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The world is in the midst of an energy crisis. At the start of this week, U.S. oil prices climbed above $85 for the first time in seven years. Meanwhile, Europe and Asia are facing electricity blackouts amid soaring demand for natural gas and coal. I sat down with Field Notes Managing Editor Ciaran Madden [Read More] …

Higher Inflation Is Coming Next Year… Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve’s Grand Wizard of Backtrackery, had this to say during a virtual conference with the South African central bank a few days ago: There is a now a greater risk of “longer and more persistent bottlenecks and thus to higher inflation.” Hmmm… Never saw that [Read More] …

How I Became a Sports Real Estate Magnate  The four boys looked at the gate, wide-eyed in their excitement. A groundskeeper had not secured it properly. This was their opportunity—maybe an opportunity they’d never see again. And, so, they squeezed through the improperly secured gate—damn the crime!  They slunk though wide corridors, peeking around corners.   No one.  “I can’t [Read More] …

Plus, the UK Hints at a Hike in Interest Rates Welcome to your Sunday digest…my weekly breakdown of the things we’re thinking about and talking about in the Global Intelligence world.  First up this week, messy transitions.  Humans are storytellers. We like to think about periods of time as chapters…as though one ends and another neatly begins, with little or no transition between them.  However, [Read More] …

“Plastics!”  If you’re of a certain age, you will instantly recognize that bit of dialogue, and you’ll know plastic was the future—as least according to the advice given to the character Benjamin Braddock, played by a very young actor named Dustin Hoffman. If you’re not a certain age and you haven’t seen The Graduate, go watch it. Great movie.  More than 40 years later, I have the modern equivalent of [Read More] …