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Category: Economy
February 1, 2024
Economy
Election 2024

Blackstone CEO Says ‘U.S. Isn’t Prepared For 4 More Years Of Joe Biden.’

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, expressed serious concerns about the future of the U.S. economy should President Joe Biden win another term in the White House. In an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland, Schwarzman cited the current $2 trillion deficit, increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, and open borders policy as economic threats.

He questioned whether the nation could endure another four years of these economic conditions. “I don’t know that the country, frankly, is prepared for four more years of that,” Schwarzman said in Davos.

As of January 31, the U.S. national debt reached $34.1 trillion, surpassing the combined GDP of the world’s next five largest economies: China, Japan, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom. Simultaneously, the U.S. federal budget deficit stood at $1.75 trillion. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio sits at around 122 percent. Schwarzman commented that the U.S. should aim to “get our financial house in order,” but he did not believe a significant financial crisis was impending.

Despite his warning, Schwarzman expressed optimism for the future of the American economy in 2024. He referenced the slowed economy as a normal response to high interest rates but projected that rates would decrease during the latter part of the year. With Blackstone measuring U.S. inflation at approximately 2 percent, the Federal Reserve’s target rate, Schwarzman said he is confident in the likelihood of Fed rate cuts.

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Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, expressed serious concerns about the future of the U.S. economy should President Joe Biden win another term in the White House. In an interview with Bloomberg in Davos, Switzerland, Schwarzman cited the current $2 trillion deficit, increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, and open borders policy as economic threats. show more
February 1, 2024
Economy
Election 2024

Ex-Soros Investment Chief Confirms ‘Trump Rally’ is Behind Stock Market Surge.

Billionaire investor Scott Bessent, former Chief Investment Officer of the Soros Fund Management, has confirmed that former President Donald Trump’s potential return to office is fueling the current surge in the stock market.

“We believe that equity markets are in the midst of a “Trump Rally” that will last as long as he remains ahead of Biden in the polls,” Bessent wrote to investors in his Key Square Capital Management fund on Wednesday.

“We strongly believe that a significant impetus for the recent rally in equity markets is the commanding lead that he holds over President Biden in early polling on both a national basis and in the key battleground states,’ Bessent added.

He also dismissed forecasts that anticipated a tumultuous second term under the former President, suggesting the future administration would resemble the relatively stable period of 2017-2018 rather than the more turbulent 2019-2020 pandemic timeframe. He projected a prospective Trump presidency would spur an economic boom, riding on deregulation, energy independence, and a resurged domestic manufacturing sector.

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Billionaire investor Scott Bessent, former Chief Investment Officer of the Soros Fund Management, has confirmed that former President Donald Trump's potential return to office is fueling the current surge in the stock market. show more
January 31, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Crime
Economy

‘Toy Story’ Origin Store in San Fran Closes After 86 Years Citing ‘Perils and Violence.’

Jeffrey’s Toys, an 86-year-old San Francisco institution credited with inspiring Toy Story, is closing its last store in the crime-ridden Californian city due to disorder downtown and crippling rent payments.

“The store has been struggling for a number of years, due to the perils and violence of the downtown environment, inflation, the decrease in consumer spending and the demise of retail,” explained Ken Sterling of Sterling Venture Law, an attorney for the Luhn family, which has managed the business for generations.

“The family is saddened it has come to this and we’ve explored all other options to try and keep the business going. The leadership of the City of San Francisco and the Downtown Association have their work cut out for them on how to revitalize what was once a vibrant and fun downtown experience,” Sterling added.

Michael Luhm, a former Toy Story and Simpsons animator who ran the store with his father, warned before Christmas that the business was doomed unless the Democrat-controlled city changed course.

“We’re putting our money in, we’re putting our hard work in, and we’re putting our love into it. But, in the relationship we have with the city, that’s not being returned,” Luhn lamented.

