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The root of America’s housing affordability crisis isn’t complicated in the abstract: We need to build more homes (4 million more, to be more or less precise). More sprawl isn’t working — our dependence on it is part of what’s gotten us into a housing crisis in the first place.
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Marina Bolotnikova, Vox
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The massive scandal around welfare fraud in Minnesota became a big story the same way the character Mike Campbell in The Sun Also Rises describes going bankrupt: “gradually and then suddenly.” Federal prosecutors first filed criminal charges in 2022 against the fraudsters at a Minnesota nonprofit called Feeding Our Future, who stole hundreds of millions of dollars while supposedly serving meals to low-income children and adults. Nearly 80 people have already been convicted or pleaded guilty, and more are expected. But only in recent months has this case—which the lead prosecutor has described as “industrial-scale fraud”—become a national fixation.
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James Surowiecki, The Atlantic
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HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam’s most important political conclave began Monday, as the ruling Communist Party convened to decide the country’s leadership and broad policy course for the next five years.
About 1,588 delegates from across Vietnam gathered in the capital, Hanoi, for the National Congress, the party’s highest decision-making body, which meets every five years to elect its top leadership and set priorities shaping the country’s political and economic direction.
Delegates will elect about 200 members to the party’s Central Committee, which in turn appoints 17 to 19 members to the powerful Politburo in a tightly choreographed process.
Beyond settling the question of who will lead Vietnam through 2031, the Congress will also determine how the country’s single-party system responds to far more turbulent world, as the Southeast Asian export powerhouse pursues its ambitious goal of becoming a high-income economy by 2045 amid intensifying U.S.–China rivalry and a splintering global economy.
Here is what to expect.
Communist Party General Secretary To Lam is expected to be confirmed to a full five-year term.
A crucial question is whether he will also move to combine the roles of party chief and state president, as many diplomats and analysts expect. This will concentrate power in an echo of the political model of China under Xi Jinping and neighboring Laos.
Vietnam has traditionally been governed through a “four pillars” system, in which the party chief, president, prime minister and National Assembly chair balance one another. Collapsing those roles would weaken that arrangement and make To Lam the most powerful leader in Vietnam in decades.
He has overseen the most ambitious round of bureaucratic and economic reforms since the late 1980s, when Vietnam liberalized its economy, including cutting tens of thousands of public-sector jobs, redrawing administrative boundaries to speed decision-making, and initiating dozens of major infrastructure projects.
Lam spent decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming its minister in 2016. He led the anti-corruption campaign championed by his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong. His rise took place while Vietnam’s Politburo lost of six of its 18 members during an anti-corruption campaign, including two former presidents and Vietnam’s parliamentary head.
His faction within the party is aligned with the ministry while the other main grouping is close to the more conservative military, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.
He said conservatives were uneasy about Lam’s reform agenda, fearing the “Vietnamese socialist system could go astray,” and want conservative voices to remain within the leadership as a check on power concentration and to keep the country on a socialist path.
Hanging over the Congress is a defining national ambition: whether Vietnam can transform itself into a high-income country by 2045, a goal that will shape its politics, economy and its place in the world.
Delegates will finalizes a resolution of a draft released in October that aimed for an average annual GDP growth of 10% or more from 2026 to 2030, after falling short of the 6.5% to 7.0% growth target set for the first half of the decade. The country’s 2025 GDP grew at 8%.
To do this, the draft calls for changing how the economy grows, with a focus on upgrading industry, modernizing production, and relying more on science, technology and digital tools to drive growth.
For instance, the military-run Viettel broke ground on its first semiconductor chipmaking plant in January. The project aims to begin trial production by 2027 and is part of Hanoi’s broader strategy to build high-tech capacity and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
The draft also describes the private sector as “one of the most important driving forces of the economy,” underscoring To Lam’s emphasis on business-led growth and a shift away from the dominance of state-owned companies in the communist country.
Giang said To Lam may seek to deepen that approach by giving large private conglomerates a greater role in major projects across Vietnam.
The document also places “foreign affairs and international integration” on the same footing as national defense and security, underscoring how dependent Vietnam’s export-driven economy is on global markets and geopolitics.
The document also elevates environmental protection to a “central” task alongside economic and social development, a notable shift in Vietnam, where rapid growth has fueled worsening air pollution and other environmental pressures.
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BOSTON — The state’s aging natural gas pipelines are still riddled with thousands of potentially dangerous and damaging leaks, according to a new state report that says utilities are making progress upgrading their infrastructure to reduce the hazards.
Massachusetts utilities reported 20,564 gas leaks in 2024, about 4,675 of which were classified as “Grade 1” leaks, meaning they should be repaired immediately, according to the latest data from the state Department of Public Utilities.
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By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter
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BANGKOK — Asian shares were mixed Friday after Wall Street broke a two-day losing streak and edged back toward record levels, helped by advances for Big Tech companies like Nvidia.
U.S. futures advanced and oil prices slipped.
