🌎 It’s World Press Freedom Day. Stand with Marketplace and our independent journalism. Donate now

Yellen: U.S. could hit debt limit as soon as June 1

May 1, 2023
The treasury secretary urges Congress to protect nation’s “full faith and credit” by raising the government’s borrowing authority.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the treasury secretary urged Congress “to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible.”
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Bank failures have some small business owners re-thinking their own banking arrangements

Mar 23, 2023
The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have rattled some small business owners, even though contagion hasn’t spread to smaller banks.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit on March 21, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Yellen: "Progress on inflation is not going to be a straight line"

The Treasury secretary says "people don't need to lose their jobs" to cool down the labor market.
"There's a great sense of community but an enormous amount of trauma that everyone in Ukraine is experiencing," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says. Above, Yellen at a school in Kyiv earlier this week.
Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. hit its debt ceiling. Now it's time for “extraordinary measures.”

Jan 19, 2023
Basically, Treasury will have to move money around so it can keep paying the country’s most important bills. At least for a little while longer.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that her department would have to take "extraordinary measures" to keep the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

The U.S. tries to build support for a price cap on Russian oil

Jul 13, 2022
Experts say buy-in from China and India would be key to making the policy work.
The U.S. and its allies hope to create a "buyers cartel" aimed at reducing Russia's oil revenue in response to its attack on Ukraine.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Biden's tariff choice: Cut them in hopes of easing inflation or keep them as leverage against China

Jul 5, 2022
The Treasury secretary and the trade representative disagree on the issue.
President Biden could reportedly make a decision about rolling back tariffs on some Chinese goods as soon as this week. In his Cabinet, opinions on the issue differ.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

"We simply must pay our bills": Janet Yellen on debt, inflation, infrastructure and what the economy needs

Nov 9, 2021
The Treasury secretary doesn't see a 1970s-style inflation shock on the horizon. "The Federal Reserve wouldn’t permit that to happen."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Glasgow, Scotland, last week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The origin of the U.S. debt ceiling

Nov 2, 2021
Congress is once again considering raising the debt limit. When did that start?
A sign at a Washington, D.C., bus stop showed the amount of the national debt on Oct. 25. The clock is ticking on another debt ceiling agreement to prevent a default.
Julie Chabanas/AFP via Getty Images

Yellen says high inflation is temporary. And if it isn't?

Oct 25, 2021
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says inflation should ease by next year, but anxiety about that is still running high.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addresses a hybrid meeting in October 2021. Yellen has reiterated her belief that current inflation is only temporary.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Fed Chair: Rise in inflation not "particularly large" from $1.9 trillion rescue package

Mar 23, 2021
Powell told lawmakers Tuesday that the “effect on inflation will be neither particularly large nor persistent,” from the $1.9 trillion rescue plan.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday.
Screengrab via Youtube