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us economy 6 7m ago 3 min read

56 Decomposing Bodies Found at Chicago Funeral Home That State Had Already Flagged Once Before

Cook County investigators found more than 50 bodies decomposing in unrefrigerated, rodent-infested conditions at South Chicago Chapel, months after neighbors started complaining about the smell. The couple running it, Johanna and Clark Morgan, already had a crematory shut down for the same thing last year. No charges have been filed yet, but the state let repeat offenders keep operating on grieving families.

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us economy 6 55m ago 4 min read

White House Pushes to Delay Hemp THC Ban While Chief of Staff's Son-in-Law Sits in the Industry

Senate Republicans are deadlocked over a provision that would delay a federal ban on intoxicating hemp products until December 11. The White House is lobbying hard for the delay, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' son-in-law runs companies that sell the very gummies and vapes the ban would outlaw. No investigation has been announced and the White House denies any conflict of interest. Separately, farm groups are pressing the Senate to pass a $95 billion budget package with $12 billion in agricultural aid before its August recess.

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us economy 7 1h ago 4 min read

Trump Announces $2 Billion in Mining Deals and $180 Million for Mining Schools

President Trump rolled out more than $2 billion in federal financing for critical minerals projects and over $180 million for mining education at a State Department event on Friday, August 7. The goal: cut US dependence on China for materials that power everything from fighter jets to EV batteries. The math is real and the China problem is real, but building mines and training engineers takes years, not press conferences.

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us economy 6 4h ago 4 min read

CMS Chief Mehmet Oz Names California Unions as Winners in Medicaid Fraud Fight, DOJ Probing Coercion Claims

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz says California's home care unions, not just fraudsters, benefit from the state's lax Medicaid oversight because more billing means more dues and more campaign cash. The Department of Justice is now investigating coercion complaints against union organizers, according to a law enforcement source cited by the New York Post. Oz stresses these labor complaints aren't the reason for federal payment deferrals, but he says they explain why state leaders have little incentive to dig into fraud.

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us economy 5 7h ago 4 min read

Delta and United Now Sell Stripped-Down Business Class. Here's What You Stop Getting.

United rolled out a cheaper business-class fare in April and Delta followed in July, both stripping out lounge access, free bag allowances, seat selection, and free changes. Business travel managers say the savings are a trap because losing flexibility can cost companies more than the ticket saved. The right credit card can claw back some of what the airlines took away, but not all of it.

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ir economy 8 10h ago 4 min read

Bessent Says Hormuz Deal Could Come 'Today or Tomorrow.' Iran Says Not So Fast.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a 30-to-60-day ceasefire could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a day. Hours later, Tehran's own officials said U.S. and Israeli-linked ships still won't be allowed through until sanctions are lifted and Iran gets paid compensation. Nobody's actually agreed to the same deal yet.

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ve economy 6 10h ago 4 min read

Institute of International Finance Flags Mexico Stagnation Risk, Brazil Fiscal Strain, and Venezuela Debt Mess

The Institute of International Finance's latest Latin America research shows a region stuck between weak private investment, election-year uncertainty, and a Venezuela debt restructuring with almost none of the normal legal tools in place. Mexico is the sharpest warning sign: nearshoring hype isn't translating into sustained growth without real policy reform.

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us economy 5 13h ago 3 min read

NY Fed Survey: Consumers Grow More Optimistic on Stocks and Jobs Even as Unemployment Fears Tick Up

The New York Fed's July Survey of Consumer Expectations shows inflation expectations holding steady near 3.6% while optimism about stock prices hit its highest level since April 2021. But the same survey shows more people worried about losing their job and missing debt payments, a split picture that lines up with a July jobs report showing employers cut positions even as the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.

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us economy 6 16h ago 3 min read

Volkswagen Plans First-Ever US Pickup Truck, Replaces American Operations Chief

Volkswagen is bringing a pickup truck to the U.S. market for the first time, built domestically, with a new sales boss to run the region. It's a straightforward bet on the vehicles Americans actually buy, after VW spent years pushing EVs that didn't sell.