Tech shares regained momentum after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a major supplier to the industry, reported strong profits and investment plans. TSMC gained 3% early Friday and Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex was up 1.9%.
The frenzy around AI has sent Nvidia and other superstar stocks to dizzying heights, stirring criticism that their prices had shot too high. Nvidia rose 2.1% on Thursday after TSMC’s Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said it’s seeing “continued strong demand” in an encouraging signal for the entire AI industry.
TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States rose 4.4% on Thursday.
The gains also followed the signing of a U.S.-Taiwan trade deal involving $250 billion in new investments by Taiwan’s semiconductor and tech companies in the U.S. In exchange, the Trump administration will cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods. The deal aims to establish a strategic economic partnership and upgrade U.S. industrial infrastructure.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.3% to 53,936.17, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 0.6% to 26,770.56. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3% to 4,101.91.
China is due to report its economic growth data for 2025 on Monday. Forecasts are for the economy to have expanded at about a 4.5% annual pace, slowing from earlier in the year.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9% to a record 4,840.74. The benchmark has been trading at record highs for weeks, helped by a recovery in confidence in AI-related shares. Samsung Electronics gained 3.5%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 8,903.90. India’s Sensex rose 0.4%.
Wall Street steadied on Thursday as stocks related to artificial-intelligence bounced back.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to 23,530.02.
Easing oil prices also helped to calm investors’ jitters.
Early Friday, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude cost $59.21, up 14 cents from a day earlier. It sank 4.6% on Thursday after Trump said he had heard “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran had stopped amid widespread protests against the country’s leadership.
Brent crude, the international standard, added 10 cents to $63.86 per barrel. It dropped 4.1% on Thursday.
Financial markets took Trump’s comments about Iran as a signal that tensions flaring above some of the world’s largest oil deposits could ease, which in turn could lower the possibility of disruptions to oil supplies.
Earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies continued to pick up pace, meanwhile, with several more big financial companies delivering their results for the last three months of 2025.
“As we dive into the heart of earnings season in the coming weeks, tech results will be scrutinized in far greater detail.,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary.
“Concerns around circular AI deals, leverage and delayed returns on investment remain front of mind for investors. These are compounded by rising electricity and metals costs, higher memory-chip prices, and the risk of supply disruptions,” she said.
BlackRock, the giant that’s now overseeing more than $14 trillion in investments, rose 5.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.
Encouraging reports on the U.S. economy contributed to the upbeat mood.
One said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication layoffs may be slowing. Other reports said manufacturing was significantly stronger in the mid-Atlantic region and in New York state than economists had forecast.
The stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. economy helped stocks of smaller companies to lead the market. Their profits can be tied more closely to the strength of the U.S. economy than their bigger, multinational rivals, and the Russell 2000 index rose 0.9%.
In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 158.19 Japanese yen from 158.63 yen.
The euro rose to $1.1614 from $1.1609.
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The latest trio of big banks reported their results Wednesday — Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo — and while each of them do different flavors of banking the theme is the same: profits are up, dealmaking is healthy, and the consumer is doing just fine.
“While any number of risks continue, we are bullish on the U.S. economy in 2026,” said Brian Moynihan, CEO and chairman of Bank of America, in a statement.
Moynihan added that businesses and consumers are “proving resilient.” Mark Mason, Citigroup’s chief financial officer, used the same word to describe how consumers and businesses were doing.
“The U.S. economy is doing just fine. There’s downside risks out there, geopolitical risks in particular. But when I step back and look at it holistically, we have an economy that has managed uncertainty and risks in a resilient type fashion,” Mason told reporters on Wednesday.
Up until last weekend, the big banks had found an ally in the White House in President Donald Trump. Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law in July, which pushed another significant round of tax cuts. Trump’s bank regulators have also been pushing a deregulatory agenda that both banks and large corporations have embraced. Many companies have embraced dealmaking last year, which led to a steady stream of investment banking revenues and fees to the big banks.
But now the banks and Trump are butting heads. Trump said Friday that he wants to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10%, and has been supportive of his Justice Department’s investigation into Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, which bankers see as a threat to the independence of the nation’s central bank. Trump does not appear to be backing down on his attacks as well, doubling down in comments to reporters Tuesday night.
For these big banks, many of which have large and profitable credit card businesses, these banks argue that a credit card interest rate cap simply cannot happen.
“Affordability is a big issue and we look forward to collaborating with the administration on ways we can address this,” Mason with Citi said. “But an interest rate is not something we could or would support. It would restrict credit to those who need it the most and have a delirious impact on the economy.”
Bank executives told reporters they weren’t seeing much evidence of a “K-Shaped” economy, where the rich get richer and the bottom half do less well. Further, the consumer continues to spend and other metrics about consumer financial health like delinquencies and charge-offs remain stable.
Bank of America posted a profit of $7.6 billion, or 98 cents per share, up from $6.8 billion, or 83 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue at the bank was $28.4 billion.
Wells Fargo earned a profit of $5.36 billion, or $1.62 per share, compared to a profit of $5.08 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the same period a year earlier on revenues of $21.3 billion.
