Free Republic

Key Points -Donald Trump discussed the idea of imposing an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately enable the U.S. to get rid of the income tax, sources told CNBC. -He also talked about using tariffs to leverage negotiating power over bad actors, according to another source in the room. - Trump championed tariffs during his first term in the White House.Donald Trump on Thursday brought up the idea of imposing an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately enable the U.S. to get rid of the income tax, sources in a private meeting with the Republican presidential candidate told CNBC. Trump,...

As many as half of British households may be facing fuel poverty because of the inexorable rise in energy prices, EDF, the French utility that also has business in the UK, has warned. .... The UK's energy market regulator Ofgem is set to announce the latest energy price cap this week, which will see electricity bills for millions of Britons rise considerably. The price cap, aimed to protect households from excessively high bills by capping the price increases that providers can pass on to them, normally gets adjusted twice a year. In April this year, the cap was raised by...

US headline inflation exceeded 7% in 2021. But rent increases put the Consumer Price Index to shame, soaring an average of 13.5%. And within that already-brutally-high average, there were some absolutely astounding outliers. Phoenix rents soared 25.3%, followed by Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Austin, all of which exceeded 20%. That means an Austin barista could receive a 10% salary bump and have most of it wiped out just by an increase in their rent. Add in the soaring costs of food and gasoline, and our hypothetical worker is actually losing ground despite their double-digit pay raise. A confluence...

Strong economic growth in the services and manufacturing sector is pushing prices up at an “unprecedented rate,” surveys of executives in both the manufacturing and services sector indicated Friday. The flash reading of the IHS Market U.S. composite purchasing managers index unexpectedly jumped to a record high 68.1 in May from 63.5 in April, according to survey data released Friday. Analysts had expected the index to move sideways or slightly downward after hitting records in April. The manufacturing component went from record high to new record high. The services portion was expected to see a modest gain after a stunning...

Apartment rents are up. So are prices for restaurant meals, haircuts, gym memberships and a cup of coffee. For American consumers who have become used to flat or even falling prices for several years, an unfamiliar sight has emerged in many corners of the economy: Inflation is ticking up. The price increases remain modest. And in many cases, they’re canceled out by price declines for other items that are keeping overall inflation historically low. Yet the stepped-up price tags for a range of consumer items are the largest since the Great Recession ended six years ago. They actually reflect a...

<p>Fast food fans, we've got some bad news. Wholesale prices on a bunch of your favorite food products have seen sharp increases this year. Among those, beef and avocados are through the roof, hitting burrito-makers doubly hard.</p> <p>Because of huge price increases for beef and avocados, Chipotle is raising menu prices for the first time in three years. It's a reality that a lot of restaurants are facing due to rising food prices.</p>