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Category: Economics/Business

EPA expected to remove limits on climate pollution from power plants

EPA expected to remove limits on climate pollution from power plants

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration plans to announce Monday that the United States will no longer limit the planet-warming pollution that power plants pump into the air while burning coal and gas, according to two people familiar with the proposal. The shift by the Environmental Protection Agency would complete the administration’s erasure of the most consequential climate policies of Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama. If the move survives expected legal challenges, it could also…

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OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says

OpenAI IPO will not happen in 2026 amid AI safety fears, Sam Altman says

Reuters reports: OpenAI will not go public in 2026, Sam Altman said in a Fortune interview published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence. “I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, told Fortune. Growing numbers of US lawmakers ​are calling for new rules to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two researchers from OpenAI rival Anthropic…

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U.S. diesel price tops $6 per gallon, a record high as Ukraine and Iran wars ripple through economy

U.S. diesel price tops $6 per gallon, a record high as Ukraine and Iran wars ripple through economy

CNBC reports: U.S. diesel prices hit $6 per gallon on Friday for the first time ever, as fuel supply disruptions triggered by the Ukraine and Iran wars raises transportation costs across the entire economy. Truckers and farmers are paying about 63% more to fill up their semis and tractors than they did at this time last year, according to data from AAA. The average price nationwide is now about $6.06 per gallon. Prices are even higher in California, the biggest…

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Investors rewarded at the expense of workers: As economy continues to grow, wages fall to a record-low share

Investors rewarded at the expense of workers: As economy continues to grow, wages fall to a record-low share

NBC News reports: It is now the least rewarding time to be a worker in the U.S. economy since the government started keeping track. The share of economic growth captured by labor in the form of compensation like wages fell to a record low last quarter, hitting 52.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which began recording the statistic in 1947. In other words, even as the economy continues to grow, worker pay comprises an ever smaller slice of…

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Iran war drives $100 billion in extra energy costs for U.S. consumers

Iran war drives $100 billion in extra energy costs for U.S. consumers

Axios reports: The war in Iran has now cost U.S. consumers $100 billion in higher energy prices, and the bill is rising another $1 million about every two minutes, per a real-time estimate from Brown University as of Monday morning. Why it matters: Energy inflation shows up across the entire economy, and the recent surge in diesel prices in particular threatens to have a dramatic impact on freight and travel in the weeks and months to come. By the numbers: The Iran War Energy…

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As farmers go broke amid rising gas prices, Secretary of Agriculture Rollins profits off them

As farmers go broke amid rising gas prices, Secretary of Agriculture Rollins profits off them

By Georgina Gustin September 6, 2026 This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. As farmers grapple with soaring diesel and fertilizer prices and the Department of Agriculture yanks support for cheaper, renewable forms of energy, the agency’s chief, Brooke Rollins, is carrying millions in highly profitable oil and gas investments. In disclosure reports filed in July, Rollins indicated that she and…

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What it took to dismantle the most powerful corporation in the world

What it took to dismantle the most powerful corporation in the world

William Dalrymple writes: At noon on Feb. 13, 1788, huge crowds gathered outside Parliament to witness members of the House of Lords process into Westminster Hall. They were there to impeach the man who ran much of India as the East India Company’s governor general of Bengal. This was the moment when the British state finally flexed its muscles to take on the greatest corporate oligarch of his day, the Elon Musk of 18th-century London. In addition to about 170…

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Republicans sour on the economy

Republicans sour on the economy

Axios reports: Republicans’ confidence in the economy has plummeted over the last six months at a pace unseen since Covid — reminiscent of the declines during the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. Why it matters: Usually, the president’s party is upbeat about the economy, while the party out of power is far more downcast. What’s striking now is that Republicans have grown increasingly sour this year, even with a Republican president in office. It’s another in a long list of ominous indicators for President…

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The plot to steal Venezuela’s oil is both vile and deeply stupid

The plot to steal Venezuela’s oil is both vile and deeply stupid

Paul Krugman writes: The United States has an ugly reputation in Latin America — a reputation that, I’m sorry to say, is mostly well deserved. Our government has a long track record of supporting dictators, assisting in the overthrow of democratic governments, and sometimes even sending in the Marines, often on behalf of American corporations trying to pillage other nations’ natural resources. Excluding the Trump II presidency, we have, I think, behaved better in the recent past. And this was…

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‘Thin air,’ real money: Trump’s crypto products have left investors at least $4.7 billion underwater

‘Thin air,’ real money: Trump’s crypto products have left investors at least $4.7 billion underwater

Public Citizen reports: “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” President Donald Trump tweeted in July 2019. “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.” Seven years later, Trump has become the world’s foremost crypto salesperson, hawking nonfungible tokens, meme coins, governance tokens, stablecoins, and shares in a digital-asset treasury. What changed? The president realized there…

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Mark Zuckerberg had a bold plan to replace thousands of Meta staff with AI. Here’s how it imploded

Mark Zuckerberg had a bold plan to replace thousands of Meta staff with AI. Here’s how it imploded

Reuters reports: In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his top lieutenants gathered for their annual leadership retreat at his Hawaii compound. There they hatched a radical plan to reimagine work at the social-media giant in the age of artificial intelligence. Code-named Project OT – short for Organization Transformation – the plan envisioned an “AI native” future for the owner of Facebook and Instagram. AI would take over much of the daily work performed by thousands of human employees. Virtual…

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Trump’s trade war on Canada has virtually no support

Trump’s trade war on Canada has virtually no support

Zack Beauchamp reports: President Donald Trump seems dead set on escalating his trade war with Canada. And no one is really sure why. On Monday, Trump threatened another round of 50 percent tariffs on top of the ones he just implemented — this one targeting Canada’s auto industry, which is so deeply integrated with its American counterpart that large duties would do major damage on both sides of the border. By Tuesday morning, he had begun musing about renaming Lake…

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Canada has one important edge in the North American trade war: unity

Canada has one important edge in the North American trade war: unity

Politico reports: President Donald Trump is threatening Canada with economic destruction amid an escalating trade war. He’s not factoring in one key U.S. disadvantage. Americans are not nearly as gung-ho for a tariff stand-off as their northern neighbors, who have been seething for months over Trump’s rhetoric against their country. “The U.S.A. will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada,” Trump wrote in a second Truth Social post. “Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or,…

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Carney will not allow Canada to be turned into a North American Belarus

Carney will not allow Canada to be turned into a North American Belarus

Toronto Star‘s Allan Woods writes: Trump has yet to publicly comment on the breakdown in trade talks, but U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters that Canada was offered “the best treatment of any major exporter to our market.” Without going into detail, he said Canadian negotiators made “new demands and walkbacks of other commitments” that had “upended the careful balance reached in the past days.” Doing a deal under the conditions Carney described would clearly have undermined Canada’s pivot…

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Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals as trade woes worsen, says Ontario’s premier

Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals as trade woes worsen, says Ontario’s premier

The Associated Press reports: Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that Ronald Reagan would be “throwing up” over President Donald Trump’s trade policies and threatened to cut off electricity and critical minerals to the United States as Trump escalated the trade fight. Ford, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, said Trump has underestimated Canadians’ willingness to endure economic pain rather than give in to U.S. pressure. “He underestimates Canada. We’re all in,” Ford said. “Up here, we’re at…

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How Trump is trying to crush California’s environmental policies

How Trump is trying to crush California’s environmental policies

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels. The stakes are high. Because of its market muscle as the world’s fourth largest economy, California’s environmental regulations have influenced the manufacturers of automobiles and other consumer goods. And its green policies have spread to some…

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