Economy

LA's housing crisis raises concerns that the Fashion District will get squeezed

7:29pm May 19, 2023

by David Wagner

Los Angeles is planning to add 100,000 new apartments downtown. Garment workers and others now fear L.A.'s Fashion District and its factories won't survive the city's downtown housing boom.

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Economists are reconsidering how much corporate profits drive inflation

6:31pm May 19, 2023

by Sarah Gonzalez

In the past, corporate profit growth accounted for maybe a third of inflation. But a report from the Kansas City Fed found that nearly 60% of inflation in 2021 was because of corporate profits.

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While food prices have risen in many parts of the world, a dramatic jump in one of Italy's staple foods has prompted the government to take action.

Soaring pasta prices caused a crisis in Italy. What can the U.S. learn from it?

10:01am May 18, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Italian officials convened crisis talks last week to address the price of pasta, which was up a whopping 17.5% year-over-year in March. But it's far from the only country seeing a rise in food prices.

Here, the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, on March 22, 2013. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel acknowledged that Black taxpayers may be audited at higher rates than non-Black taxpayers.

IRS chief says agency is 'deeply concerned' by higher audit rates for Black taxpayers

6:00pm May 16, 2023

by Jonathan Franklin

Findings from an internal investigation come after researchers said the IRS was at least three times more likely to audit Black taxpayers than other racial groups.

How inflation is hitting prison inmates

4:40pm May 16, 2023

According to a Marshall Project report, inflation has hit America's incarcerated population harder than it has those on the outside. Alex Arriaga, who wrote the report, talks about what she found.

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The IRS is working on a plan that would allow taxpayers to file directly with the government online, but tax preparation companies plan stiff opposition.

The IRS is building its own online tax filing system. Tax-prep companies aren't happy

4:27pm May 16, 2023

by Scott Horsley

The IRS is working to develop its own free electronic tax-filing system in a potential challenge to commercial products such as TurboTax. The agency plans a pilot test of the program next year.

The 777 Tower in downtown Los Angeles' financial district is one of two buildings that Brookfield, the city's largest office owner, defaulted on this year.

Economy

A lot of offices are still empty — and it's becoming a major risk for the economy

11:04am May 16, 2023

by Arezou Rezvani

The office property sector is in trouble as many workplaces remain empty, and that threatens to spark a number of economic problems, including more pain at the country's banks.

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Economy

The case for financial literacy education

6:30am May 16, 2023

by Paddy Hirsch

Financial literacy programs have been called useless in the past. But a new study suggests that's due to the way the subject is taught, rather than the subject itself.

Small businesses worry as offices and city centers are slow to refill

4:53pm May 15, 2023

by Arezou Rezvani

There are more empty office spaces now than during the 2008 financial crisis. These vacancies could spell trouble for downtown city centers and the broader commercial real estate market.

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A man enters the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City on Friday.

What the debt ceiling standoff could mean for your retirement plans

1:55pm May 15, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Biden has warned that defaulting on the national debt "would devastate retirement accounts," among other things. The head of advice methodology at Vanguard wants people to remember the bigger picture.

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