Free Republic

Oil prices could soar back into the triple-digits if crude supply faces more pressure – and that could bring global economic growth to a near standstill, according to JPMorgan. In a note on Tuesday, the bank's strategists noted oil prices have jumped 27% over the past month to trade at a 10-month high. Around 25% of that change is attributable to higher-than-expected oil demand, while 75% is attributable to major supply cuts, such as from OPEC+, which has repeatedly slashed its crude production over the past year.

It’s not just low-income Americans drowning under inflation and interest rates — some higher-income folks are feeling the strain on their wallets as well. Data from a June survey conducted by personal finance software company Quicken revealed that 32% of Americans earning at least $150,000 a year are currently living paycheck to paycheck, while 36% of folks earning $50,000 to $150,000 and 55% of households earning less than that reported the same.

President Biden said Thursday that so-called MAGA Republicans are failing while making the pitch for his own economic agenda and achievements under the banner of “Bidenomics.” “You hear from our friends on the other side, the MAGA Republicans, what’s wrong with America. Everything’s wrong with America. They keep telling us America’s failing,” the president said in remarks at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md. “Well they’re wrong: They’re failing. America’s not failing, America’s winning, and there’s one reason for it: you. At the event, which looked a lot like a campaign speech, the president said that his agenda is...

Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen said she is “feeling very good” about the U.S. making a soft economic landing without a recession. “I am feeling very good about that prediction,” Yellen told Bloomberg when asked whether the U.S. would avoid a recession while still containing inflation. “I think you’d have to say we’re on a path that looks exactly like that.” While inflation has dropped since its peak of 9.1 percent last June, it ticked up for the first time this year in July at 3.2 percent. This was the first increase after 13 months of falling inflation, but that...

FOX Business Network host Charles Payne sounded the alarm that the economic indicators in the United States are becoming "frightening." Payne said on "Hannity" that he fears $4-per-gallon gasoline could look cheap in the next few months, and "Americans just aren't prepared" for what is coming. CHARLES PAYNE: He's [Biden] in a lot of trouble, but it's going to get a lot worse. The trends on the economic data are frightening… frightening. We see the smallest banks right now, their delinquency rates are 7.5%, it's off the rails, but the large banks are turning up. Credit card interest rates just...

MILWAUKEE — President Biden on Tuesday traveled to a manufacturing warehouse in Wisconsin to tout one of his signature legislative achievements, a reflection of how the White House is betting Americans will favor their focus on kitchen table issues as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination is once again mired in legal troubles. Biden delivered remarks on the Inflation Reduction Act, a law he signed one year ago that contained numerous Democratic priorities to address climate change and lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. He chose to come to Wisconsin, which is sure to be a hotly...

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” co-host Kate Bolduan and CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten said that it’s puzzling that President Joe Biden’s economic approval numbers are terrible, but Enten noted that inflation is “still way up” and at 12% over the past two years and people are “taking the longer-range view” on the economy. Enten said, “The only one who was noticeably worse was Jimmy Carter. We always said Donald Trump had such a low approval rating, right? But if you look, what you see is that Donald Trump’s approval rating was actually slightly larger than Joe...

During an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that “we have and want to continue to have deep economic ties” with China and noted the near-record amount of trade between the two countries. Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Annmarie Hordern asked, “But when you’re looking at de-escalating, we’re trying to figure out what would be left on the table. Because what it feels [like] now is the administration is actually just amping up when it comes to potential tit-for-tat with Beijing. There is the outbound executive order that potentially we could see as soon as the end of...

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Biden 2024 Campaign Co-Chair Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) responded to President Joe Biden’s poor economic poll numbers by stating that the numbers are bad because “people really got in a pretty sour mood during that pandemic,” people will see the impact of President Joe Biden’s economic policies, and “We have not spent enough time accentuating the positives that exist today.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said he is “very frustrated” over the state of debt ceiling talks and questioned why President Biden is continuing to negotiate with what the congressman called “economic terrorists” in the Republican party. “I called on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment and mint a coin and do not negotiate with hostage takers,” Bowman told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday. “I mean, we don’t negotiate with terrorists globally. Why are we gonna negotiate with the economic terrorists here that are the Republican Party?” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said earlier this week that some Republicans do not...

