In U.S., Wage Growth is Being Wiped Out Entirely by Inflation

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

Rising prices have erased U.S. workers’ meager wage gains, the latest sign strong economic growth has not translated into greater prosperity for the middle and working classes.

Cost of living was up 2.9 percent from July 2017 to July 2018, the Labor Department reported Friday, an inflation rate that outstripped a 2.7 percent increase in wages over the same period. The average U.S. “real wage,” a federal measure of pay that takes inflation into account, fell to $10.76 an hour last month, 2 cents down from where it was a year ago.

Trade wars, Trump tariffs, and protectionism explained

FROM BBC NEWS

US President Donald Trump has shaken the foundations of global trade, slapping steep tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods from the EU, Canada, Mexico and China. 

All these countries are responding in kind, retaliating with levies on thousands of US products. 

This puts the world’s largest economies at each other’s throats.

But what is a trade war? How does protectionism work? And how will it all affect you?