Money versus Monetary Policy

Iran Ready To Let Japanese Ships Use Hormuz As Chinese, Indian Tankers Already Allowed Passage While Iran's decision to close the Straits of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign was understandable, after all it's the biggest point of leverage the IRGC-controlled nation has left (it is certainly more understandable than bombing all of its Gulf neighbors in the process pushing them from being on the fence to being staunchly anti-Iran), there was always a bit of a glitch in Tehran's calculus: as we showed the day the war...

Companies Report Raging Inflation, Except In Wages & Rents Authored by Wolf Richter via Wolf Street, Manufacturers reported that the costs of health insurance for employees shot up by 14.2% on average; service firms reported an average increase of 12.9%, according to a report by the New York Fed based on a survey of companies in the New York-Northern New Jersey region. These are averages, but “some firms reported increases of between 25% and 50% when they renewed their coverage,” the report said. Manufacturers and service firms both reported that the costs...

California May Flip 50-Year Nuclear Moratorium California, long a leader in aggressive renewable energy mandates, is showing early signs of softening its decades-old ban on new nuclear power. Bloomberg reported cracks are appearing in the state’s 1976 moratorium, driven by surging electricity demand from AI data centers and the challenge of hitting absurd climate targets like 90% clean electricity by 2035 and 100% by 2045. At the center of the development is Assembly Bill 2647, introduced last month by Democratic Assembly Member Lisa Calderon with Republican co-sponsors. The legislation would exempt...