Dollar Weakness

A Weaker Dollar Has Always Been Part of Trump’s Plan
https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/a-weaker-dollar-has-always-been-part-of-trumps-plan-733c9adc
A lower exchange rate is one more lever for the U.S. to boost growth, but it chips away at America’s traditional role as a safe haven.

US Labor Market - Hirings versus Firings

U.S. Companies Are Still Slashing Jobs to Reverse Pandemic Hiring Boom
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/u-s-companies-are-still-slashing-jobs-to-reverse-pandemic-hiring-boom-abf1b94e
Many corporations binged on labor during the pandemic. Now, facing economic uncertainty and AI threats, they are slimming down. 

US long-term unemployment hits 4-year high
https://www.ft.com/content/2c10e866-fc6b-4a14-a35f-38c7907925bf

China's Unbalanced Economy

The Deflation Doom Loop Trapping China's Economy
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/deflation-doom-loop-china-economy-25b0938a
 
At World’s Busiest Port, China’s Unbalanced Economy Comes into View
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/business/china-economy-duality.html
The shipping traffic and factories never stop in China’s port city of Ningbo, but the local housing market has crashed and nearby restaurants sit empty. 

Revisiting Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

The Brilliance and the Badness of “The Sun Also Rises”
https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/the-brilliance-and-the-badness-of-the-sun-also-rises
Although Ernest Hemingway’s novel makes positive claims about what one should be—brave, admiring of nature and grace—its architecture is held up primarily by hatred. 

Poverty and Education

Closing the Gap in American Schools
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/2026/01/texas-education-community-schools/685703/
Kids will struggle to learn if they’re hungry or scared at home.
 
Related:
https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/cis/ 

Europe's Options for Countering Trump

Europe’s Best Tools for Countering Trump
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/how-europe-should-respond-to-trump-tariff-threats-by-daniel-gros-2026-01
European exporters depend more on the US market than American exporters do on Europe, which means the EU is poorly positioned for a tit-for-tat tariff war with the US. But with targeted export tariffs, taxes on royalties, and the elimination of US Treasuries' risk-free status, the EU could hit the US where it hurts. 

Earnings and the Stock Market

Does This Bull Market Have Room to Run?
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/does-this-bull-market-have-room-to-run-7aee36ff
Strong earnings make a great stock market. The risk is everyone knows that already. 

US Population Growth Slows

U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/population-growth-slows.html
Population growth in the United States has slowed significantly with an increase of only 1.8 million, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to the new Vintage 2025 population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
This was the nation’s slowest population growth since the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the population grew by a historically low 0.2% in 2021. The slowdown also comes after a sizeable uptick of growth in 2024, when the country added 3.2 million people and grew by 1.0%, the fastest annual population growth rate since 2006.
“The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” said Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau. “With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today.”

America’s Immigration Labor Shock
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/u-s-immigration-population-census-bureau-46dfac4a
The Census Bureau says the U.S. is on a path to net negative migration.

 
Immigration Crackdown Slows U.S. Population Growth
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/immigration-crackdown-slows-u-s-population-growth-26c455aa 

De-risking from America

India, EU reach landmark trade deal, tariffs to be slashed on most goods
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/india-eu-slash-tariffs-autos-spirits-textile-landmark-deal-2026-01-27/
 
In Trump’s Shadow, India and the European Union Expand Trade Ties
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/business/india-europe-trade-tariffs-trump.html
After nearly 20 years of negotiations, the two sides struck a far-reaching agreement that officials called “the mother of all trade deals.” 
 
World's 'middle powers' de-risking from America
https://www.reuters.com/markets/worlds-middle-powers-de-risking-america-2026-01-27/
 
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/opinion/trump-oil-global-politics.html 

AI and Finance

Anthropic brings AI to finance
https://youtu.be/vou4HnlfQPk 

Spike in Gold Price

Gold hits record above $5,100 as geopolitics drive safe‑haven rush
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/gold-races-5100-record-peak-safe-haven-demand-2026-01-26/ 

Silver Prices Are Surging Even Faster Than Gold
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/business/silver-gold-prices.html
Silver has risen roughly 60 percent this month alone. What is going on? 

