Financial Mindset

If you thought last year’s national debt numbers were chilling, you haven’t seen anything yet. In the second week of August, the CBO released its Monthly Budget Review giving year-to-date totals, calculated through July, for federal FY 2026, ending September 30. For the first 10 months of fiscal 2026, Washington’s carrying costs grew an astounding 14%, from $846 to $963 billion versus the same period in FY 2025, far and away the biggest jump of any expense line item. By contrast, Social Security rose 5%, and Medicare and Medicaid 8% each. In just 12 months, interest zoomed from equaling 64.9% of Social Security outlays to 70.1%. A year ago, the category had barely edged past Medicare to become the 2nd largest budget cost after Social Security. The huge increase in interest expense has two sources. The first is the explosion in the federal debt. Since the start of 2026 through August 22, that burden swelled another 7.3% to $40 trillion . Since the start of ...

A financial crisis that has long been predicted by Russia experts and Kremlin insiders appears to have finally arrived as banks see depositors scramble to pull out their money amid fears it may be seized. In the first half of August, Russians withdrew $3.4 billion (286.4 billion rubles), according to central bank data cited by the Washington Post . That’s after $7.3 billion was withdrawn in July and $4.5 billion in June. “Drones are flying. Things are burning down. Nervousness is growing. And people’s everyday wisdom may be kicking in that they need to have cash under their pillow and not somewhere in banks where it may never be returned,” a former finance official told the Post , adding that banks have much of their capital tied in loans elsewhere. The situation echoes the iconic scene from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life , when panicked depositors show up at the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan demanding their cash, only to learn that it’s no...

The new head of Iran’s top security body warned Sunday that Tehran will see any country’s support for  new U.S. economic measures  against the Islamic Republic as an “act of war,” while Iran’s president defended a  memorandum of understanding  with the United States as the best way out of the  stalled conflict . Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday is expected to announce the new measures after the U.S. vowed to impose an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on a country that has lived for  decades under sanctions . Also Monday, Pakistan’s army chief is expected to visit Iran as mediators try to revive talks. Meanwhile, attacks calmed on the  Strait of Hormuz  but posturing did not, as a  recently created Iranian authority  listed dozens of vessels it said will face restrictions on future transits. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on...

Steve Hanke earned the moniker “Money Doctor” after advising governments across the globe on how to use currencies to get inflation under control. The professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University is now helping Venezuela and has been named a special advisor to the country’s National Assembly. He told Fortune’s Shawn Tully that his solution for Venezuela’s 400% inflation is full adoption of the U.S. dollar, meaning bolivars and the central bank would be abandoned. The idea is to remove the risk of a central bank printing money to help the government pay its bills, stoking higher prices. “Taming inflation is the key to restoring stability in Venezuela, and all the other progress flows from that,” Hanke explained. “Stability isn’t everything, but without stability, which means stable prices, you have nothing. And there’s no better case study showing that’s true than Venezuela.”  He should know. The Money Doctor persuaded Monten...

The United States and Canada,  historic allies  along an undefended border, fell deeper into a trade war Saturday marked by angry recriminations and new tariffs that are expected to raise prices for products in both countries. Each side blamed the other for the collapse of negotiations in Washington late Friday, leading the U.S. to impose 50% tariffs on  $20 billion worth of Canadian goods  and Canada setting Sept. 8 as the start of its retaliatory penalties. President Donald Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what  Canada ships to the United States  every year, ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors. Prime Minister Carney said Ottawa would respond with targeted tariff protection for industries exposed to the new U.S. duties, including some steel products. He also mentioned the dairy, appliance, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics sectors. No further talks were planned. Whatever the eventual outcome, a loss of...

For 60 years, Ormat Technologies strategically built geothermal power plants where nature allows—over underground reservoirs of high-pressure water or steam—including around the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” from Asia to the Americas. Doing so made Ormat the largest geothermal operator in the world. Today, Ormat hopes to grow exponentially with the AI data center boom, aiming to build baseload, clean power plants throughout the Western United States utilizing both new technologies and old. The goal is called EGS—enhanced geothermal systems—marrying the traditional geothermal business with the newest oil-drilling and fracking techniques. The idea is that EGS will allow for the construction of next-generation geothermal power almost anywhere the customer desires by tapping into deeper, higher-temperature underground reservoirs much more easily. While the science is proven, Ormat and competitors are racing to show they can build the plants economically and efficiently enough t...

Amazon has raised prices for several of its first-party devices, including its Echo smart speakers and Fire TV line, making it the latest big tech company to increase consumer costs as memory chip shortages pressure several industries. The company overnight raised prices across its hardware product line, according to a review by Fortune . This includes raising the cost of its base Echo Dot from $49.99 to $79.99 and its Echo Show 11 from $219.99 to $249.99. It also raised its 16-gigabyte Kindle from $109.99 to $149.99 and its 16-gigabyte Kindle Paperwhite from $159.99 to $199.99. Its Fire TV Stick HD model increased from $34.99 to $39.99, and its Fire TV Stick 4K Max went from $59.99 to $84.99. The Amazon eero 7 wireless mesh networking system increased from $349.99 to $399.99, and the eero Pro 7 rose from $699.99 to $799.99. Notably, Amazon did not increase prices for its Ring products. The website Pocket-lint earlier reported on the Fire TV increases. An Amazon spokeswom...