Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 💰 US economy feels the pressure
• 🤖 Anthropic > OpenAI
• 🌎 Best countries in the world

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.07-minute read (1,083 words).

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“Comparison is the death of true self-contentment”

–John Powell (1925-2009)

New economic data in recent weeks has highlighted growing strain across the US economy, increasingly challenging the White House’s bid to lower costs and improve Americans’ financial outlook.

A look at the current situation:

Prices are surging…

Inflation climbed to a 3.8% annual pace in April, its highest reading since 2023, as the Iran war continued disrupting global energy markets and pushing average gas US prices above $4.50/gallon.

The renewed inflation spike now threatens to keep interest rates elevated for longer, as Federal Reserve officials struggle to bring inflation back to their 2% target.

…as paychecks are now shrinking

For the first time in three years, inflation (3.8% annual pace) is increasing faster than average US wage growth (3.6%), reversing a slow rebound in purchasing power as households continue dealing with ~30% cumulative inflation since the pandemic.

Economists say higher prices may feel worse to consumers in recent months, as slower hiring has made it harder for workers to switch jobs for higher pay—unlike during the inflation surge of 2022-23.

Debt continues to mount

Americans are increasingly relying on credit cards and loans to keep up with rising costs. Consumer borrowing jumped by $24.9 billion in March, the largest monthly increase since late 2022, while the personal savings rate fell to its lowest level in three years.

Consumer confidence is collapsing

Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the economy, despite headlines describing relatively low unemployment and steady GDP growth.

• The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell by ~7% in April to its lowest level in the survey's 74-year history.
• Consumers now expect inflation to hit 4.8% over the next year, up sharply from 3.8% in March.

Main Street is also souring

Small business optimism recently fell to its lowest level since before Trump’s reelection. Owners are currently grappling with rising costs, weaker consumer demand, and high borrowing rates that continue squeezing expansion plans.

Looking ahead…America’s poor economic sentiment represents a growing challenge for Trump and Republicans heading into November’s midterm elections.

AtlasIntel, one of the most accurate pollsters in 2024, found this week that Democrats now lead the GOP on every major economic issue tested, including the cost of living (+15 points), the economy (+17) and economic inequality (+20).

📊 Flash poll: To all working professionals: would you consider the growth outlook in your industry/sector of the economy to be positive or negative over the next 12 months?

• Positive
• Negative
• Unsure/other

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Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

💼 Just 43% of Americans aged 15-34 believe it’s a “good time” to find a job where they live, compared with 64% of people aged 55+. It’s the largest such gap among 141 countries in the latest Gallup World Poll.

🤖 Anthropic has outpaced OpenAI with business users for the first time, with 34.4% of businesses paying for Anthropic’s services and 32.3% paying for OpenAI’s, per new data from Ramp.

⚡ Nearly 4,000 people have filed complaints against a proposed $100 billion data center spanning 40,000 acres in northwest Utah. The facility will require 9 gigawatts of power to operate, or roughly double what the entire state currently uses.

📈 South Korea’s stock market has risen more than 80% so far this year amid an AI-chip rally, surging past Canada to become the seventh-largest market in the world.

🍿 Netflix has spent a combined $135 billion on movies and TV shows over the past 10 years, the streaming giant announced this week.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 S&P 500 and Nasdaq set new record high closing marks yesterday, while the Dow climbed back above 50,000. (S&P: +0.8% | Nasdaq: +0.9% | Dow: +0.8%)
• 🚚 SCOTUS allows a man to sue C.H. Robinson, America’s largest freight logistics company, after he lost part of his leg in a semi tractor-trailer crash; experts say the decision could have major ripple effects across the trucking industry.
• 🤖 Cerebras shares rise 68% in their stock-market debut; the AI chip company priced its IPO at $185/share late Wednesday, and opened on the Nasdaq at $350 before closing at $311.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚽️ BTS, Madonna, and Shakira will headline the first-ever World Cup halftime show during the final on July 19 in New Jersey.
• 🏌️ PGA Championship, golf’s second major of the season, teed off yesterday, with action continuing through Sunday.
• 📺 HBO Max reveals first teaser trailer for new Big Bang Theory spinoff series: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦕 The nagatitan, a new species of giant, long-necked dinosaur, has been identified in Thailand; the nagatitan is the largest dinosaur ever found in Southeast Asia, weighing ~30 tons (or nine adult Asian elephants) and stretching up to 88 feet long.
• Researchers provide first direct evidence that
• 👂 Brain-controlled tech can help listeners isolate a single voice in a crowded environment, per new first-of-its-kind research from Columbia University.
• 🥱 Fetuses can “catch” yawns from their mothers while in the womb, new study suggests.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🇨🇳🇺🇸 Two-day summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing concludes today; in talks yesterday, both leaders discussed Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, along with other issues; Trump also said Xi will visit the White House in September.
• 🏥 Trump admin is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California, saying the state hasn’t taken sufficient measures to combat fraud; VP JD Vance warns that other states could also lose funding if they don’t address Medicaid fraud.
• ⚖️ SCOTUS rules to maintain widespread access to the abortion pill mifepristone, allowing doctors to continue mailing the drug to patients while the SCOTUS case plays out. | Justice Department accuses Yale School of Medicine of violating anti-discrimination laws against Asian and white applicants; it comes a week after the DOJ issued similar findings at UCLA’s med school.

👆NASA’s Perseverance rover snapped a new selfie from Mars, stitched together from 61 individual images captured during its farthest trek west since landing on the red planet in 2021. The composite image offers scientists a clearer look at the ridgeline and ancient rock formations in a region known as “Lac de Charmes.”

🤔 Did you know? Back in the days of horse-drawn fire engines, Dalmations would help out fire departments by sprinting ahead while barking and clearing a path through crowded streets. Since Dalmatians naturally bond well with horses, they also helped guide and calm the teams racing to emergencies.

📰 Worth a read: Why Japan has millions of abandoned houses

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• 2026’s best countries in the world
• The unknown history of one of America’s most popular ice creams
• 5 breathing exercises with a lasting impact on your health

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How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

1. A bookstore sells notebooks for $6 each. You buy 5 notebooks and use a $4 coupon. Then 5% sales tax is added. What is the final cost?
2. What is the next number in the pattern:
   4, 9, 19, 39, __
3. A rectangular garden is 18 feet long and 11 feet wide. A smaller flower bed inside it measures 4 feet by 6 feet. How many square feet of the garden are not covered by the flower bed?

🍼 The Nashville Zoo welcomed this 2-pound cutie last week, just in time for Mother's Day. The male southern pudu fawn is part of the smallest deer species in the world.

1. $27.30
2. 79 (multiply by 2, then add 1)
3. 174 square feet

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