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Billionaires boomed in Biden era as Fed became ‘engine of income inequality’ powered by COVID policies: expert

The nation’s wealthiest residents saw their billions grow even larger in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic due to policies from the Federal Reserve that have deepened the chasm of income inequality, economic experts report.
«If you look at the amount of federal regulation, the amount of federal taxes, if anything… the economy has gotten less friendly toward big business, and toward rich people,» economist Peter St. Onge told Fox News Digital in a May phone interview. «What’s actually been happening is that the Fed has been driving income inequality. And, I think for a long time, Republicans were sort of in denial – not just Republicans, but sort of free market types were in denial – and they didn’t want to talk about income equality.»
«I think they should absolutely talk about it, because what’s causing it is not free markets,» he said. «It’s something that I think everybody should oppose, which is government manipulation of the monetary system.»
St. Onge was reacting to data showing that billionaires’ share of the GDP increased from 14.1% in 2020 to 21.1% in 2025, as reported by Johns Hopkins University economic professor Steve Hanke.
JPMorgan Chase’s private bank estimated that the number of billionaires in the U.S. increased from 1,400 in 2021 to nearly 2,000 as of 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported in April.
DOGE SHOULD ‘DEFINITELY’ LOOK AT FEDERAL RESERVE COSTS, ELON MUSK SAYS
President Donald Trump, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and former President Joe Biden (Getty Images)
The Federal Reserve is America’s central bank, which sets monetary policies and oversees banks. It acts independently, meaning it does not require approval from the president or Congress when enacting policies.
St. Onge explained to Fox News Digital that «debt is a rich man’s game» and that billionaires have benefited financially since the pandemic as the Fed worked to «manipulate interest rates» down below market value, which subsidized loans.
«During COVID, you could get a mortgage for, you know, three, three and a half percent, when inflation was running higher than that,» he explained. «You were literally being paid to borrow money, which is not a free market outcome.… So it makes loans cheap and the rich overwhelmingly borrow money.»
ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT
The average debt for the top 5% of Americans sits at about $600,000, he said, while the average debt for the vast majority of Americans is roughly $74,000.
«That’s about a nine times difference,» he said of the data. «So if you make loans too cheap, you are giving nine times more money to rich people.… If you make loans cheap, you’re functionally giving $9 to rich people for every $1 to give everybody else.»
Assets are even more skewed, he explained, with the top 5% of Americans holding $7.8 million in assets compared to the average American’s $62,000 – notching 130 times the difference between the two demographics, he said.
«The value of a stock or even a house are based on the future stream of income, and those are all discounted by the interest rate,» he said. «And so pretty close to mechanically, if you cut interest rates in half – long-term interest rates – you are doubling the value of stocks.»

The nation’s wealthiest residents saw their billions grow even larger in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic due to policies from the Federal Reserve that have deepened the chasm of income inequality, economic experts report. (Jason Reed/File Photo/Reuters)
St. Onge pointed to the American economy in the 1970s and the early 2000s, outlining that growth «took a big step down» in the 2000s while asset values, such as housing prices and the stock market, skyrocketed.
«The reason is because, since the 1970s, the Fed has very aggressively held rates low, and so this has caused all those assets to go up. So stocks have gone up, housing has gone up. And again, those are rich men’s games. Overwhelmingly, people who own stocks are rich. Housing is even more skewed.»
«So if you’ve got a nine times difference on loans between the bottom 50% and the top 5%, and then you’ve got 130 times on assets, then the Fed manipulating rates down – they’re not doing it to make rich people rich, hopefully – but that’s sort of the consequence of doing that,» he said. «Holding long-term interest rates low is to shower money on rich people and to shower it in proportion to which they’re rich, right? So the most extreme version of that is going to be billionaires.»
FEDERAL RESERVE HOLDS KEY INTEREST RATE STEADY AMID ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
Economist Steve Hanke discussed how the Federal Reserve has fanned the flame of income inequality through its policies at a conference earlier in 2025 at the Mises Institute, an economics-focused think tank based out of Alabama.
«In 2020, billionaires’ share of GDP was 14.1%. Now, it’s 21.1%. The Fed increased the money supply, asset prices went up, & guess who owns the assets? Billionaires. By ignoring the money supply, the Fed is an ENGINE OF INCOME INEQUALITY,» he posted to X in April of his findings.