He said the store was $20,000 per month in rent and suffering losses due to the city’s failure to tackle theft and fencing. He even described losing an employee of five years after someone threw her into a wall and tried to stab her.

Jeffrey’s will be shuttered for the last time at the end of February.

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Jeffrey’s Toys, an 86-year-old San Francisco institution credited with inspiring Toy Story, is closing its last store in the crime-ridden Californian city due to disorder downtown and crippling rent payments. show more
Bidenomics
January 25, 2024
Economy

Obama-Era Official Slams Biden Economy’s ‘Crappy Jobs.’

CNN commentator and former Obama official Van Jones panned President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy in an appearance on the news network on Tuesday, calling the jobs made available to the Black community “crappy.” Despite the Biden government touting improving employment numbers, Jones said “facts and feelings” among voters “are very different.”

“People keep telling me, ‘you’ve got great employment numbers in the Black community, and aren’t you happy?’ I’m like, yeah, but they’re crappy jobs,” Jones said.

The former Obama government official’s remarks come amidst President Biden’s push to boost support among Black voters. Recent polling numbers indicate a 57 percent disapproval of Biden’s handling of the economy and a 56 percent disapproval of his efforts to quell inflation. The polling data from Fox News also suggests a substantial decline in President Biden’s popularity amongst the Black community — with support declining 25 percent from 2021 to 2023.

Jones also warned that leaders in his political party are ignoring the border crisis to their peril. Democratic voters, particularly in New York City and other traditionally blue states, have begun to express concerns over the handling of immigration, which Jones described as “destabilizing” for the Democrat party’s internal politics.

Cumulative revisions to monthly jobs reports from January through November 2023 suggest that at least 443,000 fewer jobs were created in Joe Biden’s economy than the public was initially told.

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CNN commentator and former Obama official Van Jones panned President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy in an appearance on the news network on Tuesday, calling the jobs made available to the Black community “crappy.” Despite the Biden government touting improving employment numbers, Jones said “facts and feelings” among voters “are very different.” show more
January 19, 2024
Economy
News

Macy’s Sheds 2,300+ Jobs, Closes Five Stores.

Macy’s, an iconic US department store, announced on Thursday that it will reduce its workforce by approximately 3.5 percent — equivalent to around 2,350 jobs — as the retailer seeks to cut costs and revive flagging sales. This comes alongside plans to shutter five of the brand’s department stores in Arlington, Virginia; San Leandro, California; Lihue, Hawaii; Simi Valley, California; and Tallahassee, Florida this year. Affected employees were also notified of the layoffs on Thursday, with the last day for those impacted being January 26.

Internal changes at the company’s leadership level are also on the horizon. Current Bloomingdale’s CEO, Tony Spring, is set to assume the CEO role at Macy’s in early February, replacing outgoing CEO Jeff Gennette. This comes as the company anticipates reporting its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings in late February. As of October 28, Macy’s has 723 locations nationwide, which includes about 500 namesake stores, 158 Bluemercury stores, and 56 Bloomingdale’s stores.

The sluggish American economy under President Joe Biden has hit the retail sector especially hard. Polling over recent months has shown voters continue to disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy. Even traditional Democrat constituencies have soured on what the Biden White House has dubbed “Bidenomics.”

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Macy’s, an iconic US department store, announced on Thursday that it will reduce its workforce by approximately 3.5 percent — equivalent to around 2,350 jobs — as the retailer seeks to cut costs and revive flagging sales. This comes alongside plans to shutter five of the brand’s department stores in Arlington, Virginia; San Leandro, California; Lihue, Hawaii; Simi Valley, California; and Tallahassee, Florida this year. Affected employees were also notified of the layoffs on Thursday, with the last day for those impacted being January 26. show more
January 19, 2024
William Upton
Economy

Here’s The ONE Decent Idea the Biden White House is Working On.

