The US National Debt Has Passed $40 Trillion. What Changes Now?
US debt has crossed $40 trillion as interest costs outrun defence spending and long-term Treasury yields test two-decade highs.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Aisha Verma
Business and Markets Editor
46 articles · Writes about Business
Aisha Verma covers business, markets and the global economy for The NE Times, from company results and IPOs to the policy decisions that move currencies, stock markets and household budgets.
Latest by Aisha Verma
US Petrol Prices Reach Their Highest August on Record as Crude Stays Above Seasonal Norms
US regular petrol is averaging about $4.10 a gallon, the highest level recorded for late August as expensive crude offsets softer seasonal demand.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Connecticut Starter Homes Hit $300,000 as July’s US Sales Bounce Runs Into a New Rate Squeeze
Connecticut starter homes have doubled to about $300,000 in a decade just as Zillow’s forward indicators point to a softer US housing market.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
US Hits Canada With 50% Tariffs as Trade Deal Collapses at the Deadline
US tariffs of 50% on $20bn of Canadian goods are now in force after talks failed, with Ottawa planning retaliation from 8 September.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Mexican Cattle Exports Are Set to Resume on 24 August Under Tight Screwworm Controls
The Douglas, Arizona livestock gate will reopen on 24 August, restoring Mexican cattle exports under tighter New World screwworm screening.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
The Global Bond Rout Tests Scott Bessent's Buybacks as the 30-Year Yield Holds Above 5.2 Per Cent
Long-dated borrowing costs hit levels unseen since 2007 in the US and 1996 in Japan, and a doubled Treasury buyback has only briefly slowed the sell-off.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Warren Buffett, Not Greg Abel, Initiated Berkshire Hathaway's Alphabet Bet
Eight months after handing over as chief executive, Buffett is still making Berkshire's biggest stock calls while Abel runs the operating companies.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Walmart Will Cut Prices on 11,000 Items Using a $2.9 Billion Tariff Refund
The refund followed a Supreme Court ruling against the import levies, and it arrived as US comparable sales grew at their slowest pace in six years.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
US Private-Sector Output Grows at Its Fastest Pace Since April 2022 as Services Surge and Hiring Returns
S&P Global's flash composite index rose to 56.0 in August from 54.5, with employment climbing at the sharpest rate since January 2025.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Robinhood Shares Climb as Vlad Tenev Presses Washington to Let Tokenised Shares Trade at Home
The chief executive's call to modernise securities rules lifted the stock, with tokenised equity volumes up more than 800 per cent this year.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Bitcoin Surges Past $72,000 as a Record $3.1 Billion Short Squeeze and Treasury Buybacks Ignite a Crypto Rally
A two-day surge has pushed bitcoin to its highest level since June, forcing the largest single-day short liquidation on record and lifting crypto stocks.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
British Retail Sales Fall 0.5% in July as Heatwaves Keep Shoppers Home, Despite a World Cup Food and Drink Boost
The first monthly decline since April leaves the high street leaning on supermarkets, as clothing sales slump and June's promotional surge fades.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Block Will Pay 46 States $45 Million Over Cash App Fraud Failures and Honour $120 Million in Consumer Restitution
State attorneys general found the payments app misled users about fraud protections, as restitution cheques from an earlier federal order reach customers.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Brandon Johnson Tells Investors Chicago Will Make Its Full $260 Million Advance Pension Payment This Year
The mayor told the Chicago Investors Conference the second $130m instalment is a question of when, not if, easing bond-market fears of a rating downgrade.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Walmart Beats on Second-Quarter Earnings, but a Reserved Outlook Sends the Shares Down 6%
Revenue rose 5.9% to $187.9bn and adjusted earnings beat forecasts, yet cautious third-quarter guidance overshadowed the retailer's tariff-era resilience.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Charter Closes Its $34.5bn Cox Merger, Creating a 38-Million-Customer Giant That Will Take the Cox Name
The biggest cable deal in a decade completes after California's sign-off, with Spectrum expanding to 45 states and the parent taking the Cox name.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
China Sentences Evergrande Founder Hui Ka Yan to Life in Prison as Courts Close the Book on a $300 Billion Collapse
The Shenzhen court convicted the fallen property tycoon of large-scale financial fraud and fined his companies a combined $2.3 billion.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Seoul's Kospi Sinks Nearly 6% as a Chip Rout Triggers the Sidecar and Samsung Suffers Its Worst Day in Months
South Korea's benchmark plunged as Samsung and SK hynix tumbled, with rising bond yields, oil prices and alliance anxiety all pressing on Seoul at once.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
The SEC Proposes 'Regulation Crypto Assets', Its First Dedicated Crypto Rulebook, and the Industry Calls It a Win
The proposal creates a formal framework for crypto fundraising, including a startup exemption of up to $5 million, and markets rose on the news.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Moderna's mRNA Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in a Landmark Melanoma Trial, and the Stock Posts Its Best Day on Record
The Merck-partnered shot intismeran cut melanoma recurrence in a phase-three trial, the first such win for an mRNA cancer vaccine, sending Moderna up 177%.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Hormuz Traffic Slows to Six Ships a Day as Owners Wait for a Clear Signal the Strait Is Open
Insurers and shipowners are declining to treat a nominal reopening as a real one, and the transit count keeps falling.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
Walmart Reports Second-Quarter Results on Thursday in the Clearest Test Yet of Who Is Absorbing Tariffs
The retailer guided to 4% to 5% constant-currency sales growth, and analysts want to know how much of the tariff bill reached shelf prices.
Aisha Verma 5 min read
US Mortgage Rates Dip for the First Time in Six Weeks, but Stay Above Last Year
The 30-year fixed rate eased to 6.67% after five straight weekly rises, but borrowing costs remain above last year.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
UnitedHealth Shareholders Allege Governance Failures on a Historic Scale Over Medicare Billing and the Change Healthcare Breach
An amended complaint in Minnesota draws on former insiders to allege a rushed acquisition and a discontinued billing audit.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
July Inflation Cools to 3.4% and the S&P 500 Closes at a Record High
A tame consumer price report eased fears of a September rate hike and sent the S&P 500 to a fresh record close near 7,792, with core inflation at its lowest reading since February.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
Nvidia and Wall Street Giants Form a $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Financing Alliance
The chipmaker has joined Apollo, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR in a half-trillion-dollar vehicle to fund the data centres and power that artificial intelligence now demands.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
Social Security's 2027 Raise Is Shaping Up as the Biggest in Years, Forecasters Say
Fresh CPI data has forecasters projecting a 2027 cost-of-living adjustment between 3.4% and 3.6%, up from this year's 2.8%, with the official figure due from the Social Security Administration on 14 October.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
The Multibillion-Dollar Race to Build a Way Around the Strait of Hormuz
Gulf oil producers are advancing seven pipeline projects to move crude around the world's most important chokepoint, with the UAE targeting doubled bypass capacity by mid-2027 and planners aiming to cover most pre-war export volumes by 2028.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
Tesla Sets Delivery and Revenue Records in Q2 2026, but Profit Collapses on AI Spending
Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles and $28.24bn in revenue in the second quarter, yet operating profit fell 57% as AI and robotics spending surged.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
Iberdrola Buys Control of Finland's Biggest Power Grid in EUR5bn Caruna Deal
Spain's Iberdrola agreed to buy an 80% stake in Finnish distributor Caruna for EUR2bn, valuing the grid at about EUR5bn including debt.
Aisha Verma 4 min read
Showing the 30 most recent of 46 articles by Aisha Verma.