End of Brain Drain?

The US Is Losing Top Tech Talent to India in the Wake of Trump’s H-1B Chaos
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-23/us-loses-top-tech-talent-to-india-in-wake-of-h-1b-visa-chaos 

Addicted to Public Debt

Record Debt in the World’s Richest Nations Threatens Global Growth
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/business/economy/government-debt-bonds.html
The cost of borrowing is already choking crucial public spending in many developing economies. Now it’s raising broader alarms.

The World Economy Is Hooked on Government Debt
https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/the-world-economy-is-hooked-on-government-debt-71491482
Rearmament, an aging population, technological change and fear of voters are fueling a risky trend.

Scott Bessent Is in Denial – and the Bond Market Is Watching
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/scott-bessent-is-underestimating-the-risk-of-a-us-treasury-selloff-by-desmond-lachman-2026-01 

Related:
Investors beware: Fiscal dominance and financial repression ahead by VIVEKANAND JAYAKUMAR, The Hill - 07/13/25
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5397963-fed-keeping-rates-low-trump-administration/  

State of the US Economy

Trump may boast but his two-speed economy could easily blow up
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/24/trump-may-boast-but-his-two-speed-economy-could-blow-up/
Is the US economy as hot as Trump thinks?
https://www.ft.com/content/e3bdd4de-690d-4e19-865b-622354fca8c7
How one year of ‘America First’ left workers behind
https://www.ft.com/content/1afa8e7a-0073-4cec-9c86-751b472397e8
Trump’s immigration crackdown has not helped native-born employment
https://www.ft.com/content/ed314eb5-38ce-4aee-b781-a4adab94f173
 
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/business/goodwill-sales-economy.html 

Era of Global Anarchy

Canadian PM Carney delivers speech at Davos
https://youtu.be/JnE2HTfDivQ?si=6w_YL-YU70B0E9h2&t=81

Related: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/maybe-the-united-states-can-be-one-of-mark-carneys-middle-powers

 
Trump’s Year of Anarchy
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/trumps-year-anarchy
The Unconstrained Presidency and the End of American Primacy.  

India's Economic Ascent

The ascent of India’s economy
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/01/22/the-ascent-of-indias-economy
Related: 
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/01/22/an-audacious-new-book-about-a-precocious-country
 
The remarkable recovery of Narendra Modi
https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/01/21/the-remarkable-recovery-of-narendra-modi
Related:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/01/22/the-odd-thing-about-modis-mojo 

Another Law School Bubble

Interest in Law School Is Surging. A.I. Makes the Payoff Less Certain.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/business/dealbook/law-school-ai.html
The number of applicants has risen more than 40 percent over the last two years, despite new limits on student loans and uncertainty over how artificial intelligence will affect legal work. 

Trump and the Financial Markets

Ignore Trump’s power plays at your financial peril
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/22/ignore-trumps-power-plays-at-your-financial-peril/
Investors must deal with an increasingly unpredictable, fragmented and lawless world.
 
‘Quiet-Quitting’ of US Assets Fuels Boom in Bets from EM to Gold
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/quiet-quitting-us-assets-fuels-065544828.html/ 

Trump’s tariff ‘shock regime’ tests Wall Street’s mettle
https://www.ft.com/content/cb1a8211-ac60-4cb2-b68f-955f3d0f98f5

The Taco trade has eaten itself
https://www.ft.com/content/5c1a2e77-6f41-4241-ad3e-66139f6dfac8
 
Low Rates Sound Great. But a Trump Fed Could Cause a Painful ‘Sugar High.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/business/trump-fed-interest-rates-inflation.html
Dropping rates more than conditions warrant would stimulate the economy in the short term but could lead to trouble, our columnist says.
 
American decay versus American dynamism
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/01/21/american-decay-versus-american-dynamism
Only a decline in corporate America’s vigor will dent the country’s dominance of financial markets.

Trump’s Crypto Gamble
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/trumps-crypto-gamble
How a Stablecoin Could Preserve Dollar Dominance—or Shatter It.

