Sales of baking cookbooks are up about 80% over the past year, according to research group Circana. And that's bucking a downward trend in cookbooks overall.

About 5.5 million borrowers are currently in default. They haven't risked wage garnishment since the beginning of the pandemic, when policymakers paused the practice.

The data, which was delayed from October by the government shutdown, comes as the economy takes center stage for voters and the Trump administration.

Preston Cooper at AEI recently published an analysis of the latest federal student loan data, and the results were sobering: 5.5 million borrowers in default, another 3.7 million more than 270 days ...