Fed Policy Approach Debate

The Federal Reserve Ain’t Broke, So Don’t Fix It by Alan Blinder
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-federal-reserve-aint-broke-so-dont-fix-it-c22a2de0
We need forward guidance to avoid the guessing game that follows when central bankers say nothing. 

Structural shifts demand a new central banking mindset by Vivekanand Jayakumar, The Hill, July 21, 2026
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5979598-monetary-policy-paradigm-shifts/
While the primary objective of most central banks — maintaining price stability — remains unchanged, the post-pandemic economic landscape has evolved in ways that require policymakers to rethink how monetary policy is designed and implemented. 

Corporate America Rethinks AI Spend

Corporate America Has Suddenly Decided to Stop Blowing Money on AI
https://www.wsj.com/business/china-us-ai-model-costs-53a12e96  
Companies big and small are mixing models, and it’s changing the economics and power players of the industry. 

US Homeownership Rate

New Fed research suggests far fewer Americans own homes than widely believed
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-homeownership-rate-minneapolis-fed-study/
 
New homeownership measure puts people first
https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2026/new-homeownership-measure-puts-people-first 

History Lesson: Luddites

A brief history of Luddism
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/23/a-brief-history-of-luddism
States ultimately decide how fast technology is adopted. 

Europe - A Museum or a Theme Park?

Dismissing Europe as a museum is glib. Think of it as a theme park.
https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/07/23/dismissing-europe-as-a-museum-is-glib-think-of-it-as-a-theme-park 

Japan's Currency Dilemma

Japan's policy doom loop sends yen to 40-year low
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/reuters-open-interest/japans-policy-doom-loop-sends-yen-40-year-low-2026-07-22/ 

TDS

Trade Deficit Derangement Syndrome
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trade-deficit-derangement-syndrome-fe3f37d6
Trump isn’t the first to suffer from it, and seeking ‘balance’ in 2026 is as foolish as it was in 1776. 

Trump’s Trade Wars Are Back—Despite the Supreme Court
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trumps-trade-wars-are-backdespite-the-supreme-court-7a889f9a
The president’s proposed use of an obscure Depression-era law shows courts and Congress haven’t curbed Trump’s ambition to impose tariffs at will.

Trump Unveils New Tariffs Designed to Withstand Legal Scrutiny
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trump-unveils-new-tariffs-designed-to-withstand-legal-scrutiny-21ef4093
The new duties, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, will replace a temporary tariff put in place after the Supreme Court derailed Trump’s trade agenda in February.

US Economy - Too Reliant on AI?

Stocks and the Economy Are Increasingly Relying on the A.I. Boom
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/business/economy/stocks-economy-ai.html
Investment in artificial intelligence and related companies is lifting the stock market and spending across the economy. 

The real AI bubble is dangerously hidden by Tom Stevenson (an investment director at Fidelity International)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/23/the-real-ai-bubble-is-dangerously-hidden/
I’m no accountant, but even I can see a potential problem when one party in a transaction treats a sale as revenue in this year’s accounts while the other party describes it as a capital expense that it depreciates over five or six years. At the very least, I can see the possibility that this might make aggregate earnings appear higher than they really are. Or that tomorrow’s earnings are being pulled forward into today’s numbers.
But that is precisely what is happening on an eye-watering scale with the massive AI infrastructure spend that is driving stock market returns today. You can see it clearly in the numbers being reported by the so-called hyper-scalers: Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta.

MY TAKE: 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/

G-2 versus the Rest

Don’t Overestimate America and China’s Importance
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-china-limits-of-superpower-influence-and-clout-by-jim-o-neill-2026-07
Some commentators on international affairs seem to think that “the West” and the BRICS+ do not really matter; only the United States and China do. Yet three factors complicate this simplistic framing, suggesting that even superpowers' influence has limits, and that smaller powers can sometimes punch above their weight. 

The Semiconductor Stocks Trade

The Most Important Stock Decision You'll Make This Year
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-most-important-stock-decision-you-ll-make-this-year-87829.html 

Geopolitical/Geoeconomic Risks

Beware the rising energy dangers of Trump’s Gulf war
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/22/beware-the-rising-energy-dangers-of-trumps-gulf-war/

Diesel Crisis Puts Poor Farmers Around the World at Risk

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/business/bangladesh-farmers-diesel-water-iran.html

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has limited the shipment of diesel, depriving farmers of fuel for irrigation pumps and threatening the food supply. 

