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ussian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday doubled down on threats to cut off all energy supplies to Western countries if they impose price caps on its oil and gas exports, ratcheting tensions and escalating Europe’s energy crisis as Moscow struggles to supply its military under sweeping sanctions. Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, a port city in Russia’s far east, Putin said Russia would walk away from its supply contracts if price caps are imposed on the country’s energy exports, Reuters reported.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday. Austria's conservative-led government was initially sceptical at the idea of capping power prices but it has warmed to the idea as they have continued to rise in line with soaring gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "We must finally stop the madness that is taking place in energy markets. And that can only happen through a European solution," the statement quoted Nehammer as saying, adding that he would seek to convince holdouts in the bloc....

The short answer is: 1987. .22 Short rimfire cartridges became more expensive than .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridges in 1987. They have remained more expensive since then.This correspondent has been able to obtain manufacturer price list information for .22 Shorts from 1911 to 1996, and .22 Long Rifle ammunition from 1911 to 2022. That is 111 years of pricing history. Of the 111 years, this correspondent was able to collect data for 70 individual years. There are enough data points to give shape to the curve.There are several ways to measure the value of money, and how it changes over...

"The current and open fraud regarding the paper gold price in the COMEX market is now as plain to see as the open desperation in the global financial system, which is unraveling in real-time all around us. As risk assets tumble foreseeably into bear territory before a headwind of deliberately rising rates, precious metals have seen headline-making falls as well **** But let’s get to the real heart of the matter, namely: Legalized paper gold price manipulation (i.e., fraud) in the COMEX market, a topic we’ve addressed more than once, here and here. As we’ve openly argued for years, nothing...

New York(CNN Business)US drivers got a slight — very slight — break on prices this weekend as the AAA average for a gallon of unleaded gas fell below the $5 mark. The average price Sunday was $4.98 a gallon, down from $4.99 in Saturday's reading. The average gas price had been $5 or above for the previous seven days, the first time on record prices crossed that mark. It hit a high of $5.02 a gallon on Tuesday and has declined by a fraction of a penny each day since then.

The White House is scrambling to help solve a massive surge in gas prices that increasingly is seen as a weight that could leave Democrats suffering a rout in this fall’s midterm elections. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is expected to convene an emergency meeting in the coming days. Meanwhile on Wednesday, President Biden’s economics team gathered alongside outside advisers to discuss various options. More meetings are expected again on Thursday.

ith gas prices hitting historic levels across the country, one gas station owner is drawing praise online for calling out what he deemed a "ripoff" being perpetuated by oil companies. Reynold Gladu has operated Ren's Mobil Station in Amherst, Massachusetts, for around 48 years. Last week, in response to soaring prices, he opted to drain his tanks and not have them refilled, refusing to take part in the business, which he claims is taking advantage of customers. In his state, average gas prices currently exceed the national average of $5 a gallon.

Manufactured homes have long been a way for lower-income people to become homeowners but now this demographic is also feeling the pressure of rising costs and many fear for their future. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average national price for a manufactured home rose almost 50 percent over the course of the pandemic, from $82,900 to $123,200.

Soaring gas prices across the country are out of the White House's hands, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday as he rebuked oil company executives for not upping production. Driving the news: Gas prices have continued surging, and look headed for $5 a gallon nationwide, writes Axios' Matt Phillips. The big picture: "I don't think it's correct to say it hasn't made any difference at all," Buttigieg said about Biden's decision earlier this year to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

For the past several months, a White House-led team of economic specialists has marked each day in the same way: With a painstaking, state-by-state examination of gasoline prices and the intricate market forces pushing them relentlessly upward. Senior officials and others close to President Joe Biden view those prices as the cost that most directly affects voters’ everyday lives, and therefore their perception of the economy as well. As such, Biden and his top advisers fixate on them with an intensity that some aides describe as obsessive. White House chief of staff Ron Klain has grown particularly absorbed by the...