President Joe Biden’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unveiled a new proposed rule that could limit bank overdraft fees to as little as $3. The proposed rule applies only to banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in assets — limiting the fee caps to roughly 175 of the largest banking institutions in the U.S. According to the CFPB, banks currently take in around $9 billion annually in overdraft fees.

The proposed rule would limit banks to charging either the coverage cost for an overdrawn account or a capped fee determined by the CFPB. This, in practice, should drastically lower the typical overdraft fee from the $35 most consumers are currently charged.

“When companies sneak hidden junk fees into families’ bills, it can take hundreds of dollars a month out of their pockets and make it harder to make ends meet,” President Biden said yesterday in a statement released by the White House. “For too long, some banks have charged exorbitant overdraft fees—sometimes $30 or more.”

He added: “Banks call it a service—I call it exploitation.”

The American Bankers Association (ABA) blasted the proposed rule change. “Today’s proposal from the CFPB marks the bureau’s latest attempt to demonize and mischaracterize highly regulated and clearly disclosed bank fees for a service that surveys consistently show Americans value and appreciate,” the ABA said in a statement.

The ABA claims the rule change would discourage banks from offering consumers overdraft protection, “including those who have few, if any, other means to access needed liquidity.” Critics of the current rules governing overdraft fees argue that banks too often view overdrafts as a quasi-lending instrument, with overdraft fees treated as a form of interest that exceeds federal regulations.

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President Joe Biden’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unveiled a new proposed rule that could limit bank overdraft fees to as little as $3. The proposed rule applies only to banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in assets — limiting the fee caps to roughly 175 of the largest banking institutions in the U.S. According to the CFPB, banks currently take in around $9 billion annually in overdraft fees. show more

Editor’s Notes

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

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
This move – as well as my headline about it – is likely to enrage the “muh free market” puritans regarding matters of banking and private finance
for exclusive members-only insights
This move – as well as my headline about it – is likely to enrage the “muh free market” puritans regarding matters of banking and private finance show more
for exclusive members-only insights
big tech
January 18, 2024
Economy

GOP-Led House Approves Bill to Avoid Shutdown Without Border, Spending Deals.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Thursday afternoon to extend government funding into early March and avoid a temporary partial government shutdown, sending the continuing resolution to President Biden to sign into law.

The measure, which passed by a vote of 314 to 108, angered conservative Republicans who opposed any continuing resolution to fund the government without concessions by the Democrats on border security and spending. The House Freedom Caucus made an eleventh-hour plea to House Speaker Mike Johnson to permit an amendment to the House’s border security package, which Johnson rejected.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good slammed his fellow Republicans who supported the continuing resolution ahead of the vote. “The more things change, the more things stay the same,” he said in a floor speech. “We’re not even willing to risk a temporary pause in the 15 percent of the non-essential part of the government in order to force change in Washington,” he said. “No, we’re going to continue the status quo.”

Good’s statements echoed an official position on the measure released by the Freedom Caucus hours before the vote. “Americans did not give Republicans a majority in the House to continue Nancy Pelosi’s inflationary spending and Joe Biden’s failed policies,” the group wrote in a statement. “This is not what we promised the American people.”

The vote is also likely to be unpopular with the Republican base, which consistently ranks immigration as one of the top issues facing the country. Over 80 percent of Republican voters agree with former President Donald Trump that the ongoing border crisis is “poisoning the blood” of America.

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Thursday afternoon to extend government funding into early March and avoid a temporary partial government shutdown, sending the continuing resolution to President Biden to sign into law. show more
January 18, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Economy
Politics

Dem Congressman Tells Govt to Print $14 TRILLION & Let Criminals Vote as ‘Reparations’.

Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who recently pleaded guilty to pulling a fire alarm in Congress during a budget debate, wants the government to print $14 trillion for black Americans and give prisoners and felons the vote as a form of “reparations” for slavery.

Rep. Bowman suggested that “[w]hen COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat,” and so the government could “invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone.”

“Where did the money come from? We spent it into existence,” Bowman said.

