I write about economics, markets, politics, and power.

SpaceX raised $75bn in the world’s biggest IPO, valuing the company at more than $2tn. But the important detail is not only the size of the offering. It is how little of the company needed to trade in order to price the whole thing.

Energy shocks from war become balance‑sheet and budget problems rather than battlefields.  World Bank downgrades mark long‑term damage.  Rich countries absorb costs while poorer ones face deficits and austerity.

Tightening export licences turned Chinese battery‑metal supplies into chokepoints.  The note shows how the licence itself becomes the weapon, making critical minerals unobtainable and highlighting the urgency of diversification.

Trump’s claim to mediate the Iran‑Israel war is mocked: the United States is a combatant, conducting strikes and widening the conflict.  Combatants cannot mediate; their rhetoric conceals their role.

The Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies now includes tech and EV firms, showing productive capacity itself is being treated as a security target and blurring commercial with military.

Trump’s planned cuts to USAID, PEPFAR and Medicaid will translate into malaria, HIV and maternal deaths.  Bureaucratic talk of “efficiency” masks the reality: slashing aid will kill people.

Washington insists the Iran war is over even as Hormuz remains threatened and oil spikes.  The note contrasts this declaration of peace with realities in shipping lanes and markets.

Census projections show whites will be a minority.  Status‑loss fuels anti‑democratic sentiment and immigration hardliners, raising the question: what happens when a majority feels itself becoming a minority?

After threats in the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices spiked.  The note says the real story is the cost of passage—narrow waterways, naval power, insurance and risk—not simply the price.

The note recalls Marx’s observation that “Communist” began as a smear and concludes that when labels like “woke” or “fascist” silence debate, the answer is to publish openly.