Healthcare Cost in the US

Health Insurance Is Now More Expensive Than the Mortgage for These Americans
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/aca-health-insurance-cost-subsidies-expire-37a595a9
Monthly health-insurance bills are rocketing higher for middle-income earners who rely on Obamacare.

We Asked 300 People About Health Care Costs. The Numbers Are Shocking.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/opinion/health-insurance-obamacare-subsidies-america.html 

Be Wary of a Declining Superpower

Always beware a declining superpower: Even under normal leadership, a status-anxious US would be lashing out
https://www.ft.com/content/014e85ce-b703-4ed8-8183-e6e5d1061974
Janan Ganesh:
Always beware the downwardly mobile. Those of us who live a better life than we were born into cannot begin to understand the trauma of going in the opposite direction. A small drop in status can unhinge people, even if their absolute position remains good. It was the Weimar middle class, inflated out of their savings during the slump, who turned to the National Socialists in elections, not necessarily the worst-off. In geopolitics, the same process plays out on the largest scale. What is Russia’s war in Ukraine if not a protest at its reduced status since the Soviet collapse?
  
Trump’s Threats to Allies Stir Worry That U.S. Has Lost Its Way
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/trumps-threats-to-allies-stir-worry-that-u-s-has-lost-its-way-6bc05fcb
New tariffs, insults and threats of invasion trigger a backlash ahead of the president’s visit to Davos. 

Greenland Clash Risks Undermining America’s Place in World Economic Order
https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/united-states-investment-trade-08e76e85
The U.S. has long been a beacon of safety when uncertainty reigns. That is changing.

China Wins as Trump Cedes Leadership of the Global Economy
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/business/davos-trump-xi-china.html
The president used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to renounce the last vestiges of the liberal democratic order.

US Housing Market - Trade-Offs Ahead

To Make Homes Affordable Again, Someone Has to Lose Out
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/to-make-homes-affordable-again-someone-has-to-lose-out-ce397bdd
Young Americans need home prices to fall. Existing owners don’t want to take a hit. 

Who Won the EV Battle?

Chinese EVs Blow Past Tesla and Tariffs En Route to Global Reign
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/china-cars-tariffs-byd-tesla-fa18066f
The U.S., the European Union and Mexico are trying to quash accelerating demand for China’s hottest electric vehicles. 

Spheres of Influence

What Spheres of Influence Are—and Aren’t
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/19/sphere-influence-trump-venezuela-donroe-doctrine/
One of the most misunderstood concepts of international politics is back with a force.
 
Related:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/20/trump-resources-oil-rare-earths-economic-security/ 

America - An Expansionist Power?

Why an Emboldened Trump Set His Sights on Greenland
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/why-an-emboldened-trump-set-his-sights-on-greenland-538c67b7
After successful ouster of Venezuela’s leader, U.S. president emerges even more willing to test foreign-policy norms.
 
With Threats to Greenland, Trump Sets America on the Road to Conquest
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/us/politics/trump-greenland-america-conquest.html

This Trade War Would Be Unlike Any Other
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/this-trade-war-would-be-unlike-any-other-4e1a2a44
President Trump’s use of tariffs to annex territory is the logical endpoint of his belief in exploiting American economic leverage.

Can Europe Gain Independence from America?

Europe must break from America
https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2026/01/europe-must-choose-the-european-project-or-the-transatlantic-alliance
Bruno Maçães:
It is in this effort to preserve itself against American power that Europe can, at long last, become Europe. First, it would need to affirm its full sovereignty in the face of the threats and ultimatums emanating from Washington. Events last year – particularly the American climbdown on tariffs on 12 May – demonstrated that only China, and perhaps India, were capable of such a stance. Scale matters: only a united Europe can safeguard European sovereignty. Second, a strategic break with the US would compel Europeans to take every existential decision into their own hands. Suddenly, the narcissism of small nations, to paraphrase Freud, would have to give way to a genuinely shared sense of belonging. American protection and tutelage have long prevented this process of consolidation.
 
Britain must declare independence from America or it will die
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/18/britain-must-declare-independence-from-america/ 

What a Break with Europe Means for America’s Economy
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/what-a-break-with-europe-means-for-the-american-economy-8b5d746e
Europe is the U.S.’s biggest trading partner, largest investor and closest financial ally. 

