Making business and economics accessible to audiences

Tech layoffs hit their highest single month in years in May, and roughly 120,000 tech roles have now been cut in 2026. Is that the real reason, or the most convenient one? Part 1 looked at whether the communities that host data centers actually see job growth from them. The answer there, based on Brookings research, was a qualified yes, but the fancy computers themselves barely employ anyone. So, do the companies pouring hundreds of billions into AI grow their own workforces

AI is eliminating some jobs and reshuffling budgets in ways that make others disappear. So, if companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, does any of that spending create jobs — and if so, whose? This is all money spent on really fancy computers, rooms full of chips, cooling systems, and power infrastructure. So what does building the world's fanciest computers get the rest of us, in terms of permanent jobs? A Brookings study across roughly

The numbers behind the AI buildout have become difficult to process in ordinary terms. We're talking hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions. Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are expected to spend nearly $700 billion combined this year on AI infrastructure. Those same companies spent a combined $410 billion on capital expenditures last year, nearly triple their 2022 total, the year that OpenAI released ChatGPT. Combined 2026 capital expenditures are now expected

Starbucks now sells a cold foam topping that packs up to 36 grams of protein into a single grande, more than you'd get from a 4- to 5-ounce chicken breast. It comes in banana, salted caramel, matcha, and a sugar-free vanilla you can stack with "protein-boosted milk" for good measure. The chain rolled it out across the US and Canada last fall and has since expanded into Asia-Pacific. Why is Starbucks suddenly acting like a supplement brand? Starbucks is just the most visible s