The Week (March 18)
“In the immediate aftermath of Poland’s Communist collapse, the country was considered one of the most economically dire in Europe — but the status quo has changed in a major way. Poland now has the 20th largest economy in the world.” In 2025, GDP growth of 3.65% and economic output in excess of $1 trillion vaulted the nation over Switzerland and into the top 20.
Tags: $1 trillion, 2025, 20th, 3.65%, Aftermath, Communist collapse, Dire, Economy, Europe, GDP, Growth, Leapfrog, Output, Poland, Switzerland
Auto Wire (March 17)
”For decades Porsche has been one of the most profitable car companies on the planet. That reputation just took a staggering hit” as it “reported operating profit of just €90 million for 2025 — a jaw-dropping collapse from €5.3 billion the previous year.” The 98% drop “immediately rattled investors and sent the company’s stock sliding…. Behind that collapse is a combination of strategic missteps, geopolitical pressures, and brutal new competition reshaping the global car market.”
Tags: €5.3b, €90m, 2025, Brutal, Car companies, Collapse, Competition, Geopolitical pressures, Investors, Jaw-dropping, Operating profit, Porsche, Profitable, Rattled, Reputation, Sliding, Staggering, Stock, Strategic missteps
Guessing Headlights (March 3)
“The rise of Chinese EVs has never been more apparent. Chinese automakers were once seen as emerging players, but it has now reshaped global competition with its dominance across the world.” Marking “a historic tipping point in the global transition to electric mobility,” in 2025, China was able to surpass “50% EV sales share for the first time… reaching around 12 million units and overtaking internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales for the first time.”
Tags: 12 million units, 2025, Automakers, China, Dominance, Electric mobility, Emerging players, EVs, Global competition, Internal combustion, Reshaped, Tipping point, Transition, Vehicle sales
Washington Post (February 14)
Continuing a trend from 2025, “nearly all of the jobs added to the U.S. economy in recent months have come from one industry: health care.” Since the pandemic, the health care sector has benefitted from changing demographics and “buoyed an otherwise slow labor market.” Over one in six “Americans is now 65 or older, an age group that spends an outsize amount on medical care” and estimates suggest that the number of Americans over 80 will double by 2045.
Tags: 2025, 65%, 80, Demographics, Double, Economy, Health care, Jobs, Labor market, Medical care, Pandemic, Trend, U.S.
Bloomberg (February 13)
“Hong Kong is in the midst of an IPO boom, with first-time share sales coming off a four-year high in 2025 and already off to the busiest-ever start of a year. But the upswing followed a dealmaking trough that lasted several years after a crackdown on the Chinese technology companies that powered a prior wave of transactions. As a result, some banks chose to retrench and experienced bankers often looked for opportunities elsewhere. That’s made the remaining high-level dealmakers hot commodities.”
Tags: 2025, Bankers, China, Crackdown, Dealmakers, Dealmaking, High, Hong Kong, IPO boom, Opportunities, Technology, Transactions, Upswing, Wave
Washington Post (January 31)
“The unemployment gap between workers with bachelor’s degrees and those with occupational associate’s degrees — such as plumbers, electricians and pipe fitters — flipped in 2025, leaving trade workers with a slight edge for six months out of the past year,” marking “the first time trade workers have had a leg up since the BLS started tracking this data in the 1990s.”
Tags: 2025, Associate’s degrees, Bachelor’s degrees, BLS, Data, Electricians, First time, Gap, Occupational, Pipe fitters, Plumbers, Trade workers, Unemployment
Time (January 26)
“The past year brought a number of blows for the climate fight, but there were also clean-energy wins. In the first half of 2025, for the first time, solar and wind power outpaced coal as the leading source of electricity worldwide—a promising step toward reducing emissions.”
Tags: 2025, Clean energy, Climate fight, Coal, Electricity, Emissions, First time, Leading source, Promising, Solar, Wind power, Wins
Washington Post (January 6)
“The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape.” During the second quarter of 2025 alone, “more projects were blocked or delayed than during the previous two years combined, according to Data Center Watch, a tracking project by the nonpartisan research firm 10a Labs. Some $98 billion in planned development was derailed in a single quarter.”
Tags: $98 billion, 2025, Blocked, Data center, Data Center Watch, Delayed, Derailed, Planned development, Political landscape, Q2, Rebellion, Reshaping, Tracking project
Barron’s (January 2)
“If last year was full of fireworks that ultimately resulted in another big gain for the stock market, 2026 appears set to be a dud. Looking back at 2025, the fact that the S&P 500 index gained 16% feels like a small miracle. The Donald Trump experience has led to wild swings—who can forget the near bear-market in April after the president announced the first iteration of tariffs?” Looking ahead, “we’d expect a relatively flat year, with the S&P 500 finishing down about 2%.”
Tags: 16%, 2%, 2025, 2026, April, Bear market, Big gain, Dud, Fireworks, Flat, S&P 500, Stock market, Tariffs, Trump
Washington Post (December 23)
U.S. “tariffs have generated about $25 billion a month since April,” which may seem big. But these monthly takes are really “more like rounding errors than game changers. The gross domestic product of the United States in 2025 will be about $31 trillion.”
Tags: $25 billion, $31 trillion, 2025, April, Big, Game changers, Gross domestic product, Rounding errors, Tariffs, U.S.
