Independent thinking for complex markets and current events
by Michael We all knew that this would be coming. In 2026, the rate of AI-related layoffs has greatly accelerated, and that means that large numbers of good paying jobs are suddenly disappearing from the economy. This is occurring when we are already facing one major crisis after another, and so the timing could not be …
The American restaurant industry is collapsing in real time and the people who see it first aren’t the analysts or the CEOs. They’re the servers standing in empty dining rooms, the line cooks watching shifts get cut, the GMs walking away after 20-year careers, and the customers who can’t afford to tip anymore. In this …
Night after night, Doug Perry and his wife Barbara were plagued by the sound of rats munching on cables and scurrying around their Idaho home as they tried to sleep. The couple got so fed up, they filled their house with sticky glue pads and traps and set up a Ring camera in the kitchen …
Key takeaways Quantum Threat: Google warns that quantum computers could soon break current encryption, putting private and classified information at risk. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): Experts are developing PQC to secure data against future quantum attacks, including store-now-decrypt-later threats. Timeline & Urgency: Google aims to migrate to PQC by 2029, emphasizing the need for the tech …
by Michael After this week is over, there may be no turning back. President Trump is literally threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s power grid, and the Iranians cannot do a thing to prevent that from happening. But in response, the Iranians are threatening to destroy oil and gas infrastructure all over the Persian Gulf. The Iranians …
The retail crisis that many people dismissed as overblown has now wiped out over 8,000 stores across the United States, and we’re only getting started. In this video, we take a closer look at what’s really happening in the retail industry in 2026, why so many beloved brands are disappearing, and what it all means …
by Michael Did you know that more stores were closed in the United States last year than ever before? More than 8,000 stores were permanently shuttered in 2025, and it appears that 2026 will be even worse. U.S. consumers have very little discretionary income to spend these days, and empty stores litter the landscape. If you live …
Retail apocalypse grips the country with more than 8,000 great American stores to close and experts say the bloodbath will only get worse https://t.co/4boBgbX4mr — Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) January 18, 2026 Game over may be flashing on the screen again for GameStop. The once-dominant video game chain is expected to shutter around 470 stores …
by Michael Why have major tourist destinations all over America been so depressingly quiet in 2025? Normally tourism accounts for close to 10 percent of U.S. GDP, and that makes it a critical pillar of the U.S. economy. We witnessed an enormous downturn during the early days of the COVID pandemic, but that was just temporary. …
AI, Private Credit: Blue Owl Is the Sum of All Investor Fears [BBG.com] Blue Owl Capital Inc. is caught in a trifecta of market worries about private credit, artificial intelligence and the flightiness of wealthy individuals who’ve been the new growth hope for alternative managers in recent years. Its abortive effort to give investors an …
Russia, Europe and the US Intensify their War Cries by David Haggith The last couple of days sounded like Crimea River all along the western front of Russia as we were bombarded with wartime news. In short, Secretary of War Hegseth (as he now prefers to be called) has ordered an urgent and extremely rare, if not …
by Michael Once dormant volcanoes have been erupting all over the globe, Mt. Rainier has been rattled by more than 1,000 earthquakes this month, one area of Japan has been getting hit by thousands of earthquakes, the largest supervolcano in Europe has been shaking like crazy, and a magnitude 8.8 earthquake just hammered the Kamchatka Peninsula …
According to Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, these powerful new machine learning programs will replace everyone doing mundane intellectual labor jobs over the next few years. Its also been warned that unemployment rates could skyrocket past 20% at this rate of AI adoption.