 
Trump’s Tariffs Enter New Phase, Ending Months of Calm
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trumps-tariffs-enter-new-phase-ending-months-of-calm-65f33e3e
President Trump is preparing new levies to replace the ones he put in place after the Supreme Court gutted his trade agenda. 

The world’s balance-sheet is out of kilter with its economy
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/23/the-worlds-balance-sheet-is-out-of-kilter-with-its-economy
Restoring balance could be painful.

A New Central Banking Mindset

Structural shifts demand a new central banking mindset by Vivekanand Jayakumar, The Hill, July 21, 2026
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5979598-monetary-policy-paradigm-shifts/
While the primary objective of most central banks — maintaining price stability — remains unchanged, the post-pandemic economic landscape has evolved in ways that require policymakers to rethink how monetary policy is designed and implemented. 

The piece can also be found at these sites:

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/opinion-structural-shifts-demand-central-163000068.html

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/opinion-structural-shifts-demand-central-163000068.html
https://www.aol.com/articles/opinion-structural-shifts-demand-central-163000000.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-structural-shifts-demand-a-new-central-banking-mindset/ar-AA28owNz

Volatility: Stock Indices versus Individual Stocks

Something Weird Is Happening Beneath the Stock Market’s Surface
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/something-weird-is-happening-beneath-the-stock-markets-surface-e8a47ac4
This year is headed for a record divergence between stock indexes and individual stocks. Beneath a calm surface, volatility is unusually high. 

US Popularity on the Global Stage

People in Many Countries Now View China More Positively Than the U.S.
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/07/15/people-in-many-countries-now-view-china-more-positively-than-the-u-s/
More also have confidence in Xi than Trump, according to a survey in three dozen countries.
 
Why the world trusts China more than America
https://www.ft.com/content/f3ad032f-3c06-4ed4-82e2-7c2e5e68af26
Countries suspicious of the US are to be found on every continent, not just in its own back yard. 

Brazil – Risks and Opportunities

Brazil faces unforgiving economics after election
https://www.ft.com/content/d47f9b39-9e78-4034-97a2-1ca8e07e27e8
For investors, that is a reason for engagement, not despair. Brazil trades at humbling valuations. It has some of the world’s highest real interest rates and the currency is at near record lows with the real down 70 per cent over the past 15 years despite an 8 per cent bounce over the past year. If it gets the sequence of economic management right — consolidation, disinflation, then building growth — the country is a compelling opportunity. 

NYC versus Miami

Miami Is Losing Its Claim to a Cheaper Cost of Living than NYC
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/miami-is-losing-its-claim-to-a-cheaper-cost-of-living-than-nyc-87807.html
For the first time on record, the Miami metropolitan area is more expensive than greater New York City. South Florida’s consumer price index has jumped 36% since 2019 according to figures released this month, more than any of the other metropolitan areas tracked by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics with the exception of Tampa, Florida, four hours away. And Miami’s cost of living has surpassed New York’s, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis’s latest annual price-comparison report, which examined 2024 data. 

A Tragic Development

The End of Reading Is Here by Rose Horowitch
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history. 

Fed Communications Debate

Fed flip-flops make case for less talk
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/reuters-open-interest/fed-flip-flops-make-case-less-talk-2026-07-16/ 

The new Fed boss is tight-lipped. That might upset the markets.
https://www.ft.com/content/a02aa9b1-85e0-4db7-afad-7da4b99b7a31

Pointless Wars

War Has Become Pointless
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/06/war-iran-ukraine-israel-united-states-russia-pointless/
Military conflict has always existed. It’s just stopped making sense. 

The Strong Suffer What They Must
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-russia-discredited-by-smaller-powers-by-harold-james-2026-07
Foolish military interventions driven by outdated calculations of economic power have thoroughly discredited the old big powers. Thucydides might well have appreciated the irony of a world in which smaller, weaker countries like Ukraine and Iran can expose Russia and the United States, respectively, as paper tigers. 