“The economy wouldn’t exist in the way it does today if slavery hadn’t built it,” Bowman argued.

The Democrat also believes the “incarcerated should be able to vote” and ex-prisoners “should automatically be enfranchised” as a form of reparations, as black people account for a disproportionate share of the prison population.

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Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who recently pleaded guilty to pulling a fire alarm in Congress during a budget debate, wants the government to print $14 trillion for black Americans and give prisoners and felons the vote as a form of "reparations" for slavery. show more
bidenomics
January 17, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Economy
News

BIDEN’S JOBS GROWTH LIE: Quiet Corrections Reveal Economy Added Near HALF A MILLION FEWER Jobs Than First Claimed.

Cumulative revisions to monthly jobs reports from January through November 2023 suggest that at least 443,000 fewer jobs were created in Joe Biden’s economy than the public was initially told.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BSL) publishes monthly job reports. Its figures often show job creation has been “surprisingly” high, with Biden’s economy stronger on paper than expected, given “hardship withdrawals” are rising and polls show most Americans feel the country is not performing well.

However, revisions to BSL job estimates over the course of the year indicate that people are not wrong to feel a disconnect between the numbers and their lived experiences. Revisions were downwards in 10 months out of the 11 for which revised estimates are available. The revisions are not small, either.

In June, the new jobs estimate was cut almost in half, dropping from 209,000 to 105,000. September, February, and May also saw big cuts of 74,000, 63,000, and 58,000, respectively.

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Revisions for December 2023 were unknown as of the time of publication, but analysts say the prognosis is bleak.

Economist Dr. E.J. Antoni believes the current figures point towards “the economy shedding 1.5 million full-time jobs in a single month, big downward revisions” and a “true unemployment rate between 6.4 percent and 7.5 percent.”

Antoni also noted that government jobs accounted for roughly a quarter of all job gains in December, explaining that “this is highly problematic [because] you need many private sector jobs to support each [government] job via tax revenue,” far above the ratio that currently exists.

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Cumulative revisions to monthly jobs reports from January through November 2023 suggest that at least 443,000 fewer jobs were created in Joe Biden's economy than the public was initially told. show more
January 15, 2024
William Upton
Economy
Immigration
News

YAHOO: Inflation ‘Cooling’ Thanks to Cheap Migrant Labor Depressing Your Wages.

Cheap migrant labor is the cause of subsiding inflation numbers — while also depressing the wages of American workers. While inflation ticked up slightly in December, the overall trend has shown prices falling — for the most part — as the demand for labor is easing and wages fall.

According to Yahoo Finance, foreign-born labor numbers by December of 2023 were nearly 10 percent higher than they were pre-coronavirus pandemic — with 20 percent of the U.S. labor force being comprised of immigrant workers. While Yahoo points to the immigrant labor increases as a reason for subsiding inflation, the increase in foreign workers has also driven down the wages of American workers — arguably decreasing their quality of life.

In addition, the increase in foreign labor could also have contributed to December’s elevated inflation numbers. The influx of immigrants also means an increase in consumers. Additional consumers mean an increase in demand for products — which often leads to higher prices. While the finance industry experts cited by Yahoo Finance fail to mention this problem, they do fret that the addition of non-productive immigrants “such as elderly relatives, stay-at-home mothers, and students” could negatively impact the economy.

Financial industry experts, cited by Yahoo Finance, argue the increase in immigrant labor helps the U.S. avoid a theoretical ‘wage-price spiral.’ However, there is scant evidence this was the case in the U.S. where wages have lagged behind inflation for years. Even the U.S. Federal Reserve has argued a minimal degree of inflation — around two percent — is desirable to avoid a deflationary trap – which was a top concern shortly before the coronavirus pandemic.

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Cheap migrant labor is the cause of subsiding inflation numbers — while also depressing the wages of American workers. While inflation ticked up slightly in December, the overall trend has shown prices falling — for the most part — as the demand for labor is easing and wages fall. show more