Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning take a look at incompetency, corruption and coverage failures:
• “This Is Not Monetary Recommendation”: How finfluencers prey on financial desperation. NOEMA on the meme-finance ecosystem hiding behind the disclaimer — and what regulators have already let slip previous it. Lengthy, cautious, irritating. (NOEMA)
• This Is Why America Can’t Have Robots And Different Good Issues: A pointy piece on the actuator and part supply-chain story beneath US humanoid-robotics ambitions. China owns the elements; all the pieces else is a press launch. Westmag and Atlas Movement Methods are right here to repair the actuator disaster (Core Reminiscence) see additionally How the U.S. Fell Behind in Adopting the Electrical Automobile: Adoption of electrical automobiles has taken off globally — electrical autos (EVs) made up 1 / 4 of latest automotive gross sales on the planet in 2025. The US was within the lead in launching the trendy electrical automotive — Tesla’s Mannequin S was first delivered in 2012 — and, till just lately, U.S. insurance policies supplied substantial encouragement to auto producers and households to undertake the expertise. Nonetheless, China has dominated the latest international surge in manufacturing and gross sales of EVs, and Europe has additionally overtaken the U.S. in EV adoption. What explains the U.S.’s lagging efficiency? (Econofact)
• Prediction Markets Are Studying From the Habit Trade: TNR on Polymarket and Kalshi quietly absorbing the lobbying, retention, and UX playbook of on-line playing. The “data market” framing surviving on hopium and a federal preemption argument. A brand new coalition of trade influence-peddlers is forming, tasked with defending these nascent companies from regulation in any respect value. (New Republic)
• Cloud Hoarders: Right now muddle creeps past the house. We’re continually bombarded with digital muddle — emails, texts, and voice messages from each realm of life. And we create our personal, snapping images or jotting down notes, seemingly with the intention of permitting these creations to “sit” in seemingly infinite “areas” in perpetuity, largely out of sight and thoughts. Once we run out of cupboard space, firms are more than pleased to commerce gigabyte-sized slices of The Cloud for {dollars}, and so our digital footprint swells.Who’s coming to rescue us from our digital stuff? An essay on the folks now accumulating bodily issues — vinyl, books, prints, outdated {hardware} — as a deliberate rebuke to the streaming-everything mannequin. The vibe-shift, informed with out smirk. (Liberties Journal)
• The World Cup Is Sports activities Betting’s Greatest Second—and Perhaps Its Final Hurrah: Gamblers are anticipated to wager $50 billion on the approaching World Cup, however indicators of betting fatigue are rising throughout the U.S. Greatest Second – and Perhaps Its Final Hurrah: Gamblers are anticipated to wager $50 billion on the approaching World Cup, however indicators of betting fatigue are rising throughout the U.S. (Barron’s)
• America’s Client Company Protector: As appearing director of the Client Monetary Safety Bureau, Russell Vought has undone years of company enforcement work. Apple, Walmart and Toyota have all benefited from Russell Vought’s imaginative and prescient for the Client Monetary Safety Bureau. (Bloomberg Free)
• Nothing Explains Trump’s Washington Fairly Just like the Reflecting Pool Scandal: David A. Fahrenthold on an argument that’s deeper than it appears to be like. Among the many roughly 1.776 billion scandals of this Trump administration, one has just lately stood out to me: the continued boondoggle on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. What was alleged to be a minor upkeep mission has in some way turn out to be one of many purest reflections of Trump-era governance, involving a no-bid contract, a golf-club supervisor from New Jersey, and the colour “American Flag Blue.” (Slate) see additionally He Blew the Whistle on DOGE. Then His Brakes Had been Minimize: A federal IT staffer filed a criticism about DOGE, then went public. Shortly after Elon Musk boosted a put up calling his claims false, his brake strains had been minimize. Now he’s suing for defamation. Wired on the federal contractor who went public on DOGE’s information dealing with — and what occurred to his automotive the week after he testified. The sort of element you can’t launder out of the story. A federal IT staffer filed a criticism about DOGE, then went public. Shortly after Elon Musk boosted a put up calling his claims false, his brake strains had been minimize. Now he’s suing for defamation. (Wired)
• “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees say guards deny them meals and clear water till they signal English paperwork: The Guardian with sworn statements from contained in the Florida detention website — the basic-rights violations the administration retains refusing to touch upon. Reads precisely as unhealthy because it sounds. Detainees say they’re given ‘rotten’ water and denied meals for not signing papers in English that they don’t perceive (The Guardian)
• Screwworm In Texas Cattle May Drive Up Beef Costs—After DOGE Axed Prevention Efforts: A flesh-eating parasite that was largely eradicated from U.S. livestock within the Nineteen Sixties has been present in a 3-week-old calf in a south Texas border city, the USDA confirmed, a menace that would drive the already hovering value of beef even greater after Elon Musk-led authorities cuts slashed ongoing efforts to forestall its unfold. (Forbes) see additionally How Funding Cuts Left the World Susceptible to Ebola: Bloomberg with the lengthy, sourced model of the USAID-cuts-meets-Ebola-outbreak story. The road between fiscal coverage and illness vector, drawn intimately. (Businessweek)
• The World Cup In accordance with Gianni Infantino: The New Yorker’s lengthy sit-down with the FIFA president on the eve of the expanded event. As damning as a print profile may be whereas staying on-record. Infantino is remaking international soccer in his personal picture. Can the game survive him? (New Yorker)
Video of the day: Each Metro System Must be this Lovely
You should definitely try our Masters in Enterprise interview this weekend with Chris Davis, Chairman and Portfolio Supervisor of Davis Funds. The agency oversees $20 billion in shopper belongings, with Davis (and colleagues) co-investing $2 billion in their very own mineus alongside shareholders. Davis was named Morningstar’s Portfolio Supervisor of the 12 months; he additionally sits on the boards of Berkshire Hathaway and Coca-Cola.
Globalization Uber Alles: the FTAA & the Decline of America (2011)

Supply: Associates of Liberty
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