Washington Insider

Bloomberg is reporting this week that U.S. industrial jobs are continuing to move offshore and that major U.S. losses have been eating at the U.S. industrial core for decades, rather than simply the economic carnage caused by COVID-19.

The New York Times is reporting this week on some of the impacts of the $600 weekly unemployment benefit, even as the odds of a new stimulus package appear to be dwindling.

USDA has approved hemp programs for 29 states and is negotiating with another 12. That means a patchwork of inconsistent state regulations and unclear federal guidance for the industry, Politico thinks. And, after millions of acres of hemp were planted in 2019, production is way down this...

Bloomberg is cautioning now that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks will eventually discover that “breaking up isn't easy” after partnering with their governments and the financial markets to avert a pandemic-driven depression.

The American economy is showing fresh signs of deceleration, the New York Times said this week. It is being hammered by layoffs, a surge in coronavirus cases and the lack of fresh aid from Washington.

U.S. officials have been lobbying European lawmakers and industry leaders to use Western companies, while shunning Chinese companies such as Huawei, to build data centers and offer infrastructure to handle the growing tide of information.

The WTO on Tuesday gave the European Union permission to impose tariffs on $4 billion worth of American products annually. The award is in retaliation for illegal subsidies given to the U.S. plane maker Boeing.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their annual meetings, with both calling on the Group of 20 largest economies to “extend a freeze in debt payments from the world's poorest nations that's set to expire at year end.”

Politico is reporting this week that top Trump administration officials are working to repurpose some previously approved PPP money and that the “latest salvo in a week of twists and turns in talks between the White House and congressional leaders on a new round,” continues to...

The nation's largest banks are being more cautious with their lending than they have been in at least the past 35 years, Bloomberg reports.

Inflation that's chronically too low remains a perplexing challenge for central banks, which have an easier time fighting inflation that's too high. If Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell can't convince consumers, companies, and investors that the Fed can raise inflation, bad things could happen...

Politico is reporting this week that as President Trump enters the final month of his reelection campaign, it's increasingly clear that he has failed at one of the signature goals of his presidency: reducing the U.S. trade deficit.

Across the Trump administration U.S. officials have ramped up their criticisms of China for its international investments and social policies. However, the New York Times is reporting this week that while U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer has for decades been one of China's...

Bloomberg was mainly downbeat in its evaluation of the global economic outlook this week. It asserted overall that the global economy is entering the “final quarter of its worst year in living memory.”

The Washington Post is reporting this week that U.S. food supplement programs are facing large shortages of supplies over the next 12 months. As a result, food banks have seen record increases in need even as donations and volunteers dwindle, the Washington Post said.

Asia's manufacturing engines just turned in another month of fitful progress, as September's purchasing managers indexes look a bit brighter, with a few exceptions.

The transatlantic trade conflict isn't showing signs of winding down any time soon. A new ruling from the World Trade Organization could mean that a fresh round of retaliatory tariffs could jeopardize economic recoveries in both the U.S. and the European Union.

Democratic leadership released a $2.2 trillion coronavirus response bill on Monday — but their offer would require Republicans to make concessions before a bipartisan deal is possible.

Centrist Democrats are pushing for another vote in the House on a coronavirus response stimulus bill, but the key question is whether high-level bipartisan negotiators can strike a deal.

Politico, Bloomberg and others are reporting this week that in response to President Donald Trump's promise to dispute the election outcome if he loses, “Wall Street's taking him at his word.”