The Exodus from New Zealand

Why Are New Zealanders Moving to Australia? More Money, Better Vibes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/world/asia/new-zealand-australia-moving-relocation.html
More than 1 percent of New Zealand’s population left over the year ending in October. Many of the migrants were chasing salaries and opportunities in neighboring Australia. 

The Impact of Trumponomics

Trump’s First Year Could Have Lasting Economic Consequences
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/business/trump-first-year-economy.html
President Trump’s policies have so far done little to change the overall state of the American economy, but economists warn they will ultimately weaken the United States.

A Year In, Trump’s Economy Is Worse Than the Numbers
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-year-in-trumps-economy-is-worse-than-the-numbers-0fc41ac2
The fiscal effects of the coming tax cut and the continuing threats to Fed independence augur ill.

 
From ‘Taco’ to the ‘Donroe doctrine’: a year of Trump 2.0
https://www.ft.com/content/e12c51d8-1208-4248-8775-e5cbf2298d19

Trump's Economic Record - Year 1

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/19/business/economy/trump-economy.html

Americans Are the Ones Paying for Tariffs, Study Finds
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/americans-are-the-ones-paying-for-tariffs-study-finds-e254ed2e
Research contradicts President Trump’s claim that foreigners are footing the bill, and could weaken his hand in the dispute over Greenland.

America’s Own Goal: Who Pays the Tariffs?
https://www.kielinstitut.de/publications/americas-own-goal-who-pays-the-tariffs-19398/

 
Why Haven’t Trump’s Tariffs Had a Bigger Economic Impact?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/business/economy/trump-tariffs-prices-impact.html
Steep import taxes have raised prices and affected U.S. businesses, but not quite as much as expected. A new report offers some reasons.

Investors Deal with a Shifting World Order

Trump Wants Greenland. Markets Don’t Know What to Make of That.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/trump-wants-greenland-markets-dont-know-what-to-make-of-that-a9fc6b9e
James Mackintosh:
The problem for investors is real. If they react to every event that could threaten the world order, they would never take any risk. Get one of these major turning points right and you make your fortune, but if you get all the others wrong you lose big.
The early effects of a new world order showed up last year in foreign stocks far outperforming U.S. stocks and the dollar falling a long way. I’m inclined to think other countries will slowly try to disentangle their economies, finances and military from the U.S., which would imply more of the same. 

Is There Life After the Dollar?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/limits-of-dollar-exorbitant-privilege-in-a-fracturing-world-by-paola-subacchi-2026-01
Gambling With the Dollar’s Future
https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/us-trump-administration-gambling-dollars-future-by-carmen-m-reinhart-2025-12

Grad School - Not Always a Good Option

Even MBAs From Top Business Schools Are Struggling to Get Hired
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/even-mbas-from-top-business-schools-are-struggling-to-get-hired-11f4a167
Finding a professional job right now is so tough that it is taking many of America’s most credentialed business-school graduates months to land offers.

Economists Are Studying the Slowing Job Market—and Feeling It Themselves
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/economists-job-market-hiring-2213807b
Newly minted Ph.D.s tend to work for universities, government agencies and big white-collar companies. It’s not a great hiring time for any of them. 

Is your master’s degree useless?
https://www.economist.com/international/2024/11/18/is-your-masters-degree-useless
New data show a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money.

Will Mag 7 Continue to Dominate the US Equity Market?

The Magnificent Seven Drove Markets. Now They’re Pulling in Different Directions.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/mag-7-stocks-ai-trade-766bf561
The AI trade that bound the group’s stocks is coming apart, and most now trail the overall market. 

Dollar versus Renminbi

Fed Turmoil Is Threatening Dollar Supremacy Just as China Pushes the Yuan
https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/fed-turmoil-is-threatening-dollar-supremacy-just-as-china-pushes-the-yuan-3ebb781d
Economists see a politicized central bank damaging investor confidence in the U.S. system while Beijing advances in globalizing its currency. 

CEO Pay Packages and Stock Performance

Supersize CEO Pay Packages Aren’t Paying Off for Shareholders
https://www.wsj.com/business/ceo-pay-package-issues-f8fc7175
The prospect of a nine-figure paycheck was supposed to spur CEOs to deliver outstanding results, but few are working out that way. 

