This feud is little more than two factions within the Federal government fighting over how exactly to use the Fed’s many powers to inflate, exploit, and help fund an ever expanding federal government.
The current Washington tiff between Donald Trump and Jerome Powell is being reframed as Powell heroically defending the Fed’s “independence.” In truth, the Fed has always done the administration’s dirty work and pursued inflation when it might temporarily boost the economy.
The data centers needed to power AI are controversial in many communities. People worry about that extra demand driving up their electricity bills, which are already up almost 7% in a year. In response, Microsoft is pledging to pay extra for electricity to power its data centers and says it’ll work to prevent water resources from being drained by giant server farms. And later, we'll discuss the Trump administration's plan to control Venezuela's oil.
From the BBC World Service: China has announced record export numbers and the largest trade surplus in global history: $1.2 trillion. Despite the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, China has been able to pivot to other international trading partners, including countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Then, global bond markets are where governments go to raise money to pay for services, but have they become too powerful?
Niko Papademetriou lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and son. He has had an interesting background professionally. He got into finance, and experienced all the downside that 2008 had to offer. Post all of that, he started a restaurant at the age of 26 with some folks, and quickly realized how difficult it was. After 4 years, he met some guys and wanted to start a new thing. Outside of tech, he and his wife spends a lot of time watching his son play hockey, and engaging with the team at the hockey rink.
Niko has observed the restaurant business change, moving towards many different ordering methods - mobile, web, in person, etc. At the end of whatever method, the order needed to land inside the black box of the POS system. He wanted to create the plumbing, better yet the ultimate system to connect it all.
Terms and conditions: Equitybee executes private financing contracts (PFCs) allowing investors a certain claim to ESO upon liquidation event; Could limit your profits. Funding in not guaranteed. PFCs brokered by EquityBee Securities, member FINRA.
You’ve heard it in the Chicago weather forecast time and time again: “cooler by the lake.” But how close to Lake Michigan do you need to be to feel that dip in the temperature? And why doesn’t Chicago get the same lake effect snow as Northwest Indiana? We look into the powerful force that is Lake Michigan.
The pretty Swiss lakeside town of Lugano has set out to become Europe’s bitcoin capital, with the aim of attracting bitcoin companies and the cryptocurrency itself to the city. In Lugano, you can still pay for everything in Swiss francs, but in hundreds of shops and restaurants you can also pay in bitcoin. The city has even started accepting it for municipal services. The BBC’s John Laurenson went to check it out.
Have you ever heard the story of "shrunken heads"? In the West, a ton of people sadly associate this with their own self-centric pop-culture experiences. However -- as Ben, Matt and Noel discover in tonight's episode -- the ancient practice of creating tsantsas is far more fascinating than any nostalgia reference. Tune in to learn the true conspiracy behind the popularity of "shrunken heads".
A.M. Edition for Jan. 14. Leaders from Greenland and Denmark are due to meet with Vice President JD Vance today amid President Trump’s efforts to seize the territory. WSJ correspondent Max Colchester says Greenland’s prime minister is holding the line that the island isn't for sale. Plus, the U.S. prepares to unveil its governance plans for Gaza. And actor Matthew McConaughey trademarks himself to combat AI fakes. Luke Vargas hosts.
Veteran federal prosecutors in Minnesota resign after pressure from Justice Department leaders to investigate the widow of Renee Macklin Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent, raising new questions about political interference. President Trump takes his economic message on the road, pitching affordability as voters remain frustrated by high prices. And while gas prices have dipped, rising heating costs, grocery prices, and stubborn inflation show why relief still feels out of reach for many families.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Gigi Douban, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.
(0:00) Introduction (02:19) Minnesota Prosecutors Quit (06:10) Trump in Detroit (09:52) Inflation Report