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) ripped into Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Thursday after she tried to blame soaring inflation on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hawley asked Granholm whether she thought the rising price of gasoline was “acceptable,” to which she said “it is not, and you can thank the activity of Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, and pulling–“ To which Hawley said “With all due respect, Madame Secretary, that’s utter nonsense,” adding “The average gas price in my state was $2.07. Eight months later, eight months later, long before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, that price was up over 30%,...

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” Senate Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) stated that “we’re dealing with a transitional economy, coming from a shutdown economy under COVID-19, reemerging, creation of jobs at record levels, but with it, comes the fires of inflation.” And there’s also “a lot” of price gouging. Durbin stated that poor poll numbers for Democrats reflect “history’s reality that off-year elections are not kind to the president’s party. That’s the starting point. Secondly, we’re dealing with a transitional economy, coming from a shutdown economy under COVID-19, reemerging, creation of jobs at record levels, but with...

Ukraine has limited exports of sunflower oil, wheat, oats and cattle in an attempt to protect its war-torn economy. Russia has banned sales of fertilizer, sugar and grains to other nations. Indonesia, which produces more than half the world’s palm oil, has halted outgoing shipments. Turkey has stopped exports of butter, beef, lamb, goats, maize and vegetable oils. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a new wave of protectionism as governments, desperate to secure food and other commodities for their citizens amid shortages and rising prices, erect new barriers to stop exports at their borders. Sign up for The Morning...

This is not a war between Ukraine and Russia. It is a war between the USA and Russia, in which both sides are cynically using Ukraine as a battering ram. The people of Ukraine will gain nothing and lose much from being treated in this way. They fight and die or lose their homes and flee. We pour in more weapons and shout encouragement from a safe distance. Russia wrecks the joint. ... I am sorry to say that there are people in the USA who will not be sad if this war drags on. A ‘senior diplomat’ was quoted...

The national average gas price per gallon in the United States on the eve of the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol was under $2.25 per gallon, while it hit a record-breaking price of over $4.10 per gallon as of March 7, 2022, according to reports. The date, January 6, has been in headlines lately, thanks to the recent criminal conviction Tuesday of the first defendant in the Capitol riot to go to trial.

The American policy makers are diverting attention from the real cause of inflation — excessive expansion of money supply Although inflation is a common phenomenon in most countries of the world including India, many past generations of Americans have never suffered the brunt of inflation. But in the last one year, the rate of inflation in America has reached around seven percent, and that has started affecting the lives of ordinary Americans. Ruling Democrats are fearing the consequences of the same in the 2022 mid-term elections. On the one hand, Covid-19, which has destroyed the jobs of 22 million Americans,...

Two longtime House Democrats announced that they will retire from Congress at the end of their terms rather than seek reelection in 2022, adding to a growing number of Democrats who are leaving Congress as anxiety grows about Republicans winning back the House in 2022. Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle, 68, and North Carolina Rep. David Price, 81, made retirement announcements on Monday. Doyle is the longest-serving member of Pennsylvania’s current congressional delegation, having first been elected to Congress in 1994, and was also a longtime coach for the Democrats in their annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. “I believe the...

The cost of driving in America is accelerating–and not just because gas prices are up 60 percent from last year. The prices of new cars and trucks jumped a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent in October and another 1.2 percent in November, data from the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index showed Friday. Compared with a year ago, prices are up 11.1 percent. That’s the fastest annual pace of inflation for vehicles since 1975.

Some U.S. lawmakers are seizing on the energy price surge to revive long-standing legislation that would subject the OPEC oil cartel to the same antitrust laws used more than century ago to break up Standard Oil’s monopoly.

WASHINGTON—President Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether oil-and-gas companies are participating in illegal conduct aimed at keeping gasoline prices high. In a Wednesday letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Mr. Biden alleged that there is “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil-and-gas companies.” He said gasoline prices are rising even as the price of unfinished gasoline goes down. “This unexplained large gap between the price of unfinished gasoline and the average price at the pump is well above the pre-pandemic average,” Mr. Biden wrote. “Meanwhile, the largest oil-and-gas companies in America are generating significant profits off...