Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Artificial intelligence is colliding with a very old constraint: the electric grid. As Microsoft races to build out massive AI data centers across the United States, communities are increasingly worried that the power needed to train large models will show up on their monthly bills. In response, the company is rolling out a sweeping “community-first”…
Baby boomers now control a towering share of American wealth, a stockpile that has become shorthand for generational tension. The question is whether that $85.4 trillion hoard will ultimately entrench inequality or give younger Americans the financial break they have struggled to find. The answer depends less on the size of the pot than on…
UPS is pulling back from a key distribution hub in Alabama, a move that crystallizes how its break with Amazon is reshaping the company’s entire U.S. network. The closure, part of a broader plan to strip out roughly $8 billion in costs, is landing hardest on workers and local officials who once saw parcel logistics…
Jimmy Donaldson has become the rare creator whose name doubles as a global media brand, yet he is now telling fans he cannot cover everyday expenses in cash. The YouTuber better known as MrBeast is widely reported to have a $2.6 billion net worth, but he says his personal accounts are in the red and…
Grocery bills are still climbing, and for many households the weekly shop has become the most visible sign of stubborn inflation. At the same time, a new Grocery Code of Conduct is being rolled out with the promise of fairer dealing behind the scenes, even as experts warn that it will not magically shrink receipts…
New car sticker prices have surged into territory that would have sounded absurd just a few years ago, with average deals now hovering around $50,000 and shoppers feeling the squeeze. The jump reflects a collision of long running supply problems, a shift toward bigger and more luxurious vehicles, and the bite of 25% tariffs that…
Spotify has quietly carried out one of the largest content purges in modern tech, stripping more than 75 million low‑quality and fake tracks from its catalog as part of a sweeping crackdown on AI‑generated “slop.” The company is pitching the move as a defense of artists, songwriters, and listeners, and as a way to stop…
Marijuana is on track to move from the federal government’s most restrictive drug category to a more permissive one, under a sweeping directive from the White House that could reshape everything from medical research to small business balance sheets. President Trump’s new executive order instructs federal agencies to complete the process of shifting cannabis to…
Headline GDP and inflation figures are sending mixed signals as the United States heads into 2026. Growth looks surprisingly strong on paper while price pressures hover near 3 percent, a level that feels manageable to markets but stubborn to central bankers. I want to unpack what those numbers really say about the economy behind them,…
Investors and workers are heading into 2026 with whiplash. On one side, artificial intelligence is being sold as a once‑in‑a‑century productivity revolution. On the other, the labor market is stuck in a “Great Freeze” that feels more like a slow grind than a boom. The gap between AI euphoria and everyday economic reality is exactly…