Being Needed

Do You Feel Needed? Being necessary has never been more necessary – or more difficult.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/do-you-feel-needed
Joshua Rothman:
Psychologists say that “mattering” is a pillar of happiness, along with belonging and self-esteem. We know we matter when other people notice us, when they invest in us—and when they need us. Young people, accordingly, flourish more when they find ways to be relied upon in their families and communities. Older people tend to stay healthier when they don’t just receive care but give it. The sense of being unnecessary is deflating; the belief that you’re a burden can be even worse, can act as a stepping stone to depression and suicidal thought. 

Chinese EVs and the Global Automarket

‘This Is a Knife Fight’: Inside China’s Ruthless EV Blitz Upending the World
https://www.barrons.com/articles/china-ev-blitz-gm-ford-stock-b73ce2bf
China has so much excess capacity to manufacture inexpensive, feature-laden electric vehicles and hybrids that it threatens car companies—and car stocks—everywhere. 

Political Economy of Government Debt

Why Did All the Fiscal Hawks Go Extinct? By Richard Rubin and David Luhnow
https://www.wsj.com/economy/fiscal-hawks-national-debt-midterms-gdp-8b7a950d
The national debt is growing at an unprecedented pace and almost nobody is prepared to stop it. 

Self-Improving AI

The Smartest People in AI Believe This Is the World’s Most Important Chart
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-anthropic-rsi-recursive-self-improvement-bff4e815
AI is starting to build better AI. This self-improvement is speeding up research and development—and freaking everyone out. 

AI and Wage Bargaining

Ignore AI and ask for that pay rise
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/10/29/ignore-ai-and-ask-for-that-pay-rise
Fear of a technological revolution may be suppressing wages. 

The Modi Era

Narendra Modi and the battle for India
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2026/10/29/narendra-modi-and-the-battle-for-india
India’s strongman has changed the country for good and ill. Now he is facing one of his sternest tests yet. 

Home Building Costs

Just About Every Part of Building a House Is Getting More Expensive
https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/just-about-every-part-of-building-a-house-is-getting-more-expensive-d0f5ebcb
The Iran war, tariffs and the AI build-out have pushed up the costs of materials, labor and borrowing.
 
The Immigration Crackdown Is Making It Much Harder to Build Houses
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/the-immigration-crackdown-is-making-it-much-harder-to-build-houses-ec00f4da
Home building suffers labor shortage that is freezing projects and raising costs. 

Stock Market Concerns

Why the Markets Don’t Care About the Midterms
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/30/business/midterms-stock-bond-markets.html
Factors like inflation, interest rates, A.I. and the war with Iran are far more important, our columnist says.
 
Big Tech’s Data Center Blitz Is Burning Through Cash and Scaring Wall St.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/technology/amazon-earnings-tech-spending.html 

State of the US Economy - Update

Consumers and A.I. Spending Push U.S. Economic Growth Higher
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/business/economy/us-economy-gdp.html
The economy grew 3.4 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace in a year. Strong spending and growth contrast with the poor marks many voters are giving the economy.
 
The U.S. Investment Boom Arrives
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/economy-gdp-investment-boom-tariffs-inflation-donald-trump-071da0e2
GDP growth comes in strong at 3.4% and would be stronger without tariffs and mass deportation. 

Are Wages Keeping Pace?
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/are-wages-keeping-pace-aa8e3b28
The short answer is no. The problem, however, is inflation, not asset values.

Shifting Bargaining Power - Apple and the Flash-Storage Makers

The Beleaguered Chip Sellers Getting Their Revenge on Apple
https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-iphone-memory-chips-ai-c0084cc9
The iPhone maker for years bullied flash-storage makers into steep discounts—until AI hyperscalers bid up prices and gobbled up supply. 

China Moves Up the Value Ladder

Welcome to the new ‘Made in China’
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CHINA-ECONOMY/TRADE-OBJECTS/moparrmewva/
A new wave of Chinese exports is rewriting what it means to be made in China. Textiles, furniture and cheap electronics are being joined by a new generation of high-tech, high-quality products once associated with Japan, Europe or the United States. 

