THIS WEEK IN…
SOYBEANS AND COCKROACHES
Despite government claims that the economy is booming, experts caution that this image is dangerously misleading. While the stock market has hit record highs this year, Americans are battling food insecurity, rising health insurance premiums, and a growing inability to make ends meet. A record number of farmers face economic hardship, and bankruptcies are soaring. This disparity between a surging stock market fueled by an AI boom and households burdened by mounting debt and increasingly unable to even pay back their car loans may pose a threat not only to the U.S. but the world economy.
How Americans deal with ever-increasing grocery prices caused by Trump’s tariffs describes Shrai Popat in Empty shelves, higher prices’: Americans tell of cost of Trump’s tariffs.
The administration’s economic policies are particularly hurting farmers and ranchers, and Trump’s trade war is making it worse reports Scott Horsley from the Midwest.
Trump’s solution to counter high beef prices is to import more meat from Argentina. This proposal has alarmed major American agricultural organizations, which have been among Trump’s strongest supporters. His plan has not only been met with fierce criticisms from ranchers but also Republican senators. Cattle producer associations call it ‘A Betrayal of the American Rancher,’ as MARIAH SQUIRE and NATALINA SENTS BAUSCH report.
Jill Lawrence takes a fascinating look at the harm Trump is doing from too wildly different angles. The Disney Heiress, the Soybean Farmer, and Trump’s Dangerous Decisions.
Bullish investors may see prolonged profitable times ahead, fueled by expectations of further Fed rate cuts and more disposable income from Republican tax cuts scheduled for 2026. Others, including some of America’s top bankers and hedge fund managers, see warning signs with major implications for the United States and the world.
Harvard Economics Professor and former IMF chief economist Gina Gopinath looks at how dangerously dependent on American stocks the world has become: The crash that could torch $35trn of wealth
ELISABETH BUCHWALD and MATT EGAN explain why [JPMorgan Chase CEO] Jamie Dimon is warning of ‘cockroaches’ in the US economy after the bankruptcies of a subprime auto lender and dealer, and an auto-parts supplier. He cautions that trouble could be lurking again just like in 2008 and sounds warning on US stock market fail, report Simon Jack and Michael Sheils McNamee.
Bridgewater hedge fund manager Ray Dalio sees an even gloomier future. In an interview with Bloomberg, he warns of soaring debt and ‘civil war’ brewing in (the) US. Speaking with ANNIKA INAMPUDI, the billionaire investor reiterated warnings that U.S. government debt is rising too quickly, fueling a climate “that’s very much analogous” to the years before World War II.
The razing of the White House’s East Wing seems like a metaphor for the destructive forces shaping the current political climate of this country.
More Americans say violence might be necessary to get the country back on track found a NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Speaking with Americans from both parties and independents, DOMENICO MONTANARO found that even if respondents would not commit violence themselves, there is a growing acceptance of political violence in this country. Add increasing economic hardship and widening inequality, and this country might face a gigantic wrecking ball.
…IN OTHER NEWS
While it is not surprising that Trump is treating the DOJ like an instrument of revenge, the work and effort the administration is putting into going after his perceived enemies is astonishing.
Jonathan Landay, Sarah N. Lynch and Phil Stewart have uncovered how a Wide-ranging group of US officials pursues Trump’s fight against ‘Deep State’
Trump’s NSPM-7 memo, formally named National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, directs law enforcement and regulatory agencies to “investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations” that, according to the president, are responsible for encouraging acts of political violence. Jacob Knutson looks at how the DOJ and other and other federal agencies may wield it against left-leaning nonprofit organizations who hold ideological beliefs and fund progressive political activity the president and his allies oppose
DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni describes how government officials are undermining the rule of law, and New York University law professor Ryan Goodman and his team have analyzed 400 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration and found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again.