The Federal Reserve acts independently, meaning it does not require approval from President Donald Trump or Congress when enacting policies. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
«Take the Federal Reserve’s excessive money printing during the pandemic,» Hanke said in an interview published by the think tank in April. «The transmission mechanism of monetary policy roughly dictates that changes in the money supply are followed by changes in asset prices in 1–9 months’ time, changes in real economic activity in 6–18 months’ time, and finally changes in the price level in 12–24 months’ time.»
«Thanks to the Fed’s helicopter money drops beginning with COVID, the annual growth rate of the US broad money supply peaked at 18.1% per year in May 2021,» he added. «Lo and behold, the transmission mechanism followed – the S&P 500 reached a local maximum in December 2021 (6 months later), and inflation peaked at 9.1% per year in July 2022 (14 months later).»
US JOB GROWTH COOLED IN APRIL AMID ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY

«During COVID, you could get a mortgage for, you know, three, three and a half percent, when inflation was running higher than that,» economist Peter St. Onge noted. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)
The result, he said, was skyrocketing wealth inequality to the tune of billionaires increasing their share of the GDP by 7.6 percentage points in just four years.
St. Onge said the Fed’s policies have been political in nature, while remarking he would welcome «naive» Democrats who bang the proverbial campaign drum of income inequality to jump onto the «end the Fed bandwagon.»
«They have a naive argument where they look at rich people and they say, ‘Hey, this is so terrible. We live in this dog-eat-dog jungle of an economy,’» St. Onge said of Democrats who campaign on income inequality. «And that is inaccurate,» he added, citing Federal Reserve policies that have amplified income inequality.
On the opposite side of the political coin, Vice President JD Vance has railed against the Biden administration and «Wall Street barons» for policies he said have hurt the working class. During his acceptance speech after officially becoming the vice presidential nominee in July, Vance said an affordability crisis is strangling the working class, while touting that the Trump administration would end economic «catering to Wall Street.»
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«Wall Street barons crashed the economy and American builders went out of business,» Vance said from Milwaukee in summer 2024. «As tradesmen scrambled for jobs, houses stopped being built. The lack of good jobs, of course, led to stagnant wages. And then the Democrats flooded this country with millions of illegal aliens. So citizens had to compete – with people who shouldn’t even be here – for precious housing. Joe Biden’s inflation crisis, my friends, is really an affordability crisis.»
The Federal Reserve Board declined comment when approached by Fox Digital regarding St. Onge’s and Hanke’s remarks.
White House,Economic Policy,Economy,Federal Reserve
INTERNACIONAL
El jefe del Ejército de Israel habló sobre una posible ofensiva total contra Hamas: “Estamos lidiando con asuntos de vida o muerte”

El jefe del Estado Mayor del Ejército israelí, Eyal Zamir, aseguró este jueves que la bautizada como operación Carros de Gedeón, la fase de la ofensiva israelí en Gaza que comenzó a mediados de mayo con el objetivo de ampliar el control militar del enclave palestino, está llegando a su fin tras lograr sus objetivos.
Las declaraciones de Zamir llegan en medio de una creciente tensión entre la cúpula militar y el primer ministro Benjamin Netanyahu por los planes del mandatario para tomar el control total de la Franja de Gaza, una propuesta que el Ejército rechaza categóricamente.
“Hemos cumplido e incluso superado los objetivos de la operación, y continuamos actuando para garantizar la seguridad a largo plazo de las comunidades del sur”, declaró Zamir durante una evaluación de seguridad matutina con la alta dirigencia militar, según comunicó el Ejército israelí.
El alto oficial militar añadió que las fuerzas armadas tienen “la capacidad de crear una nueva realidad de seguridad junto a la frontera, mientras mantenemos la presión sobre el enemigo. No volveremos a limitar nuestras respuestas. Eliminaremos las amenazas en su fase inicial”.