Scandinavia Rethinks Migration

Sweden squashed migration. The populist right wants to go further
https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/07/16/sweden-squashed-migration-the-populist-right-wants-to-go-further 

Burka to be banned in Danish schools
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/16/burka-faces-ban-in-danish-schools/
Measure aimed at countering ‘parallel societies’ of non-integrated foreigners.

End of the Mag 7 Era?

Everyday Investors Are Over the Mag Seven and Into New AI Darlings
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/everyday-investors-are-over-the-mag-seven-and-into-new-ai-darlings-a112ea2b
Once the Magnificent Seven’s most enthusiastic fans, they are looking elsewhere for the next superstar tech stocks. 

Related:

Dividends are the best way to protect yourself from the AI bubble
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/17/dividends-best-way-to-protect-yourself-from-ai-bubble/
Equity income-focused strategies offer a steady alternative to the US and its surging economy.

Boeing's Comeback Story

After Repeated Crises, Boeing Looks to Turn a Corner
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/business/boeing-turnaround-737-max.html
The company recently opened a new production line to keep up with strong demand for its 737 Max, though orders for its new planes lag rival Airbus.  

Ageism and the Labor Market

Ageism: the silent but deadly threat to your retirement
https://www.ft.com/content/b4bc3868-7684-4b36-a0e0-a5bf2b606162
For Gen X, financial planning needs to involve career planning. 

Related:

You’re About to Retire. What Are You Doing for the Next 20 or 30 Years?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/business/retirement-plan.html
Workers often focus solely on their retirement savings balance. But figuring out how you want to spend the rest of your life could be job No. 1.

Financial Risks - Time to Pay Attention

The next crash: why this time might not be different  
https://www.ft.com/content/de2978b0-481c-4af5-9e77-9e34650fb20f

A.I. Is Running on Borrowed Money
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/business/ai-spending-oracle-stocks-bonds.html
Risk is rising as big tech companies like Oracle — the ultimate financial source of the Ellison media empire — need to turn to the bond market for staggering sums to finance data centers. 

The Massive Supply Deals Feeding the AI Frenzy Are No Sure Thing
https://www.wsj.com/finance/the-massive-supply-deals-feeding-the-ai-frenzy-are-no-sure-thing-3a89ec09
Long-term arrangements touted by companies like SK Hynix aren’t as solid as they seem.

 
How long until there is a US markets reckoning over Trump’s damage?
https://www.ft.com/content/fcbd9074-8870-4f04-b0a6-0c22a2aca70e
 
How Sky-High Deficits Threaten the Bond Market
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/how-sky-high-deficits-threaten-the-bond-market-eeddd168

MY TAKE: 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/

US Financial Supremacy

Storm clouds gather over America’s financial supremacy
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/12/storm-clouds-gather-over-americas-financial-supremacy
Its payments firms may be the first casualties. 

Related:

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/trump-brazil-payment-system-pix-097bacaa

China - Economic Challenges and Risks

China’s Two-Speed Economy Pairs High-Tech Success with Domestic Gloom
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-economy-tech-property-03444d83
Soaring exports and tech prowess hide a brutal economic picture and a growing army of underemployed workers at home.
 
China’s trade gap is narrowing. And other surprises
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/15/chinas-trade-gap-is-narrowing-and-other-surprises
The world’s second-biggest economy is stumbling into fiscal austerity. 

Boomers and Real Estate Trends

Boomers Were Supposed to Downsize. They Are Buying Bigger Homes Instead.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/baby-boomer-home-sales-real-estate-879614be
Wealthy, older Americans are ripping up the traditional script for aging: “We’ll downsize when they plant me 6 feet into the ground.” 

Debates on Neoliberalism/Capitalism

The End of Neoliberalism
https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/15/neoliberalism-globalization-competition-cosmopolitanism-economics-reagan-thatcher/
The virtues it extolled—cosmopolitanism and competition—led to its demise.
 
How the Tech Lords Hacked the Firm
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/elon-musk-and-the-rise-of-the-unaccountable-ceo-by-quinn-slobodian-2026-07
 
Related:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/free-market-capitalism-destroy-us-democracy-by-mordecai-kurz-2026-06 

Momentum Trading

Momentum trade is market's short-term steamroller
https://www.breakingviews.com/columns/big-view/momentum-trade-is-markets-short-term-steamroller-2026-07-17/ 

Related:

SpaceX and the myth of independent Wall St research
https://www.ft.com/content/ce345155-d897-4f49-b7c8-13680e3b5434
Buy recommendations from IPO banks underscore the limits of post-dotcom reforms.

