• Members of the Business Roundtable, a group of 181 of the U.S.' top business leaders, meet and agree shareholder value isn't the paramount goal.

• The Business Roundtable includes executives from major U.S. companies such as Walmart, Apple and Pepsi. For years, the group has said driving shareholder value is the chief and only aim of a business. 

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• With two months left in the fiscal year, the U.S. budget deficit surpasses last year's total, per Bloomberg.

• The deficit is up 27 percent from the same point last year, according to Axios. The deficit sits at $866.8 billion in the first 10 months of 2019.

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• The Chinese government allows the yuan, their national currency, to weaken, shaking global markets.

• The U.S. Treasury accuses the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, of manipulating the yuan to drop in value.

• The devaluing makes goods cheaper to ship abroad and harder for U.S. importers in China.

• The move causes stock market to fall in many countries including the U.S., Japan and Britain. 

• The Senate passes a two-year bipartisan budget deal, sending it to the President Trump for him to sign.

• Already approved by the president, the bill suspends the debt ceiling until 2021 and raises spending over $320 billion in the next two years.

• The bill is a rare instance in the Trump administration of Congress passing bipartisan effort without significant squabbling.

• For the first time since 2008, the Federal Reserve says it is lowering the interest rate by a quarter point.

• Rate cuts usually come in a time of high unemployment or economic recession, but the economy is currently doing well.

• The Federal Reserve says that while they expect the economy to continue to do well, the rate cut is a pre-emptive measure to protect the economy from increasing trade tensions and global market slowdown. 

The House passes “Raise the Wage Act,” a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15. In a recent report, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said a $15 federal minimum wage would give an income boost to approx. 27 million U.S. workers and lift 1.3 million Americans’ income above the federal poverty line. However, the report also shows 1.3 million people would be out of work due to the strain on employers. The bill stands no chance of passing the Upper Chamber as Sen. Mitch McConnell says he will not bring it to a vote.

President Trump announces he is nominating Stephen Moore to fill an empty seat in the Federal Reserve Board. Moore, an economic analyst and polarizing figure, helped Trump draft his tax cut plan but has drawn substantial criticism. Facing escalating backlash from Republican senators, Moore withdraws from the nomination in May

Following confusion regarding tax payments, the IRS announces it will allow taxpayers to avoid penalties if they paid at least 80 percent of what they owed. Before, exemption from penalties would only be given to those who paid at least 90 percent, but with misunderstandings surrounding tax refunds, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin, lowered the threshold at the urging of Congress and criticism from Democrats

In the first tax filing season under Trump’s tax reform, some taxpayers are surprised to find that they not only did not save money, but now owe the IRS more than they previously did, resulting in widespread anger and the introduction of the hashtag: #GOPTaxScam. The IRS reported that average tax refund was 8.7 percent lower than last year’s but also stated that it is too early to draw definitive conclusions given the shutdown

After hundreds of employees at the IRS received permission to leave work during the government shutdown, the IRS suffers major breakdowns in response during the start of the tax filing season. A report from the Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate argues that the disruption not only slowed the filing process for many tax payers, but because of delayed processing of returns, cost tax payers money as well

Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire from his tech start-up companies, proposed a tax increase on the wealthy that he believes will raise Illinois’ revenue by at least three billion dollars. Currently, Illinois employs a flat- tax system, and Pritzker’s proposed graduated tax would increase rates for wealthier tax payers in the state

Democrats in the House introduce the Social Security 2100 Act in an effort to combat growing concern surrounding Baby Boomers draining Social Security funds. The act proposes payroll tax increases and cuts to income taxes on Social Security. The bill has bipartisan support, with Republican Andrew Biggs, former deputy commissioner of Social Security under President George H.W. Bush stating, “it would keep the system permanently solvent” 

Following Sen. Warren and Rep. Ocasio- Cortez’s proposals of higher tax rates for the ultra- wealthy, Senator Sanders announces a bill that would broaden the pool of Americans subject to estate taxes. Like Warren and Ocasio- Cortez’s proposals, the bill is designed to generate funds for social plans such as “Medicare for All.” But Republicans have fought back against the proposals, with President Trump describing them as “horrible” and “unfair”