Anthropic's Claude Code

The Silicon Valley misfits fixing the world’s productivity slump
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/18/silicon-valley-misfits-fixing-worlds-productivity-slump/
Anthropic founders left OpenAI over safety and now make AI phenomenon Claude Code.

Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-claude-code-ai-7a46460e
Developers and hobbyists are comparing the viral moment for Anthropic’s Claude Code to the launch of generative AI.

Economics and History

The crisis whisperer: how Adam Tooze makes sense of our bewildering age
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/15/the-crisis-whisperer-how-adam-tooze-makes-sense-of-our-bewildering-age
 
How not to talk about capitalism
https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/12/how-not-to-talk-about-capitalism
The more it penetrates our daily lives, the less we seem to understand the “system that runs the world” 

Reviving Indo-US Ties

America Must Salvage Its Relationship with India
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/america-must-salvage-its-relationship-india
Or Risk Losing a Global Swing State.

Wall Street and Climate Change

How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/climate/how-wall-street-turned-its-back-on-climate-change.html
Six years after the financial industry pledged to use trillions to fight climate change and reshape finance, its efforts have largely collapsed. 

The Significance of WhatsApp

How WhatsApp Took Over the Global Conversation
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/01/19/how-whatsapp-took-over-the-global-conversation
The platform has become a core technology around the world, relied on by governments and extended families alike. What are we all doing there? 

Math and Objective Reality

What Math Teaches Us About Deep Reality

Geopolitical Shifts - New Challenges and Fresh Opportunities

The World-Minus-One Moment
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/05/world-minus-one-united-states-isolationism-multilateralism-global-power/
Managing the global order with an antagonistic Washington.
 
The World Is Adjusting to an Unreliable United States
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/15/european-union-trade-agreement-tariffs-united-states-economics-mercosur-foreign-policy/
Years of accumulated trust are being spent for short-term leverage.
 
Geopolitics is warping multinationals’ commercial decisions
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2026/01/15/geopolitics-is-warping-multinationals-commercial-decisions
Firms are reshaping their operations, at the expense of their profits.
 
A new generation of Chinese companies is expanding around the world
https://www.economist.com/business/2026/01/13/a-new-generation-of-chinese-companies-is-expanding-around-the-world 

Blue-Collar versus White-Collar Jobs in the Age of AI

The blue-collar jobs revival: The skills the world needs now
https://youtu.be/KJG45knOzDg

Why this 26-year-old skipped college and took up a skilled trade
https://www.reuters.com/markets/on-the-money/why-this-26-year-old-skipped-college-took-up-skilled-trade-2026-01-23/

The Real AI Talent War Is for Plumbers and Electricians
https://www.wired.com/story/why-there-arent-enough-electricians-and-plumbers-to-build-ai-data-centers/
The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren’t enough skilled tradespeople in the US to keep up.
 
White-Collar Workers Shouldn’t Dismiss a Blue-Collar Career Change
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/white-collar-workers-shouldnt-dismiss-a-blue-collar-career-change-32dfa69e
It’s time for those struggling with a midcareer slump to consider another path. 

Ditch textbooks and learn how to use a wrench to AI-proof your job?
https://www.economist.com/international/2025/12/18/ditch-textbooks-and-learn-how-to-use-a-wrench-to-ai-proof-your-job
Generation Z is becoming less invested in university and more interested in skilled trades.
 
Job apocalypse? Not yet. AI is creating brand new occupations
https://www.economist.com/business/2025/12/14/job-apocalypse-not-yet-ai-is-creating-brand-new-occupations
Most needed: human skills.

Even MBAs From Top Business Schools Are Struggling to Get Hired
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/even-mbas-from-top-business-schools-are-struggling-to-get-hired-11f4a167
Finding a professional job right now is so tough that it is taking many of America’s most credentialed business-school graduates months to land offers.

Economists Are Studying the Slowing Job Market—and Feeling It Themselves
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/economists-job-market-hiring-2213807b
Newly minted Ph.D.s tend to work for universities, government agencies and big white-collar companies. It’s not a great hiring time for any of them.