The Job Creators Network (JCN) has placed its latest massive billboard in Times Square, this time blasting President Joe Biden over what economist, lawmakers, and a majority of Americans describe as a poor economic performance. The JCN billboard lands in Times Square just as Biden is expected to announce his reelection bid. “Persistently high inflation continues to more than erase wage gains. In fact, the most recent Consumer Price Index report marks the 24th consecutive month that the rate of price increases has surpassed average earnings gains,” a JCN press release said. “Translation: Americans have gotten a pay cut.”

Richard Quest, senior international business correspondent at CNN, warned on Monday of the economic consequences of the judicial reform being promoted by the Israeli government. Speaking to Channel 12 News, Quest said, “Let’s be quite clear about this: If these measures go forward as planned, there will be an effect. It will be felt. You cannot tinker around, undermine the foundations of a country’s unwritten constitution, based on practice and history, and not expect to have a result. It’s as simple as that.” He said that the effect will not be immediate but rather take place over time. “Over the...

During a portion of an interview with CNN on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that while inflation remains “too high,” it has been generally declining over the past year, and she would characterize the process of bringing down inflation while maintaining the “very strong labor market” that currently exists as “so far, so good.” CNN International Correspondent Melissa Bell asked, “We’ve seen the fight against inflation take a hit, PCE [Personal Consumption Expenditures price index] hitting 5.4%. Do you believe at this stage that the Fed is behind the curve or that a soft landing is still the most...

When Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called (again) for "national divorce" this week, a common retort among her detractors on Twitter was to claim that so-called red states are heavily dependent on so-called blue states to pay for pretty much everything.Reporter Molly Knight claimed, for example, that "Red states get their money for roads and cops and schools from blue states. You cut off that gravy train and you e [sic] got a third world country."Others claimed that red states would be "entirely broke" without blue states. America's social democrats have apparently fully gone over to pushing the narrative that the...

As people across the nation and indeed across the globe continue to struggle financially due to inflation, lingering coronavirus outbreaks and the effects of the Russian war on Ukraine, we could all use more economic freedom to fill our pocketbooks and improve our quality of life. That is the lesson from the Fraser Institute’s annual Economic Freedom of North America and Economic Freedom of the World reports. Drawing upon both its own results and a wealth of other economic research, the Economic Freedom of North America report concluded that “economic freedom is positively correlated with per-capita income, economic growth, greater...

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that House Republicans want “economic chaos” to help former President Donald Trump get re-elected. When asked about the debt ceiling, Warren said, “We got to call the Republicans out on this. They are threatening to wreck our entire economy just to protect a wealthy handful. If this were really about the national debt, then there are plenty of places we could go to stitch up loopholes like no more of the tax havens abroad to get that under control, but that is not where the Republicans want to go. Instead,...

Ordinary Americans should pay the $2 billion cost of housing and feeding the economic migrants that New York City leaders are putting into Americans’ jobs and apartments, according to Mayor Eric Adams. “We expect more from our national leaders to address this in a real way,” Adams told a group of Venezuelan economic migrants during a brief Sunday trip to the border town of El Paso, Texas.

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) stated that the large number of migrants who have arrived in the city has had a large impact on not only the city’s safety net, but also its economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Co-host Geoff Bennett asked, “I want to start with the request you issued today to New York state to help with the burden, the influx of migrants, asylum seekers who have found their way to your city. More than 800 asylum seekers arrived in one day last week, more than 36,000 since...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will travel to Europe next week for a five-day trip to promote the state’s recent economic developments and with hopes of attracting new businesses in the automotive and clean energy industries. The Democratic governor will travel to Norway first before heading to Switzerland to speak at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos next week to speak on a panel to discuss “The Return of Manufacturing.” She will be a part of a bipartisan group of governors in Davos that includes Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

It’s the end of 2022 and this is video 319. If you’ve watched all 319 you can give yourself a pat on the back – but if you are in the UK, please don’t dislocate anything as you do so because there are no ambulances, no GPs and no hospitals; and possibly no Royal Mail to bring you a get-well card. GPs, who earn huge six-figure salaries, want a 21-hour working week, without having to see patients face to face, and are threatening to go on strike. How will anyone tell if GPs do go on strike? They gave out...