In this episode, Tristan Harris explores the 2 most probable paths that AI will follow, one leading to chaos and the other to dystopia. He explains how we can pursue a narrow path between these 2 undesirable outcomes. Tristan Harris is a prominent technology ethicist known for his influential critique of the attention economy and …
by Michael Are we rushing to build super-intelligent entities that will eventually become so powerful that they will be able to wipe most of us out? Some of the top researchers in the field of artificial intelligence are convinced that this is precisely what is happening. We have already reached a point where AI is …
by Michael Decisions that are being made this month could dramatically alter the course of human history. If the Ukrainians decide to attack Russia’s Victory Day parade with a vast army of drones, the Russians would almost certainly absolutely devastate Kyiv in return, and any hope for peace in Ukraine would be gone. Meanwhile, negotiations between …
Both Macy’s and Foot Locker are 2 iconic American brands that are suffering right now and reporting much lower than expected holiday sales and earnings. Meanwhile, other companies like Walmart and Costco are crushing it and bringing in higher than expected sales. So what’s going on?
This has been a ruthless year for American pizza chains. Even for giants like Domino’s, financial problems are piling up. Consumers are eating out less in 2024 because their buying power has been hit by the rising costs of everyday goods and services. Consequently, the largest pizza chain in the U.S. is seeing sales drop …
Can the Media Survive? Big tech, feckless owners, cord-cutters, restive staff, smaller audiences … and the return of print? When this magazine revived the annual “Power Issue” last year, we assembled a list of secretly powerful New Yorkers in an effort to explain how the city actually works. This year, we were curious to understand …
by Michael After months of waiting, it appears that an all-out war in the Middle East is now very close. It is being reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that an “all-out confrontation with Hezbollah” has become inevitable, and he has instructed the IDF to prepare for a “broad campaign” in Lebanon. There are approximately 100,000 …
by Michael Why are retailers closing thousands of stores if the U.S. economy is in good shape? Of course the truth is that the U.S. economy is not in good shape at all. The cost of living crisis is absolutely crushing working families all over the nation, and U.S. consumers simply don’t have as much discretionary income …
The American restaurant industry, once dominated by well-established chains that appeared immune to economic ups and downs, is now undergoing a significant transformation. In recent years, a trend known as the “restaurant apocalypse” has been causing numerous closures, bankruptcies, and financial challenges. Long-time favorites like Burger King, Wendy’s, Boston Market, Red Lobster, and Popeyes face …
Burger King. Wendy’s. Boston Market. Red Lobster. Popeye’s. Arby’s. Corner Bakery. Carl’s Jr. The list goes on. On top of being some of the most iconic restaurants in the U.S., what do all of these companies have in common? According to U.S. Court documents, these brands have all faced bankruptcies over the past year as …
BY DAVID HAGGITH Pretending costs don’t matter when “doing good” or that we’ll find ways to make it work doesn’t pay the bills and doesn’t make it work. Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash Central planners and do-gooders often make things worse for those they claim they want to help. Once again, today, the “Restaurant Apocalypse” is in …
You just have to look around and see what’s happening to the restaurants in your area to understand that the U.S. economy is headed in the wrong direction. When the economy is booming, restaurants are full and chains open more locations to expand their business. But when the economy is struggling, restaurants get increasingly emptier, …
Things are going downhill, and they’re going downhill fast. Walmart is the biggest supermarket in the United States. According to the official tracking metrics of Walmart’s income levels, the annual revenue of this superstore chain is just over 611 billion dollars. So why is Walmart closing its stores? Walmart is facing multiple closures and besides …
Slovak Prime Minister Fico: The West sees that, despite significant assistance, despite anti-Russian sanctions, Ukraine is simply not capable of winning. And if we send military personnel from the EU and NATO to Ukraine, all we can do is lie doomed on the balcony with cognac and a cigar, waiting for the world apocalypse. Slovak …
Solar storms are a feature of our solar system like any other, though comes with a serious amount of risk. They can be beautiful and benign, with pictures showing great displays of auroral lightships. They can also be devastating, as NASA has time and again wanted, inflicting untold chaos right here on Earth. The space …
by Ed Driscoll Josh Barro: Universities Are Not on the Level. What seems to be happening here is they are suffering from Chris Rufo Derangement Syndrome. That is, they know conservative activist Chris Rufo is a bad guy, and therefore the only way they can analyze a question on which he has opined is by …