At Bank of America, the bank reported a 6% increase in credit and debit card spending and credit card balances rose a manageable 3% year-over-year to $103 billion. Retail deposits also grew to $945.4 billion.
Wells Fargo’s credit metrics also told a similar story. The bank saw consumer loan growth and more activity on its credit cards, but delinquencies and charge-offs were relatively stable.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Associated Press
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President Trump is speaking Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club after he toured a Ford truck plant nearby. It comes as the president tries to focus on economic issues amid myriad international and domestic events that have gripped his administration since the start of the year.
The Detroit Economic Club has a long history of hosting presidents, both Democratic and Republican. Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have all previously spoken to club members.
Mr. Trump also spoke to “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil during his visit to Michigan.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Mr. Trump would be “talking about all of the great economic news.”
But the December jobs report released last week continued to show a softening economy, with only 50,000 jobs added in December. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in December, compared with 4.5% in November.
Overall for 2025, job growth slowed throughout the year as some businesses grappled with economic uncertainty, prompting them to pull back on hiring.
In a prime-time address last month, Mr. Trump defended some of his signature second-term economic policies, including his handling of inflation and tariffs.
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President Donald Trump traveled to Michigan on Jan. 13 to address the Detroit Economic Club.
Earlier in the day, the federal government announced that inflation — a major preoccupation for voters, and one of Trump’s key 2024 campaign issues — held steady at a 2.7% year-over-year rate. That’s slightly lower than the 2.9% in December 2024, the last full month under President Joe Biden, or the 3% in January 2025, a month shared by both presidents.
But consumer sentiment has fallen on Trump’s watch, showing people feel increasingly negative about their economic position. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index has fallen from 71.7 in January 2025 to 51 in November 2025. That’s just slightly above its lowest level ever, in June 2022, when year-over-year inflation peaked at about 9%.
The nation is still adding jobs, but at a slower pace than usual. Counting December’s preliminary numbers, the economy added 584,000 jobs in 2025, the lowest annual figure since 2003, not counting recession years.
Trump’s long-running confrontation with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reached a new high, as Powell announced Jan. 11 that he was under Justice Department criminal investigation related to testimony about a Federal Reserve building renovation. Trump has been saying for the past year that he wants to see Powell gone because he has not lowered interest rates enough.
This morning, before leaving Washington, D.C., for Michigan, Trump told reporters, “Well, he’s billions of dollars over budget. So, he either is incompetent, or he is crooked. I don’t know what he is, but he certainly doesn’t do a very good job.”
Read PolitiFact’s fact-checks of his statements below.
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Energy Dominance Lowering Costs, Powering the Future
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Ted Ellis, RealClearEnergy
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One yardstick of California’s popularity as a place to live made a slight improvement last year.
My trusty spreadsheet has collected annual migration data dating back to 2004 from three major moving van providers — Allied, Atlas and United. While having someone else move your stuff by van is usually an option for upper-crust Americans changing home states, this metric is worth following because it tends to parallel California’s competition for residents with other states.
For 2025, the three van companies found that, on average, 44% of their California interstate relocations were arrivals of new residents. And while that’s the fourth-lowest inbound share in the past 22 years, it also marked a rare improvement.
Last year’s outflow was a bump up from 2024, when 41% of California van moves were inbound — the second-lowest rate over these 22 years. California’s inbound share of van moves had decreased in five of the previous six years.
Despite the cooling of the outflow, 2025 was still below the average 47% inbound rate since 2004 and the 52% high of 2014. The all-time low was 41% in 2023.
Last year, California van outflow declined across all three companies compared to 2024, marking only the third time in 14 years that these movers experienced such synchronized slips.
Yet each company’s inflows are near record lows.
Atlas had 46% inbound moves to California last year — its fifth-lowest since 2004. United saw 42% inbound — its third-lowest. Allied was at 43% — its eighth-lowest.
Looking back over two decades, the pandemic appears to have been a turning point for van movements in California.
From 2004 through 2019, California van moves averaged 49% inbound relocations. This includes the 2008-2014 period, when the Great Recession’s economic turmoil saw van moves into California exceed van moves out of the state.
Since coronavirus upended the economy, though, arrivals averaged just 42% of California relocations by vans.
Van moves represent a small slice of migration, typically affordable only to wealthier households or workers with an expenses-paid relocation from major corporations.
Still, California van moves often parallel domestic migration patterns.
Swings in inbound van moves have gone in the same direction as changes in the state’s net population loss to other states in 14 of the last 21 years. It’s worth noting that these two benchmarks of interstate relocations have moved in opposite directions over the past three years.
State demographics reports show California lost a net 215,500 residents to other states in the year ended in July 2025 — the first widening of the outmigration gap in four years.
That was 54% above 2024’s 140,100 net outflow and 24% below the average 183,800 outmigration since 2004.
California has long been a net loser of residents to other states. Outmigration since 2004 has ranged from only 34,200 in 2014 to 369,200 in 2023.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
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Jonathan Lansner
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