Relative Decline of US Universities

Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/us/harvard-global-ranking-chinese-universities-trump-cuts.html
Harvard still dominates, though it fell to No. 3 on a list measuring academic output. Other American universities are falling farther behind their global peers.
 
World University Rankings:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking 

Prediction Markets and the State of America

America is Slow-Walking into a Polymarket Disaster
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/america-is-slow-walking-into-a-polymarket-disaster/ar-AA1Upfdb

You can bet on anything in Trump’s America. Insiders are cashing in
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/14/the-insider-trading-craze-taking-over-trumps-america/
Betting sites are harnessing the wisdom of the crowd to predict major events. But suspicious trades risk warping the market.
 
Leading Prediction Firms Share a Commonality: Donald Trump Jr.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/us/politics/donald-trump-jr-prediction-markets.html
Traders in companies with ties to the president’s eldest son can bet on the outcome of events the president affects. 

Work, Retirement, and Death

The Point of Retirement? Enlightenment, or at Least Calm
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/the-point-of-retirement-enlightenment-or-at-least-calm-f154749c
Mark Edmundson:
To the Dalai Lama, all of life should contain some preparation for death, but that preparation should become more important in the last phase.
According to the Dalai Lama, you want to leave the world in as calm and composed a way as possible. You want to be fully present at your own passing, with a mind clear and, if possible, not clouded by medications. You want to do all you can to move beyond the very human fear of death and get as close to tranquility as you can. You can do this through meditation. While you meditate you brood on the impermanence of all things, including yourself, and envision yourself as a corpse, lying out on a bier, all life gone. This will happen. It’s inevitable. 

AI Revolution: A Few Complex Issues

Why the Tech World Thinks the American Dream Is Dying
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/why-the-tech-world-thinks-the-american-dream-is-dying-daf793dc
Silicon Valley fears this is the last chance to amass generational wealth before AI makes money worthless. 

The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/the-dangerous-paradox-of-ai-abundance
Silicon Valley envisions artificial intelligence ushering in an era of economic plenty. But what if the benefits are largely confined to corporations and investors that own the technology itself?
 
The Robot and the Philosopher
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-robot-and-the-philosopher
In the age of A.I., we endlessly debate what consciousness looks like. Can a camera see things more clearly?  

Equity Market Outlook

Wall Street’s crystal ball gazers have surprising predictions for 2026
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/31/wall-street-crystal-ball-gazers-surprising-prediction-2026/
 
The four strategies for investing in 2026
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/23/the-four-strategies-for-investing-in-2026/
 
So long, American exceptionalism
https://www.ft.com/content/a9f5e37c-dd0f-4681-bddf-f20b6a6ce4e3
For the first time, investors are talking about ‘US risk’.
 
Stocks Overcame a Long List of Worries to Gain in 2025. A.I. Helped a Lot.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/business/stock-market-2025-artificial-intelligence-bubble.html
 
U.S. Stocks Defy ‘Sell America’ Warnings to End 2025 Near Record Highs
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/u-s-stocks-defy-sell-america-warnings-and-is-ending-2025-near-record-high-04f8d5a0
Trump’s tariff policies didn’t raise prices as much as feared, while an AI arms race powered growth—and the shares of the largest tech companies.
 
These Stocks Are the Market's Biggest Winners and Losers in 2025
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/these-stocks-are-the-market-s-biggest-winners-and-losers-in-2025-85353.html 

Declining Demand for Economists

Economists are facing a recession
https://www.ft.com/content/eb080c14-e946-4806-ad66-81b2bb8c67ba
SOUMAYA KEYNES notes:
Hiring freezes helped to halve the number of US full-time academic postings between 2019 and 2025. In the most recent year alone, listings fell by more than during the Great Recession. And according to the most recent comparable data, since 2019 recruitment has shriveled faster for economists than philosophers or linguists. Oof. 

Economists Are Studying the Slowing Job Market—and Feeling It Themselves
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/economists-job-market-hiring-2213807b
Newly minted Ph.D.s tend to work for universities, government agencies and big white-collar companies. It’s not a great hiring time for any of them.