Related:

A Tale of Two Chinas
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-real-estate-crash-highlights-uneven-prosperity-and-regional-disparities-by-kenneth-rogoff-2026-10
China’s economy is deeply unbalanced, with a battered real-estate sector, weak consumption, and stark regional disparities coexisting with dynamic tech and export sectors. But provided that political stability is maintained, China could continue to be a global powerhouse even as hundreds of millions of its citizens remain poor.

The Fed's Policy Dilemma

Did the Fed just make a huge mistake?
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/28/economy/fed-inflation-rate-decision

The Fed’s AI Puzzle: Will High Rates Slow the Boom?
https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/the-feds-ai-puzzle-will-high-rates-slow-the-boom-c9c43ce2
Warsh said higher rates are reaching the investment surge and growth is broadening beyond it. The positions cut in opposite directions for where to set rates.
 
In Moving Gradually, Fed Risks Having to Play Catch-Up to Quell Inflation
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/business/economy/federal-reserve-interest-rates.html
Federal Reserve officials are expected to restart rate increases in December, but the cadence of additional moves will depend on the data.
 
Fed Will Hold Fewer Rate-Setting Meetings Starting Next Year
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/28/business/economy/fed-meetings-2027-interest-rates-warsh.html
Kevin M. Warsh, the Federal Reserve’s chairman, said the central bank would vote on interest rates seven times in 2027 and six in 2028. It has traditionally voted eight times per year. 

Will AI Investments Payoff?

What if AI turns out to be a terrible investment?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/28/what-if-ai-turns-out-to-be-a-terrible-investment/
The trillions being poured into computing infrastructure may never generate sufficient returns. 

What the Economy Is Sacrificing to AI
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/ai-data-centers-crowding/689239/
Every investment is a trade-off.

China's AI Bubble Has Already Popped

AI stock bubble? China's has already popped
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-ai-bubble-has-already-burst-2026-10-26/
https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW338827102026RP1/ 

Quants Rule

AI Talent War has Quant Firms Racing to Fund PhDs, Build Labs
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/ai-talent-war-has-quant-firms-racing-to-fund-phds--build-labs-88961.html
Wall Street’s quant firms have long been among the most lucrative destinations for the world’s top scientific minds. The AI boom has given those mathematicians and physicists another set of deep-pocketed suitors — and sent some of finance’s most secretive employers on an increasingly public recruitment drive. 

History Lessons: Technology and the Labor Market

For Clues About How A.I. Will Change Work, Look to the Past
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/business/economy/ai-economy-jobs-history.html
Economists hope earlier episodes of labor disruption, from the Industrial Revolution to the Great Depression, can help us prepare for the age of artificial intelligence. 

Lula’s Challenges

Why Brazil Can’t Hide from Its Debt
https://youtu.be/UgYnjB2es2s

Five economic challenges facing Brazil's re-elected President Lula
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/five-economic-challenges-facing-brazils-re-elected-president-lula-2026-10-26/

Brazilian Markets Convulse After Unexpected Election Result
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/business/brazil-stock-markets-election-lula.html
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election victory prompted a sharp reversal in financial markets that had expected his opponent to win. 

 
Lula faces a fiscal reckoning after Brazil's market rout
https://www.ft.com/content/0231b234-14dc-4ff0-8263-e1063b0a25d5
 
Brazil's weird economy needs serious reform
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/10/22/brazils-weird-economy-needs-serious-reform 

Another Crash Landing for Brazil’s Economy?
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/brazil-fiscal-deterioration-under-lula-will-carry-high-domestic-costs-by-gene-frieda-2026-10
Brazil’s floating exchange rate, high foreign-exchange reserves, strong commodity exports, and debt denominated predominantly in its own currency reduce its exposure to a balance-of-payments crisis. Nonetheless, continued fiscal deterioration under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will carry high domestic costs.

Anthropic’s IPO

What’s Riding on Anthropic’s Market Debut? Nearly Everything.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/technology/anthropic-going-public-stakes.html
Anthropic sits atop a pyramid of business partners and suppliers, making it a barometer of the broader economy. Its initial public offering will have widespread implications. 

US Manufacturing Employment

U.S. Manufacturing Is Adding Jobs Again, but the Hiring Rules Have Changed
https://www.wsj.com/business/u-s-manufacturing-is-adding-jobs-again-but-the-hiring-rules-have-changed-29171127
While factory employment is on the rise, a shift toward high-tech automation is creating roles with greater barriers to entry. 

