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2026.43: A New Era
The best Stratechery content from the week of October 19, 2026, including the best iPad but worst phone, SS Sarandos in a storm, and You Can See Everything.
Capital Wars
CoreWeave and the Economics of a Data Center Build
The civil service may save us all
I am not a fan of civil servants, but in the current political climate, they may end up as our saving grace.
France and the limits of liberalism
Immigration, the welfare state, and Keynesian economics are all showing signs of strain.
Europe’s fragmentation impacts research
“You Can See Everything” and the nature of liars
A movie review, plus some thoughts on dishonesty, belief, and human communication.
Career risk trumps investment risk
As someone who has worked most of his career on the buy side, I know that career risk is real and overrides many investment considerations.
What is the Average Net Worth by Age? [2025 Latest Data]
Do you want to know how you are doing relative to your peers financially? Then this is the article for you. The Federal Reserve recently released its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, the gold standard of wealth data for American households. I've decided to take this data and calculate the average net worth by age so you can get a better handle on how you stack up financially. Of course, we know…
How much growth do higher taxes cost?
In a week, we will get a new budget here in the UK, and of course, everybody is wondering which taxes are going to be hiked and by how much.
Bullish
Data centres boost the energy transition
The data centre boom has triggered an acceleration in the buildout of new power plants.
Bullish
Why are we ruled by barbarians?
America’s New Right believes that savagery is the key to victory.
Me and My Agents
Worse than Schadenfreude
By now, the world is familiar with the German word ‘Schadenfreude’, the joy at the misfortune of others.
Who Got Richer Since 2022?
Last Friday, the Federal Reserve released the results of its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which takes a detailed snapshot of American households' finances every three years. And the big takeaway from this year's release is clear—older Americans got richer while younger Americans got poorer. From 2022-2025, the median net worth of households 75 and older went up 38%, while the median…
A Nobel for New Keynesian macro, at last!
The impact of emissions trading schemes on trade
In 2026, the EU is rolling out its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Why Donald Trump won in 2024
Re-upping my election post-mortem, so that we don’t forget.
When Saturday Comes
Maybe the Rapture is already here
There is no “Indian Question”
The actual question is what kind of a nation America is going to be.
Playing the Wrong Game
A few months ago, I saw this tweet about the World Sauna Championships and how men will literally push themselves to the brink of death to win them, despite there being no tangible rewards. As the author of the tweet noted: It was interesting to me because it's another piece of evidence that as soon as you create a ruleset...no matter how ridiculous it is, no matter how small the group of…
The Art of Doing Financial Engineering
The second Trump presidency is a world-historic failure
Who Is Really Rich in America? (Hint: Main Street Millionaires)
If you want to understand the wealth of the typical American household, the resources are excellent. Not only are there free public data sources, but there are also many great books that detail how people live across The Wealth Ladder. For example: For Level 1 (<$10k) there's Dignity by Chris Arnade. For Level 2 ($10k-$100k) to Level 3 ($100k-$1M), Get Good with Money by Tiffany Aliche. For…
Stop spending money on smaller classes
We’ve spent decades raising teacher quantity when we should have been raising quality.
Where’s the “intelligence explosion”?
Ramez Naam gives a skeptic’s take on Recursive Self-Improvement.
Agents Revolt
What happens to finance when customers start paying attention
Brookfield of Dreams
The Five Deals That Made Apollo
From distressed debt to a trillion-dollar machine