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us economy 9 16h ago 3 min read

July Payrolls Fell 23,000, First Monthly Job Loss Since February

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the U.S. economy shed 23,000 jobs in July, badly missing forecasts of roughly 85,000 in gains. Unemployment ticked down to 4.1 percent, but only because fewer people are looking for work, and revisions wiped another 103,000 jobs off the May and June counts.

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us economy 6 17h ago 4 min read

You Now Need $109,796 a Year to Afford the Typical U.S. Home

Redfin's June 2026 data shows the income needed to buy a typical U.S. home sits at $109,796, barely below last year's record. The average household still earns $22,197 less than that, which is why it's a buyer's market in name only.

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us economy 5 18h ago 4 min read

Report: Andrew Tate's 'Real World' Platform Generates Estimated $184 Million a Year Selling Grievance to Young Men

A new report from Reset Tech and Equimundo argues the online 'manosphere' functions less like an ideological movement and more like a sales funnel, routing young men from self-help content into paid coaching, supplements and crypto pitches. The researchers estimate Andrew Tate's subscription platform alone pulls in $184 million a year. The underlying economic anxiety driving young men to these spaces is real, even if the report says the villains they're pointed toward often aren't.

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us economy 7 18h ago 3 min read

America's Power Grid Equipment Shortage Is Real: 80% of Large Transformers Are Now Imported

The transformers that move electricity across the U.S. grid take up to two and a half years to build and cost 77% more than in 2019, largely because America let its transformer manufacturing base wither during a decade of flat electricity demand. Now data centers, reshoring and electrification have demand climbing again, and the country is short on both the steel and the skilled workers to catch up.

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us economy 7 19h ago 3 min read

Convicted Killer Charged With Arson After Spokane Fires Destroy 860 Buildings, Displace 65,000

Aaron Farinacci, a 37-year-old with a prior manslaughter conviction, is charged with first-degree arson for allegedly starting the most destructive of three fires now devastating Spokane, Washington. The blazes have destroyed at least 860 buildings and displaced 65,000 people, and a citizen tip cracked the case wide open.

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ir economy 7 19h ago 4 min read

World Food Prices Hit Highest Level Since January 2023, UN Says War and Heat Are Driving It

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says its global food price index climbed to 131.1 in July, the highest since January 2023, as wheat prices jumped 5.8% on Black Sea attacks and Iran war fallout hit oil markets. Wars start. Crops get more expensive. This isn't complicated, and the American grocery bill is going to feel it eventually.

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us economy 8 21h ago 3 min read

Volkswagen's Own Controlling Family Tells Management to Cut Twice as Many Jobs as Planned

Porsche SE, the Porsche-Piech family holding company that controls Volkswagen, publicly pushed management on Friday to accelerate a restructuring that could eliminate up to 100,000 jobs, double the figure previously floated. This isn't outside pressure. It's the boss telling the company to move faster.

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us economy 6 22h ago 4 min read

Labor Department Bars Four Companies From H-1B Program as Watchdog Alleges Criminal Networks Sell Visa Jobs

The Department of Labor has debarred four companies from sponsoring H-1B visas after finding them willful violators of federal labor law. Separately, the department's inspector general says a broader investigation into H-1B fraud may expose ties to organized criminal networks, though no charges have been announced yet.

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us economy 5 23h ago 4 min read

Michigan House Speaker Demands Answers on $300M Rx Kids Cash Program

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall says the state's Rx Kids program, sold to lawmakers as maternal health support, has turned into an unrestricted cash handout with no income or citizenship checks. Program officials have acknowledged in legislative testimony that payments went to people not legally present in the U.S.

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us economy 7 1d ago 4 min read

Carney Calls US Trade Talks Nasty After Trump Trashes Canadian Leadership

Trump called Canadians nasty in a Las Vegas speech. Carney threw the word back at him Thursday while Canadian negotiators sat down with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington. Twelve days out from threatened 50% tariffs, both sides are still talking but nobody's blinking.

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us economy 7 1d ago 3 min read

China's Exports Jumped 23% in July, Even With New U.S. Tariffs in Place

China's exports rose 23% in July from a year earlier, beating forecasts, though the pace cooled from June's 27% surge. A new 12.5% U.S. tariff took effect in late July, and Chinese factories are still finding buyers, largely on the back of global AI infrastructure demand.

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