Forward Guidance and the Fed

Kevin Warsh, Forward Guidance and the Nobel Prize
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/kevin-warsh-forward-guidance-and-the-nobel-prize-ae265640
The winning economists make the case for the kind of forecasting the Fed chairman doesn’t like. 

Kevin Warsh Wanted the Fed to Be Quiet. Instead, It’s as Noisy as Ever.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/kevin-warsh-wanted-the-fed-to-be-quiet-instead-its-as-noisy-as-ever-b2346ca2
The central bank's chairman has made a point of saying less, but most of his colleagues haven’t followed his lead.

The Decline of Humanities

Does anybody still major in the humanities?
https://spectator.com/article/anybody-still-major-humanities-college/
Charles Lipson:
At every university, big and small, fewer and fewer students are studying English, History, Philosophy, Art History, French literature or Anthropology. Those dwindling numbers mark a striking change in higher education. Not too long ago, English and History were among the most popular majors on campus. Students gravitated to them because they liked the subject matter and found the courses engaging and enriching. Those students weren’t preparing to become professors of Renaissance History or 19th-Century Poetry. They expected to go into business, law, or some related field. Still, they wanted a liberal education before they went out into the working world, and they got it in traditional humanities disciplines. 

A Highly Concentrated Earnings Boom

Two AI Chipmakers Make Up 34% of America’s Earnings Boom
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-earnings-boom-is-heavily-reliant-on-just-a-handful-of-stocks-21decb53
Ten companies—including Nvidia, Micron and other AI giants—account for roughly two-thirds of corporate profit growth.

Wall Street's wider weakness keeps AI trade rolling
https://www.reuters.com/commentary/reuters-open-interest/wall-streets-wider-weakness-keeps-ai-trade-rolling-mcgeever-2026-10-28/
AI remains the only game in town for Wall Street, and a lack of attractive alternatives is perpetuating this reliance. That risks making a crash all the more likely and painful when it comes.

The War Bump Is a False Victory For S&P 500 Profits
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-war-bump-is-a-false-victory-for-s-p-500-profits-88947.html

 
Related:
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/apollo-slok-says-ai-delivered-092836159.html 

Era of Polycrisis

If you feel like everything’s falling apart, you’re probably right
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/21/no-happy-ending-in-sight-for-this-global-polycrisis/
From the streets of Paris to the debt markets, there are no happy endings in sight to the world’s many crises. 

Related:
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2026/10/the-world-beyond-left-vs-right

Knowledge Transfer – From Asia to USA

The Factory in Phoenix That Could Save American Manufacturing
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/opinion/ai-computer-chips-semiconductor-arizona-industry.html
America is figuring out the trick to reindustrialization, if it can learn the right lessons. 

Decline in Male Labor Force Participation Rate

Why So Many Men Aren’t Working
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/job-market-unemployment-men-screentime/689109/
Jobs exist. The trouble lies in finding men who are willing and able to take them.
 
Why men keep dropping out of the labor force: It starts in childhood, when kids see how males around them struggle, economists say
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/why-men-keep-dropping-out-of-the-labor-force-it-starts-in-childhood-when-kids-see-how-males-around-them-struggle-economists-say-204650339.html
 
The stay-at-home boyfriend is now an economic trend as more women than men go to work
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/stay-home-boyfriend-now-economic-120100924.html

A Potential Catalyst for a Market Crash

There May Be More Peril in the U.S. Markets Than Meets the Eye
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/business/economy-2008-financial-crisis.html
It’s not impossible to spot the characteristics of a brewing financial crisis. We can look to 2008 for clues.

This A.I. Boom Looks an Awful Lot Like the Housing Bubble
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/opinion/ai-bubble-financial-crisis-lehman.html

The tech ‘death spiral’ that could destroy the AI boom
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/24/warning-signs-flash-for-ai-boom-as-risky-debt-piles-up/
Warning lights are flashing as debt-laden data center providers suffer seismic sell-offs.

Either AI or public debt could crash markets. But probably not both
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/10/21/either-ai-or-public-debt-could-crash-markets-but-probably-not-both
If AI stocks collapse, bond yields will fall.
 
The AI industry’s gigantic debts are making investors nervous
https://www.economist.com/business/2026/10/18/the-ai-industrys-gigantic-debts-are-making-investors-nervous
Who will be left to pick up the bill in the event of a crash? 

