Wall street tumbles on central bank fears

US President Joe Biden (File image: Reuters) As Americans deal with the highest inflation in decades, President Joe Biden has declared that combating rising costs is a priority for his administration. Lately, he has cited one policy in particular as an inflation-fighting tool: shrinking the nation’s budget deficit. “Bringing down the deficit is one way to ease inflationary pressures in an economy,” Biden said this month. “We reduce federal borrowing and we help combat inflation.” The federal budget deficit — the gap between what the government spends and the tax revenue it takes in — remains large. But Biden has pointed out that it shrank by $350 billion during his first year in office and is expected to fall more than $1 trillion by October, the end of this federal budget year. Rather than stemming from any recent budget measures by his administration or Congress, the deficit reduction largely reflects the rise in tax receipts from strong economic growth and the winding … [Read more...] about Biden’s curious talking point: Lower deficits offer inflation relief

Representative image Oil prices continue to surge over fears of supply disruption as Russia faced collective sanctions from the US and allies following its invasions of Ukraine. On March 2, Brent crude futures rose by as much as $8 and touched $113.02 a barrel, the highest since June 2014, before easing to $111.75, news agency Reuters reported. Such elevated prices have wide ramifications for India, given that about 85 percent of the crude processed by domestic refiners is imported. High prices can put upward pressure on inflation, increase the cost of inputs for various industries, make transportation expensive, raise the import bill and lead to deterioration of the current account. The Economic Survey of 2021-22 had flagged the risk of imported inflation, arising from elevated global energy prices but the Budget for 2022-23 and the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee have taken a relatively benign view on crude oil prices—they have estimated that it would … [Read more...] about Crude hovers around $110, India has a lot to worry about

With his fluffy black dog in tow, Gilberto Rodriguez left Venezuela two months ago on a perilous eight-country journey, mostly on foot, with dreams of a better life in the United States. Leaving behind his wife and two children, aged six and eight, Rodriguez has slept rough, gone hungry, witnessed violence and paid bribes to police. But he smiles from ear-to-ear as he caresses his loyal canine companion of two years, whose name "Negro" means "Black" in Spanish. "He has also crossed everything just like us, he eats the same we eat, he's also a migrant," he told AFP in the town of Tecun Uman in eastern Guatemala, the sixth country stop on his north-bound route. Their journey so far has taken Rodriguez and Negro from Caracas to Colombia and through the perilous Darien jungle to Panama. Close There, they came across some of the criminal gangs that prey on migrants fleeing poverty and political upheaval in their home countries. "We were with some women and they … [Read more...] about Migrant’s perilous 8-country journey to US with pet dog