Shrinkflation has become one of the most persistent and least transparent forces shaping household budgets in the United States. Unlike rent hikes or interest rate increases, it does not arrive as a single shock. There is no clear moment when it “hits.” Instead, it embeds itself into daily life through smaller packages, shorter product lifespans,…
Lobbying is often discussed as a background feature of American politics—something abstract, technical, or inevitable. But in practice, lobbying is one of the clearest ways to see whose interests have the most consistent access to lawmakers, regulators, and the policy-writing process itself. Money does not guarantee outcomes, but it determines proximity: who gets meetings, who…
Even with October’s missing jobs report, November’s numbers are strange — and they still don’t show the full picture, the November jobs report is bad. Yes, the data is weak. Yes, the outlook is deteriorating. But thanks to the government shutdown, delayed data collection, structural labor shifts, and long-building demographic pressures, this report captures only part of what is actually happening in the economy.
Across the US, millions of housing units sit empty at any given time, If there are “enough” buildings, why are people still priced out?
Mental illness is not limited to poverty. People experiencing financial insecurity face intense, chronic stress from unmet survival and safety needs — and that has predictable, damaging effects on mental health. But abundance isn’t a cure: the wealthy can be mentally unwell in ways that are less visible but no less consequential.
Artificial intelligence has become the new engine of the global economy — transforming how we work, communicate, and innovate. But as the race to build smarter, faster, more capable AI systems accelerates, a pressing question emerges: how much energy does it take to power intelligence itself? And as the world builds new data centers at record speed, who will ultimately pay the price?
For much of the past two years, artificial intelligence has been the single biggest driver of excitement—and valuation—in the global stock market. From Nvidia’s meteoric rise to the explosion of AI startups backed by venture capital, the narrative of unstoppable AI growth has captivated investors and the public alike. But as recent market signals show,…