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/

The Unpopularity of Tariffs

How Tariffs Became the Most Hated Word in Politics
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/how-tariffs-became-the-most-hated-word-in-politics-eeed7932
President Trump’s tariffs collided with public anxiety over the cost of living. Now his trade legacy is at risk. 

Grad School Loans

That Grad School Loan May Cost You. It's About Time
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/that-grad-school-loan-may-cost-you--it-s-about-time-88933.html
Our higher education system is broken. Families pay a fortune for degrees that do not pay off like they used to. However you feel about the future of advanced degrees, they’re certainly a mispriced asset—a mispricing that started in the market for student loans.
The biggest distortions are in graduate degrees, where students have the largest debt burdens. They represent 25% of borrowers, but account for half of all loans. The government has been the dominant lender here, but the Trump administration is scaling back significantly and creating an opening for private players. This will make graduate education more expensive as students are forced to turn to more costly loans, but that may be a healthy development. 

Reconsidering China Shock

New research tries to defuse the “China shock”
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/10/22/new-research-tries-to-defuse-the-china-shock
An almighty fight over an influential finding. 

AI and Higher Education

AI Splits the American University in Two
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ai-splits-the-american-university-in-two-2d633630
The technology should be severely restricted for undergraduates, but it’s vital for researchers. 

Fixing Social Security

Five Ideas to Start Fixing Social Security’s Finances
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/how-to-save-social-security-41bd68e5
How different ways to boost revenue or cut spending could change the retirement program. 

US Economic Outlook

See What 71 Economists Told Us About Where Growth and Yields Are Headed
https://www.wsj.com/finance/see-what-71-economists-told-us-about-where-growth-and-yields-are-headed-8977cb44
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal now see higher bond yields for longer, firmer growth and eventual relief on inflation. 

Tata's Future

A Battle for Control of India’s Biggest Business Empire
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/business/tata-india-boardroom-fight.html
A boardroom fight, an attempted veto and government intervention have plunged the Tata Group, one of India’s most revered institutions, into a fight over its future.  

Computer Chips and Geopolitical Competition

Computer Chips Are the Most Magnificent Things Humanity Has Ever Made
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/10/26/computer-chips-are-the-most-magnificent-things-weve-ever-made
They power our phones, cars, dishwashers—and the A.I. systems that prop up the economy. They’re also at the heart of fierce geopolitical rivalry. 

Resource Constraints

The End of Abundance
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/emerging-economies-must-recognize-need-for-fiscal-dominance-by-v-anantha-nageswaran-2026-10
The decades ahead will be shaped by a contest for natural resources, making the world more prone to stagflation and handing the levers of policy back to governments. Emerging economies that are rich in people but poor in resources will be the most acutely affected but can take practical steps to strengthen their resilience. 

France in Trouble

Eight Charts That Show the Depth of France’s Financial Crunch
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/eight-charts-that-show-the-depth-of-frances-financial-crunch-40b31ee6
Years of lavish consumer support have left the country’s finances in a precarious state.

A ‘Doom Loop’ Threatens France as Populism Confronts Markets
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/business/france-protests-bond-markets.html
The turmoil shows the profound challenges facing governments stuck between unhappy citizens and wary bond investors.
 
It’s Not Just France. Europe’s Political Center Is Crumbling. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/world/europe/france-protests-europe-centrist-far-right.html
Europe’s centrist parties are losing ground among young people and workers, who are increasingly tempted by populist promises of radical change. 

Can we be surprised that France has descended into nihilism?
https://spectator.com/article/can-we-be-surprised-that-france-has-descended-into-nihilism/

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. 

Everything Feels So Expensive. Here’s What’s Really Going On.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/opinion/affordability-crisis-prices-economics.html

Employers Shift Rising Health Care Costs onto Millions of Workers
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/business/health-insurance-costs-workers-premiums-deductibles.html
New surveys show that increases in premiums and deductibles are forcing people to forgo treatments or doctor’s visits while budgets are strained.

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.

