“The S&P 500 Index is down about 8% since [Trump’s] inauguration and on track for its worst run during a president’s first 100 days since Gerald Ford in 1974” - @bloomberg

Why is the mainstream media not covering the spike in call options immediately prior to Trump's tariff pause announcement? It should be on page 1 everywhere, but everyone is quiet.

If you want to know why Trump blinked and paused tariffs, it wasn’t because of the “art of the deal” or even the stock market - it was because of the bond market

Americans have consistently chosen service economy over manufacturing jobs when given the choice. The majority of us do not want to work in factories.

Ted Cruz is not wrong

South Korea has a fertility rate of 0.7. This is the lowest rate of any nation in the world and may be the lowest in recorded human history. South Korea is an outlier now, but many other western countries are also experiencing birth rate decline. 1/6

Today we’ll find out if the people of Wisconsin are fine with Elon Musk buying their elections.

If Trump tries to run for a third term, then Obama should too. Only fair.

George Soros advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

"This is about more than short-term business and losing clients or rainmaking lawyers. This threatens the entire practice of law as we know it. Lawyers will no longer have the freedom to practice law in accordance with the law. They will be thinking about political ramifications... 1/2

Elon Musk told Fox News that he believes DOGE can cut “$1 trillion in government spending.” 1/5

Don’t learn to code. Most of those jobs will be obsolete in a few years. Learn philosophy instead. Learn how to think critically. Solve problems. Understand ethical dilemmas that algorithms and AI will need to account for. These are the crucial skills of the 21st century.

One of the most disgustingly partisan executive orders I’ve ever read. Law firms need to grow spines and act with the swagger they’re known for - capitulating to a strongman ain’t it.

First three runs of game one of the MLB season and they are all home runs. Look, I love baseball, but this version of the game where it’s almost always a home run or a strike out is not entertaining for anyone.

Happy baseball opening day! The world is a crazy place right now, but at least we now have the daily certainty of baseball. It’s gotten America through worse.

This is one of the best pieces I’ve read on the Ukraine War, and the history of Russian propaganda and perception manipulation. Putin is winning the messaging game, as many of his talking points are consistently parroted in America, especially by those on the right.

What do people think of the hotel dining trend where hotels like 25hours in Florence or Patina Maldives sit you with a bunch of strangers to transform dining into social experiences?

I don’t blame any Canadian or European or anyone else for that matter who hates us Americans right now. I hate us too at the moment. We need a cultural reawakening from our current traumatic state.

We need a new way to think about Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He’s not an isolationist. He’s not an imperialist. He’s both. Unprecedented times call for new terminology - imperial isolationism. More from today’s newsletter: polispandit.substack.com/p/imperial-i...

Imperial Isolationism: Foreign Policy Under Trump 2.0

Plus more from The Political Prism, Werner Herzog, and Bagels

polispandit.substack.com

I recently finished Daniel Kahneman’s mega-bestseller, ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, which celebrates rational thinking and behavioral psychology. It’s hard for me to reconcile those teachings with Kahneman’s decision to end his life through assisted suicide. I wrote about it in today’s newsletter.

Should Assisted Suicide Be Legal?

A consequential decision made by one of the greatest decision makers of all time

polispandit.substack.com

The top 1% owns 30% of U.S. wealth, with Silicon Valley comprising nearly 10% of U.S. GDP - so it’s no wonder many in tech have shifted rightward politically as they increasingly view the state as an inconvenience and a threat to their concentration of wealth.

"There’s a more fundamental truth at play here — moving fast and breaking things may work at a tech company where workers can quickly make product updates with new code. This strategy, however, doesn’t work so well with the U.S. federal government, where human lives are directly at stake."

Clipping Elon's Wings

Plus White Lotus, 2 great political stories, and a bagel review

open.substack.com

The big question is: Who are the investors holding the bulk of the bag? Who effectively gave Trump and his team $350 million via a $TRUMP memecoin that has no utility apart from speculation? polispandit.substack.com/p/the-350-mi...

The $350 Million Question

And other stories from The Political Prism, along with a luxury comparison

polispandit.substack.com

“Trump views the world as a zero-sum game with winners and losers. From Trump’s perspective, Russia is the domineering winner in its sphere of influence, and therefore it should be free to express its power how it chooses... 1/3

Where’s the best bagel in NYC? The NYTimes released a list of their top 16, but I disagree, so I’m trying their list and comparing. Here’s 1 - Liberty Bagels in the Financial District.

First time at Tompkins Square Bagel in the East Village for me this morning and what stuck out most wasn’t their perfectly executed bagel but the variety of cream cheese. This chipotle one, woah!

The playbook: Make wild threats → Create market chaos → Secure last-minute "deal" → Declare victory Bottom line: Allies must prepare for a world where America can't be counted on. Trump's foreign policy isn't about solving problems—it's about creating spectacle.

With Apologies to Canada, Mexico, and the Democratic World

You can't rely on America anymore

open.substack.com

I cannot remember a time in my life when it was less cool to be liberal. I’m a 37-year-old millennial and when I was growing up, there were liberal celebrities like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

If Italians should stay Italian and Japanese should stay Japanese as Elon Musk says, why is this South African dude in America? By that logic we should ship him back to South Africa to keep America only for native born Americans.

Love the comedians who double as political analysts. As if politics is simply human nature like everything else and not often involving complex legal, moral, or ethical judgments.