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Paul Krugman’s assertion that “the war on inflation is over” if you exclude food, energy, shelter, and used cars is being mocked online.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist posted the comment on his X social media account on Thursday.

“The war on inflation is over,” Krugman wrote in the caption, adding: “We won, at very little cost.”

Krugman attached a graph titled “CPI ex food, energy, shelter and used cars” that showed a declining rate stretching from 7% in January of last year to slightly below 2% in September.

The reaction on X to Krugman’s post was scathing, with critics noting that the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI) — the most widely used by economists to gauge prices faced by consumers — factors in those day-to-day living expenses.

“This is fantastic news for all Americans who dont need food, a place to live, or fuel & electricity,” wrote Tim Murtaugh.

The war on inflation is over. We won, at very little cost pic.twitter.com/opumf3nEvL

Another X user wrote: “What a joke. The items left out are what people spend the most money on.”

“Paul Krugman is NOT an economist. He is an unabashed propagandist for the Biden regime,” another X user commented.

US inflation rose 3.7% in September, more than economists expected and still well above the Federal Reserves 2% target, as the central bank weighs whether to hike interest rates again by years end.

In a subsequent post on X, Krugman appeared to walk back his claim.

“I was too flip here,” the Times columnist wrote.

“I’ve been using this particular measure for a while, so want to be consistent. But it has flaws (medical insurance too optimistic). But almost every measure now <3 percent.”

Krugman argued that “we do seem quite close to prepandemic inflation” when factoring in “the whole distribution” of price increases.

To bolster his claim, Krugman cited the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), which leaves out food and gas prices.

Krugman wrote that PCE inflation was “closing in on 2 percent.”

I was too flip here. I've been using this particular measure for a while, so want to be consistent. But it has flaws (medical insurance too optimistic). But almost every measure now <3 percent. 1/ https://t.co/fNN1dM42JC

“People have been reluctant to call this,” he wrote.

“But the data really want to tell us that inflation has very nearly normalized.”

On a monthly basis, inflation slowed to 0.4% from 0.6% in August, partly because of lower pressure from energy prices.

However, core CPI a number that excludes volatile food and energy prices and serves as a closely watched gauge among policymakers for long-term trends held steady at 0.3% month to month and rose 4.1% from a year ago, in line with expectations.

The gasoline indexs 2.1% advance was also a large contributor to the CPI, the data showed, though the federal agency said shelters 0.2% increase accounted for over half of the increase.

Additional Reporting by Shannon Thaler

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Technology

The U.S. makes it harder for TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung to produce chips in China

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September 3, 2025

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The U.S. makes it harder for TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung to produce chips in China

A 300mm wafer on display at the booth of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company during the 2023 World Semiconductor Conference at Nanjing International Expo Center on July 19, 2023, in Nanjing, China.

Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

The U.S. has revoked a waiver that allowed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to export key chipmaking equipment and technology to its manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China, as Washington continues to ramp up efforts to limit Beijing’s semiconductor advancement.

The change will remove a fast-track export privilege known as validated end user (VEU) status, effective Dec. 31, TSMC confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday.

The world’s largest contract chipmaker had received the exemption soon after the Commerce Department launched its initial restrictions on the sale of U.S.-origin chipmaking tools in 2022.

Under the new policy, shipments of chipmaking tools with American origins to TSMC’s manufacturing facilities in Nanjing, China, will require U.S. export licenses.

“While we are evaluating the situation and taking appropriate measures, including communicating with the US government, we remain fully committed to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of TSMC Nanjing,” the company said. 

South Korean memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung also had their VEU privileges revoked on Friday, according to a statement on the Federal Register. Both companies run China-based memory chip facilities.

At the same time, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement that it was closing the VEU “Biden-era loophole” for all foreign semiconductor manufacturers.

It added that it intends to grant export license applications to allow former VEU participants to operate their existing manufacturing facilities in China, but not to expand capacity or upgrade technology in China. 

Jeffrey Kessler, under secretary of commerce for industry and security, stated that the Trump administration is “committed to closing export control loopholes — particularly those that put U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage. Today’s decision is an important step towards fulfilling this commitment.”

According to Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research, the policy changes “reflect Washington’s broader push to tighten control over semiconductor equipment and technology exports to China, strengthening U.S. power over chip production in China,” he said.  

TSMC operates two manufacturing sites in China, one in Shanghai and Nanjing, with the latter facility more advanced. To power its fabrication plants, the company uses hardware from several U.S. chip equipment suppliers, including Applied Materials and  KLA Corp.

However, according to Wang, as TSMC’s Nanjing fab contributes less than 3% of TSMC’s total revenue and represents a minor share of its global capacity, the financial impact on the company “should be minor.”

Renewed crackdown? 

The recent VEU reversals may come as a surprise to some, as they follow the Trump administration’s announcement that it would ease controls on the export of some American artificial intelligence chips. 

Last month, the U.S. said Nvidia and AMD would be allowed to resume exports of some of their previously banned made-for-China AI chips, and signaled that the policy could be expanded.

Prior to that, the administration had also struck down the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, a move that could’ve seen the expansion of export controls on advanced AI chips.

The rollbacks of advanced chip restrictions have been posed by U.S. officials as a way for the U.S. to maintain the supremacy of the AI technology stack globally, including in China. 

However, the removal of the VEU exemptions shows that the same logic is unlikely to be applied to memory and chipmaking technologies. 

According to Ray Wang, research director for semiconductors, supply chain and emerging technology at Futurum Group, the policies show that Washington remains committed to preventing China from boosting its local chip production capacity and cultivating its local know-how and talent. 