Cost of Doing Business in an Unpredictable World

War Risk for Businesses Will Mean Higher Prices No Matter What Happens
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/business/economy/iran-war-inflation-supply-chains.html
Doing business in a more dangerous and unpredictable world will cost more, pushing up the price of everything from food to electronics. 

Data Centers and Business Fixed Investment

AI Data-Center Construction Is Booming—but Not Much Else Is
https://www.wsj.com/business/ai-data-center-construction-is-boomingbut-not-much-else-is-6ae37b3e
Spending on new factories, warehouses and other industrial sites has been damped by rising costs. 

Long-Term Unemployed

Two Million Workers Are Locked Out of an Improving Job Market
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/unemployment-long-term-job-market-629199f9
The share of job seekers out of work for six months or longer is hovering near the highest level in five years. 

Uptick in Labor Productivity

U.S. Workers Are More Productive Than Ever. And That’s Without A.I.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/business/worker-productivity-artificial-intelligence-economy.html
Companies have been getting more out of employees for several years. Tight labor markets, digitization and remote work are among the reasons. 

Related:

Labor Force Participation Is High If You Measure It Right
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/labor-force-participation-is-high-if-you-measure-it-right-87761.html  

The Worst Form of Trade Protectionism

The payments darling in Trump’s crosshairs
https://www.ft.com/content/efbec9a7-a3d9-45e6-8ade-c0660f31ecc7
US tariff threats against Brazil over payments platform Pix provoke a political storm ahead of elections. 

Bond Markets - Interesting Items

The Quarter-Trillion-Dollar Onslaught of AI Bonds Is Testing Investors’ Limits
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/the-quarter-trillion-dollar-onslaught-of-ai-bonds-is-testing-investors-limits-e4cd2bda
Tech giants are borrowing even more than expected, weighing on bond prices.
 
How to Invest When the Global Crises Never Stop
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/how-to-invest-when-the-global-crises-never-stop-3c8cc542
In a world of wars, trade wars and crop failures, bond yields need to be higher than they were because they offer so much less protection than they used to. 

Corporate Bonds Have the Best Yields in Years. They Still Aren’t Enough.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/corporate-bonds-have-the-best-yields-in-years-they-still-arent-enough-aa391e8b
Higher long-term yields might not compensate for the higher risks.

Building Wealth - Equities versus Real Estate

Houses Are No Longer the Best Place for Your Money
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/houses-are-no-longer-the-best-place-for-your-money-87759.html
The median house price in Nantucket, Massachusetts, is nearly $4 million. It was just $500,000 in 1995. This sounds like a stunning increase in one of the hottest and least accessible real estate markets in the country. What’s even more stunning is the stock market: If you invested $500,000 in the S&P 500 Index in 1995, you’d have more than $8.2 million today, even more if you reinvested the dividends you earned.
Stocks have clearly been the superior investment, even as housing has moved out of reach for too many Americans. It’s no surprise then that young people are saying they would rather put their money in equities than make a down payment like people their age have done for generations.

Is Buying a Home Still the Way to Wealth? Some Young Americans Aren't Sure
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/is-buying-a-home-still-the-way-to-wealth--some-young-americans-aren-t-sure-87707.html
The fast-rising costs of owning a home have some young Americans questioning whether buying a house is still a good investment.
 
Trump makes the stock market his scoreboard, but many Americans aren't even in the game
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-makes-stock-market-his-scoreboard-many-americans-arent-even-game-2026-07-10/ 

Priced-out young buyers are looking abroad for their first homes
https://www.reuters.com/markets/on-the-money/priced-out-young-buyers-are-looking-abroad-their-first-homes-2026-07-17/

Consumer Sentiment Index

Do We Really Feel This Lousy About the Economy, or Is a Key Survey Broken?
https://www.wsj.com/economy/consumers/do-we-really-feel-this-lousy-about-the-economy-or-is-a-key-survey-broken-06c8c9ca
The University of Michigan is pushing back and defending its widely tracked consumer sentiment gauge. 

