Month: August 2025

When it comes to assessing the economic health of a country, GDP (gross domestic product) is often the measure of choice. This is because it tells you the market value of all final goods and services produced in a nation or region over a certain period of time.

However, GDP growth alone is not the be all and end all when it comes to understanding a country’s economy. It is important to remember that GDP growth can be misleading, as it does not tell you whether the gains are being shared evenly by all citizens or if only the wealthiest are getting richer. In order to understand how much a rise in GDP actually means for the average citizen, you need to look at real GDP growth, which is calculated by dividing nominal GDP by a price deflator.

There are two main ways to calculate GDP: the production method and the expenditure approach. The former adds up the output of all industries using basic prices, while the latter sums up all expenditure on finished products and services including consumption, investment, government spending and net exports. It is through the last category that you can see how a country’s GDP grows or shrinks depending on its trade balance with other countries – imports and exports.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases national income and product accounts every quarter that provide the raw data used to calculate GDP in the United States. These are compiled from seven summary accounts that trace receipts and outlays for businesses, households, nonprofit organizations and the government. BEA also produces detailed GDP reports for state and industry that use the same data as these summary accounts. These reports are available in FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature economic database.

More than 33 million small businesses operate in the United States, creating more jobs than large corporations and accounting for 43.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. But with their limited margins and susceptibility to market pressures, building a business that lasts can be a challenge. From important definitions to expert growth tips, this guide to small business offers everything you need to get started and keep growing.

Entrepreneurs who are launching a new business can find help at the local, state and federal levels. Startup funds, grants and loans can provide the capital you need to test your business idea or to grow and thrive. In addition, there are a number of resources to assist with government contracting and other issues that can come up for your business.

The SBA defines a small business by both annual revenue and employment, with different size standards for each. To determine the maximum average annual receipts or number of employees that your business can have and still qualify for small-business status, check the SBA’s table of size standards.

It’s also a good idea to have a company website to promote your business and engage with customers. Plus, you’ll need to get a variety of insurance policies, including general liability (GL), workers’ compensation and unemployment. Depending on your industry, you might need professional liability and business owner’s insurance as well. You’ll also need to decide on a legal structure for your business. The type of entity you choose affects your taxes, liabilities and how much you can borrow.

A news outlet is any kind of media that delivers news, either in a print or digital format. Examples include newspapers, TV and radio channels, blogs and social networks. They may cover a wide range of topics, including world politics and current affairs, business and economy, science and technology, sports and entertainment. Some outlets also provide educational content, such as teaching kids to read and write.

A major news outlet can set the agenda for the entire media industry, but they are not immune to market forces. Commercial interests, ad rates and subscriptions are all factors that influence what stories get published. They also need to be able to deliver a large audience in order to compete for attention and ad dollars.

USA Today is one of America’s most recognizable newspaper brands, with a strong reputation for solid reporting. They flipped the script on what newspapers looked like when they launched back in 1982, going big headlines and lots of color. They’re a great source for local news and are expanding their scope into areas like data journalism.

Slate covers politics, tech and culture in a style that’s smart but not boring. They have a clear progressive voice and are on top of messy policy issues and powerful figures dodging accountability. They’re also pushing into new formats like podcasts and live events.

Al Jazeera has an incredibly broad reach, with millions of viewers in 150 countries. They cover everything from climate change and politics to human rights and big global news stories. They’re also investing in new formats for the next generation of news consumers, focusing on YouTube and TikTok to connect with young audiences.

The stock market is a place where shares (or parts) of publicly owned companies are traded for cash. The idea behind it is that if a company grows sales and profits, the value of its shares will increase, allowing investors to sell their shares later at a higher price. There are many different factors that influence stock prices.

For instance, the demand for a particular company’s shares changes over time depending on how well it’s performing, the general state of the economy and other factors that don’t necessarily affect a specific company. The same goes for the supply of a particular company’s shares; if more people want to buy, the share price will rise.

If you’re interested in investing, you can open a brokerage account through a licensed broker, on your own or with the help of an investment advisor. You can then use your account to place buy orders for individual stocks or for groups of stocks, called funds. These include mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The securities industry is regulated by federal and state laws. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission oversees the national markets while the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, is more focused on protecting retail investors. This regulation helps maintain investor confidence in the marketplace. Publicly traded companies are also required to follow stringent reporting rules, which gives us a better view into how they operate and how well their businesses are doing.

Since the US stepped onto the world stage as the “world’s policeman” it has employed a wide range of regime change policies. Regime change policies include covert and overt efforts to support a political movement, back military coups, or outright intervene in the domestic politics of another country with the goal of replacing that government with a new one.

The rationale for regime change is that a non-democratic government, with its corrupt and incompetent leadership, does not serve the people’s interests. The regime’s leaders may commit atrocities and oppress their citizens, leading them to believe that if they were replaced with a democratically-elected government that had the interests of its people in mind the country would be a better place to live. This argument is flawed on many levels.

American officials have a vested interest in supporting democracy around the world, but using armed force to promote regime change is not the way to do it. The historical record shows that armed regime-change missions rarely succeed as intended and often produce unintended consequences, including humanitarian crises and weakened internal security in the targeted state.

In addition, a regime change operation will have severe costs for American foreign policy in the long term. When foreign polities begin to associate the United States with its own history of imperial ambition, they become much less willing to work with it, making it more difficult for the US to advance its own interests.

The real estate market (also known as the housing or property market) refers to the buying and selling of houses, apartments, commercial buildings, and other land and building structures for investment purposes. The real estate market is one of the most important parts of any economy, as it provides both residential and commercial space for people to live and work. Understanding the market can be a great way to make smart decisions about investing in properties.

