President Donald Trump is trying to convince voters before the Nov. 3 midterm elections that the U.S. economy is rocketing upward. But voters say inflation remains a challenge as the Iran war has pushed up gasoline prices. Grocery bills remain expensive, and high interest rates make it harder to afford a home or a new car. Trump had promised to quash inflation. While inflation hasn't returned to peaks seen during President Joe Biden's term, it has climbed since April 2025. Interest on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is above 5%. Meanwhile, the gap has widened between gains for the top 0.1% of households and the bottom half of households.
From
To
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dhitaraht Dhanarahtsombat)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Dhitaraht Dhanarahtsombat)
Protesters march to a meeting venue during a demonstration against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Protesters march to a meeting venue during a demonstration against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Protesters march to a meeting venue during a demonstration against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
The head of the International Monetary Fund says the United States and other wealthy nations need to urgently tackle mounting global debt levels that are weighing heaviest on low-income countries. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Wednesday that just trying to grow the U.S. economy out of its more than $40 trillion in national debt would not suffice. Speaking at the autumn meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok, she said the U.S. needs to save more, China should spend more and Europe should increase investment levels. Georgieva and other financial leaders say rising debt and global inflation have pushed interest rates to multidecade highs, adding to the debt burdens of the world's poorest nations.
United Nations Development Programme Administrator Alexander De Croo talks to The Associated Press during an interview in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a news conference on the Global Policy Agenda forum during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
The International Monetary Fund has slightly upgraded its outlook for the world economy for this year, but it's forecasting growth at a still sluggish 3.1%. Growth in 2025 was 3.5%. Its update released Tuesday says the boom in artificial intelligence is offsetting damage from sharply higher prices for oil and gas due to the Iran war. But it notes that benefits of the AI boom are increasingly concentrated in a few countries. The IMF Economic Outlook predicts that growth in the United States will remain steady at 2.3% in 2026 and 2027. The IMF said it now expects oil prices to be up nearly 41% this year and global inflation to accelerate to 4.7% in 2026.