President Trump responded to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates for the first time in three years by saying they should be lowered — "AND FAST!"
Why it matters: The rate hike immediately puts Trump at odds with the central bank under new Fed chair Kevin Warsh, whom he picked to lead it.
The amount of diesel that Americans buy in a single day costs roughly $321 million more than it did a year ago — driving a new round of chatter about an export ban to preserve domestic supplies.
Why it matters: Investors and economists warn that it could backfire spectacularly, driving up prices globally and potentially putting further upward pressure on domestic interest rates.
CEO economic confidence is the highest since 2022, with that optimism now spilling over into plans to hire more workers.
Why it matters: The chief executives of America's largest companies are signaling confidence in the economy that could support job growth and investment, a stark contrast with the gloom among consumers.
Driving the news: The Business Roundtable's CEO Economic Outlook Index climbed 3 points in the third quarter, to 94 — the fifth consecutive increase and well above the historical average of 83.
The index has climbed steadily from a five-year low after President Trump's "liberation day" tariffs early last year.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 31 through Sept. 11, a period that coincided with new U.S.-Canada tariffs taking effect, tensions in the Iran war intensifying and a renewed surge in global energy prices.
Yet CEOs still grew more upbeat. Sales and investment plans remained well above historical norms, while the hiring index jumped 7 points, to 58, just shy of its long-run average of 61.
What they're saying: "The increase in hiring plans is encouraging, even as the broader economic picture remains mixed," Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement.
"But further deterioration of the vital U.S.-Canada economic relationship and broader North American trading framework could deliver a major blow to that progress," Bolten added, urging both sides to resume trade talks and roll back tariffs.
The intrigue: For much of the past year, the survey captured a striking feature of the AI economy — strong investment plans alongside unusually weak hiring projections. It reflected a bet that AI and other new technology could fuel growth without requiring companies to add many workers.
The latest survey's pickup in hiring plans suggests a growing appetite for workers, with a larger share of CEOs planning to add workers and a smaller group expecting cuts.
About 36% expect employment to rise over the next six months, 37% expect no change, and 28% expect employment to shrink.
The shift is consistent with a recent firming in labor market data, with job growth picking up sharply in August.
The big picture: The brighter mood in the C-suites stands in sharp contrast with the gloom among consumers, underscoring a widening divide in how businesses and households are experiencing the economy.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 47.8 in early September, the second-lowest reading on record (and about 3 points above the all-time low hit in May).
Consumers are feeling the latest price pressures more acutely, with year-ahead inflation expectations jumping to 4.6% from 4% as energy prices surged.
"This quarter's survey results are welcome news and reflect the resilience of the U.S. economy, but affordability pressures remain a challenge for businesses and families," Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins, who chairs the Business Roundtable, said in a release.
The bottom line: Corporate America is looking through an economy that has left consumers rattled — and now CEOs appear more willing to put that confidence behind more hiring.
Situational awareness: Bolten is stepping down as head of the BRT on Jan. 31, our colleague Mike Allen reports. His successor will be Kristen Silverberg, a former U.S. ambassador to the European Union and current No. 2 at the group.
Wayve spent nearly a decade developing a radically different approach to self-driving cars that others ridiculed but then eventually copied. Now comes the harder part: turning it into a business.
Why it matters: As the British startup moves from R&D to commercialization, it's pursuing an equally unconventional business model — licensing its autonomous-driving AI to automakers and fleet operators rather than building cars or running its own robotaxi network.
New York City is installing hundreds of curbside electric vehicle chargers in an effort to address one of the thorniest problems for urban EV drivers — where to charge overnight.
Why it matters: Cities could be among the biggest beneficiaries of quiet, emission-free vehicles, yet EV adoption is especially difficult in densely populated areas, where millions of people park on the street and can't plug in overnight.
Consumers may feel lousy about the economy, but they still won't quit spending.
The final piece of economic data before Wednesday afternoon's Fed decision is hot. Retail sales last month surged by the most since March, when a spike in gasoline prices and a boost from tax refunds helped account for higher spending totals.
