Prehistory of A.I. Slop

The Prehistory of A.I. Slop
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/25/the-prehistory-of-ai-slop
Before ChatGPT, there was the Plot Robot, Auto-Beatnik, and a century’s worth of schemes for automating authorship. 

Global Government Debt Binge

See How the Global Government Debt Binge Is Rippling Through Markets
https://www.wsj.com/articles/see-how-the-global-government-debt-binge-is-rippling-through-markets-cb9ce3ca 

China's Property Market

Nine in 10 families in China own a home. But is the property-owning dream being tested?
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/17/china/china-homeownership-rate-tested-intl-hnk 

Edmund Phelps

Edmund Phelps, Who Upended the Way We View Inflation, Dies at 92
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/business/economy/edmund-phelps-dead.html
He won a Nobel in 2006 for challenging the conventional wisdom among economists that higher inflation was a necessary price to pay for low unemployment. 
 
Related:
https://www.ubs.com/global/en/our-firm/what-we-do/our-brand/nobel-perspectives/laureates/edmund-phelps.html 

Grad Degree Bubble Bursts

A Master’s Degree Isn’t the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/a-masters-degree-isnt-the-job-guarantee-it-used-to-be-53e237aa
New data shows the unemployment rate has rarely been higher in the past 20 years among professionals under 35 with advanced degrees. 

Rising Bond Yields Could Deflate the Equity Bubble

Bond yield spike is risk to unprepared equities market, investors warn 
https://www.reuters.com/business/bond-yield-spike-is-risk-unprepared-equities-market-investors-warn-2026-05-17/
Rising benchmark yields tend to put pressure on equity valuations as companies and consumers will ​face higher borrowing costs. This can also weigh on economic growth and corporate profits. 

Political Dysfunction Stymies UK

The disintegration of British democracy
https://www.ft.com/content/345d6b73-6812-4c34-ab4f-9565805e0f05
We are witnessing the fracturing of the traditional party system that glues our society together.

Britain gets the politics it deserves
https://www.ft.com/content/0cb0f4c5-c324-4626-9b5d-cec7726264b7
Cakeism, impatience and low-quality public discourse contribute to the UK’s instability. 

The Labour Party is dead, and Starmer has killed it
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2026/05/the-labour-party-is-dead-and-starmer-has-killed-it

Related:
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/why-are-britons-so-fed-up-2026-05-13/