PODCAST: DHP Villains: Woodrow Wilson, Part 10

Fed Independence Is Sacred... Or So We've Been Told Authored by Richard Roberts via RealClearMarkets.com, For the better part of a year, many had become convinced that the Federal Reserve's independence was in its final days. The narrative rested on two prongs. First, an FOMC browbeaten by relentless public attacks, threats of removal, and a Justice Department criminal probe into Chair Jerome Powell. The pressure, many argued, had grown so intense that Fed decisions would no longer be trusted to reflect economics rather than politics. Second, a new chair expected to arrive in May...

Chicago Approves 19% Hotel Tax To Fund Tourism Push The Chicago City Council has approved a plan to boost tourism marketing by raising hotel taxes. Under Ordinance 2026-0022544, the total tax rate on hotel rooms will increase from 17.5% to 19% in downtown and nearby areas, according to Fox News. The higher rate will apply to hotels with more than 100 rooms that choose to participate. The report says that alongside the tax increase, the council created a Tourism Improvement District (TID) to fund Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism marketing organization. Revenue...

Services Sector Contraction In March Screams Q1 Stagflation Following S&P Global's Manufacturing PMI's better than expected print higher (signaling resilience in the face of March's war in Iran), the data released this morning showed the US Services Sector experienced a contraction of activity at the end of the first quarter of 2026. The headline S&P Global US Services PMI Business Activity Index recorded 49.8 in March, down from February’s 51.7 and lower than the earlier ‘flash’ estimate of 51.1. It was the first decline recorded in over three years amid the weakest...