The performance of a nation’s economy has a significant influence on the real estate market. When economies are doing well, they typically foster increased buyer confidence and higher prices for homes and other property types. In contrast, economic downturns can decrease home sales and slow overall growth.

Interest rates also have a major impact on the real estate market, as they directly affect purchasing power. For example, rising interest rates can dampen buying power, while lower rates can stimulate it.

Demographic trends can also have a significant effect on the real estate market. For instance, an aging population can lead to a decline in demand for certain types of property, such as single-family homes. However, this trend can also spur demand for new construction and redevelopment in urban areas.

The future of the real estate market depends on a variety of factors, including economic conditions and government policies. For example, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could have a negative impact on real estate investments by hurting investor confidence and slowing down transaction activity. However, if the conflict is resolved, real estate investments may recover quickly.

The politics of debate is a rich area of inquiry, one with many important applications in democratic governance. Debates are an opportunity to promote public understanding of candidates’ views, plans and positions on issues through the public exchange of ideas and arguments. They are also an opportunity for a public to compare the alternatives presented by different parties, and a venue for contesting these alternative visions of a society and economy.

While a variety of debate formats exist, most televised debates are characterized by a moderator’s control over the content and format of discussion. Typically, moderators are journalists who have extensive experience in broadcast news. They are chosen by the CPD based on three criteria: familiarity with the candidates and the major issues in the campaign, extensive experience moderating live television broadcast news and an understanding that debate should be centered on the questions and the candidates’ answers. The CPD does not meet with the campaigns to select moderators nor do the candidates have a role in their selection.

The arbitrary choice of a single moderator, coupled with the heightened scrutiny of candidates during these events for their reaction to the questioners and each other’s responses can create a dynamic where the focus shifts from the candidates to the moderator. This can lead to a debate that takes the form of an interview or Sunday show, in which the candidates are preparing as much for the moderator as their opponents and in which the questioning serves to advance the journalistic interests of the presenting network.

An investor update is a concise, structured communication that keeps stakeholders informed of key components of your business. These include recent wins and setbacks, financial performance, and team developments. By sharing critical metrics and providing context, investor updates establish credibility and foster trust with investors. In addition, they ensure that investors understand your company’s trajectory and support a collaborative problem-solving culture.

Whether you’re an early-stage founder preparing to send your first investor update or a growth-stage company looking to streamline your reporting process, the best way to communicate with investors is via email. This will allow you to send updates at a cadence that’s comfortable for your team, while also allowing you to easily include additional information (such as supplemental data and slides) in the event of a board meeting or a more formal presentation.

Most investor updates begin with a brief overview of the previous month, offering context to highlight any major changes or trends. A significant change could be a significant shift in revenue, a sudden drop in the average customer lifetime value, or the decision to discontinue a product due to low market demand. By communicating these highlights in the update, you create a sense of momentum and urgency for the rest of the report.

Investors are evaluating many different startups on a regular basis, and the quality of your investor updates will be a major determinant of their investment decisions. By providing clear, consistent, and transparent investor updates, you’ll show your investors that you are committed to building a great startup.

Political unrest is a common phenomenon that involves the outbreak of protests and strikes. It usually reflects a broader feeling of dissatisfaction with government policies and actions. The root cause can vary, but it is typically a result of economic inequality. When wealth is distributed unevenly, some groups feel excluded from political processes and denied access to the benefits of economic growth. These grievances can lead to a loss of faith in government institutions. They also provide a fertile ground for the spread of social discontent.

Moreover, political systems with limited checks and balances are more vulnerable to instability. This is because a lack of transparency creates perceptions of injustice, which can motivate citizens to oppose state authority through peaceful and violent means. The absence of institutional mechanisms to address grievances or channel demands also makes people turn to alternative avenues of expression, such as political activism.

In a country with high levels of poverty and unemployment, political unrest can quickly escalate into civil disturbances. Inflation and shortages of essential goods also fuel such disruptions. This is the case in Zimbabwe, where food inflation reached double digits and purchasing power fell. In addition, a ban on the importation of certain commodities increased the price of staple foods.

While these developments are not new, their scale, scope, and speed have changed. This has led to the emergence of new types of protest movements. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement has embraced violence as a tactic to challenge a perceived system of racial injustice. Other new political movements like the Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are highlighting the need to address climate change as an urgent priority.

Economic forecast is a process of attempting to predict future values of economic variables such as gross domestic product, one or more interest rates, and various measures of employment, unemployment, and price inflation. There are many different methods of economic forecast, and in general, no single method is quantitatively more accurate than any other. However, this does not mean that a forecaster should not attempt to use a methodology if it appears to offer a good chance of yielding useful predictions.

The global economy faces severe headwinds, with the world’s growth expected to slow to near stall speed in 2025, and a persistently weak outlook in the subsequent years. This outlook is largely the result of trade friction, which has slowed investment and hiring and raised prices, limiting output. Other factors contributing to the slowdown are elevated policy uncertainty, rising labor market risks and constraints on immigration.

The forecasting literature has long recognized that there are financial and macroeconomic series with considerable predictive power for future output. A notable example is the yield curve, which tends to forecast GDP growth better than any other variable. It is important to note, however, that forecasting methods based on these financial and macroeconomic series require at least some knowledge of how these variables behave in the past and faith that their patterns of behavior will persist in the future. They thus cannot be considered purely statistical, and as such are often excluded from the rational expectations revolution.