address, Biden accused the candy maker of engaging in ‘shrinkflation’ with its Snickers bars, alleging that the company reduced the candy’s size by 10 percent while maintaining the same price.

“Snack companies think you won’t notice when they charge you just as much for the same size bag — but with fewer chips in it,” Biden said. “You get charged the same amount, and you got about 10 percent fewer Snickers in it,” Biden continued.

Mars, however, refutes this claim, stating unequivocally that it has not diminished the size of either the single or share-ready versions of the popular candy offering in the US. “We have not reduced the size of Snickers singles or share size in the US,” it said in a statement.

The firm acknowledged coping with high inflation and volatile material costs but maintained that it absorbs these costs where possible to keep its treats affordable. They also emphasized final retail prices are ultimately controlled by the retailer, but the company strives to keep costs at bay to ensure the accessibility of their products.

President Biden’s statement garnered critical reactions on social media, with CNN contributor Scott Jennings accusing him of “slandering a candy bar.”

Former President Donald Trump recently criticized Biden’s attempts to shift blame for inflation onto companies with ‘shrinkflation’ accusations.

“[A]s Crooked Joe himself foolishly pointed out… it’s not just that prices are getting higher; it’s that packages are getting smaller. Under my leadership, you had virtually no inflation, and there was no such thing as Joe Biden’s ‘shrinkflation,'” Trump said last month.

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Snickers manufacturer Mars has called out Joe Biden for lying about the size of its candy bars. show more
March 11, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Immigration

Biden-Backed NGO Supplies Corporates With Cheap Illegal Migrant Labor.

US corporations are taking advantage of a federal loophole that allows illegal immigrants to acquire jobs when they claim refugee status. The loophole is being used by the non-governmental organization Tent Partnership for Refugees, which is aligned with more than 400 multinational corporations committed to hiring refugees. These corporations range from RedRoof Inn, Royal Farms, and Shopify to Delta Airlines, DoorDash, Etsy, and Bloomberg.

Tent Partnership for Refugees has tremendous influence within the Biden government. In December of 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a memorandum with the non-governmental organization aimed at broadening economic opportunities for refugees within the private sector. The move, critics argue, further intertwined the interests of US corporations and progressive open-border advocates.

The State Department policy decision is primarily used to facilitate sourcing cheap immigrant labor for large corporations. Recently, Tyson Foods, Inc. announced it is planning to hire tens of thousands of migrants via Tent Partnership, augmenting its existing 42,000 migrant workforce out of a total of 120,000 in the US.

Garrett Dolan, who spearheads Tyson’s initiative to dismantle employment obstacles such as immigration status, revealed that many new recruits are projected to be refugees and immigrants. “We’re recognizing there’s not a lot of people that are going to be working labor-manufacturing jobs that are American,” Dolan said in a statement announcing the hiring move.

The National Pulse has previously reported that most US job gains under President Joe Biden have been fueled by immigrant labor. At the same time, native-born employment numbers continue to lag behind pre-pandemic levels.

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US corporations are taking advantage of a federal loophole that allows illegal immigrants to acquire jobs when they claim refugee status. The loophole is being used by the non-governmental organization Tent Partnership for Refugees, which is aligned with more than 400 multinational corporations committed to hiring refugees. These corporations range from RedRoof Inn, Royal Farms, and Shopify to Delta Airlines, DoorDash, Etsy, and Bloomberg. show more
bidenomics
March 8, 2024
Data
Economy

JOBS: ⬆️ 275K Jobs In Feb, Jan Numbers REVISED DOWN ⬇️ By 124,000, Unemployment Up!🆙

The U.S. labor market numbers indicate 275,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in February. But, January’s official government job numbers were revised down from 353,000 to 229,000, a massive drop of 124,000.

Despite the “hot” jobs report Friday, the unemployment rate actually increased  — reaching a two-year high of 3.9 percent, up from 3.7 percent in the previous month. Unemployment among White Americans remained unchanged at 3.4 percent, while Black Americans saw unemployment increase from 5.3 to 5.6 percent. Asian and Hispanic Americans saw their rates remain flat at 3.4 and 5 percent, respectively.