Equity Investing: Dumb Money versus Smart Money

It’s a World-Class Investment. It’s a Junk Investment. What Is Going on With SpaceX?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/opinion/spacex-ipo-investment-smart-dumb-money.html
Must what goes up also come down? 

The Mind Game That Investors Can’t Stop Playing

https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/the-mind-game-that-investors-cant-stop-playing-e3ad96af

Buying what’s hot feels right at the time, but too often ends in tears.

 

A.I. Has Rewarded Investors. It May Now Pose Their Greatest Risk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/business/ai-stocks-bonds-investing-markets.html

Near the midpoint of the year, stocks and bonds both report good returns. But the global stock market has become highly concentrated, our columnist says.

Global Instability

The World’s Superpowers Are Scrambling for an Edge. It Makes All of Us Less Safe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/opinion/trade-war-economy-globalization.html 

AI and the Bond Market

AI has taken over the stock market. The bond market is next
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/07/ai-has-taken-over-the-stock-market-the-bond-market-is-next
Judging credit risk of the AI boom is difficult. 

Postmodern Economics

Postmodern Economics
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/david-hockney-lessons-for-economics-by-angus-armstrong-2026-07 

BOJ Rate Hikes

Should the Bank of Japan Raise Interest Rates?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bessent-is-right-to-recommend-higher-interest-rates-in-japan-by-koichi-hamada-2026-07
At the beginning of 2013, when "Abenomics" was rolled out in Japan, the yen was significantly overvalued, and looser monetary policy was badly needed. Today, the opposite is true, indicating that interest-rate hikes may well be the right prescription for Japan. 

History Lesson: The American Revolution

Why the Last Battle of the American Revolution Was Fought in India
https://www.newyorker.com/news/global-notes/why-the-last-battle-of-the-american-revolution-was-fought-in-india
The conflicts that took place elsewhere in the world have receded. 

AI and the SFO Real Estate Boom

‘Hysteria’ Grips San Francisco’s Housing Market as A.I. Wealth Pours In
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/technology/san-francisco-home-sales-openai-anthropic-ipo.html
Even before OpenAI and Anthropic go public, they are distorting home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area, as people race to buy and sellers ask for stock instead of cash. 

US Equity Market Vulnerability and Diversification Plays

How Vulnerable Are US Financial Markets?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/hidden-dangers-behind-debt-fueled-ai-driven-us-stock-market-rally-by-dambisa-moyo-2026-07
Fueled by more than $1 trillion in borrowed money and rising leverage across the financial system, US stock markets may have entered bubble territory. Two developments could trigger a sharp correction: higher interest rates and a loss of confidence in the handful of tech giants driving the AI boom.  

MY TAKE: 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/

Europe’s economy is a mess. Its stock markets are a steal.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/07/europes-economy-is-a-mess-its-stock-markets-are-a-steal
 
China could be the US tech hedge
https://www.ft.com/content/0306bdaf-4465-4c3c-94e2-44f2c53373e2
Diversification is not about finding a market without risk — it is about finding a market whose risks are different.

The Case for Slower Population Growth

Economies Thrive with Older, Smaller Population, New Study Finds
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/economies-thrive-with-older--smaller-population--new-study-finds-87649.html

Baby Busts and Growth Booms: Demographic Change and the Macroeconomy
https://www.nber.org/papers/w35401 

Britain’s baby bust could fuel an economic boom
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/13/britains-baby-bust-could-fuel-an-economic-boom/
Falling birth rates may make Britain richer and more productive, say experts.

‘They Don’t Need People’: The Workers Left Behind by China’s Robot Drive
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/world/asia/china-workers-robots-factories.html
For out-of-work factory workers in Kunshan, a region made rich by electronics manufacturing, a park is the only place to go.

Related:

An ageing society might not cost too much
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/09/an-ageing-society-might-not-cost-too-much
A dystopian vision of the future may not come to pass.

Mass immigration is not the silver bullet economists think it is
https://www.ft.com/content/1b934ad7-7ea8-477a-8baf-fcb82bb643ca
As with the free-trade debate in recent years, consensus is shifting.