En un mensaje que parece dirigido directamente al gobierno, Zamir también defendió el derecho del Ejército a expresar su opinión profesional, incluso cuando esta difiera de las posiciones políticas. “Una cultura de desacuerdo es una parte inseparable de la historia del pueblo de Israel; es un componente vital de la cultura organizacional de las FDI, tanto interna como externamente”, declaró.
“Seguiremos expresando nuestras posiciones sin miedo, de manera sustancial, independiente y profesional”, agregó el jefe militar, en comentarios que fueron publicados horas antes de una reunión del gabinete de seguridad prevista para esta tarde, donde se discutirán los planes de ocupación de Gaza.
Fuentes en la Oficina del Primer Ministro han sugerido que si Zamir se opone al plan de ocupar Gaza, puede renunciar, según múltiples reportes que indican repetidos choques entre el jefe militar y el gabinete en días recientes.
Las fuerzas armadas israelíes son reacias a operar en lugares donde se encuentran retenidos los rehenes por temor a que los grupo terroristas palestinos en Gaza los ejecuten ante el avance de las tropas, como ya ocurrió a finales de agosto de 2024 con seis cautivos, cuyos cadáveres fueron hallados el 1 de septiembre.
Según la cadena pública israelí Kan, la cúpula militar cree además que ocupar toda Gaza provocará un aumento considerable de las bajas israelíes.
“No estamos lidiando con teoría; estamos lidiando con asuntos de vida o muerte, con la defensa del estado, y lo hacemos mientras miramos directamente a los ojos de nuestros soldados y los ciudadanos del país”, enfatizó Zamir durante la evaluación matutina. “Continuaremos actuando con responsabilidad, integridad y determinación, con solo el bien del estado y su seguridad ante nuestros ojos”.

La resistencia a los planes de Netanyahu no se limita al ámbito militar. El líder de la oposición israelí, Yair Lapid, advirtió este miércoles al primer ministro que la ocupación total de la Franja de Gaza “es una pésima idea”.
Tras reunirse con Netanyahu en Jerusalén, Lapid afirmó que le dijo: “Ocupar Gaza es una pésima idea. La mayoría de la gente no te apoya; al pueblo de Israel no le interesa esta guerra. Pagaremos un alto precio por ello”.
Lapid propuso una alternativa: “En lugar de una ocupación y una anexión de Gaza innecesarias, necesitamos atraer a Egipto a Gaza, para que haya otro gobierno que la gestione en vez de nosotros, y después centrarnos en lo importante, que es eliminar a Hamas”.
A pesar de la oposición militar y política, Netanyahu tiene previsto reunir este jueves por la tarde a su gabinete de seguridad para aprobar sus planes para tomar el control de toda la Franja.
El martes, tras una reunión de tres horas entre Netanyahu y Zamir, la oficina del primer ministro declaró que “las FDI están preparadas para implementar cualquier decisión tomada por el gabinete político y de seguridad”.
Zamir reafirmó el compromiso del Ejército con sus objetivos fundamentales: “Tenemos la intención de derrotar y colapsar a Hamas. Continuaremos actuando con nuestros rehenes en mente, y haremos todo para traerlos a casa”.
Middle East,Civil Unrest,TEL AVIV
INTERNACIONAL
4 key Senate seats Republicans aim to flip in 2026 midterms to expand their majority

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Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s goal in next year’s midterm elections is not only to defend the GOP’s 53-47 margin in the Senate, but to expand the majority.
Scott, the conservative senator from South Carolina, told Fox News Digital soon after taking over late last year as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that he aimed to increase the GOP’s control in the chamber to at least 55 seats.
And he’s standing by his goal.
«The bottom line is, I believe that we can defend our current seats while adding at least two more seats to our numbers,» the NRSC chair told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
THIS REPUBLICAN JUST JUMPED INTO BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA’S HIGH-PROFILE SENATE RACE
Sen. Tim Scott spoke to a South Carolina GOP delegation breakfast on Wednesday (pictured speaking on the RNC stage). (Getty Images)
Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.
But the party in power—clearly the Republicans right now—traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.
In battleground Georgia, which President Donald Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.
TRUMP-BACKED RNC CHAIR JUMPS INTO THE NATION’S ‘MARQUEE’ SENATE RACE
They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.
Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.
At the top of their list is Ossoff, who narrowly won election to the Senate in a January 2021 runoff contest.