The unemployment spike appears to be driven by an increase of workers exiting their jobs to seek new employment and an influx of individuals returning to the status of actively seeking work. An increasing number of immigrants in the U.S. seeking work also contributed to the spike. Healthcare and government sectors and construction saw the bulk of job growth in February. Meanwhile, credit intermediation, mainly commercial banking, has lost around 123,000 jobs since 2021.

However, the jobs scenario is not rosy for everyone. The company rating website, Glassdoor, reported falling employee confidence due to layoffs in tech and media. This concern is particularly acute in white-collar sectors such as human resources, whereas optimism remains relatively high in sectors requiring in-person work, such as healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.

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The U.S. labor market numbers indicate 275,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in February. But, January’s official government job numbers were revised down from 353,000 to 229,000, a massive drop of 124,000. show more
March 6, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Immigration

Globalist WSJ Admits Cheap, Migrant Labor Kills U.S. Productivity.

US businesses’ increasing reliance on cheap, immigrant labor is hurting American productivity. A report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that overreliance on cheap labor dissuades industries from becoming more efficient and innovative — ultimately preventing the economy from expanding at a significant pace.

“Once industry is organized in a certain way and the structure encourages employers to recruit migrants, it can be very hard to turn back,” Prof. Martin Ruhs, who teaches migration studies in Florence, Italy, told The Wall Street Journal. Addressing Western mass immigration policies, he added: “In some cases, policymakers should ask, does it make sense?”

Productivity and innovation have been core drivers of Western economies for several centuries. However, that may change if Western economies continue relying on cheap immigrant labor. In 2022, a Danish academic study found that companies were less inclined to invest in robotic technology and automation if they had easy access to immigrant workers.

Among the Western nations of Canada, the UK, Germany, and the US, the current rate of immigration is as much as three times higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wall Street Journal notes this is likely to exacerbate sluggish growth in labor productivity, which has lagged among the Western nations for several decades.

Over a quarter of the UK’s nurses working for the National Health Service are immigrants. In Germany, 80 percent of the country’s butchers are foreign laborers.

In the US, several critical industries have become almost entirely reliant on immigrant labor. Immigrant labor comprises about 75 percent of agricultural workers and around 30 percent of construction and mining labor. Government data indicates that the American agricultural sector has seen almost zero productivity growth in over a decade.

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US businesses’ increasing reliance on cheap, immigrant labor is hurting American productivity. A report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that overreliance on cheap labor dissuades industries from becoming more efficient and innovative — ultimately preventing the economy from expanding at a significant pace. show more
March 5, 2024
Ed Kozak
Economy
Immigration

Zero Down, No Payment Home Loans! Uh… For Illegals. Not For You.

California lawmakers are proposing expanding the state’s zero-down home loan program to illegal aliens. The proposal — Assembly Bill 1840 — comes as the state grapples with a sharp imbalance in housing supply and demand, currently ranking 49th in the country for housing units per resident.

State Senator Briah Dahle (R-Bieber) slammed the bill, voicing concern for US citizens left behind in the housing market. “Assembly Bill 1840 is an insult to California citizens who are being left behind and priced out of homeownership,” said Dahle. “I’m all for helping first-time homebuyers, but give priority to those who are here in our state legally.”

The bill seeks to expand access to the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program to illegal aliens. Launched in 2023 with an initial fund of $300 million to help first-time home buyers, it depleted its funds in 11 days.

Threatening to further complicated matters for California is a new influx of illegal aliens seeking to cross California’s borders in the face of Texas’s measures to confront and contain the migrant invasion. Earlier this year, the state — which is already facing significant financial woes — expanded MediCal, its taxpayer-funded healthcare system, to cover illegal aliens. The state estimated that 700,000 illegal aliens would sign up at a cost of up to $3.4 billion. However, significant increases in California’s illegal alien population could spark significantly higher costs.

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California lawmakers are proposing expanding the state’s zero-down home loan program to illegal aliens. The proposal — Assembly Bill 1840 — comes as the state grapples with a sharp imbalance in housing supply and demand, currently ranking 49th in the country for housing units per resident. show more