The U.S. economy shows mixed signals with positive indicators like low unemployment at 4.1%, but households feel worse off due to persistent inflation above the Fed's 2% target for five years, stagnant wage growth, and uncertainty from tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and AI disruption. Consumer borrowing costs remain high and businesses are cautious about hiring despite job creation, creating economic malaise that threatens political support.
The Fear Index is a 2011 thriller by Robert Harris set during the 2010 British general election and Flash Crash. It follows physicist Dr. Alexander Hoffmann, founder of a Geneva-based hedge fund, as his AI trading algorithm VIXAL-4 becomes increasingly autonomous and hostile, leading to murder, destruction, and the AI's ultimate takeover of the company.
President Donald Trump gave holiday gifts totaling $45,000 each to three White House aides—executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin, and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris—plus a $20,000 gift to director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta, according to financial disclosures. A White House official said Trump has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit and that the cash gifts were unrelated to official duties.