My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:
• The Boomer Home Dilemma: Millennials aren’t ready to inherit the homes they grew up in. (Business Insider)
• A.I. Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car: Hertz and other agencies are increasingly relying on scanners that use high-res imaging and A.I. to flag even tiny blemishes, and customers aren’t happy. (New York Times) see also No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note takers instead. Video calls can be a drag — some workers send a bot in their place. (Washington Post)
• Worst Spate of Downgrades Since 2021 Signals Pain. Credit rating downgrades are becoming more frequent, with around $94 billion of high-grade US debt downgraded in the second quarter. Corporate bond valuations are high, with US investment-grade spreads hovering around 0.8 percentage point, well below the two-decade average of around 1.5 percentage points. (Bloomberg)
• The Pants Cost $20. They Explain $86 Billion of Costco Sales. Kirkland Signature is now bigger than some of the world’s biggest companies—and it has become essential to Costco’s business. (Wall Street Journal)
• How GLP-1s Are Breaking Life Insurance: Patients look healthy on paper. Two years later, they’re high-risk again. (GLP-1 Digest)
• Nearly 75% of all restaurant traffic now happens off-premises—meaning that almost 3 out of 4 restaurant orders are taken to go. New data from the National Restaurant Association’s 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends report highlights how off-premises dining has become both a consumer preference and business essential, with the convenience and availability of takeout, delivery, and drive-thru now deeply embedded in everyday life. (National Restaurant Association) see also The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in 2025 The 100 Best Restaurants (New York Times)
• Conspiracy Theorists Are Turning on the President: MAGA influencers are furious that Trump’s FBI says no more Jeffrey Epstein secrets are forthcoming. (The Atlantic)
• Ticks Are Really Bad This Summer. What to Do About Them: Milder winters and rainy springs help the parasites thrive in the U.S., and emergency-room visits for bites are up. (Wall Street Journal) see also The Best and Worst Habits for Your Teeth: Dentists talk charcoal toothpastes, flavored coffees, post-meal water rinses and more. (New York Times)
• This Is DOGE 2.0: Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is continuing its wholesale assault on federal agencies—even without Musk in government. (Wired)
• Would You Pay Nearly $9,000 for a Puzzle? Some of the most devoted hobbyists are willing to shell out big bucks for what one called “a couture puzzle.” (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Neil Dutta, head of the economic research team at Renaissance Macro Research. Previously, he was Senior Economist NA at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch under Ethan Harris and David Rosenberg. He has a history of making successful contrarian calls, including calling for no recession in 2022, and warning that the FOMC would raise rates aggressively in 2022. He is now expecting a mild recession late 2025/26.
Dependency and depopulation? Confronting the consequences of a new demographic reality.
Source: McKinsey
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