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The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, marking a historic milestone in a borrowing buildup that has accumulated over generations, through wars, recessions, tax changes and the expansion of major federal benefit programs under presidents of both parties.The Treasury Department reported that total public debt outstanding reached about $40.047 trillion Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The number is striking, but the more significant measure for economists is debt held by the public — money the federal government owes to investors and other entities outside the federal government. That...

US President Donald Trump urges Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. The comments underscore the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into the November midterm elections. In a speech in Garden City, Trump says Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline”...

The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections. The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government. Interest rates on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note are topping 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the war started at the end of February. Average mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels in nine months, while auto...

On Wednesday morning, the Labor Department released its monthly report that can give insights into the way inflation is affecting Americans' everyday lives, in what's known as the CPI (consumer price index). Here's what we know about July's report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.1% on a monthly basis and is up 3.4% from a year ago. [...] So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of...

Oil prices jumped about 5% Monday as doubt grew that the U.S. and Iran will reach a deal to increase ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed about 5% to close at $82.13 per barrel. Brent crude , the international benchmark, also settled around 5% higher at $87.72 a barrel. President Donald Trump told Axios on Sunday that the U.S. is “only semi-negotiating” with Iran, after he insisted last week that Washington and Tehran were in fact holding talks. Trump indicated that he would rely on the U.S. naval blockade to pressure Tehran rather...

Walmart is lowering prices on thousands of products, including beef, Coca-Cola and laundry detergent, saying the cuts are aimed at reducing the costs of seasonal summer items. The largest U.S. retailer on Monday said the price cuts will be available in its stores and in Sam's Club locations, on Walmart.com, SamsClub.com, and through the Walmart and Sam's Club apps. The reductions apply to groceries and other household items, such as grills, sunscreen and lawn mowers. President Trump praised Walmart for the reductions and sought to claim credit for the decision. "I have just been informed that one of the biggest,...

President Donald Trump told the media on Wednesday, “I love the inflation” report that came out earlier in the morning, showing inflation had risen above 4% for the first time in three years. “Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number, which came out this morning? Could that be a–” a reporter asked Trump during an Oval Office Q&A. Trump cut in and answered, “No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.” “You know why? Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say...

The price didn’t just go up. The product went down. This is shrinkflation on steroids. The cost increased. The value didn’t. BRIEFING Grant here. Shrinkflation is everywhere nowadays. It's actually becoming so common that we seem to just almost be throwing up our hands and accepting it. Well, for the most part.... Because this latest video showing what an absolute rip-off the classic McDonald's sundae has become has people pretty darn heated. Let’s break it down. A popular X video shows a woman holding her obnoxiously tiny McDonald’s hot fudge sundae. I mean, it's comically small. It looks like something...

During an interview with CBS’s “The Takeout” podcast released on Friday, Biden Senior Adviser Gene Sperling stated that while some economists question whether the White House’s narrative on shrinkflation is accurate, “I think Joe Biden feels like he knows what side he’s on.” And “one thing Joe Biden has learned a bit, is it’s not sometimes just listening to the real conservative economists, but just following his gut instinct” like he did with the American Rescue Plan. Sperling said, [relevant remarks begin around 23:35] “He’s not happy, whether you call it price gouging or greed, he’s just not afraid to...

During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden reached for one of his top recent peeves: shrinkflation. "Too many corporations raise prices to pad the profits, charging more and more for less and less," Biden said. He complained about skimpier Snickers bars and added: "The snack companies think you won't notice if they change the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer — same size bag — put fewer chips in it." Less coffee in a can, more air in a bag of cereal, fewer sheets in a toilet-paper roll — shrinkflation lets...

The "Sesame Street" figure wants more cookies per dollar, while the snacker-in-chief bemoaned the loss of potato chips per package.Beloved "Sesame Street" figure Cookie Monster lashed out at companies hawking their food wares at the same price but with less actual product — a practice known as “shrinkflation." “Me hate shrinkflation!” the “Sesame Street” character told his 626,000 fans on X, the platform that used to be known as Twitter, on Monday. “Me cookies are getting smaller.” It was a sentiment shared by the White House, which responded Monday, "C is for consumers getting ripped off." And then President Joe...

The scandal of the century is unfolding at this very moment, leaving political onlookers wondering: Did Joe Biden collude with the Cookie Monster? I know it seems like I'm joking, but only half so. There's reason to believe that the President of the United States improperly gave money to "Sesame Street" only for the show's characters to begin repeating White House talking points. Here's the post that started all this. Cookie Monster @MeCookieMonster Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller. Sesame Street’s foray into the "shrinkflation" debate could raise questions about whether the White House and Sesame Street coordinated...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was 'stunned' to find out that the Cookie Monster has been a victim of 'shrinkflation' and slammed chip companies for charging the same price for bags when you get 'a helluva lot fewer'.

The White House on Monday seized on Cookie Monster’s post complaining about “shrinkflation.” “C is for consumers getting ripped off,” the official White House account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted in response to an earlier post by the “Sesame Street” character. “President Biden is calling on companies to put a stop to shrinkflation. On Monday, Cookie Monster’s account on X posted that “shrinkflation” was getting him down. “Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,” he wrote, with a sad emoji. “Shrinkflation” refers to companies making their products smaller while keeping the same price.

“I’ve had enough of what they call shrinkflation," Biden said. "It's a rip-off.”President Joe Biden has a message for snack companies: Knock it off with shrinkflation. On Sunday, just ahead of the Super Bowl, Biden posted on X (formally known as Twitter), sharing a video aimed at snack companies, saying that they are shrinking the size of their products without also reducing costs to consumers. It’s a practice the president bluntly called a “rip-off.” “When buying snacks for the big game, you might have noticed one thing,” Biden said. “Sports drink bottles are smaller, a bag of chips has fewer...

Share the things you do to combat food inflation.

e all know it by now—the pandemic has caused things to get more expensive. Producers are paying more for energy, labor and transportation, and they're passing the cost on to consumers. Rising gas prices are obvious, but at the grocery store, shrinkflation can look like products with suspiciously smaller amounts selling for the same price as before. Or, the products themselves might be changing—the milk, cream and sugar in your favorite ice cream might be replaced with cost-saving bulking agents like corn syrup solids and whey protein. The Consumer Price Index may not even reflect all these shifts: It doesn't...

Everything’s getting more expensive. But have you noticed? Everything’s getting smaller, too. Cereal boxes, soup cans, paper towels, you name it, are all shrinking in a phenomenon known as “shrinkflation.” Manufacturers figure consumers will notice higher prices, but who can tell when a box of Wheat Thins goes from 10 ounces to 8.5 ounces? Now, shrinkflation has hit your favorite burgers and pizzas. “For the first time ever consumers are mentioning ‘shrinkflation’ in Yelp reviews,” the website said in a release, citing new data. “In Q2 2022, consumers are talking about shrinkflation-related experiences most commonly at restaurants serving more affordable...