The economy is soft and vulnerable. This is the clear message in today’s GDP, income, and spending data. Abstracting from the vagaries of the data, real GDP growth is at best 2%, driven largely by AI-related investment and wealth effects that support consumer spending among the well-to-do.
I was away last week and didn’t have a chance to weigh in on the June employment report. But even though belated, I can’t help myself, as I thought the commentary was much too dismissive of how weak the numbers looked, all the noise in the data notwithstanding.
The raft of economic data released last week isn’t sending off red flares, but it is sending off yellow ones. No red flares because real GDP is still growing at a 2% pace, with AI and corp tax cuts powering business investment. But yellow flares because consumers struggle to maintain their spending
The economy is growing, but it is fragile growth. Looking through the vagaries of the quarterly data, real GDP is growing at a 2% pace. Growth, yes, but less than the economy’s potential growth rate, and not sufficient to support any meaningful job growth.
Kevin Warsh is a reasonable choice for the next Federal Reserve chair. His obvious strength is his previous stint on the Fed during the Global Financial Crisis. He knows the institution and everyone in global central banking circles.
The uncomfortable financial stress on low- and middle-income Americans is evident in the December 2025 consumer delinquency rates.
Headline should definitely include “Oracle” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...
TikTok Strikes Deal for New U.S. Entity, Ending Long Legal Saga
nytimes.com
Yes, but…. “We’re committed to open source forever,” says Wu.” buff.ly/ebrDmkB
The Chinese finance whizz whose DeepSeek AI model stunned the world
Liang Wenfeng is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025.
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"They were surprised and impressed to find that one of them, the GraphCast model developed by Google DeepMind in London, would have accurately forecast the event eight days before it occurred." buff.ly/PIzPDql #climateai
This AI model ‘studied’ physics — and learnt to forecast extreme weather
Combining artificial intelligence with a conventional climate model can predict heatwaves faster than the standard model alone.
nature.com
In the first half of this year subscribers spent nearly half a billion hours watching the first four seasons. buff.ly/5HyovWH
For TRIC, the critical technical hurdle was navigation.
Precision autonomy for sustainable farming with TRIC Robotics
Explore the future of farming with autonomous agtech solutions for sustainable pest control in high-value crops like strawberries.
pointonenav.com
“He was wearing a Dropkick Murphys hoodie, a reminder of the antifascist punk scene he grew up in, which still shapes his worldview.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...
Opinion | I Thought Graham Platner Was Finished. What I Saw in Maine Changed My Mind.
nytimes.com
The last time executives were broadly optimistic about hiring was the second quarter of 2023... buff.ly/4LoUlii
"If elected, Mr. Bresnahan told voters, he would co-sponsor legislation to ban stock trading by members of Congress, a practice he said “needs to come to an end immediately.”" Still no bill.
Annie Karni@anniekarni.bsky.social · last yr.New: As a Candidate, Rob Bresnahan Wanted to Ban Congressional Stock Trading. In Office, He Trades Freely. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/u...
Top Ten Holiday Gifts for a Coroner... #7 Skinnier (dead) bodies and #10 Smoke and CO alarms
Top Ten Holiday Gifts for a Coroner - Christina VandePol
Wondering what to get your favorite coroner? My top ten holiday gift ideas for bringing holiday cheer to your local last responders.
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With drones and A.I., researchers managed to double the number of mysterious geoglyphs in a matter of months. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/s...
Hundreds More Nazca Lines Emerge in Peru’s Desert
With drones and A.I., researchers managed to double the number of mysterious geoglyphs in a matter of months.
nytimes.com
