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As a candidate last year, Donald Trump suggested he could easily conquer inflation and ease voters’ fears about the economy.“I will very quickly deflate,” he promised at a California rally. “We are going to take inflation, and we are going to deflate it. We are going to deflate inflation. We are going to defeat inflation. We’re going to knock the hell out of inflation.”Wednesday’s consumer price index report showed that inflation is punching back and President Trump could end up facing the same challenges that dragged down his predecessor, President Joe Biden.The annual inflation rate has risen in the three months since the November election to 3%, with gasoline prices climbing despite Trump’s claims that his return to the White House would signal increased oil production that would lower energy costs.Trump frequently makes far-reaching assertions about his power to bring about change only to find that it is no match for market forces. It’s a humbling reminder that even U.S. presidents are subject to the invisible hand of supply and demand, rather than the masters of it.Consumer sentiment measures suggest the public already sees Trump’s plans to expand tariffs as increasing inflation. On Wednesday, the president called for interest rate cuts, even though rate hikes by the Federal Reserve helped lower inflation that spiked at a four-decade high in 2022.The latest consumer price figures have unnerved economists and the financial markets because they suggest that strong consumer spending, solid job gains and a falling unemployment rate could reignite inflation. Steady demand, particularly from wealthier consumers, makes it easier for companies to keep raising prices.The cost of goods including toys and auto parts rose last month even before the imposition of tariffs. Trump has placed 10% tariffs on China, in addition to announcing the removal of exemptions on his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs. There are also potential tariff hikes on Canada and Mexico and a potential executive order that would increase tariffs to match the import taxes charged by other countries.All of this means that baseline inflationary pressures could be at their highest level in decades.“Disinflation may be dead, and we may be looking at a higher rate of inflation than we observed for the 20 years prior to the pandemic,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a tax and advisory firm.Trump’s call for lower rates puts him in opposition to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.“If inflation goes up in general, we will use our tools, which is the interest rate, to bring it back down to 2% over time,” Powell told a congressional committee on Wednesday. Powell also said that Trump’s calls to lower rates wouldn’t sway the Fed.So far, the Trump White House’s main response to this challenge has been to blame Biden, an argument with a short lifespan as Trump is exerting more control over economic policy.“The Biden administration indeed left us with a mess to deal with,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Wednesday’s news briefing. “It’s far worse than I think anybody anticipated.”But Trump allies are also starting to float new ideas for tackling inflation. Standing in the Oval Office on Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk, the head of the president’s Department of Government Efficiency, proposed $1 trillion in spending cuts this year.Musk, the world’s richest man who continues to control Tesla, X and SpaceX among other companies, wants to eliminate $1 out of every $7 spent by the federal government in order to bring the inflation rate to zero. It’s not clear based on lawsuits and Congress’ responsibility for government funding that Musk can deliver those savings.“If you cut the budget deficit by a trillion between now and next year, there is no inflation,” Musk said. “And if the government is not borrowing as much, it means that interest costs decline. So everyone’s mortgage, their car payment, their credit card bills, anything, their student debt, the monthly payments drop. That’s a fantastic scenario for the average American.”Such a steep cut might bring lower prices but also the pain of a sharp economic downturn.“That would be a roughly 4% of GDP cut to federal spending, all in one year,” said Michael Linden, a senior policy fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “It would be an instant recession.”For now, markets are anticipating more inflation as consumer demand stays strong and Trump has yet to show how exactly his policies would keep prices low, as he promised to voters.The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped Wednesday to 4.62% in response to the inflation report, a sign that investors expect interest rates, growth and inflation to be higher in the coming months.Consumers also say that inflation will rise. Americans’ expectations of inflation over the next year have soared, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey. The February survey said that inflation this year will be 4.3%, up sharply from 3.3% the previous month. Many respondents mentioned tariffs as a concern.When asked Wednesday why Trump’s call for lower interest rates would temper inflation, Leavitt focused on what the president “wants” instead of what he would do.“He wants interest rates to be lower,” she said. “He wants inflation to be lower. And he believes that the whole of government economic approach that this administration is taking will result in lower inflation.” Josh Boak and Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Elon Musk called on Thursday for the United States to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his push under President Donald Trump to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.Musk offered a wide-ranging survey via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, of what he described as the priorities of the Trump administration interspersed with multiple references to “thermonuclear warfare” and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence.“We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people democracy,” Musk said, wearing a black T-shirt that read: “Tech Support.” He also joked that he was the “White House’s tech support,” borrowing from his profile on the social platform X, which he owns.“I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind,” Musk said. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.”While Musk has spoken to the summit in the past, his appearance on Thursday comes as he has consolidated control over large swaths of the government with Trump’s blessing since assuming leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency. That’s included sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and inviting a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority.Musk’s new role imbued his comments with more weight beyond being the world’s wealthiest person through his investments in SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla.His remarks also offered a more-isolationist view of American power in the Middle East, where the U.S. has fought wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.“A lot of attention has been on USAID for example,” Musk said, referring to Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. “There’s like the National Endowment for Democracy. But I’m like, ‘Okay, well, how much democracy have they achieved lately?'”He added that the U.S. under Trump is “less interested in interfering with the affairs of other countries.”There are “times the United States has been kind of pushy in international affairs, which may resonate with some members of the audience,” Musk said, speaking to the crowd in the UAE, an autocratically ruled nation of seven sheikhdoms.“Basically, America should mind its own business, rather than push for regime change all over the place,” he said.He also noted the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion work, at one point linking it to AI.“If hypothetically, AI is designed for DEI, you know, diversity at all costs, it could decide that there’s too many men in power and execute them,” Musk said.On AI, Musk said he believed X’s newly updated AI chatbot, Grok 3, would be ready in about two weeks, calling it at one point “kind of scary.” He criticized Sam Altman’s management of OpenAI, which Musk just led a $97.4 billion takeover bid for, describing it as akin to a nonprofit aimed at saving the Amazon rainforest becoming a “lumber company that chops down the trees.”Musk also announced plans for a “Dubai Loop” project in line with his work in the Boring Company which is digging tunnels in Las Vegas to speed transit.A later statement from Dubai’s crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, said the city-state and the Boring Company “will explore the development” of a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) underground network with 11 stations that could transport over 20,000 passengers an hour. He offered no financial terms for the deal.“It’s going to be like a wormhole,” Musk promised. “You just wormhole from one part of the city boom and you’re out in another part of the city.” Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Its not been a good start to 2025 when it comes to major retailers shuttering locations. Since the end of last year, numerous companies have announced their intention to close swaths of their brick-and-mortar stores, including Party City, Big Lots, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Macy’s. Just this week, another retailerJoann fabricsannounced it would be closing hundreds of locations, as well. And now, department store icon JCPenney has also announced its closing some locations. Here’s what to know: JCPenney has had a roller-coaster few years The iconic department store chain has faced several struggles in recent years, most notably from the fall of foot traffic as the shopping habits of American consumers continued to migrate from malls to online. In May 2020, JCPenney filed for bankruptcy, and in June of that year, the company announced it would close 200 of its 850 stores. JCPenney ended the year by being bought by its two biggest landlords, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management. Cut to January of this year: JCPenney announced it would be combining with retail group SPARC, which owns Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Forever 21, Lucky Brand, and Nautica, to form Catalyst Brands. Combined, the new Catalyst Brands has more than 1,800 store locations across its portfolio of clothing retailers. And as of yesterday, JCPenney announced it would be closing some of its locations. The common assumption as to the reason behind the closings may be that they are related to the recent Catalyst Brands merger, but in a statement to the media (via Today), JCPenney said the closures were unrelated. “The decision to close a store is never an easy one, but isolated closures do happen from time to time due to expiring lease agreements, market changes or other factors, the statement read. These closures are unrelated to the recent Catalyst Brands merger. JCPenney said it does not have plans to significantly reduce our store count but that the closures announced would happen by mid-year. JCPenney closing stores 2025 full list In total, eight JCPenney locations are included in the announced closures, according to a now-removed list that was published on the website of SB360 Capital Partners. SB360 helps companies manage liquidations, as well as other services. We’ve reached out to SB360 to ask why the list no longer appears on its website. JCPenneys store locator currently says the chain has 656 stores in the United States. Here are the JCPenney locations scheduled to close (via Fox Business): California The Shops at Tanforan 1122 El Camino Real, San Bruno, California 94066 Colorado The Shops at Northfield 8568 E 49th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80238 Idaho Pine Ridge Mall 4201 Yellowstone Avenue Pocatello, Idaho 83202 Kansas West Ridge Mall 1821 SW Wanamaker RoadTopeka, Kansas 66604 Maryland Annapolis Mall 1695 Annapolis Mall Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 North Carolina Asheville Mall 3 S Tunnel Road Asheville, North Carolina 28805 New Hampshire Mall at Fox Run 50 Fox Run Road Newington, New Hampshire 03801 West Virginia Charleston Town Center 401 Lee Street E Charleston, West Virginia 25301 Up to 15,000 stores could close in 2025 But its not just JCPenney and the other retailers listed above that may see stores close in 2025. According to a January report from Coresight Research, a total of 15,000 stores could close across America this year. Thats a 50% increase from the 10,000 stores that shuttered last year. Whats driving the closures? The reasons will likely be a little different for every retailer, depending on their unique circumstances, but Coresight said two big trends were contributing factors. Those included inflationary pressures, which have led consumers to cut back on spending, and increased online competition from new competitors, including Shein and Temu.
Category:
E-Commerce
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