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Joe Biden’s horrific debate performance casts his entire candidacy into doubt

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8 months ago

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THE MISSION for Joe Biden in the presidential debate held in Atlanta on June 27th was clear: to prove his critics wrong, by showing that he was mentally fit and thereby reverse the polling deficit that makes Donald Trump the favourite to win the American election in 2024. Unfortunately, his performance was an unmitigated disaster—perhaps the worst of any presidential candidate in modern history. The president, who is 81 (and would be 86 by the end of a second term in office), stammered indecipherably, struggled to complete his lines of attack and proved his doubters completely correct. Although Mr Trump was in his typical form—meandering, mendacious, vindictive—he somehow appeared the more coherent and lucid of the pair. Mr Biden’s decision to seek re-election rather than standing aside for a younger standard-bearer now looks like a reckless endangerment of the democracy he claims to want to protect.

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Economics

Trump’s tariff blitz faces strong legal challenges

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4 hours ago

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April 10, 2025

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WITH MARKETS gyrating from the tariffs Donald Trump has imposed on around 180 countries, only to pause some of the most punishing ones on April 9th, a conservative organisation has filed a lawsuit challenging an initial round of tariffs the president announced on Chinese imports in February, duties he has since escalated. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), which counts Charles Koch, a right-wing billionaire, among its supporters, argues that the president lacked the authority to impose these levies. With Chinese goods still a prime target, the case retains its salience. Similar lawsuits against other tariffs could yet scuttle the boldest—and most destabilising—move of Mr Trump’s second term.

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Economics

Donald Trump wants to deport foreign students merely for what they say

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4 hours ago

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April 10, 2025

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“EVERY TIME I find one of these lunatics I take away their visa.” That is how Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, last month described the Trump administration’s push to deport foreign university students who had participated in campus activism. Mr Rubio initially suggested that his department had cancelled at least 300 visas. That number increasingly looks out of date as the deportation campaign has spread beyond elite east-coast schools and for conduct beyond protest and speech. More than 100 students in California alone have had their visas yanked—some of them seemingly for infractions as minor as a speeding ticket.

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Economics

Inflation rate eases to 2.4% in March, lower than expected

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5 hours ago

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April 10, 2025

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Consumer price inflation eased more than expected in March as President Donald Trump prepared to launch tariffs against U.S. trading partners, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in March, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.4%, down from 2.8% in February.

Excluding food and energy, so-called core inflation ran at a 2.8% annual rate, having increased 0.1% for the month. That was the lowest rate for core inflation since March 2021.

Slumping energy prices helped keep inflation tame, as a 6.3% decline in gasoline prices helped drive a 2.4% broader decline in the energy index. Food prices climbed 0.4% on the month. Egg prices rose another 5.9% and were up 60.4% from a year ago.

Moreover, shelter prices, among the most stubborn components of inflation, increased just 0.2% in March and were up 4% on a 12-month basis, the smallest gain since November 2021. Used vehicle prices were off 0.7% while new vehicle costs increased just 0.1%, ahead of tariffs that are expected to hit the auto industry hard.

Airline fares declined 5.3% in March and motor vehicle insurance dropped 0.8% and prescription drugs fell 2%.

Stock market futures indicated a sharply lower open on Wall Street following the release, while Treasury yields also were negative.

The report comes a day after Trump’s stunning reversal of some of his tariff plans as he announced a delay in the most aggressive of the duties put in place against dozens of nations. Instead, Trump let stand a 10% blanket levy on all imports announced last week and set a 90-day window during which the White House will negotiate the higher tariffs.

While Trump campaigned on bringing down inflation, progress had been slow to start 2025.

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