Finance
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Utility CEOs pocket $626 million as American energy bills hit record highs
For years, American households have been watching their electrical bills gradually tick higher. As it turns out, the chief executives of the country’s largest investor-owned utilities were doing the same thing while looking at their paychecks. Last year, 51 electrical and gas utility companies in the U.S. paid their CEOs a collective $626 million, according
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Trump says he’ll hike EU auto tariffs to 25%, jolting a world economy that really didn’t need it
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment. Trump said in a social media post that the EU “is not complying with our fully agreed to
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CEOs got an 11% pay raise in 2025. Workers got 0.5%
CEO pay is on the rise in 2025, and the pace of growth is leaving the average worker far behind, according to a new report. The leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies got an 11% pay bump last year, while the average worker globally got a measly 0.5% increase—that means CEO pay grew
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By staying on the Fed’s board, Jerome Powell could be doing incoming Chairman Kevin Warsh a huge favor
Jerome Powell’s continued presence on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors after his term as chairman ends might be awkward for his replacement, but could also be a big favor for Kevin Warsh. On Wednesday, Powell diverged from long-standing tradition and announced he will remain on the board until the investigation into renovation of the
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Scott Bessent on financial literacy: ‘it drives me crazy’ to see young men in blue-collar construction jobs playing the lottery
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent winces at the allure of easy money — whether it’s lottery tickets, buy now, pay later loans or the promise of a crypto windfall — warning that the get-rich-quick mindset often leads Americans farther from financial stability, not closer to it. “There are a lot of young people, mostly young men, going to blue-collar
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Current price of oil as of May 1, 2026
At 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time today, oil was priced at $116.10 per barrel with Brent serving as the benchmark (we’ll explain different benchmarks later in this article). That’s a rise of $1.44 compared with yesterday morning and around $53.46 higher than the price one year ago. Oil price per barrel % Change Price of oil
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Exclusive: Startup Fun raises $72 million for the serious business of converting crypto and cash
The finer details of back-end payment systems are enough to make most people’s eyes glaze over, even those in crypto. But Alex Fine, the founder and CEO of the startup Fun, finds in-the-weeds payment tasks to be just that, and his enthusiasm has paid off. On Friday, Fun announced that it has raised $72 million
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‘Cut up the credit cards:’ Congress is getting brutal about ‘embarrassing’ $31 trillion national debt
The value of debt held by the public has officially surpassed the size of the U.S. economy, and members of Congress are increasingly sounding the alarm over the fiscal trajectory of their nation. As of March 31, debt held by the public stood at $31.27 trillion, while nominal GDP over the prior 12-month period was
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The national debt is the same size as the economy. It’s a ‘disturbing warning and a call to action,’ watchdog says
Six months before Election Day, America’s $39 trillion national debt has moved from an abstract fiscal concern to a dinner-table anxiety — and voters across the political spectrum are demanding that candidates explain what they plan to do about it. A new national survey released Thursday by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that 92%
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Former Fed economist raises alarm on Warsh after historically partisan vote: ‘this is not normal is going to be a theme’
The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along party lines Wednesday to advance Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, the first fully partisan committee vote on a Fed chair in the panel’s history, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Hours later, current Fed Chair Jerome Powell will deliver what is very likely