Macroeconomics
Lebanon Crisis Tests U.S. Strategy as Israel Maintains Occupation
A recent CRS report on Lebanon examines U.S. policy as the country faces its most severe crisis in decades, following renewed fighting between Israel and...
FDIC's Systemic Risk Exception Tool for Bank Crises Questioned
A Congressional Research Service report on the FDIC's systemic risk exception has laid bare a central tension in how the government responds to banking...
OBBBA Abandons Technology-Neutral Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act fundamentally rewrote how the federal government incentivizes clean energy. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act moved away from the...
Medicare Insolvency Deadline Nears as Trust Fund Faces 2033 Shortfall
The program's Hospital Insurance trust fund will exhaust its reserves in 2033, leaving the federal government unable to pay the full cost of hospital care...
Procter & Gamble Scales Back In-House Lobbying Team
Procter & Gamble is scaling back its internal lobbying operation even as the consumer goods giant continues aggressive efforts to influence Washington...
Toyota Motor North America Lobbies on Tax Policy
Toyota Motor North America spent nearly $2 million on federal lobbying in the second quarter of 2026, focusing on tax policy and financial regulation. The...
U.S.-UK Trade Deal Faces Critical Implementation Gaps
The Trump administration faces a narrowing window to stabilize its trade relationship with Britain as a new government takes the helm in London, according...
Fed Chair Warsh Faces First Hearing Amid Independence Concerns
Why it matters: Kevin Warsh appeared before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on July 15, 2026, for his first semiannual monetary...
Warm Winters Left Out of Disaster Aid for Small Businesses
A Government Accountability Office report released this week exposes a significant gap in federal disaster assistance for businesses hit by climate-driven...
House Panel Examines AI's Impact on Main Street
Why it matters: Nearly three quarters of small businesses are using artificial intelligence in some form, but many lack the knowledge, resources, and...
Five Witnesses Speak Before Small Business Committee
The House Small Business Committee held a hearing on the contributions of small businesses to the American economy on July 1, 2026, bringing together five...
Federal Reserve's Inflation Control Strategy Under Scrutiny
The Federal Reserve is facing a critical moment on inflation that will shape the economic outlook for the rest of 2026. With price pressures remaining...
Watchdog Flags Accountability Gaps in Disaster Spending
The federal government spent more than $2.1 billion over a decade on disaster recovery projects, yet officials cannot tell whether any of it actually...
Senate Panel Confronts Social Security's $30 Trillion Crisis
Why it matters: The Senate Finance Subcommittee held a Social Security hearing on June 24, 2026, confronting a $30 trillion unfunded liability that...
Small Business Central to American Prosperity Celebration
The House Small Business Committee is convening to spotlight small businesses as central to American prosperity on the eve of the nation's 250th...
Main Street Lending Program Leaves 30% of Borrowers at Risk
As the Federal Reserve wound down its emergency lending programs in early 2021, a troubling pattern emerged in one of its signature pandemic relief efforts:...
Senate Breaks Spending Deadlock and Restarts Budget Negotiations
The Senate Appropriations Committee is moving forward with markup of four fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills after weeks of deadlock over spending...
Staring Down Insolvency For Social Security 2032
The insolvency clock for Social Security is ticking faster than previously expected. A new trustees report moved the projected depletion date of the Old-Age...