Republicans view Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. (AP)
But Ossoff is off to a very hot fundraising start, and a GOP primary in Georgia between Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former college and professional football coach Derek Dooley, is starting to turn combustible.
DNC CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS DIGITAL DEMOCRATS HAVE HIT ‘ROCK BOTTOM’ – HERE’S HIS PLAN TO REBOUND
Republicans are also confident they can flip Michigan, another battleground Trump narrowly carried last November.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee who lost last year’s race by a razor-thin margin, has at this point cleared the Republican primary field, thanks in great part to Trump’s endorsement.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan for a second straight election cycle, is interviewed by Fox New Digital in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 2, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )
Democrats, meanwhile, have a very competitive primary on their hands. The primary race includes three well-known Democrats: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who enjoys the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
With Shaheen, who made history as the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as a governor and a senator, out of the running in New Hampshire, the GOP is hoping to win a Senate election in the Granite State for the first time in 16 years.

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, seen at a policy event in Concord, N.H. on Oct. 22, 2024, isn’t seeking a fourth term in the Senate when she’s up for re-election in 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
They’re encouraged by the gains Trump made in New Hampshire in last year’s election, as he improved on his showing from four years earlier and came close to carrying the state.
But four-term Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement in early April that he would run to succeed Shaheen has cleared the Democratic primary field, as of now, of any potential rivals for the party’s Senate nomination.
Meanwhile, a Republican primary in the state—where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 15 years—is heating up between former Sen. Scott Brown and state Sen. Dan Innis, with the possibility of more candidates entering the race.
In Minnesota, the leading candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed Smith are Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig.
Former professional basketball player Royce White, who won the 2024 Senate nomination in Minnesota, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze are currently running in the GOP primary. But another Republican Senate hopeful may soon enter the field.
While Republicans will work to defy political history in next year’s midterms, they point to the Democratic Party’s current brand issues.
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«Democrats have historically low approval ratings because candidates like Jon Ossoff and Chris Pappas keep prioritizing radical policies like men in women’s sports, protecting sanctuary cities for criminal illegal aliens, and raising taxes on working families,» NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez argued in a statement to Fox News.
And Rodriguez touted that «Republicans are delivering on policies that keep Americans safe and let families and workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. Voters will reward us for it in 2026.»
midterm elections,elections,senate elections,republicans elections,georgia,michigan,new hampshire,minnesota
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Netanyahu’s security cabinet to meet on Gaza war, as some in Israel call to resettle enclave

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene his high-level security cabinet on Thursday to discuss expanding the war against Hamas, including the potential full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The prospect comes against the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of Israel’s full disengagement from the enclave, as calls for resettlement — once confined to the political fringes — have entered the mainstream, including within the government, particularly in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
Rebuilding Jewish communities in Gaza would be «a historic correction to a national injustice,» Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Israel’s minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, told Fox News Digital.
FOX NEWS GETS INSIDE LOOK AT GAZA HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AS ISRAEL WEIGHS NEXT STEPS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands on a platform overlooking the Gaza Strip during his first visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas terrorists where a significant number of this community were killed or captured, near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
«Expelling Jews from their homes in their own country was a strategic and moral mistake that led to the rise of an Islamist terrorist regime called Hamas,» he said. «That mistake enabled Hamas to fire relentless rockets and ultimately carry out the October 7 massacre — which included murder, rape, abuse, looting, and, of course, the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians.»
Wasserlauf invoked the bloc of 17 Israeli communities, collectively known as Gush Katif, which was established in Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War. In August 2005, as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement, the government forcibly removed approximately 8,600 Jewish residents from the area.
He said reapplying Israeli sovereignty «would send a clear message: whoever strikes us loses the ground beneath his feet. Only in this way can true deterrence be achieved,» Wasserlauf continued. «We need to create facts on the ground. There must be no agreements with terrorists. Settlement in Gaza must, at the very least, be the price that reminds everyone terrorism does not pay.»
From 1948 to 1967, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian occupation. After Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War, it remained under full Israeli control until 1994, when administrative responsibility was transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords — paving the way for Yasser Arafat’s return from exile in Tunis.

