State of the US Economy Ahead of Midterms

3 Charts That Explain the Economy as Voters Head to the Polls
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/18/business/economy/economy-midterm-elections.html
Inflation is high, consumer spending is strong and seemingly everything depends on what happens with artificial intelligence. 

Higher Rates and the Stock Market

For Investors and Savers, TINA Is Giving Way to TARA
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/for-investors-and-savers-tina-is-giving-way-to-tara-3cfc0714
Rising Treasury yields mean stocks will become less attractive, interest-bearing accounts more so. 

Cash Buyers Tilt the Housing Market

America’s New Housing Market Is All About Luxury—and It Runs on Cash
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/americas-new-housing-market-is-all-about-luxuryand-it-runs-on-cash-8a5fcb8e
Surging mortgage rates are sending many buyers to the sidelines, while affluent shoppers are driving overall prices higher with big cash purchases.

Frozen Labor Market

A Princeton Ph.D. Applied to 2,300 Jobs. He Still Can’t Get One.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/labor-market-freeze-phd-graduate-f8e17d7c
There’s a deep freeze paralyzing the labor market—and it’s hitting college-educated workers hard. 

Are Business Schools Necessary?

I Teach at a Business School. It’s Time to Shut Them Down. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/18/opinion/business-school-mba-harvard-cornell-cambridge.html 

Will the AI Bubble Pop?

The AI Stock Market Wobble Is a Reminder: This Time Isn’t Different
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-ai-stock-market-wobble-is-a-reminder-this-time-isnt-different-d3ea7f07
The artificial intelligence build-out hasn’t shown it can avoid the problems of past massive capital projects, such as railways and the internet.
 
The dress rehearsal for an AI reckoning
https://www.ft.com/content/3f982af9-3eec-476f-9d29-39145ac485c4
Ructions point to what a true bursting of the bubble might do to financial markets.

Weak Links Start to Show in A.I. Borrowing
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/17/business/ai-debt-coreweave-oracle-softbank.html
Debt trouble at CoreWeave, Oracle and SoftBank raises questions about whether there are broader problems with the data center build-out.

 
America’s $10tn AI infrastructure boom is starting to fray
https://www.ft.com/content/9ea5a37d-15c9-4d5b-94d6-719048c9cd3c
A vast bet on the future of the technology is running into the unforgiving economics of the physical world. 

Related:

The AI bubble could be worse than the dot-com bust by Vivekanand Jayakumar, The Hill - 06/16/26
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5925202-tech-bubble-ai-driven-growth/

Taxes and US Budget Deficits

U.S. Budget Deficit Nears $2 Trillion, a Reality Check for Trump’s Cost Cutting
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/business/us-budget-deficit.html
Higher interest rates are inflating borrowing costs as the Trump administration spends on the Iran war and tariff refunds.
 
Corporate Tax Revenue Falls Even as Profits Soar Under Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/17/business/trump-corporate-tax-revenue.html
The annual decline was about $70 billion. Companies are writing off billions in A.I. investments, taking advantage of tax cuts that President Trump signed into law. 
 
How much of your earnings are subject to Social Security tax in 2027?
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/article/how-much-of-your-earnings-are-subject-to-social-security-tax-in-2027-193352950.html