A Challenging Labor Market for New College Graduates

Graduates Reset Ambitions in Pursuit of First Jobs
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/28/business/economy/college-graduates-job-market.html
Young people aiming to build careers are entering fields they had not considered in order to find their footing. 
 
Internships Are More Crucial Than Ever—and Even Harder to Find
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/internships-are-more-crucial-than-everand-even-harder-to-find-cbefc84a
More students and unemployed graduates are vying for a limited number of spots to improve their odds of getting hired. 

The Student Loan Bubble

The Credit Bubble Everybody’s Ignoring
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-credit-bubble-everybodys-ignoring-e457c0ae
Federally backed student loans and mortgages are seeing increased defaults. Taxpayers are on the hook. 

Iran War is Bad for the Global Economy

The U.S. Started the War. The Rest of the World Is Feeling the Effects.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/business/economy/iran-war-global-growth.html
In eight weeks, much of the global economy has been knocked sideways by the conflict in the Middle East. America has mostly been spared from the tumult. 

A Closer Look at US Corporate Profits

Corporate America Is Minting Money—and Not Just in Tech and Finance
https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/corporate-america-is-minting-moneyand-not-just-in-tech-and-finance-0d833898
Profits grow for many companies in the face of war, rising oil prices and inflation; “it’s extremely polarized.” 

Healthcare's Role in the American Economy

Healthcare is driving America’s economy
https://www.ft.com/content/6b1bcbab-21d4-49a3-9940-d7550f042e5d
This is a huge industry — and that’s not necessarily a good thing. 

International Comparisons

Cost of Living Index by Countries
https://wise.com/gb/cost-of-living/index-by-country
Currently, the top 10 most expensive countries are Switzerland, Bahamas, Iceland, Singapore, Barbados, Norway, Denmark, Hong Kong (China), United States, and Australia.

The Best Healthcare in the World in 2026
https://www.internationalinsurance.com/health/systems/ 

The AI Frenzy Is Back

The AI Frenzy Is Back and Lifting the Entire Stock Market to Record Highs
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-ai-frenzy-is-back-and-lifting-the-entire-stock-market-to-record-highs-5d5586ac
Signs of froth are everywhere, with the IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI expected to be the biggest ever and investors desperate to find ways in.
 
Is AI the next dot-com crash? | Business Beyond
https://youtu.be/c5tdpOVrtdA 

Macroeconomic Considerations:

AI Productivity Growth Won’t Match the Computer Revolution
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ai-productivity-will-not-match-computer-revolution-by-carl-benedikt-frey-2026-04
Those promoting AI would be lucky to see the technology’s impact on output per hour match even the short-lived burst of the 1990s and 2000s. Productivity growth will underwhelm, not because the technology is weak, but because it creates a bottleneck that earlier digital tools largely avoided.
 
Will AI Solve Rich Countries’ Debt Woes?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ai-potential-revenue-gains-may-not-offset-other-harms-and-costs-by-kenneth-rogoff-2026-04
Although many commentators believe that AI has the potential to supercharge economic growth and solve our most vexing problems, such optimism underplays the risks. If anything, the technology is likely to cause profound—and costly—problems on the way to the halcyon future.