More than 100 Big Companies Paid no Federal Income Tax in 2025
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/more-than-100-big-companies-paid-no-federal-income-tax-in-2025-89013.html

 
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 

The Lifestyle of Dividend Nomads

The 'Dividend Nomads' Investing Their Way Out of the 9-To-5
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the--dividend-nomads--investing-their-way-out-of-the-9-to-5-88844.html
Jang is part of a nascent community of self-styled “dividend nomads” who fund a life of itinerant travel through a combination of investments in exchange-traded funds and cheap living abroad. It’s a new twist on Financial Independence, Retire Early, or FIRE, a movement that encourages people to exit the workforce early. Rather than focusing on extreme saving to build a retirement-size nest egg in their 30s or 40s as FIRE practitioners do, dividend nomads prioritize ETF investments that use options and other derivatives contracts to provide monthly income. 

Economic Growth and Social Progress

Asia's giants turned growth into social progress, Japan kept progressing with an economy that barely moved, and the US went the other way.
https://movingfrontiers.substack.com/p/social-progress-index 

Indonesia's Economic Woes

Indonesian Stocks Plunge on Threat to Drop Market from Major Indexes 
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/business/indonesia-stocks-economy.html
The potential downgrade by MSCI, an influential index provider, adds to a deepening crisis of investor confidence in the economic policies of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. 

‘A Ticking Time Bomb’: An Economic Crisis Looms in Indonesia
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/business/indonesia-economy-stocks.html

AI and Scientific Research

What if the machines take over science?
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/10/15/what-if-the-machines-take-over-science
Artificial intelligence will require scholars to reinvent their disciplines.
 
AI companies want to become frontier scientific researchers
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/10/14/ai-companies-want-to-become-frontier-scientific-researchers
 
AI’s transformation of mathematics is a turning point for science
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/10/12/ais-transformation-of-mathematics-is-a-turning-point-for-science 

Silicon Valley Promises AI Will Cure Disease. Drugmaker CEOs Aren’t Buying It.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/silicon-valley-promises-ai-will-cure-disease-drugmaker-ceos-arent-buying-it-5218511c
No drug designed by artificial intelligence has won FDA clearance, and pharma leaders say biology is the obstacle.

The Indian Diaspora

The limits of India’s diaspora power
https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/10/11/the-limits-of-indias-diaspora-power 

Circular Financing and the AI Boom

Wall Street is 'tiring of the Bank of Nvidia, the Bank of AMD and the Bank of Broadcom': Baird's Mortonson
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/wall-street-is-tiring-of-the-bank-of-nvidia-the-bank-of-amd-and-the-bank-of-broadcom-bairds-mortonson-121235021.html 

The Riskiest Corner of the AI Trade Is Crashing into Higher Rates
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-riskiest-corner-of-the-ai-trade-is-crashing-into-higher-rates-fcdaad37
The CoreWeave selloff shows a pressure point from climbing borrowing costs.

Related:

What Are Data Centers Doing? A Mind-Boggling Amount of Math.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/15/upshot/ai-data-center-math.html
The calculations needed to train A.I. are nearly impossible to visualize — but we tried anyway.

Inflation is Still a Problem

Wholesale prices bubbled higher in September, keeping a rate hike on the table
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/article/wholesale-prices-bubbled-higher-in-september-keeping-a-rate-hike-on-the-table-133644620.html
 
Rising Costs Push Necessities Out of Reach for Nearly Half of Americans
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/business/economy/high-prices-cost-of-living-pew-research.html
Inflation has made basic goods hard to afford and attitudes toward inequality have changed, studies from the Pew Research Center showed. 

Mean versus Median

The Average 50-Something Is Worth $1.5 Million. Most Have Far Less
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-average-50-something-is-worth--1-5-million--most-have-far-less-88814.html
·      Average net worth: $1.55 million
·      Median net worth: $271,200
Average net worth rose for 50-somethings (from $1.41 million in 2022), while median net worth declined (from $311,898). 

AI Revolution's Paradox

The AI Revolution's Paradox: The Faster We Innovate, The Slower We Grow
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-ai-revolution-s-paradox--the-faster-we-innovate--the-slower-we-grow-88764.html 

Term Premium and Bond Yields

The Forces Driving Up Bond Yields Take a Troubling Turn
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/business/term-premium-bond-yields.html
Some analysts say investors are demanding a higher “term premium” to buy government debt, reflecting growing worries about debt levels and deficits. 

