Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday pushed back on concerns that have been raised about tariffs causing inflationary pressures that raise consumer prices, saying they would just lead to a one-time “price adjustment.” Bessent delivered remarks at the Economic Club of New York and participated in a question-and-answer period with FOX Business Network’s Larry Kudlow in which he was asked whether tariffs are inflationary. “Look, can tariffs be a one-time price adjustment? Yes… I would hope that the failed team transitory could get back together and think that nothing is more transitory than tariffs if it’s a one-time price adjustment,”…
Author: Natalia Smirnova
President Trump, late Thursday, signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Crypto Czar David Sachs celebrated the move via a post on X. “The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime,” he wrote. “It is estimated that the U.S. government owns about 200,000 bitcoin; however, there has never been a complete audit. The E.O. directs a full accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings. The U.S. will not sell any bitcoin…
It was a big week for Yum Brands’ Taco Bell as executives from the fast-food giant held its annual Live Más LIVE event in New York City, showcased new labor-saving technology, and announced an investment of $1 billion into digital and technology. Yum and Taco Bell executives showed off their “Byte by Yum” artificial intelligence (AI) tools “that will enable KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill restaurants across the world to delight customers, streamline operations and empower teams,” the company said in a press release. To demonstrate its current and planned use of AI technology,…
Billionaire Elon Musk polled users of his social media platform X about how they want to approach ending daylight saving time (DST). Musk asked in a post Wednesday, “If daylight savings [sic] time is canceled, do you prefer” an hour earlier or an hour later. About 58% of respondents said an hour later, while nearly 42% said an hour earlier, with more than 1.2 million users having voted as of Thursday morning. That implies respondents would prefer permanent DST to remaining on standard time year-round. Musk’s poll highlighted a debate that has simmered in the U.S. in recent years, as lawmakers…
A new fleet of self-driving taxis is ready to hit the streets this year, rolling out first in Las Vegas. The Amazon-backed vehicles are ten years in the making, and the company says they want to redefine transportation. “Our vision of the future is not as many people will need to buy their own car,” said Zoox co-founder Jesse Levinson. Zoox is on a mission to transform what driving looks like. Their robotaxis are autonomous vehicles that cater to the rider’s experience. “It’s a really nice premium experience. “It’s safe, it’s consistent, it’s clean and it’s much more efficient,” said…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to the Economic Club of New York today and emphasized the growthy-ness of President Trump’s program. I had a chance to interview the Secretary after his speech. But importantly, Bessent emphasized deregulation, especially in the banking sector – and that includes bank loans to small businesses. This is important because during the Biden years, Fed Chair Jay Powell swayed with the wind and promoted DEI, ESG, no loans to oil and gas companies, terrible supervision of Silicon Valley, and a disregard for the importance of community banks. Powell presided over a real mess. Incidentally, it…
After a failed mission in January, SpaceX on Thursday launched its eighth suborbital flight test of its fully integrated Starship megarocket, a combination of the ship’s upper stage (S34) and the Super Heavy booster (B15), at Starbase in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Unfortunately, history repeated itself when Starship’s upper stage made it into space only to start spinning uncontrollably before losing contact and breaking apart, sending debris cascading back to earth early Thursday evening. One of the goals of the flight was to catch the Super Heavy booster using the chopsticks on the launch tower, which was completed successfully. SPACEX…