Hamas terrorists emerge from the shadows as they surround Red Cross vehicles. (TPS-IL)
In 2005, Israel evacuated all military personnel and civilian communities from Gaza. Shortly thereafter, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.
A year after Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza, evacuating all military personnel and civilian communities, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and, shortly thereafter, staged a violent coup to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the Strip.
Wasserlauf argued that critics of the disengagement had long warned that any concession of land would only embolden terrorists. These warnings, he said, were ignored, but ultimately proven correct by the events that followed.
He acknowledged that renewed settlement in Gaza would likely trigger political backlash both domestically and abroad. «The countries that support us will stand with us, and those that consistently oppose us will remain against us … I remind you that there were countries that urged us not to strike Iran, despite its race toward nuclear weapons and its explicit goal of destroying Israel.»
BROTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE URGES UN TO ACT AFTER VIDEO SHOWS HAMAS STARVING AND TORTURING CAPTIVES

The Israeli settlement of Pa’at Sadeh is seen Dec. 26, 2004 in the southern Gaza Strip.
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi told Fox News Digital that Israel’s core national security doctrine of deterrence is being tested by jihadist groups like Hamas, which operate according to a radically different set of rules.
Avivi, founder and chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said that Israel’s approach to Gaza may ultimately hinge on U.S. support, especially from President Donald Trump. «If the U.S. president advocates for massive relocation and taking control of Gaza to implement his own vision, it would suggest some kind of basic understanding between the two sides,» Avivi said.
He estimated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) currently controls about 75% of Gaza, with past decisions largely driven by military considerations. However, he said that the remaining 25% of the territory involves broader strategic decisions, shaped by how Israel and the United States view the future of the area, including Jewish settlement.
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser, told Fox News Digital that resettling Gaza should not be part of Israel’s agenda.

Chief of the General Staff LTG Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. Zamir spoke with soldiers and was presented with defensive preparations and operational plans. (IDF)
«We have one mission now, and that is to dismantle Hamas,» he said. «We’ll talk about the day after, the day after. To bring back any level of normalcy to Gaza, we need to find partners — and I don’t know who those partners would be if we settle in Gaza.»
SHE FED 100K GAZAN FAMILIES FOR FREE – NOW TERRORISTS AND LOCAL MERCHANTS WANT HER DEAD
Amidror, a distinguished fellow with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said that Israel must in the long-term remain solely responsible for security in Gaza, citing past failures when control was transferred to the Palestinians after the Oslo Accords. He argued that reestablishing settlements could complicate that mission, asserting that security should remain solely in the hands of the IDF.
Religious Zionism lawmaker Simcha Rothman told Fox News Digital that «If we are trying to achieve peace, any agreement or situation in which Jews cannot live in their ancient homeland is not just,» but acknowledged it is not one of Israel’s official war objectives. «While resettling Gaza is the right thing to do, it is not part of the current effort.»
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, reiterated that resettling Gaza is not part of the Israeli government’s declared war objectives.
«If Israel needs to reoccupy Gaza militarily, it should be to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages — not to annex Gaza as part of Israel. There are 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, maybe more,» Yadlin, who is currently president of MIND Israel, told Fox News Digital.

Memorials at the site of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, on Monday, May 27, 2024. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Israel does not want to rule over them or provide for all their needs. It would cost billions and alter the demographic balance. This idea is being pushed by right-wing elements in the government, and even the prime minister and his party do not support it,» he said.
Daniella Weiss, general director of the Nachala Settlement Movement, told Fox News Digital that the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attack signals the start of a new era. «I think we should go much further than what existed in 2005. Back then, we were 10,000 people in Gaza. Our movement, Nachala, has proposed a plan for 1.2 million Jews in Gaza,» Weiss said.
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Israelis march from Sderot toward the northern border of Gaza, calling for the re-establishment of settlements in the territory, on July 30, 2025 in Israel. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
She said her organization is already taking tangible steps to begin the process, «We’ve organized six groups of young families—more than 1,000 families—who are willing to move to Gaza now,» she said.
While Weiss expressed regret that the Israeli government has not included Jewish resettlement in its official war objectives, she insisted that in Israel’s democracy, public pressure can influence government policy.
«The basic truth is that the Gaza area is part of the western Negev,» she said. «Historically, it was part of the area of the tribe of Yehuda. To turn your back on that is wrong.»
israel,conflicts,middle east,terrorism
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