Related: https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/16/investing/term-premium-hidden-economic-risk

Forget The Adage About Owning More Bonds as You Age
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/forget-the-adage-about-owning-more-bonds-as-you-age-88791.html

How to invest as bond vigilantes circle
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/17/how-to-invest-as-bond-vigilantes-circle/
Upfront yield and total return to maturity matter far more than market volatility.

China’s Economic and Policy Challenges

China’s investment in transport infrastructure has peaked
https://www.economist.com/china/2026/10/29/chinas-investment-in-transport-infrastructure-has-peaked
Has it built too many expressways and high-speed rail lines?

China’s Export Boom Masks Deep Economic Problems at Home
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/chinas-export-boom-masks-deep-economic-problems-at-home-945833ac
Even as China makes strides in areas such as AI, much of its domestic economy is dragged down by gloomy consumer sentiment and a real-estate slump.

China’s Weakening Economy Is Creating a Lost Generation
https://www.wsj.com/world/china-economy-gen-z-f9058941
Young people are watching their bright futures disappear as the country’s job losses pile up and the milestones of adulthood slip further away.
 
Xi’s Superpower Ambitions Fuel a Dangerous Debt Spiral in China
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/xis-superpower-ambitions-fuel-a-dangerous-debt-spiral-in-china-edad4f9f
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is presiding over a dangerous spiral of debt that is strangling the economy at home and damaging trade partners around the world.
 
A Stronger Renminbi Is No Quick Fix for Global Imbalances
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chinese-currency-weakness-symptom-not-cause-of-global-imbalances-by-kai-guo-2026-10 

The Hidden Policies That Power China’s Export Boom
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/business/china-exports-currency.html
Huge tax breaks and a weak currency sustain exports, widen the government budget deficit and complicate the country’s efforts to rebalance its economy. 

China Is Offering Half Measures to Its Mounting Economic Problems
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-is-offering-half-measures-to-its-mounting-economic-problems-3074211f
Beijing is pursuing big technological advances while shunning painful policy measures needed to fix the broader economy.

China is giving its economy a big shot in the arm
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2026/10/01/china-is-giving-its-economy-a-big-shot-in-the-arm
A massive infrastructure scheme may give the country a sorely needed boost—and help rebalance the world economy. 

Impact of UBI

What a Year of Free Money Meant: Softer Diapers, Clean Laundry, a Visit to Six Flags
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/technology/universal-basic-income-silicon-valley.html
For more than a year, The New York Times followed recipients of universal basic income programs, which Elon Musk and other tech leaders have promoted as a solution to A.I.-fueled job losses. 

Britain's Welfare State

The Welfare State Is Crushing Britain
https://www.wsj.com/world/uk/united-kingdom-welfare-disability-payouts-737d77a0
The U.K.’s welfare bill has ballooned, its borrowing costs are now higher than any G-7 nation and it’s paying more for its debt than even spendthrift France. 

India's Private Healthcare Sector Boom

Global private equity fuels Indian healthcare’s push into smaller cities
https://www.ft.com/content/09cde3c2-26d3-4390-8fc0-f6292561a5bf
Hospitals flush with foreign money are expanding rapidly and filling gaps in public infrastructure. 

Two Prominent Macroeconomists win 2026 Nobel Prize

A Nobel prize for how to keep economies on even keel 
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/10/12/a-nobel-prize-for-how-to-keep-economies-on-even-keel
Two “New Keynesians”, Robert Hall and Michael Woodford, win the highest honor in economics.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2026 to Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilization.”
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2026/10/popular-economicsciencesprize2026.pdf
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2026/10/advanced-economicsciencesprize2026.pdf 

Related:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-win-nobel-prize-for-work-on-economic-stability-a446f0b9  
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/business/nobel-prize-economics.html

Shifts in Home Prices

Home price shifts across local housing markets, as told by 3 maps
https://www.fastcompany.com/91621680/housing-market-home-prices-regional-price-shifts-across-local-markets-maps 

CVs written by AI

What if AI prefers CVs written by AI?
https://www.ft.com/content/b7671d34-878e-45ae-ba6e-fd83dfcdd46c
The signs are that it does and one law firm’s experience is revealing. 

Is There an Investment Boom in Africa?

The Two Africas
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/africa/two-africas
Who Will Benefit from the Continent’s Investment Boom? 