AI is Making Us Dumber

A.I. Is Giving Us Answers Right Away. That’s Making Us Dumber. By Anne-Laure Le Cunff
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/opinion/ai-google-gemini-search-questions.html
By shortening the time between asking a question and getting an answer, these tools are actually undermining curiosity — and paradoxically threatening our ability to understand the world. 

The Indo-Japanese Alliance is Strong

India’s Modi Deepens Ties with Japan in ‘Uncertain Times’
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/world/asia/03int-india-japan-modi-takaichi-security.html
The prime minister met with his counterpart, Sanae Takaichi of Japan, and signed agreements covering artificial intelligence, energy and security. 

China versus the Mittelstand

China Is Devastating the Last Stronghold of German Industry
https://www.wsj.com/economy/china-is-devastating-the-last-stronghold-of-german-industry-c7a98514
Midsize companies that employ millions of workers are now shedding jobs and relocating overseas to cut costs. 

AI Spending War

Will Someone Finally Blink in the AI Spending War?
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/will-someone-finally-blink-in-the-ai-spending-war-0f59aa60
If Meta does rent out excess compute, it could signal that big tech has overbuilt. 

Philosophy Major in the Age of AI

The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/business/philosophy-majors-ai-jobs.html
A.I. labs are hiring contrarian, chin-stroking, finger-steepling sages. Who’s underemployed now? 

World's Most Livable Cities - 2026

The world’s most livable city for 2026 has been revealed
https://www.cnn.com/travel/worlds-most-liveable-city-2026
1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Zurich, Switzerland
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Osaka, Japan
8. Adelaide, Australia
9. Vancouver, Canada
10. Tokyo, Japan 

Global Currency Agreements

A new Plaza Accord for global currencies wouldn’t work
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/06/30/a-new-plaza-accord-for-global-currencies-wouldnt-work
The conditions and will for a deal are not what they were in 1985.  

Role of Stablecoins

Are stablecoins money?
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/02/are-stablecoins-money
Policymakers’ job is to make them safe as well as useful. 

What Is the Digital-Money Debate Really About?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/how-a-euro-stablecoin-should-work-by-lucrezia-reichlin-2026-07
Both the US and Europe are moving to create digital money, but neither has the right idea about how to do it. The key is to allow “narrow banks,” which issue money but not credit, to keep their reserves in central banks and provide capped interest payments to coin holders.
 
Tokenized Finance
https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/imf-notes/2026/english/insea2026001.pdf

Stablecoins Are Private Money. That’s Why They’re a Risk to the Economy.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/stablecoins-are-private-money-thats-why-theyre-a-risk-to-the-economy-d3498171
Financial innovations often lead to upheaval and instability. Despite new regulations, those risks persist with stablecoins. 

Is the Stablecoin Economy Structurally Sound?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stablecoins-tokenization-blockchain-safety-reliability-cant-be-assumed-by-neha-narula-2026-03
If stablecoins and tokenized assets become systemically important, blockchains will become a form of systemically important infrastructure. But this shift will bring new risks, because not all blockchains are created equal, and they have largely avoided the degree of scrutiny the public expects of critical infrastructure.

EM Trends and Developments

Brazilians are going gaga for Chinese brands
https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2026/07/02/brazilians-are-going-gaga-for-chinese-brands
They think China has better tech than America.
 
Africa’s new middle class is putting down roots in the suburbs
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/07/02/africas-new-middle-class-is-putting-down-roots-in-the-suburbs
For a glimpse of the continent’s future, visit the edges of its burgeoning cities. 

Can Africa take the Asian path to growth?
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2026/07/09/can-africa-take-the-asian-path-to-growth
Stalling agricultural productivity makes it look unlikely.
 
Mexico is placing an enormous bet on rail
https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2026/07/06/mexico-is-placing-an-enormous-bet-on-rail
Can it keep its plans on track?

A Witty Take on Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, I saw the coming Chinese century
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/asia/2026/07/in-hong-kong-i-saw-the-coming-chinese-century
Is authoritarianism the price we will pay for social order? 

Related:

Hong Kong, once a great place to raise and spend money, is halfway back
https://www.economist.com/china/2026/06/29/hong-kong-once-a-great-place-to-raise-and-spend-money-is-halfway-back
Tighter ties with the mainland have not always helped.

