The Economy Markets

Trade barriers worth $2.3T are rising and choking education trade A free trade mega bloc can keep people, data, and ideas moving Prioritize shared visas, interoperable credentials, and protected cross-border data One number u

Senate Passes Stopgap Spending Bill, House Vote to Follow Prolonged Shutdown Deepens Exodus of Unpaid Federal Workers GDP Already Down 1.5%, Fourth-Quarter Contraction Likely The record-breaking 41-day federal government shutdown i

Japan Accelerates Rare Earth Mining Preparations Near Minamitori Island U.S.

Data Center Wars Move to Space Soaring AI Computation Demands Exceed Earth’s Power and Land Capacity Solar Energy Beyond the Atmosphere Offers a Path Past Resource Constraints A concept rendering of Starcloud’s orbital

China’s Pharma and Biotech Sector Builds Technological Edge Backed by State Support Firms Move Aggressively to Raise Capital Through IPOs and Licensing Deals From Generic Manufacturing to Innovation Leadership, Industry Set for Rapid Revenue Growth

Celltrion, SK Biopharm, and others are increasing their local production footprint Close watch on ripple effects of Trump’s tariff policy Securing U.S.

Sanctions pushed Russian energy to Asia, forming a petroyuan-leaning nexus Yuan and dirham settlement grew in this corridor, but the dollar remains dominant Policy should shrink discount arbitrage, target shipping/finance nodes, and steady dollar finance

Tariffs won’t fix the deficit; they raise prices for U.S.

Japan’s labor is tight and the yen is weak Despite 2.3 million foreign workers, only 1,685 Indian students study in Japan A Japan–India education corridor would scale skills, lift productivity, and lock in a deeper partnership

2nm GAA Process as Samsung Foundry’s Proving Ground Strong Benchmark Performance, Likely to Power Galaxy S26 Expected to Boost Foundry Profitability and Process Reliability Samsung Electronics, which has long struggled with low yields in t

Conservative justices question legality of tariff policy Trump touts reshoring and anti-China effects Over half of Americans disapprove of his economic management U.S.

Big Tech Keeps Pouring Money into AI Despite Bubble Fears Wall Street Turns to Bond-Hedging Strategies Profitability Constraints Raise Systemic Risk Concerns Even as talk of an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble grows louder, global Big Tech

China Temporarily Suspends Rare Earth Export Controls to Fulfill Summit Agreement U.S.

China Offers Power Subsidies to AI Data Centers That Exclude Foreign Chips AI Chipmakers Race to Boost Energy Efficiency to Stay Competitive With Power Demand Soaring, Infrastructure and Government Support Become Key to Market Position China

Comprehensive operations from wealth management to inheritance and accounting Global family office assets reach $5.5 trillion Dubai establishes infrastructure to attract UHNW individuals The world’s ultra-high-net-worth individual

Rising interest bills make public spending efficiency the growth strategy Prioritize smarter procurement, disciplined investment, and service productivity over sector wish lists Measure, review, and reallocate to what works to free fiscal space

BRI is reshaping value chains, creating real growth with tight dependencies U.S.

CRISPR cures are real, but access is narrow High costs, fragile care pathways, and shaky investment block scale Share risk on payment, build training and data networks, and enforce anti-eugenics rules to make gene editing access a public good

Taiwan’s advanced chips make it a bargaining chip in U.S.–China–Japan rivalry Tariffs, subsidies, and new fabs turn semiconductor leverage into day-to-day industrial policy Education must build chip literacy and procurement buffers to withstand supply shocks

Grab–GoTo could control ~85–90% of ride-hailing, risking lock-in Approve only with guardrails—data portability, fair access, pricing caps, driver-earnings floors—or block Educators and ministries should bake these rules into procurement and curricula