Video & Podcast Of The Week
50 Year Mortgages, Political Changes And Where To Look For Opportunities In 2026 & The Financialization Of College Football
A lot of ink has been spilled over the recent elections, particularly the election of Mamdani in New York and the rise of socialism, or whatever clickbait headline you see out of certain media outlets. I’m not going to bitch and moan about capitalism, but I did want to share Peter Thiel’s recent conversation (linked below). A lot of people have highlighted the various issues, but I think we are entering the era of what I like to “Fix It” politics. Everyone is waiting for the guy to come in and fix it.
I don’t care how, or if it’s technically against the law, people on the right and left have realized that our political system isn’t exactly functional. He who saves a nation violates no law. I don’t think Mamdani is going to fix much of anything (he shouldn’t have even been eligible to run for office), but the reason that politics is more intense is that people realize that it’s existential now. It’s turned into a zero sum game, and even if you’re not interested in politics, politics is interested in you.
Part of the problem is that the US is so polarized that the two major groups basically have views and agendas that are completely incompatible. People on the so-called right wing have just started to figure this out over the last five years, and the left has been playing to win for a lot longer than that. All of this is why I think we will eventually get a Caesar figure, because I don’t think we fix a bunch of the problems we have by jumping through the existing bureaucratic or political hoops.
I don’t know if I would say that young people are pro-socialist. I would say they are less pro-capitalist than they used to be. If capitalism is seen as an unfair racket of one sort or another, you’ll be much less pro capitalism. So in some relative sense, they’re more socialist, even though I think it’s more just: Capitalism doesn’t work for me. Or, this thing called capitalism is just an excuse for people ripping you off.
AIA Weekly Update
For anyone looking for a mix of current events and financial markets, John Polomny’s video this week is definitely worth a watch. He spent some time on the recent elections, and he explains why we shouldn’t be surprised to see more figures like Mamdani in politics moving forward. Just look at the median age of first time home buyers, or student loan debt, or a variety of other issues.
On the financial markets side, he talked about how overhyped AI is right now, and how many of the large companies spending the most aren’t seeing returns from those investments. He also talked about which assets perform well during inflationary or stagflationary periods, and some different areas of the market he is watching. He also talked about oil services starting to perk up, and why global growth is his contrarian bet for 2026. His weekly recaps are always entertaining and educational at the same time, and this one is worth your time.
The Business Brew w/ Matthew Quigley
For any football fans out there, you will find this one interesting. I have talked about the financialization of the US, but this one was eye opening as far as the changing landscape of college football. They talk about changes from NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), how college athletes are getting paid, and how athletes can get insurance for future earning potential. I have mixed feelings on the changes that have happened to college football, but this podcast has a perspective from the business angle and will definitely give listeners something to think about.
"the reason that politics is more intense is that people realize that it’s existential now. It’s turned into a zero sum game"
It's always been this, it's just one side (as you noted) is finally figuring this out.
"the two major groups"
There's three groups, one is vastly overstated in numbers, and the other is trying desperately from the third taking power.
It won't work.
I very much agree about the "fix it" politics point. Will be interesting to see if any rising American political figure has the right mix of courage and pragmatism to be like Lee Kuan Yew, who was probably the best at that we saw in the 20th century