“Zooming out, another underlying goal may be to constrain companies’ ability to expand their supply chain footprint in China—particularly in strategic sectors such as semiconductors, which the administration is keen to prevent,” he said. 

Conversely, the Trump administration has been working to attract more of the semiconductor supply chain to the shores of the U.S. through tariff threats.

This year, TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung have committed new investments into their American manufacturing plans. 

On Monday, shares of SK Hynix and Samsung fell on the VEU news. However, shares of TSMC traded flat on Wednesday after news of its VEU reversal.

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Business

Cost of long term UK government borrowing hits fresh 27-year high

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September 3, 2025

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Cost of long term UK government borrowing hits fresh 27-year high

After hitting the highest level this century on Tuesday, the cost of long term UK government borrowing has now hit a fresh 27-year high.

The interest rate demanded by investors on the state’s long-dated borrowing (30-year bonds) rose to just below 5.75%, surpassing the 5.72% peak reached on Tuesday, pushing it to a high not seen since May 1998.

 

It comes as the government auctioned off these long-term loans on Tuesday and was forced to pay a premium to do so.

Issuing bonds is a routine way states raise money.

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As well as meaning the state has to pay more to borrow money, high interest rates on debt can signify reduced investor confidence in the ability of the UK to pay back these loans.

As the trading session continued, the interest rates on long-term government bonds, known as gilt yields, fell back to just above 5.66%, not enough to erase two days of rises.

The benchmark for state borrowing costs, the interest rate on 10-year bonds, also saw rises. The yield rose above 4.8% for the first time since January, before slightly falling back

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Why did UK debt just get more expensive?

The spiked borrowing cost also continued to cause a weakening in the pound.

After an initial fall to a month-long low against the dollar, one pound again buys $1.34.

It means sterling goes less far in dollars than before the latest peak in interest rates on government bonds. On Monday, sterling could buy $1.35.

Sterling dropped to equal €1.14 before easing up to €1.15. Just a few months earlier, a pound could buy €1.19 before Donald Trump’s April country-specific tariff announcements.

So why has this happened?

Government borrowing costs have been rising across the world amid a sell-off in bonds – which prompts investors to look for a higher return to hold them.

High inflation and national debts have increased concern about whether states can pay back the money.

Japan’s long-term borrowing cost hit a record high, while the yield on the US’s benchmark 10-year bond hit the 5% mark for the first time since July.

UK bond yields tend to follow the US.

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Key to easing UK borrowing costs was the announcement of the date of the budget on Wednesday morning.

UK public finances had been a worry for markets as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to stick to her fiscal rules to bring down the debt and balance the budget.

Disquiet around comparatively low growth in the UK economy also played a role.

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Business

Telegraph buyers take step towards £500m deal with Whitehall filing

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September 3, 2025

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Telegraph buyers take step towards £500m deal with Whitehall filing

The American investors who have agreed to become the new owners of The Daily Telegraph have edged closer to gaining control of the newspaper by formally notifying the government of the deal.

Sky News understands that lawyers acting for RedBird Capital Partners, which will own a majority stake in the publisher if the deal is approved, submitted their detailed proposals to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the last few days.

The filing means that Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, must decide whether to issue a new Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) which would trigger further investigations into the takeover.

The notification by RedBird Capital’s lawyers should pave the way for the lifting of an interim enforcement order (IEO) imposed by Lucy Frazer, the then Conservative culture secretary, in December 2023, which prevented the acquirers from exerting any control over the Telegraph.

Insiders believe that the removal of the IEO will result in the DCMS issuing a new PIIN, which would prompt investigations by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority into the £500m takeover.

A previous PIIN was issued in January 2024 when RedBird intended to buy the Telegraph titles in conjunction with Abu Dhabi state-controlled investor IMI.

Following a fraught legislative battle, IMI is now restricted to owning a maximum 15% stake in the newspapers – which it intends to acquire as part of the RedBird-led consortium.

Sky News has already revealed that Sir Leonard Blavatnik, owner of the DAZN sports streaming platform, and Daily Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere are preparing to buy minority stakes as part of the RedBird-led transaction.

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RedBird said in May that it was “in discussions with select UK-based minority investors with print media expertise and strong commitment to upholding the editorial values of the Telegraph”.

The Telegraph’s ownership has been in a state of limbo for nearly two-and-a-half years after its parent company was forced into insolvency by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran out of patience with the Barclay family, the newspaper’s long-standing owner.

RedBird IMI, a joint venture between the two firms, paid £600m in 2023 to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.

The Spectator was sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor.

In July, the House of Lords approved legislation that will allow IMI, which is controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, to hold a minority stake.

Other bidders had tried to gatecrash the Telegraph deal, with the field of rival contenders led by Dovid Efune, the owner of The New York Sun.

His key backer – the hedge fund founder Jeremy Hosking – recently told Sky News their bid was “ready to go” if the RedBird-led transaction fell apart.

Announcing its agreement to acquire the Telegraph titles in May, Gerry Cardinale, founder of RedBird Capital, said it marked the “start of a new era” for two of Britain’s most prominent newspapers.

Mr Cardinale said after the Lords vote: “With legislation now in place, we will move quickly and in the forthcoming days work with DCMS to progress to completion and implement new ownership for The Telegraph.”

Senior Telegraph executives and journalists are said to be frustrated at the pace of the process.

None of the parties involved in the Telegraph ownership situation would comment, while the DCMS declined to comment.

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