History Lesson: The True Nature of American Capitalism

250 Years of American State Capitalism
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/american-state-capitalism-started-under-george-washington-never-ceased-by-shang-jin-wei-2026-07
While the prevailing economic narrative in the United States has often extolled free markets, policymaking itself has always been more pragmatic. From its very founding, the US has had a hybrid model in which the state directs, subsidizes, and occasionally bails out private enterprise in the service of national priorities.
 
America's been arguing over trade for more than 250 years
https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2026/americas-been-arguing-over-trade-more-250-years 

Ramaswamy on Wealth Inequality

How Government Spending Enriches the Wealthy
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-government-spending-enriches-the-wealthy-4ad7375e
Covid relief programs and easy Fed policy inflated the value of assets such as stocks and real estate.
 
Vivek Ramaswamy notes:
American wealth is concentrated at the top. On this narrow point, the socialists are correct. The top 1% now holds roughly 30% of the nation’s net worth, and the bottom half holds about 2.5%. But the greatest driver of inequality over the past five years was exactly what the socialists now demand more of: large-scale government spending.
When Washington floods the economy with borrowed and freshly printed dollars, the money flows first into assets owned by the wealthiest Americans—stocks, bonds, real estate. Six relief laws pushed roughly $4.6 trillion out the door in the bipartisan response to the pandemic. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero and more than doubled its balance sheet, from about $4 trillion to nearly $9 trillion. 

US Business Cycle Expansion

Wall Street's aging bull meets an 'everlasting' US expansion
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/reuters-open-interest/wall-streets-aging-bull-meets-an-everlasting-us-expansion-2026-07-02/ 

Rise of Humanoid Robots

Are Humanoid Robots Ready to Be Deployed?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/07/06/are-humanoid-robots-ready-to-be-deployed
Neo and a dozen other robots with human forms are scheduled to hit the market. Experts are nervous. 

Boomerang Generation

Moving Back Home Used to Be a Sign of Failure. Now It Shows Financial Savvy.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/living-with-parents-finances-0c35530c
Nearly half of American adults under 30, pinched by the cost of housing, are living with a parent. It can be an adjustment for both. 

Oligarchy versus Democracy

Oligarchy’s Ancient Origins
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/ancient-greece-oligarchy-bitter-struggle-with-democracy-by-matt-simonton-2026-07
The struggle between democracy and oligarchy in classical Greece was bitter, with oligarchies relying on skillfully designed political institutions to shore up unpopular regimes. As concerns grow over the “rule of the few” in the United States, Americans should consider how their own institutions are doing oligarchs’ work for them. 

The Founders Are Why America Is Rich. That Legacy Is at Risk.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/american-institutions-founding-fathers-wealth-056bbee8
Checks, balances and trust in personal agency made the U.S. a haven for entrepreneurs and wealth creation.

US Equity Market - Trouble Ahead?

Investors must be wary of the earnings bubble  
https://www.ft.com/content/64aa80ed-47a0-441d-8337-58874ee3f623

The Hottest Stock Markets Lead to the Biggest Losses
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/business/stocks-investing-markets.html
Investor enthusiasm culminated in some of the worst cases of wealth destruction in the last 100 years, a long-running study shows.
 
Surging Wall Street profit forecasts fuel fears of ‘earnings bubble’
https://www.ft.com/content/1d3da122-c043-4e51-bb95-ac68d41ab838
 
Chip tremors threaten to set off the inevitable AI bust
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/03/the-ai-bubble-is-bursting-but-behind-it-hides-an-even-great/
Semiconductor giants have made huge sums from artificial intelligence. But the clean-out may already be starting. 

How Safe Are Today’s Blockbuster Tech Stocks?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/japan-ntt-ipo-sobering-analogy-for-tech-stocks-today-by-barry-eichengreen-2026-07
Today’s wave of mega-IPOs has unleashed a wave of analogies to past booms. While no analogy is perfect, an especially apposite—and sobering—case may be what followed Nippon Telegraph and Telephone’s IPO in February 1987. 

Concerns Over Private Credit

What Private Credit Is, and Why Investors Are So Worried About It
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/business/private-credit-investor-worries.html
Some say the industry expanded too quickly and extended loans to companies that won’t be able to pay them back.