Expensive Healthcare

Why is US health care still the most expensive in the world after decades of cost-cutting initiatives?
https://theconversation.com/why-is-us-health-care-still-the-most-expensive-in-the-world-after-decades-of-cost-cutting-initiatives-273743 

Too Much Liquidity in the Financial System?

Alphabet’s Rare 100-Year Bond Tells Us That Money Is Easy
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/alphabets-rare-100-year-bond-tells-us-that-money-is-easy-779117ed
This is a great time for companies to borrow. It isn’t obviously a great time to lend to them. 

Revised Data Offers a Reality Check on the US Labor Market

Job Growth Last Year Was Worse Than We Thought. Here’s Why.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/job-growth-last-year-was-far-worse-than-we-thought-heres-why-4308db41
 
Job Growth Was Overstated, New Data Shows
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/business/economy/january-jobs-report-revisions.html
Annual revisions show that employers added far fewer jobs in 2024 and 2025 than previously estimated.

BLS Report: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Healthcare Propels U.S. to Strongest Job Growth Since Late 2024
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/january-jobs-report-unemployment-b703b0e3

State of US Labor Market:
https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/02/11/january-2026-jobs-report/
Significant revisions to 2025 data pushed last year's payroll employment down by 403,000 jobs, resulting in the addition of just 181,000 jobs last year. 

Natives versus Immigrants

What Replaces Deported Immigrant Workers? Not Americans. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/immigration-farming-trump-robots-labor.html 

Forecasting - Pros versus Amateurs

Thousands of Amateur Gamblers Are Beating Wall Street Ph.D.s 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/business/economy/forecasts-prediction-markets-economy.html
Economists have noticed that betting markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are pretty good at predicting not just political events but economic data, too.  

Will AI Disrupt the Financial Sector?

Wealth Manager Stocks Sink as Traders Flee Next AI Casualty
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wealth-manager-stocks-sink-ai-172526640.html 

Related:

America Isn't Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/ai-economy-labor-market-transformation/685731/

K-Shaped Economy and the Restaurant Sector

K-shaped economy: What new data is revealing about the consumer
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/k-shaped-economy-data-revealing-171859781.html

America's K-shaped economy has turned restaurant winners and losers upside down
https://www.businessinsider.com/america-k-shaped-economy-breaking-fast-food-playbook-2026-2
 
What fast food’s downturn says about the US economy
https://www.ft.com/content/9643e9b8-a4d8-49e2-8c16-20c1a1c5ca4b
Restaurants have raised prices to offset rising labor and ingredient costs, leading low-income customers to visit less often.