Ben White
POLITICO
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Ben:
Biden nominates Banga, former Mastercard CEO, to head World Bank
The nomination comes days after current World Bank President David Malpass announced he would resign by July. → Read More
Biden builds a new team to carry him across landmines
All bring particular skills suited to Biden’s desire for experienced hands to help steer the economy away from a possible recession. → Read More
Don't bet on a recession escape yet
With help from Ari Hawkins and Charlie Mahtesian ON THE BRINK — This week brought a deluge of economic data about the health of the U.S. economy. In the abstract, each number can seem confusing and even contradictory. The economy grew at a stronger pace in the fourth quarter of 2022 than many expected and narrowly escaped recession for the year. Great news! Inflation appears to be steadily… → Read More
Don’t freak out over the debt limit
Don’t freak out over the debt limit … yet Presented by Americans for Prosperity With help from Ari Hawkins ‘EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES’ — The U.S. breached its statutory $31.4 trillion “debt ceiling” today. And precisely nothing happened. Markets paid it little mind. Even senior White House aides privately expressed fairly breezy confidence to Nightly that they will somehow find a path with a… → Read More
Fed-resistant inflation punishes Dems
TAKE A HIKE — So far this year, the Federal Reserve has taken out its giant sledgehammer (interest rate hikes) and bonked the economy on the head five times to try and beat down the kind of nasty spike in inflation not seen since “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” topped box charts in 1982. It’s all done … well, pretty much nothing. Consumer price data for the month of September released today showed… → Read More
No end in sight for Fed-delivered beatings
NO PAIN, NO GAIN — Fed Chair Jerome Powell would love to stop pumping the brakes on the economy with multiple, hefty interest rate hikes. He knows the aggressive boosting will almost certainly cause recession — potentially a bad one — and a significant spike in unemployment. And people will hate him for it, especially Democrats looking to retain power. He would rejoice if rampant inflation came… → Read More
Larry Summers emerges as the unlikeliest Democratic hero
Larry Summers’ quiet but deep involvement in White House economic planning is remarkable since he has been among the sharpest critics of President Joe Biden’s spending policies almost from the beginning. | Rob Kim/Getty Images When the White House sought help crafting crucial tax-raising portions of the health care, climate and tax bill, one man was often on the other end of the phone line and… → Read More
Biden faces new headwind as economy shrinks again
Republicans are poised to cast aside all the economic technicalities and bash Democratic candidates up and down the midterm ballot over an economy that is already deeply unpopular with voters in both parties. → Read More
Bracing for the big reveal-
HEY SIRI, DEFINE RECESSION — Set multiple alarms on your phone tonight. Load your coffee maker with the strongest brew you’ve got. And prepare at least six browser windows to feverishly refresh this Bureau of Economic Affairs website at precisely 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning to have your mind absolutely blown by the … first, possibly inaccurate and certain to be revised reading of U.S. economic… → Read More
Next week’s Category 5 economic storm-
HURRICANE WATCH — Take some time to relax and enjoy this summer weekend. Because there is a Category 5 storm of economic news headed for our shores next week that will (hopefully) help clear up a muddled picture of America’s direction and almost certainly set competing political narratives for the stretch run of the midterm election campaign. Let’s just start with the checklist of everything we… → Read More
Build Back Center: Biden plows a revamped lane for the midterms
As he nears the 2022 stretch run, the president is emphasizing deficit reduction, policing funding and taxing the rich. → Read More
The future of work has arrived, and it’s messy
Covid-19 accelerated the transformation of work on Wall Street and across America. Employees are happier; their bosses, not so much. → Read More
New concern for Biden: Could Larry Summers be right about inflation?
Summers now says he's more concerned than he was when he first issued his warnings. → Read More
Markets start to worry
Wall Street splits on remote work — Didi plunges on China crackdown → Read More
Beware the very weird jobs report ahead
Editor’s Note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services' morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. Quick Fix The weird jobs report ahead — Friday’s May jobs report is something… → Read More
Biden's budget blowout predicts years of Obama-level tepid growth
Some analysts suggested that the administration is essentially admitting that its proposed surge in federal spending won’t actually boost the economy much at all. → Read More
Why infrastructure talks are in real trouble
Editor’s Note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services' morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. Quick Fix West Wing mind-meld: Why infrastructure talks are in real trouble —… → Read More
Corporate America thinks it can kill most Biden tax hikes
Middle East violence worsens — Inflation remains a threat → Read More
Tax the rich? Executives predict Biden’s big plans will flop
Corporate executives and lobbyists say they are confident they can kill almost all of these tax hikes by pressuring moderate Democrats in the House and Senate. → Read More
The Fed chair has an army of Biden fans. Liberal groups have other dreams.
The biggest force standing between Powell and a second term may be an activist left prepared to create a spectacle. → Read More