UK's 'Worklessness' Crisis

How Britain sank into the worst jobs crisis in two centuries
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/29/britain-sank-worst-jobs-crisis-two-centuries/ 

One in seven university graduates are not in education, employment or training (NEETs), according to a flagship review that warned government policy was making it harder for young people to find work.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/28/one-in-seven-university-graduates-are-neets/ 

Japan's Demographics

How Japan Lost 3 Million People in 5 Years
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/29/world/asia/japan-census-population-decline.html
The staggering population drop underscores the depths of the country’s accelerating demographic crisis.  

Capital versus Labor Share of Income

The Record Divide Between Corporate Profits and Worker Pay
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-record-divide-between-corporate-profits-and-worker-pay-ea4c75bc
Labor’s share of economic output just hit an all-time low, while the profit share neared a record. It helps explain why consumers feel so glum. 

The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor 

https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/capital-labor-wealth-economy-2fcf6c2f

Soaring profits and stocks funnel more of GDP toward companies, their top employees and shareholders. AI will intensify this trend.

Can productivity boom lift US workers' record low share of GDP? Unlikely
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/can-productivity-boom-lift-us-workers-record-low-share-gdp-unlikely-2026-02-11/

‘We deserve more’: US workers’ share of the pie dwindles

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/06/workers-income-labor-

 

“Perspectives on the Labor Share,” by Loukas Karabarbounis

https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.38.2.107

As of 2022, the share of US income accruing to labor is at its lowest level since the Great Depression. Updating previous studies with more recent observations, I document the continuing decline of the labor share for the United States, other countries, and various industries. I discuss how changes in technology and product, labor, and capital markets affect the trend of the labor share. I also examine its relationship with other macroeconomic trends, such as rising markups, higher concentration of economic activity, and globalization. I conclude by offering some perspectives on the economic and policy implications of the labor share decline.

The TACO Problem

The TACO Equilibrium
https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/2026/05/oil-prices-iran-trump/687344/
Oil markets expect Donald Trump to end the Iran war imminently. That might be why he doesn’t.  

China's Tech Supremacy Goal

China’s Long March to Technological Supremacy
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-science-technology-outflanking-the-us-and-europe-by-johan-rockstrom-and-inga-strumke-2026-05
China’s R&D prowess was visible in research output, patents, PhDs, and critical technologies for years, long before crystallizing into commercial products that Western investors, commentators, and policymakers noticed. And now it’s happening again.

How China Achieved Innovation Without Freedom
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/smart-authoritarianism-enabled-china-to-become-an-innovation-leader-by-jennifer-lind-2025-11
Though China remains a one-party state that disappears dissidents and censors ideas, it has vaulted past Japan, Germany, and France to become the world’s tenth most-innovative economy. It owes this achievement – which was long considered impossible – to a pioneering strategy of "smart authoritarianism." 

The World's Most Livable Cities for (American) Expats

The World's Most Livable Cities for (American) Expats
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-world-s-most-livable-cities-for-expats-87176.html 

China Reforms the Hukou System

Without fanfare, China is making rural migrants’ lives easier
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/05/28/without-fanfare-china-is-making-rural-migrants-lives-easier
The notorious hukou system is being relaxed. Marx would approve.