Tag: economy

You can thank the Tik Tok, Instagram world we live in…

Money may not buy love, but for many young adults, it’s still the ticket to attention. A new study shows that two in five Gen Zers admit going into debt just to impress others — often in dating and social situations, according to Credit One Bank.

The pressure to perform financially is high among younger generations. Half of Gen Z and millennials (51%) say they’ve faked wealth or success, with Gen Z leading at 54%. Nearly 38% admit they’ve damaged their credit score or gone into debt to impress someone, and 37% say they’d even overdraft their accounts for a date. Men feel that pressure most: 46% would go into debt for a single date, compared to just 28% of women.

Credit One Bank writes that more than half of consumers say a high credit score makes someone more attractive, while nearly 70% would lose confidence in a boss with bad credit. Still, disclosure is rare: 54% of Gen Z and millennials prefer not to share their financial details with a partner until things get serious. Only 8% call poor financial history a marriage dealbreaker. Nearly half (48%) say they’d marry someone with a shaky financial past, especially if that person was improving. Gender gaps persist: men (47%) are more forgiving, while women are twice as likely to reject a partner over money issues (10% versus 5%).

Keep reading

Congress is on its way to missing a “basic” budget deadline for the 29th year in a row, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Meanwhile, the deficit so far into the current fiscal year is larger than the same period last year. 

“We’re less than a month away from a possible government shutdown, and lawmakers are once again finding themselves without a plan to keep the government funded,” said Maya MacGuineas, CRFB’s president. “If all 12 appropriations aren’t signed into law by September 30, it will be the 29th year in a row that they failed to meet the most basic deadline in budgeting. That’s not a streak to be proud of.”

MacGuineas said that the current spending showdown is the latest example of how broken the budgeting process is in Washington.

“This is just another sign that the budget process is completely broken. Congress hasn’t passed a real budget resolution in 10 years. Often, they pass no budget at all. And when they do pass one, it’s either full of fantasy math, simply an excuse to facilitate the passage of partisan reconciliation bills, or both,” she said. “Going through the process of crafting a budget around the nation’s priorities now sounds like a fairytale – in fact, the President hasn’t even bothered to submit a full budget for Fiscal Year 2026.”

The federal government has borrowed $1.9 trillion so far into FY2025 from September 2024 through August 2025, according to the latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data. The borrowing is slightly higher than the same time period of fiscal year 2024.

However, the monthly deficit for August is lower than last year. 

The deficit was $360 billion in August 2025, which is down from $380 billion in August 2024. 

According to CBO data, federal tax revenue for August 2025 was $344 billion, which is a $37 billion increase compared to August 2024. 

Spending in August 2025 was $17 billion higher than August 2024.

In total, the deficit so far into FY2025 is $1.9 trillion compared to $1.8 trillion during the same time period of FY2024.

The CRFB estimated that the FY2025 rolling deficit is about 6.4% of GDP, which is close to FY2024.

“Over the past 12 months, total nominal revenue was $5.2 trillion compared to $4.9 trillion over the same period prior. Nominal spending was $7.1 trillion over the past 12 months compared to $6.9 trillion the same period prior,” read a CRFB analysis.

MacGuineas suggested that lawmakers should work to avoid a shutdown and improve the fiscal situation of the country at the same time. 

“In light of our massive debt, they should reduce both defense and non-defense spending levels below their current levels and extend the expiring discretionary spending caps to enforce additional deficit reduction,” she said. 

Keep reading

With U.S. gross debt now at a staggering $37 trillion—roughly equivalent to the combined debt of all other major advanced economies—Washington is trapped in a fiscal doom loop of its own making. Decades of bipartisan overspending have pushed the nation to a point where a mere 1% increase in mean Treasury interest rates adds $370 billion to annual debt service costs. The arithmetic is unforgiving. Yet, Donald Trump’s second administration is doubling down, pursuing policies that risk accelerating the crisis.

Consider the following combination: President Trump’s push for the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates by as much as 3%, his aggressive mix of tax cuts, tariffs, and subsidies aimed at “reshoring” American manufacturing, his championing of increased military spending and expanded domestic outlays. Absent fanciful projections about growth rates, it is overwhelmingly likely that tax revenues would plummet while spending obligations soar, widening the already yawning fiscal gap.

Already the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimates annual deficits of 6-7% percent of GDP over the next decade, regardless of which party controls Congress. Trump’s first term saw the national debt rise by $7.8 trillion, driven by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), COVID spending, and bipartisan spending increases. Biden picked up where Trump left off, and Trump in his second term is promising more of the same, with proposals to extend the TCJA and cut corporate taxes further, potentially adding an additional $5 trillion to $11.2 trillion to the debt by 2035.

Those hoping the Federal Reserve will be able to do anything to help, including President Trump, are bound to be disappointed. In the case of hoping for lower interest rates to finance yet more spending, while the Fed does control short-term rates, longer-term yields are market-driven. Aggressive rate cuts could spark inflation fears, pushing up 10- and 30-year bond yields, as economists Ryan McMaken and Kenneth Rogoff have noted. Long-term rates will likely rise despite the cut. This dynamic is already evident, with markets resisting Fed dovishness by increasing Treasury borrowing costs.

The Fed faces a trap: tightening policy balloons debt service costs, while loosening invites market backlash, undermining the dollar and raising long-term rates. In 2024, net interest payments reached $879.9 billion, surpassing defense and Medicare spending. With the debt-to-GDP ratio at 119.4% in mid-2025, the Fed’s room to maneuver is shrinking.

Then there is the fading “Dollar Discount”: For decades, the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency has shaved 0.5 to 1% off annual Treasury borrowing costs. However, in an increasingly multipolar world—where China, Europe, and others are developing parallel payment systems and central banks are diversifying their holdings—this “exorbitant privilege” is at risk. The so-called “Mar-a-Lago Accord,” a rumored proposal for selective default on foreign-held debt, has heightened doubts about U.S. creditworthiness. Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating in 2025 cited unsustainable deficits and growing interest costs, warning that the debt-to-GDP ratio could hit 134% by 2035. Eroding confidence in the dollar will drive borrowing costs higher, compounding the crisis

Keep reading