AI Boom and San Francisco Real Estate

An AI boom is sending San Francisco rents through the roof: ‘Nowhere left for people to go’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/08/san-francisco-housing-ai-boom 

San Francisco Isn’t Giving Up on Turning More of Its Offices into Homes
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/business/san-francisco-housing-conversions.html
The city has not completed a single office-to-housing conversion, despite hopes to meet housing demand and inject life into empty downtowns. 

Dangers of Extrapolation

Demographic “doomsday” misses the mark
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ael8752
A dire prediction published in Science in 1960 anticipated a population singularity in 2026—we are not even close.
 
JAVIER A. BIRCHENALL:
The failure of the doomsday equation is ultimately a cautionary tale about the dangers of extrapolating from historically exceptional circumstances with lessons that extend well beyond demography. The looming threats of technological singularities are not exempt from similar misreadings. Without dismissing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, it is crucial to remember that extrapolating current scaling laws indefinitely would make explosive or superexponential growth appear an inevitable law of technological evolution rather than a property of the time period during which those laws are observed. 

Reconsidering "The End of History and the Last Man"

Fukuyama, Thiel, and the Revenge of the Last Man
https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/how-peter-thiel-turned-liberalism-against-itself-by-benn-steil-2026-10
In his new memoir, Francis Fukuyama attempts to redeem his thesis about the end of history. But Peter Thiel’s ongoing quest to escape government oversight and wrest control of the future from democratic majorities makes a mockery of his argument all over again.

The Twilight of the Francis Fukuyama Era

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/25/francis-fukuyama-liberalism-democracy-west-authoritarianism-memoir-review/
The famous thinker’s new memoir reveals a fateful political and intellectual blind spot.

He Warned That the End of History Could Be Rough. Maybe Now People Will Listen.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/books/review/francis-fukuyama-in-the-realm-of-the-last-man-end-of-history.html
Francis Fukuyama’s famous take on the post-Cold War world was widely misunderstood. In a new memoir, he tries to set the record straight. 

Too Many Eggs in the AI Basket?

The world of one trade — AI
https://www.ft.com/content/3f54c442-c2b7-4876-a960-5229951c9a46
Investor portfolios have become alarmingly reliant on the fortunes of just one bet on the build-out of an uncertain technology. 
 
AI borrowing slows as investors grow wary of debt binge
https://www.ft.com/content/9c13d40e-d2b2-45d5-921c-a68cd4b308f9 

Shifting Fortunes - EM versus DM Debt

Rich Countries Are Now on Front Lines as World’s Risk Map Shifts
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/rich-countries-now-front-lines-110000008.html  
 
Related:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/european-debt-crisis-risks-risen-064109209.html 

Development Finance

Development Finance Needs More Than One Currency
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chinese-renminbi-lending-developing-countries-by-justin-yifu-lin-and-yan-wang-2026-10
For many developing countries, renminbi-denominated loans offer a credible, increasingly accessible, and cost-effective alternative to borrowing in dollars. Now that the stability and predictability of US economic policies and institutions are in question, the Chinese currency is becoming more attractive.
 
Rating Africa on Its Own Terms
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/new-africa-credit-rating-agency-could-mark-turning-point-for-the-continent-by-hannah-wanjie-ryder-2026-10
For decades, African countries' borrowing costs have been largely determined by major credit-rating agencies whose methods overlook key features of these economies' institutions and markets. The new Africa Credit Rating Agency could mark a turning point, challenging how the continent’s credit risk is graded and priced.
 
African governments launch rating agency to challenge global ‘big three’
https://www.ft.com/content/7811d98a-7693-4596-a0f8-7329ed293116
AfCRA aims to end ‘Africa premium’ that policymakers say has been imposed by Moody’s, S&P Global and Fitch Ratings. 

Household Net Worth

Affluent and Older Americans Got Much Richer in the Postpandemic Years
https://www.wsj.com/economy/affluent-and-older-americans-got-much-richer-in-the-postpandemic-years-f53b3113
A Federal Reserve study found overall median net worth rose 2% between 2022 and 2025. 

Related:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fed-data-americans-over-75-richest/

Decline of Libertarianism

The strange death of libertarianism
https://spectator.com/article/the-strange-death-of-libertarianism/?edition=us