Why it matters: The spending boom is welcome news for an economy that is carrying plenty of momentum into the fall. But resilient consumer spending could make Federal Reserve officials' efforts to tame inflation that much more difficult.
By the numbers: Retail sales jumped 1.2% in August, after a 0.5% drop in spending the prior month.
The data is not adjusted for inflation, so some of last month's strength reflects the recent run-up in pump prices. Sales at gas stations surged 3.1% last month.
Zoom in: Excluding gas stations, retail sales rose 1.1%, reflecting notably broad spending in August.
Online sales jumped 2.6%; spending at electronics and appliance stores climbed 1.6%, and sales at restaurants and bars gained 1.2%.
Of the top-level categories the Census Bureau tracks, just one posted a monthly decline: building materials.
What they're saying: "The report points to continued resilience in consumer spending, which, against a backdrop of persistent inflation pressures, puts further pressure on the FOMC to raise rates today," Richard de Chazal, a macro analyst at William Blair, wrote in a note.
A closely watched measure of sales that feeds into GDP calculations rose an even stronger 1.4% in August — nearly triple what economists expected.
The bottom line: Any signs that consumers were running out of steam look a lot less convincing after August's surge, even as households faced higher prices.
Top media leaders across print, digital and broadcast warned about AI's impacts on journalism at the inaugural Status Summit last week.
Why it matters: News publishers recognize that they need to embrace AI to survive the transition to an agentic web, but they refuse to broker deals with companies they feel are illegally scraping their content.
Curing disease is one of AI's most tantalizing use cases, fetching billions of VC dollars, but thus far it's generated more excitement than evidence.
That's the thrust of a peer-reviewed paper published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, which calls the clinical impact of AI "disappointingly limited."
The big picture: The researchers find that while AI has gotten good at identifying drug candidates, it hasn't done much to prove those predictions will survive the complexity of human biology.
Kristen Silverberg, a widely respected policy expert and former ambassador, was named the new president and CEO of Business Roundtable, the top policy voice of America's leading CEOs.
Silverberg, now BRT's president and chief operating officer, will succeed Josh Bolten, a former White House chief of staff who has led the organization for the past decade, when he steps down on Jan. 31.
Why it matters: Business Roundtable is one of Washington's most influential associations. The 200+ members are CEOs of the biggest U.S.-based companies, most with global reach.
Self-driving tech company May Mobility has reached a deal to go public via a merger with a SPAC affiliated with Atlas Credit Partners.
Why it matters: The deal is a test of public-market appetite for autonomous vehicle companies, with May pitching investors on a relatively capital-light alternative to the fleet-owning robotaxi model.
If rising interest rates are stock market kryptonite, investors are confronting a big chunk of that otherworldly mineral right now.
The big picture: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, seen as the most important interest rate in the world, has hit its highest level — 5.04% — since 2007.
This means that the price of money has gone up for everyone from the middle-class homebuyer to the behemoth corporation.
The recent surge in bond yields is keeping the pressure on the premium investors earn for taking their chances with stocks rather than bonds.
Why it matters: The skimpiness of the slab of extra returns the market typically offers stock market investors — which is known as the equity risk premium — raises the prospect that, at some point, investors decide they're just not being paid enough to expose themselves to the vagaries of equities.
Kevin Roose and Casey Newton are partnering with NPR for distribution and ad sales of their new show, "Machine Gods."
Why it matters: The deal underscores NPR's push to reach new audiences while enticing creators with one of its most powerful assets, radio's massive reach.
U.S. household income hit a record in 2025, but the lowest earners barely shared in the gains, new Census data show.
Why it matters: On paper, Americans look richer than ever. But broader measures of financial security show millions still getting squeezed by medical costs, uneven income gains and a thinning public safety net.
Girls flag football has become the fastest-growing high school sport, as tens of thousands take up a game that barely had a varsity footprint a few years ago.
Why it matters: Few girls high school sports have moved from niche to mainstream so quickly, broadening athletic opportunities in the process.
