Former Booth Newspapers business/economics reporter/columnist. Now freelance writer when not playing Papa.
Detroit
Joined November 2008
- Tweets11.5K
- Following902
- Followers1.1K
- Likes17.4K
Rick Haglund retweeted
Inflation has nearly wiped out all wage gains since January 2025.
That's how big of gamechanger the war in Iran has been on Americans' finances.
Since January 2025:
CPI Inflation has grown +5.4%
Wages (average hourly earnings) +5.5%
This is a very different picture from President Trump's first term when wages were up over 15%, well above about 8% inflation. It helps explain the frustration many households feel right now with the economy.
Rick Haglund retweeted
(memories of Wisconsin's FOXCONN deal that imploded during Trump's first term) "Done deal? Despite White House claims, major hurdles remain for Iowa’s $15B steel plant" kwqc.com/2026/09/29/trump-ca…
Rick Haglund retweeted
There's a big warning sign in the bond market.
The 10-year yield topped 4.84% today --> the highest since November 2023.
Why?
1) Inflation is picking up again. Diesel nearing $6. Brent oil over $100/barrel. More trade wars. More AI/chip demand. More healthcare cost increases
2) Will the Fed act? They will likely hike in September, but it's still a question mark.
3) US debt at $40 Trillion. Annual deficit set to top $2 Trillion. And there's no action to address it
4) AI bond issuance is big and many investors prefer loaning money to tech than the US gov't
5) US Treasury intervention triples to $6 billion. That looks desperate. If anything, it's backfiring.
This is not a "debt crisis," but it's a warning. Good breakdown on this podcast on what it means:
youtube.com/watch?v=7g8AS7P5…
Rick Haglund retweeted
Trump touts Ford F-150 production at Rouge Assembly is going ‘24/7’ because of him.
“I don’t want Canadian parts, I don’t want Canadian anything.”
The engines for those trucks come from a Ford factory in Windsor. He’s now threatened a 50% tariff on them.
This is what I mean.
Rick Haglund retweeted
The economic angst many Americans feel has much to do with how the economic pie is being divided. From WWII to Y2K, workers received close to two-thirds of the pie, while capital received the other one-third. Since then, China’s rapid entry into the global economy, the Global Financial Crisis, the pandemic, and other forces have put labor on its heels, pushing the split closer to fifty-fifty. Measurement issues matter, and the exact shares are reasonably debated, but the direction is not. And it's not hard to imagine artificial intelligence supercharging this trend. Many Americans fear it will.
Rick Haglund retweeted
There were 1.2 million fewer Americans employed in June 2026 than there were in June 2025. americancommunities.org/trou…
Rick Haglund retweeted
Final demand producer prices up 5.5 percent over the year ended June 2026 bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/final-… #BLSdata
ALT Bar chart showing 12-month percent change in the Final Demand Producer Price Index, June 2026.
Rick Haglund retweeted
Trump claimed his tariffs would bring about a golden age of American manufacturing.
Yet since his re-election, we've lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Over the same period, Biden had created 625,000.
Rick Haglund retweeted
2 charts show just how brutal the last 3 years have been for working moms
Why?
1) Strict return-to-office mandates
2) Unaffordable US childcare
Moms of young kids (under 5) are dropping out of the labor force. They made record workforce gains when remote and hybrid work were widely available. Now it's a "mom-cession" in the workforce.
Important story from @mhofftweets
businessinsider.com/moms-chi…
Rick Haglund retweeted
White House expected to back plan to boost Delphi pensions | Local | daytondailynews.com
daytondailynews.com/local/ju…
Rick Haglund retweeted
"We are 100% against imports from China except if we are doing the importing."
Ford has asked the U.S. Commerce Department for authorization to continue importing its China-built Lincoln Nautilus SUV.
US connected-car rule prompts Ford, other automakers to seek licenses for China-built models reuters.com/business/autos-t…
Rick Haglund retweeted
GM’s first chief growth officer departs after 6 months in the role freep.com/story/money/cars/g…
Rick Haglund retweeted
🚨 Great news for students! Starting today there is NO CHARGE for K-12, community college and university students to use @smart_movesus buses, year-round, by showing their student ID. Now it’s even easier to access reliable transportation in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne County!
Free student bus fare in Oakland, Wayne Macomb counties starts May 1 freep.com/story/news/local/m…
Rick Haglund retweeted
Q: Should we expect more indictments of this sort? For example, in 2020 Gretchen Whitmer did a TV hit with "8645" in the background." Would you pursue that?
BLANCHE: As far as other instances of threats against the president -- those will be investigated
Rick Haglund retweeted
There’s nothing wrong with Data Centers that markets cannot remedy.
Don’t incentivize them, treat them like Baskin-Ribbins and have them pay their own way -electricity, water, disamenity/amenity.
It is that simple.
Rick Haglund retweeted
Florida doesn't have an income tax. But it does have a pretty high insurance tax
Rick Haglund retweeted
I don’t think there’s ever been en a technology whose builders constantly promise that, if they succeed, tens of millions of jobs will be destroyed and the world might end.
Rick Haglund retweeted
Across the street from our Temple Israel in West Bloomfield is Shenendoah Country Club, the largest Chaldean-owned country club in the US. As the tragedy unfolded, the children were taken there, where the staff fed and supported them in every way.
Neighbors. Partners. Community.
Rick Haglund retweeted
Why aren't Trump's tariffs saving manufacturing?
"Trump put enormous tariffs on steel... That's a little bit like putting tariffs on flour and asking what do you think is going to happen to bakeries... Trump has put us at enormous disadvantage relative to foreign competitors."