menu_open Columnists
Paul Wiseman

Paul Wiseman

Inc.com

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

IMF slashes global growth forecast, blaming ‘war in the Middle East’ for halted momentum

The IMF downgraded its forecast for global growth to 3.1% in 2026 from the 3.3% it had forecast back in January.

previous day 3

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

U.S. jobs report bounces back from dismal February with surprisingly strong 178,000 payrolls

The unemployment rate was down from 4.4% in February.

03.04.2026 2

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Global economy takes gut punch from war in Iran, with nobody untouched the longer it goes on

The war also has dredged up a bad economic memory from the oil shocks of the 1970s: stagflation.

29.03.2026 9

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

How Trump created a ‘nightmare scenario’ for the world economy

According to AAA, the average price of U.S. gasoline has shot up to $3.48 a gallon from just under $3 a week ago.

10.03.2026 7

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

‘The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds’: labor market reels at unexpected 92,000 loss

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.

06.03.2026 8

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Yes, judge tells Trump: you have to refund all the companies that you charged with illegal tariffs

Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that “all importers of record" were “entitled to benefit" from the Supreme...

04.03.2026 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

’90s nostalgia seizes the Fed and White House as Warsh and Trump see AI as an internet-style productivity boom

Many of Warsh’s potential future colleagues on the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee see the late 1990s experience differently than he does.

02.03.2026 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

With tariff refunds headed for a long legal fight, trade lawyer warns the ‘government is well-positioned to make this as difficult as possible’

The refunds that do get issued will take time to roll out — 12 to 18 months, estimates TD Securities.

21.02.2026 30

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Trump’s trade deficit was third highest on record even despite his tariffs upending the global economy, Commerce Dept. says

The deficit decreased from $904 billion in 2024 to $901 billion last year.

20.02.2026 20

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Inflation hits 2.7% in November, still above Fed’s 2% target but less than economists expected

Consumer prices had risen 3% in September from a year earlier, and forecasters had expected the November CPI to match that year-over-year increase.

18.12.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Government belatedly reveals loss of 105,000 jobs in October as full DOGE cutbacks come into view

Both the October and November job creation numbers, released Tuesday by the Labor Department, came in late because of the 43-day government shutdown.

16.12.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Government cancels October jobs report because it can’t calculate unemployment, other key numbers

Instead it will release some October jobs data — the number of jobs created last month — along with the full November jobs report, a couple weeks...

20.11.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Commerce Department reveals nearly 24% plunge in trade deficit after reported delayed over 7 weeks by government shutdown

Still, the U.S. trade deficit is up so far in 2025, coming in at $713.6 billion through August, up 25% from $571.1 billion in January-August 2024.

20.11.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

‘Reduced to almost Third World status’: Trump pleads with Supreme Court not to slap down his tariffs

The justices sounded skeptical during oral arguments Wednesday of his sweeping claims of authority to impose tariffs as he sees fit.

06.11.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

‘These are people who are in this country doing hard work that many Americans don’t want to do’: Farmers, schools reel from Trump immigration crackdown

Brookings and AEI calculated that the loss of foreign workers will mean monthly U.S. job growth “could be near zero or negative in the next few...

18.10.2025 8

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

‘Companies are clearly hoarding workers’: Data shows job openings barely budget, layoffs and quits plummet

Job openings remain at healthy levels but have fallen steadily since peaking at a record 12.1 million in March 2022.

30.09.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

After cuts to food stamps, Trump administration ends government’s annual report on hunger in America

The CBO has estimated that the tax and spending cuts bill Republicans muscled through Congress in July means 3 million people would not qualify for...

21.09.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Wholesale inflation unexpectedly drops in August as PPI falls 0.1% month-over-month

Still, compared to a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.6%.

10.09.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Hiring managers are paralyzed by Trump’s tariffs and Powell’s rate hikes, JOLTS report reveals

Job openings fell, layoffs ticked up, and quits hovered in place, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

05.09.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Lose-lose: Even if the Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs, consumers likely wouldn’t see a dime from refunds

The Trump administration might balk at paying back the tariffs it’s collected.

04.09.2025 8

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Trump’s plan for hefty tax on imported drugs risks higher prices and shortages

Stiff pharmaceutical tariffs could disrupt complex supply chains, drive cheap foreign-made generic drugs out of the U.S. market, and create shortages.

01.09.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Trump suddenly at risk of losing a ‘pillar’ of his trade strategy and having to refund a big chunk of $159 billion from tariff revenues

Trump's tariffs remain in place despite a 7-4 appeals court decision that they're illegal, as his administration has vowed to appeal to the Supreme...

30.08.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Another tariff warning sign as wholesale inflation surges unexpectedly in July

The producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — was up 0.9% last month from June and 3.3% from a year earlier, much...

15.08.2025 30

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Top investment treaty lawyer on Trump’s tariffs as the dust settles: ‘In many respects, everybody’s a loser here’

Fortunes may change if Trump's tariffs are upended in court. Five American businesses and 12 states are suing the president, arguing that his...

03.08.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

‘Not dire, not amazing, more meh’: Job market cools as quits plummet in stagnant labor picture

So far this year, the economy has been generating 130,000 jobs a month, down from 168,000 last year and an average 400,000 a month from 2021 through...

30.07.2025 9

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then hackers leaked 72,000 images online, including users’ selfies

No email addresses or phone numbers were exposed, the company said, and the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024.

27.07.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

American manufacturing is in a 3-year rut despite Biden subsidies and Trump protection

The Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to...

14.07.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Trump administration can keep collecting its tariffs while legal challenges continue, federal appeals court rules

Noting that the challenges to Trump's tariffs raise "issues of exceptional importance,'' the appeals court said it would expedite the case and hear...

11.06.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

US-China tariff talks to continue Sunday as Trump touts ‘great progress made’ on first day

"Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

11.05.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are ‘ripping up trade’ after decades of precedent. Here’s how tariffs got so lopsided in the first place

It's possible Trump's reciprocal tariff threat could bring other countries to the table and get them to lower their own import taxes.

01.04.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

American steel knife company hit by Canadian customer anger as Trump tariffs arrive: ‘Thank you. We love your product. We are not buying’

The tariffs will likely drive up costs for American companies that use the metals, such as automakers, construction firms and beverage makers that...

12.03.2025 20

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Tariffs are a ‘grenade’ lobbed into American auto production, libertarian think tank analyst says

TD Economics notes that average U.S. car prices could rise by around $3,000, at a time when the average new car already goes for nearly $49,000.

04.03.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin cuts 170 jobs as Chinese demand slumps and losses soar

New CEO Adrian Hallmark blamed the timing of new model launches, supply chain disruptions and a weaker economy in China for Aston Martin's rising...

26.02.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

U.S. dockworkers approve a 6-year contract that will avoid a strike that could have crippled the economy

The contract calls for a 62% pay hike over six years that would lift hourly wages at the top of the union pay scale from $39 an hour to $63 an hour.

26.02.2025 20

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

Senate confirms Trump commerce secretary pick Howard Lutnick, who will spearhead hardline trade agenda

Lutnick will likely to spend a lot of time managing the president's aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies...

19.02.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

There are fewer job openings right now but hiring is solid and layoffs are down, suggesting Americans are enjoying unusual job security

President Trump's plans, however, threaten to rekindle inflation.

04.02.2025 20

Fortune

Paul Wiseman

From Canadian ice cream sprinkles to made-in-China breast pumps, US small businesses brace for higher costs under Trump tariffs

The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates Trump's tariffs would cost the average American household $1,000 to $1,200 in annual purchasing power.

02.02.2025 10

Fortune

Paul Wiseman