‘China Shock’ Hits China?

The Factory Town Known as China’s Furniture Capital Is Fighting to Survive
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/the-factory-town-known-as-chinas-furniture-capital-is-fighting-to-survive-0875bc99
The U.S. lost much of its furniture industry to China years ago. Now, American tariffs and overseas competition are punishing manufacturers. 

Related:
https://gsas.harvard.edu/news/david-autor-china-shock-manufacturing-jobs-interview

A Weird Labor Market

How to Make Sense of This Strange Job Market
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/job-market-unemployment-rates-charts-55c8e85c
It’s a labor market unlike any other: Unemployment has drifted up, layoffs are low, hiring is slow, and the economy needs far fewer new jobs than it did before.
 
AI Can’t Agree on Which Jobs AI Might Destroy
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-models-job-losses-4d31cb6f
Economists asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude which jobs were most exposed to AI. Many times, the answers varied widely. 

Xi and China's Generals

How China’s Leader Lost Faith in His Generals
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/world/asia/china-military-generals.html
Xi Jinping spent 13 years building a military to rival that of the United States. But the stronger the Chinese forces grew, the less he trusted the generals he had handpicked to run them. 

Decline of US Soft Power

The End of America’s Soft Power
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/04/trump-soft-power-usa/
The United States has given up on one of its core international strengths. 

Reversing Venezuelan Brain Drain

Trump Celebrated Victory in Venezuela. Will That Bring Its People Back?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-trump-migration.html
Dire conditions prompted an exodus from the country. After its leader’s ousting, the question is whether things have changed enough to make a return appealing. 

Péter Magyar Interview

Péter Magyar Led Hungarians out of Autocracy. Where Will He Take Them Now?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/peter-magyar-led-hungarians-out-of-autocracy-where-will-he-take-them-now
In his first substantial conversation with a foreign journalist since being elected, the new Prime Minister promised, “We don’t want to build a power machine.” 

Interesting Profile of Usha Vance

Is Usha Vance the mastermind behind J.D. Vance?
https://spectator.com/article/is-usha-vance-the-mastermind-behind-j-d-vance/
Usha studied history at Yale and researched the 17th-century book trade for her MPhil at Cambridge before going on to Yale Law School.
It is well known that J.D. and Usha Vance were set up in law school by their professor, Amy Chua ...