“At its linguistic core, the two-word phrase ‘demand destruction’ feels severe, harsh, maybe even violent,” CNN reports.

“In practice, that’s not far off: It means that the magnitude of a price shock can be so large, so persistent and so painful that spending behaviors shift – sometimes to the point where they permanently alter the course, the structure and the stability of a sector or an entire economy.”

Semafor: “Only a quarter of Americans who don’t own homes expect to buy one in the next five years, a low point since Gallup started asking the question more than a decade ago.”

“Just 28% expect to buy a home within 10 years, while 45% don’t see themselves buying a home in the foreseeable future.”

“A group of several dozen House lawmakers urged President Trump to prohibit Chinese car companies from ever building vehicles in America, the latest salvo by Congress in a debate roiling the auto industry,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

The share of Americans who say their financial situation is getting worse is higher now than at any point in the past 25 years, per a new Gallup poll.

This is the fifth consecutive year that more Americans say their finances are worsening rather than improving.

The Economist: “Donald Trump has waged various literal and metaphorical wars in his second term, but two have been especially bad for Americans: his trade war with the world and his actual war with Iran.”

“Every American industry that makes things—from chemicals to cars to crops—suffered at least a little when Mr Trump slapped tariffs on other countries and some of them retaliated. Now, with the conflict in Iran unresolved and the Strait of Hormuz still blocked, those same businesses face higher costs. Few have suffered more than American farmers.”

“As Congress prepares for a House floor vote on the Farm Bill next week, lawmakers are issuing dire warnings about what might happen to American farmers if an aid package doesn’t pass,” NOTUS reports.

“The past year was tough for American farmers, a downturn that the Farm Bureau has called a ‘generational rather than a temporary slowdown.’ Farm bankruptcies increased 46% in 2025 and are at their highest level since 2020, though fewer farms are going bankrupt than in the 2010s.”

Wall Street Journal: “The unemployment rate is low. The stock market is high. Consumer spending is healthy. But ask Americans how they feel about the economy, and they sound like there’s a recession going on.”

“That matters first because when people’s perceptions of the economy sour, their behavior can change and slow the economy. And second, because sometimes they are seeing real problems that have yet to show up in the hard data.”

“Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index dropped 11 points since March, reaching its lowest point since November 2023, when the Biden administration was grappling with stubborn inflation,” Semafor reports.

“Over the span of four days earlier this month, President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account about his proposed triumphal arch, ballroom construction, the Iran war, a UFC fight at the White House and Bruce Springsteen’s alleged plastic surgery,” CNBC reports.

“He also posted (and later deleted) an AI-generated photo of himself as Jesus…”

“What’s absent for long stretches in the president’s social media presence and from his discourse more generally of late is the economy — an issue Trump rode to the White House in 2016 and 2024.”

A new AP-NORC poll finds Donald Trump’s approval rating on the economy dropped to 30%, down from 38% in last month’s poll.

New York Times: “Many countries across the Asia-Pacific are experiencing sudden jolts of disruption that they are struggling to manage, with some comparing the crisis’s breakdowns and scope to the Covid pandemic.”

“Even if there is a peace deal soon, the future of this industrious region that has driven global economic growth for decades will likely include months of canceled flights, surging food prices, factory pauses, delayed shipments and empty shelves for products long considered quick and easy to buy worldwide: plastic bags, instant noodles, vaccines, syringes, lipstick, microchips and sportswear.”

“Collectively, according to many officials and experts, if the war’s strangling of commercial traffic through the Middle East lasts for even a few more weeks, and uncertainty lingers, shortages could push several countries into convulsions of unrest, followed by recession.”

Paul Krugman: “According to Donald Trump, the U.S. economy is doing great. We’re enjoying a huge boom, there’s no inflation, and we’re all getting tax cuts. We have prosperity like nobody has ever seen before.”

“But it’s probably not news to you that reality doesn’t agree. Inflation was stubbornly elevated even before the Iran debacle, while growth has been sluggish. Jobs for entry-level workers are hard to find while mortgage and car loan rates are up. Gas-pump prices are above $4 on average and around 10 million Americans are projected to lose health insurance by 2028. Yet the one economic variable that stands out, that really is like nothing anyone has ever seen before, is consumer confidence: The long-running University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment just hit its lowest point ever recorded.”

“And that’s a puzzle. Obviously, I’m no defender either of Trump’s policies or of his lies. But while the U.S. economy isn’t nearly as good as he claims, it’s objectively not bad enough to justify the worst consumer sentiment in history — worse than during the stagflation at the end of the 1970s, worse than in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.”

“Roughly seven weeks into the war with Iran, investors have shrugged off the sky-high price of oil, sending the S&P 500 this week to a fresh record high,” the New York Times reports.

“That exuberance on Wall Street has offered a sharp contrast with the hardships facing many Americans, who are feeling the financial blowback of a conflict that President Trump once promised would be brief but seems to have no end in sight.”

CNN: “A jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly in its dominance of the live events and ticketing industry, validating complaints that the industry giant was stifling competition and driving up fees for fans.”

“I’m sorry that gas prices are going up, but help is on the way, and your national security is even more important than your pocketbook.”

— Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), in a television appearance.